Pricing Justice In Singapore

The following lines are from "America: Imagine the World Without Her", a 2014 American political documentary film by Dinesh D'Souza based on his book of the same name.

"I made a mistake and I'm not above the law. No one is.
But we don't want to live in a society where Lady Justice has one eye open and winks at her friends and casts an evil eye at her adversaries. Where will they stop?"

D'Souza critical examination of various accusations against the United States can easily be applied to the Little Red Dot.

Dr Susan Lim was taken to the cleaners because her inflated bills for an ailing Brunei royalty were seen by some circles as a dire threat to the medical tourism industry. Yet no one objected to litigator and member of parliament Alvin Yeo's over-invoicing that could torpedo the country's reputation as a neutral, efficient and reliable dispute resolution institution in Asia. The International Arbitration Centre was meant to help parties manage the financial and other practical aspects of arbitration, and facilitate the smooth progress of arbitration. Presumably without interference from third parties with vested interests.

An ugly reminder of lessons unlearnt is the $10,000 fine slapped on a doctor who administered a wrong drug and changed the documentation to cover up his malpractice. The Singapore Medical Council (SMC) initally had actually dismissed victim Michael Balensiefer's 2009 complaint about the botched liposuction which destroyed his career as a US Navy rescue swimmer. Whatever the US Navy pays the merchant marine for his day job, the loss of income has to be more than 10 grand, the kind of money Dr Kevin Teh Tze Chen might spend for a skiing holiday at the Swiss alps. Compare that to the potential $100,000 fine for a pet owner who neglects a trip to the vet. We now know, of course, justice has a different price tag when even animal activists can succumb to politicisation.