Publishing

In the early morning of 21 May 1987, sixteen Singaporeans were arrested under the Internal Security Act of Singapore. The Act legitimises detention without trial. In the weeks that followed, another six were detained under the same Act.

Singapore lawyer Teo Soh Lung has written this careful account of her experiences and feelings when detained in Whitley Detention Centre 21 from May 1987 to 6 September 1987, and from April 1988 to 1 June 1990. Accused of involvement in the alleged “Marxist Conspiracy”, Soh Lung discusses many legal aspects of the case, including Singapore’s banning of London QC Anthony Lester and her various Appeal attempts.

Exile is not a choice, but a response to lawless oppression. The narratives in this collection might awaken readers from their complacency and make them question the relevance of the Internal Security Act, a law that makes a mockery of democracy. The six authors – Ang Swee Chai, Francis Khoo Kah Siang, Tan Wah Piow, Tsui Hon Kwong, Tang Fong Har and Ho Juan Thai – speak of their narrow escapes in the 1970s and 1980s, and their lives then and now with frankness, humour and sadness, but always with optimism and hope for Singapore and the world.

Tan Wah Piow wrote Let The People Judge in 1987. It debunks the allegation that he is a communist, and the repeated charge by the Singapore government that he is the mastermind behind a ‘Marxist Conspiracy’ to “subvert Singapore’s political and social order using communist united front tactics”.

Commemorates the experiences of detainees arrested and detained without trial during Operation Coldstore on 2 February 1963.

“Youth On Trial” delves into the anti-colonial struggle led by the Chinese-educated individuals in Singapore during the 1950s and 1960s. The documentary highlights a pivotal moment on May 13, 1954, when the ideals of the youth were put to the ultimate test. Amidst the rising tide of anti-colonial fervor, young students underwent a profound trial by fire.

This is the historical memoir of Dr Poh Soo Kai, a man of medicine and a founder member of the People’s Action Party.

Lim Chin Siong died on 5 February 1996. This fighter for Singapore’s independence was emasculated by the Internal Security Department with a long period of detention without trial. His 20^th death anniversary was remembered by his friends and comrades in this book.

Survivors of Operation Spectrum—the alleged Marxist conspiracy—speak up in this volume. For many of them, this is the first time that they cast their minds back to 1987 and try to make sense of the incident. What they did in that period was meaningful and totally legitimate. Their families and friends share the same view.

The poems and drawings of Teo Soh Lung, who was imprisoned without trial under Singapore’s notorious Internal Security Act between 1987 and 1990.

To most outsiders, Singapore is a much sought-after place to live in. But beneath the surface calm and orderliness, there is a slew of rules and laws to keep the people hushed and quiescent.

Disobedience to any law even if it is patently unreasonable, is not tolerated. And the full weight of the­­ state is brought to bear on the fearless who dare to speak their minds. They thus tread the thin line between exercising their rights and breaking the law.

In the 1980s, Singapore’s first opposition member of parliament since 1966 was elected. A group of political observers sensing this “shift in the wind”, decided to lay bare the ideological threads that linked the PAP’s policy choices, governance approach, and by extension, the current social structures formed by the ruling government. The result was a book providing an overview of the local socio-political landscape.