intriguing stuff

Check out these two articles in the IHT. The first is a damning report of our elections:

Singapore beyond Lee

The second one talks about the ongoing EnerNorth case in the Canadian courts. The case, by the way, threatens to expose Singapore's judiciary as a corrupt legal system. But of course, it's hardly mentioned in our local mainstream media.

Courts in Singapore come under scrutiny

Briefly from what I understand, this is what the case is about:

1. Canadian company goes into business deal with Singapore company.
2. Canadian company backs out.
3. Singapore company sues Canadian company in Singapore court and is awarded million dollar damages.
4. Since Canadian company has no assets in Singapore, Singapore company goes to Canadian court to enforce the judgement.
5. Normally, the Canadian court will accept Singapore court's judgement rather than repeat the trying. But Canadian company claims that the judgement in Singapore in favour of the government-linked Singapore company cannot be trusted as its legal system is corrupted.

If you're interested in the full legal arguments, check out their report (pdf). Part III-B makes for intriguing read. The expert on their side is non other than Francis Seow, former solicitor general, opposition candidate and fellow at Harvard Law School.