I was asked to accompany Mr Kairen to the "International Youth Conference For Democracy", organised by the SDP. Unfortunately, a barrage of tragedies hit him at the last moment, and he informed me that he was broke at the last minute, and so couldn't dine with me. Later, he had to visit the doctor, so in the end I had to wait at Carlton Hotel for almost 2 1/2 hours (including their lunch break) listening to the panel, chaired by Chee Soon Juan, talk about Asian Values and Asian Democracy without even getting to witness the spectacle of Kairen lampooning Chee Soon Juan.

That said, many panelists and members of the floor seemed overly pessimistic, and held extreme views against the PAP, and this was to the detriment of the credibility of the conference, the SDP and Chee Soon Juan. One panelist even claimed that we have *no* freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. If that were the case, how come they were able to organise and hold this conference without any interference by the police? The same also claimed that the repression here was equal to that in Burma, except that here it was more sophisticated. Perhaps, but I prefer the view that it is just less severe and extreme here. Also hurting the credibility of the whole conference was how the discussion seemed to be steered sometimes by the chairman in certain directions not all at all related to the topic of discussion, but instead more to do with his personal goals. More flagrantly, there was one member of the audience - an SDP member, I suspect - who hijacked the discussion totally and started pouring out the usual litany of grouses against the government.

They also screened a home video of Mr Chee getting bundled into a van the time he got apprehended for speaking at the Istana without a permit. His characteristic flourishes of melodrama were evident in the video as he kept protesting his innocence and peaceful intentions loudly, and there was even this woman heard shouting in the background, "Free him! Free him! He hasn't done anything wrong!" just as he was bundled into the van. I wonder if they realise that such dramatic touches redolent of Channel 8 dramas only serve to discredit them in the eyes of most Singaporeans.

Regardless, they did bring up some good points. The reason why Singapore, Malaysia and other states do not want to "interfere" in other countries' "internal affairs" is that they fear - know - that their own houses are hardly in good order, and that reciprocal concern about their own "internal affairs" would raise many difficult and embarassing questions. Also, restricting the rights of the majority because of the harm a small minority might do (Read: the blanket suppression of all "sensitive" issues like race and religion in the name of racial harmony) is unjust, and can be compared to banning football matches due to the possibility of thugs starting a riot, or even suspending Parliament because of the possibility of fist fights (ala Taiwan).

I wonder how many people care about politics here. Most are probably jaded after witnessing the string of lawsuits brought against members of Opposition Parties, and crass materialism has replaced any nobler ideals that might have once burned in their souls.