THE JOHN SOH CASE PROVES SINGAPORE IS SLIMIER THAN MALAYSIA

So, John Soh is given shoddy treatment in Singapore just because he is Malaysian. They cannot charge him. But they refuse to drop the case. Instead, they say they intend to charge him at a future date just so that they can imprison him in Singapore. But when the judge asks why charge him at a future date and not now, they tell the judge they cannot do that because they do not have enough evidence.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

It is really tiring to hear Malaysian Chinese, in particular the DAP supporters, condemn Malaysia by saying that Malaysia is fooked up because it has a Malay government while Penang and Singapore are fantastic places because they have Chinese governments.

They are also condemning what they call the government-controlled media and accuse it of spreading propaganda and lies. Actually the alternative or pro-opposition media is no better and sometimes even worse. And I should know because I, too, have been the target of these lies spread by the alternative or pro-opposition media.

The only thing is the opposition thinks it is okay for them to lie because they are fighting a noble cause while the government media is not fighting a noble cause. Why do they think that? Is not trying to stop the Chinese or DAP-led opposition from taking over the country a noble cause? I think that is very noble indeed.

If the Malaysian Chinese or DAP supporters think that Penang and Singapore are Shangri-La because they do not have Malay governments but have Chinese governments then they are more idiotic than they look. Even the Singapore government-owned media is far worse than Malaysia’s government-owned media. They make Communist China appear tame by comparison.

The John Soh Chee Wen case is but one example of how they do things in Singapore. And if you think Malaysia is terrible wait until you rub Singapore the wrong way and they decide to fix you up.

The Singapore government does not have enough evidence to charge John Soh. And this is mainly because he is not guilty of any crime. So how to find any evidence (unless, of course, they fabricate something)?

But they need to pin this fiasco on someone or else it would appear like there is something wrong with Singapore. In short, they need what Malays would call kambing hitam or a sacrificial lamb.

And since John Soh is Malaysian then it would be easier to pin it on him.

Singaporeans have never treated Malaysians as equals. They are just like the Honkies who look down on those they consider foreign Chinese. In fact, Johor Malays, especially those linked to the Royal Family, are treated better in Singapore than Malaysian Chinese are.

This is the superior attitude of the Singapore Chinese, just like the Hong Kong Chinese, who regard ‘outside’ Chinese with contempt.

So, John Soh is given shoddy treatment in Singapore just because he is Malaysian. They cannot charge him. But they refuse to drop the case. Instead, they say they intend to charge him at a future date just so that they can imprison him in Singapore. But when the judge asks why charge him at a future date and not now, they tell the judge they cannot do that because they do not have enough evidence.

If they do not have enough evidence how do they know they can charge John Soh at a future date? And if they have enough evidence to know that they can charge him then they can do that now and no need to wait till the future date.

And you dare condemn Malaysia’s Attorney General when it is Singapore that has an idiot for an Attorney General? Or are you condemning Malaysia’s Attorney General because he is Malay and not Chinese like Singapore’s Attorney General?

The next Malaysian Chinese or DAP supporter who tells me that Malaysia is fooked up because it has a Malay government and that Penang and Singapore are great places because they have Chinese governments is going to get my fist right between his eyes.

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Businessman barred from leaving country

Straits Times Singapore, 28 January 2016

A Malaysian businessman, identified as the “probable mastermind” behind one of Singapore’s biggest and most complex stock market fraud cases, was yesterday denied permission to leave the country.

Mr. John Soh Chee Wen, 57, whose passport has been impounded since April 2014, is assisting the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) with a probe into the penny stock crash that wiped out $8 billion in market value in just days in October 2013. He is on $500,000 police bail.

Judge of Appeal Chao Hick Tin rejected his request to vary bail terms to allow him to travel to Malaysia from Feb 6 to 23 to visit his ailing 80-year-old mother and attend his son’s wedding on Feb 20.

Small investors were hit hard by the 2013 meltdown as penny stocks are the cheapest to buy. Many lost vast sums in the crash, which battered investor confidence and led to tighter trading rules.

Documents presented in court referred to market rigging involving 25 trading representatives – and said the ongoing probe had already uncovered “serious criminal activities involving fraudulent trading”.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Gordon Oh said investigations are at an “advanced stage” and that charges may be brought by the end of the year, possibly around September.

Mr. Oh said investigators have concluded that Mr. Soh is “not just connected to the case, but may also be the mastermind”.

Mr. Soh attended the hearing and later told reporters he was “disappointed” but wants to have “light shed on the collapse”. “The public, investors are very keen to get to the bottom of the matter, what caused the crash, and who benefited. That’s why I’ve been going all out to cooperate. If things happen as prosecution says it may, so be it. We are motivated to have this cleared up.”

On being labelled the “mastermind”, Mr. Soh said: “I won’t like my comments to be misconstrued… Let’s just say that we understand and respect what the CAD and MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) are trying to do, and we are on the same page.”

The probe centres on possible violations of the Securities and Futures Act over trading in Blumont Group, LionGold Corp and Asiasons Capital, which surged between 150 per cent and 800 per cent in less than nine months before losing most of their value in just three days in October 2013, wiping out $8 billion.

The CAD raided some 50 locations, including residences, offices and brokerages, interviewed more than 70 people, and seized hundreds of electronic devices. One raid pointed to Mr. Soh’s involvement in the trading of the three stocks.

Mr. Oh said Mr. Soh had played a “primary role” in alleged “manipulative activities”. Mr. Soh, a bankrupt in Malaysia with no known assets or family ties here, posed a “serious flight risk”, he said.

Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng, who represents Mr. Soh, called the restriction of his movements “unfair and unreasonable”. Mr. Tan, deputy chairman of WongPartnership, noted that the probe had been going on for 22 months, and Mr. Soh had answered more than 2,000 questions in his statements and undergone “many statement takings that lasted 10 hours and longer”.

Mr. Soh has not been charged with any offence, while his requests to travel have been refused without explanation, Mr. Tan said.

But MAS assistant managing director Lee Boon Ngiap disclosed, in affidavits, that 25 trading representatives are believed to have assisted or participated in an “elaborate scheme relating to false trading and market rigging”.

On whether he intends to appeal against the ruling, Mr. Soh said he will “consider (his) options”.