Sunday, February 07, 2016

2016 Chinese New Year Message

Normally at this time of the year, I would be happily preparing my Chinese New Year greetings for all my friends and supporters, but today, my heart is heavy and saddened.

Benjamin Lim committed suicide because of the inappropriate use of police force and this has made my party colleagues and I extremely depressed. I could not imagine how the Lim family could possibly feel anything good about this festive season with such overwhelming sorrows of their lost son. On behalf of my family and my party, I would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to the Lim family.

As a father of a teenage girl, it is my greatest joy to watch my girl grow up. However, if one day, my daughter was to be brutally abused and ill-treated by this ridiculous police state until she has mental breakdown, I would also be totally devastated. Thus, I empathize with the Lim family of the loss of their son. This system of overwhelming police power which was allowed to exercise the most primitive deformed kind of police procedure, based on the first premise of guilty before proven innocence, extended its power to use whatever force including mental humiliation to extract confession, is in fact our common karma.

Benjamin Lim’s death is not solely an insolated incident. His death is in fact an amplification of the absurdity of this system of excessive police power. Every year, there are numerous people who have suffered under this excessive police power. Thus, in the midst of sorrows, we should resolve to fight for our ideal system based on our belief in the balance of powers through the Separation of Five Powers.

On this eve of Chinese New Year, I am also shocked by the devastating impact of the earthquake in Tainan. I hope that our Taiwanese friends could overcome the pain and sufferings with their determination and willpower. I will pray for our Taiwanese friends, praying for the speedy rescue of the trapped and injured. most importantly I will pray for the minimum casualties for this unfortunate natural disaster.

Last but not least, on this Chinese New Year Eve, I sincerely wish every friends and supporters, good health and safe travel in the coming year. Thank you for all your support over the years and I hope we will have a better life in the coming one.

Goh Meng Seng

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