Syed Husin Ali*

Syed Husin Ali was detained under the ISA from 1974 to 1980. He recalled Kassim Ali who was also detained under ISA in 1976 and released in 1981. The following is an abstract taken from ‘Syed Husin remembers #3-Overcoming 1974 arrests and Ops Lalang,’ Malaysia Kini September 23, 2021 and updated in March 2022.

“I met him (Kassim Ali) in university in Singapore as we entered at the same time and he was also research secretary of the Socialist Club. He joined Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka and then went to the University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies) to become a lecturer.

“There, he formed Pemuda Sosialis for Malaysians in the UK who were either students or workers. During that time, he criticized the formation of Malaysia. 

“After a while, he came back to Malaysia and took over the leadership of the party from Ahmad Boestamam, who didn’t like it and left. It was almost a coup- involving myself and Sanusi Osman among others. He wanted the party to be socialist – and he changed the name from Parti Rakyat Malaysia to PSRM (adding the word ‘socialis’).

“Kassim was a good poet. He did not write much, but what he wrote was good. His poem Sidang Ruhas pounced on by Mahathir because he said ‘God is dead’ –but if you read carefully, he said the people were drunk on rice and beer and they forgot God, and so God has died,” recalled Syed Husin.

Kassim courted controversy with a book on the hadiths. Kassim was intellectually curious in a way that few Malay leaders appear to have been before and since. His thesis posited the theory that it was Hang Jebat and not Hang Tuah who should be held as a role model. 

“His honours thesis took a look at the ‘Hikayat Hang Tuah’ and counterposed Hang Jebat as the hero versus Hang Tuah because Jebat was disloyal to an unfair ruler to defend his friend. 

“To me, Jebat was then a hero but when he became very wild with women and power, he was no longer a hero,” mused Syed Husin.

After Kassim was released from detention, he curiously wanted PSRM to tie up with UMNO. 

“Abdul Razak Ahmad and I were very opposed to this, and so Kassim left. But this difference was political, not personal.”

Kassim began to study religion more thoroughly but promptly landed in more hot water after writing a book that was critical of some hadiths, recalled Syed Husin.

‘Once again, Kassim was largely misunderstood, as he believed in exploring an intellectually challenging way when that was not at all encouraged,” he added. 

*Syed Husin Ali has been an important figure in Malaysian progressive politics for most of his life. He is a former Parti Keadilan Rakyat deputy president and an acclaimed academic. 

Hassan Karim*

Abdul Razak Ahmad was born in Johor Bahru on 6 June 1939. He passed away at the age of 68 on 12 August 2007. He attended primary school at Sekolah Ayer Molek, Johor Bahru before continuing to secondary school at English College, Johor Bahru (now known as Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar), and furthered his studies in law at the University of Singapore.

As president of the University Socialist Club in the 1966-1967 academic year, Abdul Razak was accused of inciting the students of the University of Singapore against the government in 1966. He was then sitting for the Bachelor of Law examinations, which he was allowed to finish. He was deported, and banned from entering Singapore. 

Abdul Razak Ahmad was born to an influential and well-known family. His grandfather, Tuan Haji Ariffin who was close to Razak, was an engineer involved in the construction of a road from Johor Bahru to Mersing. Tuan Haji Ariffin was an early leader of Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) in Johor. Abdul Razak’s paternal uncle, Taib Andak was an early FELDA chairman who was close to Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak. 

Razak returned to Johor and served as Assistant Director of the Land and Mines Office (PTG) during which time he came to understand the land issues in Johor and became well-versed in land law.

As Assistant Director of the Land and Mines Office in Johor, Razak was appointed the Legal Counsel to FELDA which at the time was led by Musa Hitam.

When Musa Hitam entered politics, UMNO and government, he approached Razak Ahmad to be his political secretary. Razak declined the offer. He was drawn more towards the plight of the poor who had been neglected and marginalised. He became an important opposition figure under three consecutive Chief Ministers of Johor: Othman Saat, Ajib Ahmad and Muhyiddin Yassin. Razak was active in the Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) in Johor and also at the national level.

After leaving FELDA, Razak Ahmad entered legal practice with Gurdial Singh Nijar and Ong Ban Chai. A people’s lawyer and PRM leader, Razak Ahmad fought land cases involving ordinary, impoverished people. Among these was a case involving land worked on by poor fishermen in Sekakap, Mersing which was however awarded by the Government of Johor under Mentri Besar Othman Saat to political leaders from UMNO.

Following the September 1974 General Election which the Johor government won with a landslide, Abdul Razak Ahmad struggled on behalf of urban squatters in Tasek Utara, Johor Bahru who had been evicted from their homes. As many as 200 squatters whose homes were demolished, camped out in tents in front of the Mentri Besar’s office in Bukit Timbalan, Johor Bahru for several days.

As many as 83 of these urban squatters of Tasek Utara were detained by the police and charged at the Johor Bahru Magistrate Court. Abdul Razak Ahmad acted as their defence lawyer. 

As a result of his involvement in the Tasek Utara affair, Abdul Razak was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for two months in 1975. On his release, he was issued with a Home Restriction Order which prohibited him from leaving Johor Bahru. 

Abdul Razak Ahmad was a key PRM leader. He was the Deputy President when PRM was led by Dr. Syed Husin Ali as President. Before that, he held the post of Assistant Chairman of PRM following the death of Datuk Kampo Radjo.

When PRM merged with the Parti Keadilan Nasional (PKN) to form the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Abdul Razak Ahmad was a critical force on the PRM side together with Dr Syed Husin Ali, Dr Sanusi Osman and Rustam A. Sani. He was then appointed the inaugural Chairman for the state of Johor until his death.

Abdul Razak Ahmad cared greatly about the environment. He headed a Save the Tebrau Straits campaign. Towards the end of the 1980s, Johor Chief Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was obsessed with developing a Floating City on the Tebrau Straits. Abdul Razak and the PRM together with several NGOs opposed the project that would pollute the narrow straits and further separate Johor from Singapore.

Razak launched a campaign and agitations. In 1995 he filed a suit against the Johor Bahru City Council (MBJB) at the High Court of Johor Bahru. Razak acted as Plaintiff based on his being a Johor Bahru resident and a taxpayer. The Abdul Razak Ahmad v. Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru case received widespread coverage. Razak lost the case, however, and was forced to pay damages to MBJB. The Chief Justice of Johor Bahru, Abdul Malik Ishak called him “a trouble maker, a maverick, of a sort to stir trouble.”

As it turned out, Muhyiddin Yassin’s Floating City project was a total failure. The steel reinforcements in concrete, remnants of an unfinished project that could have polluted the sea, and an empty, uninhabited white elephant facing the Grand Palace remains. 

Abdul Razak Ahmad was also a strong advocate of the Palestinian people’s struggle. The older generation may remember that in 1987 he performed a spectacular political stunt by lying flat over the railway tracks at the Johor Bahru Railway Station to obstruct the passage of trains heading to Singapore. His act was a protest against the visit of the Israeli president, Chaim Herzog to Singapore.

Usman Awang, the National Laureate who was also President of the Malaysia-Palestine Solidarity Association wrote about Razak Ahmad’s protest against the Israeli president’s visit in the Dewan Masyarakat magazine in appreciation for Abdul Razak Ahmad’s contribution to the Palestinian cause, Usman Awang appeared at the PRM National Congress Inauguration Night in Skudai Kiri, Johor Bahru as a guest-of-honour.

When Usman Awang was chosen to be the National Laureate, Abdul Razak Ahmad together with PRM youth members staged a play entitled, “Death of a Warrior (Jebat)”, one of Usman Awang’s works, at the Johor Bahru Diamond Jubilee Hall. Usman Awang attended as a special guest that evening and the venue was packed.

Abdul Razak Ahmad was tireless and unwavering in championing the people’s interests in elections. He contested in his first election in 1974, and was a PRM candidate in every subsequent general election. He contested in the federal constituencies of Johor Bahru, Pulai, Gelang Patah and Pasir Gudang.

In 1986 Razak contested in the Tanjung Puteri state constituency, challenging the UMNO/Barisan Nasional candidate Yunos Sulaiman. Razak lost to a majority of about 500 votes. However, there was a breach of the regulations and election laws by an official of the Election Commission (SPR) who brought the polling box from the polling station to his home before proceeding to the counting centre. Abdul Razak submitted an election petition to the SPR. The Johor Bahru High Court ruled that the Tanjung Puteri election results were compromised and a by-election would be held. Razak contested as the PRM candidate. He lost by 31 votes. 

As a consequence of the Tanjung Puteri by-election, the SPR amended the vote counting system. Vote-counting was no longer to be held in one place, but carried out at the individual polling stations. 

Abdul Razak Ahmad was the most suitable political leader for a multi-racial political party such as the PRM. His loyal supporters were of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds. He also offered shelter to J. B Jeyaratnam and Tan Liang Hong of Singapore’s opposition Workers’ Party when they sought refuge in Johor. 

Abdul Razak Ahmad was respected by friends and foes. While they might have disagreed with his left-leaning political principles, it was hard for them not to admire his character and personality. A large portrait in a gold-coloured frame of Abdul Razak and Sultan Iskandar of Johor had hung in the Abd Razak Ahmad & Associates office at the Malayan Banking Building on Jalan Ibrahim, Johor Bahru. The two had a close relationship. 

The life history of Abdul Razak Ahmad is indeed colourful. He drew spiritual strength from the support of his wife, Hajah Kintan Binti Haji Mohd Amin. Razak had four children, two sons and two daughters: Dzulkarnain-Iriawan, Juliana, Azalina and Tik (a pet-name). Azalina, the third child, followed her father’s footsteps and became a lawyer. She received her Bachelor of Laws in the United Kingdom. Abdul Razak Ahmad also had several grandchildren before he passed away.

He led a life of merit. 

*Hassan Karim (born 1951) from the Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) and subsequently the People’s Justice Party (PKR) has served as a Member of Parliament for Pasir Gudang, Johor since 2018. He was a student activist in the University of Malaya in the mid-1970s, and obtained his law degree from the University of London. 

A teenager of sixteen by the end of the Second World, my reflections and perspective start with the fast-emerging New World Order. There was an air of economic, social, and political uncertainties for the ordinary people. Western Imperialism’s use of the atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki horrified me. The defeat of Nazi Germany and its allies curbed the spread of fascism and totalitarianism and saw the rise of the United States of America, rooted in liberal free-market capitalism and the Soviet Union, based on Marxist-Leninist socialist doctrines and the state-driven economy.

After the Second World War, the declining Imperial Britain which for over a century took great pride of her empire was forced to relinquish her rule over her possessions in South Asia. 

Radical leaders in Africa, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia backed by mass support were calling for an end to colonial rule as well. In British Malaya and Singapore, following the Japanese surrender in August 1945, it was organized labour solidarity that was in the forefront in the mass resistance against colonial rule and exploitation. The anti-colonial movement backed by the labour movements and student bodies fought for free and stable democratic government and better economic opportunities. 

Apart also from the Malay nationalists and Chinese student movements, the University of Malaya Socialist Club (USC) too was in the forefront of the nationalist anti-colonial movement. Fajar, meaning ‘Dawn’ in Arabic, was the organ of Socialist Club The most notable among the USC students were Abdullah Majid, M. K. Rajakumar, Poh Soo Kai, James Puthucheary, Sandrasegeram (Sidney) Woodhull, Jamit Singh, Wang Gungwu, Philomen Oorjitham, Linda Chen, Lim Hock Siew, A. Mahadeva, Kwa Boo Sun, Lam Khuan Kit, Albert Lim Shee Ping, Thomas Varkey and P. Arudsothy. As M.K. Rajakumar pointed out, the British found on their return as rulers that “This generation was no longer willing to accept a subservient role. The young men and women who entered Raffles College and the King Edward VII College of Medicine had lived in the raw and matured beyond their years. They would take no nonsense from anybody.” The University of Malaya Socialist Club was formed in 1953. The student activists ranged from those adhering to the reformist marque of Fabian socialism and the rising European social-democratic theories to the more radical brand of scientific socialism and Marxism. 

Foremost in their agenda was the fight for national independence and democracy combined with equality and justice–social, racial, gender, and economic–as well as to disseminate democratic socialist thought and policy, political awareness, promote open discussions, exchange of ideas and activity among the student population and the public.

The British established the university more as training ground for students to be functionaries in the expanding colonial economy than as an intellectual institution, preparing them to shape the future of their country. Nevertheless, the university authorities approved the establishment of political clubs with the claim that “political discussion among students is regarded as both a normal part of university life and a specific contribution to the development of the Malayan nation on the basis of political freedom.” The left-wing centered student activities enlivened the political consciousness of university students. To blunt the impact of the activities of the Socialist Club the more right-wing Democratic Club was formed in 1964. 

The Socialist Club was the more active, committed, and influential of the two. It built a close and enduring relationship with the more radical and influential Middle Road union leaders, journalists, and some of the then more progressive leaders of the People’s Action Party (PAP). In addition, the Club’s publication Fajar which propagated socialist political ideology, and the size of its public circulation became an anathema to both the colonial state and to the right-wing political and student bodies. The colonial state’s gauntlet struck on the wee hours of 28 May 1954 when eight student members of the Fajar editorial committee were arrested and charged for sedition allegedly committed in the front-page editorial “Aggression in Asia” in the Fajar issue of May 19, 1954. Co-authored by M.K. Rajakumar, Poh Soo Kai and James Puthucheary, the editorial was critical of the initiative taken by Anglo-American powers to form the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, a brazen attempt at the continuation of imperialism in the region. The editorial rejected Malaya’s association with the western bloc and instead called on the country to traverse a non-aligned path. However, when the trial commenced three months later, the case was dismissed on 26 August 1954 without the defence being called. The students were represented by prominent Queen’s Counsel D.N. Pritt. 

Fajar’s court victory was a major one at the time for the people of Singapore and Malaya. The expectation resulting from this victory was that Malaya would be a unified socialist democratic nation where liberty, social justice, a more equitable income distribution, and national solidarity prevailed. 

Looking back on the 70th anniversary of the Fajar trial it is patent that our dream of a democratic and socialist Malaya has eluded us. 

Nevertheless to this day, I am proud to be counted as a member of the Fajar generation for what we stood for and continue to stand for. 

Dr Ang Swee Chai Orthopaedic Surgeon. Founder Medical Aid for Palestinians; author of From Beirut to Jerusalem (1989; 40th Anniversary, Sabra-Shatila Massacre edition with a New Introduction) 

Dr Poh is an icon who guides and inspires. I was honoured and privileged to meet him in 1975, a year after he was briefly released from prolonged imprisonment without trial since 1963 for fighting colonialism. 

I was then a young doctor wanting to make this world a better place so that health will truly become a universal human right not determined by wealth. I remember how excited I was to learn that Dr Poh had accepted to give a talk to the University of Singapore. I was asked by the organisers of his talk to prepare a background paper on the income structure of Singapore in relation to health. On the day of his talk, the large lecture theatre was packed, and people were sitting on the steps. I had read about this giant freedom fighter who walked the talk and stood up against oppression and persecution for his actions. I held my breath as he arrived. He was quiet and humble, very gentle and soft spoken – no aggression and bitterness against a system which had unjustly robbed him of so many years of his freedom. He spoke powerfully and earned my complete respect. In the days following he spoke to many audiences with the same courage, conviction and strength.

He was again imprisoned without trial the following year – perhaps to stop him from inspiring more people. It was too late – for many like me, who met and heard him, we were changed. We will continue to give our lives to seek justice and rights for all in honour of the sacrifices he and so many of his friends made in the service of making this world better. 

Function 8

Dr Poh Soo Kai’s pivotal role in the Fajar trial and his subsequent life-long fight, most of which was in prison,against PAP’s authoritarian rule, inspired and continues to inspire all of us at Function 8. A good story-teller, he never ceases to remind us of Singapore’s early history and how Lee Kuan Yew suppressed the left through the relentless use of imprisonment without trial.

Kirsten Han Transformative Justice Collective

The first time I met Dr Poh Soo Kai, at the luncheon commemorating the 60th anniversary of the May 13 student movement, I was only just learning about the anti-colonial movement in Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s. But my grandfather, who had accompanied me to the event, recognised him right away. He told me that, back in 1954, he had gone to the court every day of the Fajar trial. He said it’d felt like an important case to follow. He’d never talked about it when I was a kid because the political environment in Singapore had changed so much that these things were no longer hot topics—they’re turned into ‘sensitive’ issues. And so, on that day, I learnt not just about the Fajar generation, but also that my political curiosity was not without precedent in my family. 

Few of my generation know much about the Fajar trial and the struggles of Singapore’s leftist movement. There is little appreciation for how much we stand on the shoulders of these elders, how so much that we take for granted today had been bitterly fought for. But this spirit, while dampened over years of oppression, has never been fully broken. Today, young activists are organising and rebuilding, trying to reclaim as much as we can of what was suppressed. No matter how much authoritarians try, a people’s collective desire for freedom, dignity and justice will persist.

Merger And Malaysia in Fajar December 1961 Vol lll No. 8

Crisis In The Left in Fajar 31 May 1955 No.19