They�ve o­nly got my limbs, I have still got my voice - can still sing. Two hands and a leg amputated. The remaining limb yet to heal, has turned gangrenous and may also have to be removed. His kidneys have been damaged due to excessive bleeding and he can hardly eat and digest any food. And yet defiance still sparkles in the eyes of Bant Singh, a Dalit agricultural labour activist, as he lies in the trauma ward of a state-run hospital in Chandigarh where doctors are battling to save his o­nly remaining leg and even his life.

No matter how o­ne looks at it, the mega-deal between Shin Corp and Temasak Holdings has made Singapore look bad. During his weekly radio address o­n Saturday, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra praised the Singapore counterpart in taking up the deal as "an act of real courage". With a twist of irony, he then said, with tongue in cheek, he would not have bought it because there is nothing in it.

He went o­n to say that everything Shin Corp sold to Temasek would belong to the Singaporean government, and would not be in private hands. "So, how can I sell off my country?" he wondered.

Thaksin�s comment came less than three weeks after the Singaporean government�s investment agency concluded the historic purchase of 49 per cent of Shin Corp for a record US$1.87 billion (Bt73.6 billion). So the jury is still out. But the ridiculous comment he made reveals Thaksin�s growing anxiety over the sale as the public outcry over it has intensified.

Over the past two weeks, local media outlets have criticised the deal as "selling off" Thailand. It was an extraordinary transaction because it involved the sale of government concessions, including telecommunication wavebands, satellite parking and air traffic rights and iTV. Several newspapers even dwelled o­n the impropriety of selling a company that had been given the Royal Garuda emblem.

Biggest anti-government demonstration since the bloody 1992 �May Crisis� throws his future and legitimacy into uncertainty

Thaksin Shinawatra, the embattled premier, yesterday suffered the biggest setback of his political career as nearly 100,000 Thais gathered at Bangkok�s Royal Plaza to demand his ouster in the largest anti-government rally in over a decade.

At the biggest show of people power since the bloody May 1992 uprising, which overthrew the Suchinda government, Thais of all walks of life from the capital and around the country chanted: "Thaksin get out. Thaksin get out".

The largely peaceful protesters, many of whom wore yellow shirts, included disgruntled teachers, labour and community activists, environmentalists, provincial people affected by government policies and members of Bangkok�s middle-class.