Category: Operation Coldstore

  • People detained without trial in Singapore from 1950 – 2025
    (List of Detainees)

    The People’s Action Party (PAP) came into power in 1959 and is still in power today. The Internal Security Act (ISA) which allows the government to arrest and imprison people without trial is frequently used against members of the opposition parties as well as nipping dissent in the bud. The predecessors to this law are the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, 1948 and the Preservation of Public Security Ordinance, 1955.  Thousands have been imprisoned without trial but no one except the Internal Security Department knows the exact number of prisoners. 

    In 2014, a list of 1190 names of detainees was compiled and published by Loh Miao Gong (Loh Miao Ping) in the book The Operation Coldstore in Singapore, Commemorating 50 Years edited by Poh Soo Kai, Tan Kok Fang and Hong Lysa. We have updated this list which now contains 1416 names. Please see list of detainees in PDF format

    clicking on photo will bring you to the list too

    From 2001, the ISA was mainly used against Muslims. This was just prior to and soon after the destruction of the Twin Towers, New York. Suspicion fell on Al-Qaeda as the attackers. 2,996 (including the 19 hijackers of the planes) lost their lives. Three of them are likely to be still in prison today.

    From 2015, the ISA was used against migrant workers from Bangladesh. Many were detained for about 30 days (the period allowed under the law for investigation) and deported to their homeland. From 2016, several of those detained were charged and convicted under the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act (TSOFA), 2002  for remitting small sums of money to organisations, alleged to be terrorist groups, in their home country. They were repatriated after prison sentences were completed.

    From 2019, female Indonesian domestic workers were arrested under the ISA for remitting small sums of money to alleged terrorist organisations in Indonesia. Several were subsequently charged under the TSOFA and deported after serving prison  sentences. 

    From 2015, many detainees were gazetted as terrorists under Schedule A of TSOFA prior to their release.

    In 1995, Singapore acceded to the Treaty on the Rights of the Child. With effect from 1 July 2020, a “child” is defined as a person below the age of 18. Despite acceptance of the Treaty, young people below the age of 18 are not spared under the ISA. In December 2020, an unnamed 16 year-old youth was detained under the ISA. In November and December 2022, two youths, aged 15 and 16 years old were arrested and imprisoned under the ISA. In October 2023 an unnamed youth of 16 was arrested and released a month later under restriction orders.

    Notes (updated on 8th Apr 2024)

    1. The number of detainees in the list is not conclusive. Only the ISD can provide the actual number.
    2. The Singapore government do not consider those who were detained for not more than 30 days as detainees. People who were detained were occasionally released within 30 days and re-detained. There have been instances where detainees were detained in this manner for 60 or 90 days. No detention orders were issued.
    3. In 2011 Deputy Prime Minister revealed in parliament that from 1959 to 1990, a total of 2,460 arrests were made under the ISA and of these arrests, 1,045 were detained under the Preservation of Public Security Ordinance and the ISA. The present list of 1,414 may not represent the true number of victims of the ISA. The number is likely to be more.
    4. In April 2024 Minister K Shanmugam revealed in parliament that 7 alleged self-radicalised individuals are still in prison today.
    5. Some of the names in the list do not set out the release dates. They may be released but we do not have information.

    We hope that the government will issue a full list of detainees one day.

  • Ong Lian Teng and The Barisan 13

     by Teo Soh Lung (first published 17 January 2022)

    Martyn See’s post (https://tinyurl.com/4r8rscsm) on Ong Lian Teng, the father of Minister Ong Ye Kung jolted my memory about Operation Coldstore and its aftermath.

    Operation Coldstore was mounted by Singapore, Britain and the Federation of Malaya in the early hours of the morning of 2 February 1963. More than 133 leaders of opposition parties, trade unions and civil society were arrested and imprisoned without trial for exceedingly long years. Their disappearance from the political scene enabled the People”s Action Party {PAP) to govern Singapore with a super majority to this day.  

    Many of the victims of Operation Coldstore were accused of terrorism and having connection with the Communist Party of Malaya. They were tortured. We should never forget them and what the PAP did to them. The longest detained prisoners were Dr Lim Hock Siew (20 years), Ho Piao (18 years), Pak Said Zahari (17 years) and Dr Poh Soo Kai (17 years).

    The persons responsible for executing Operation Coldstore  will forever have their names tarnished in history, no matter what good they did for Singapore. The three key people were Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister, Lord Nigel Douglas Hamilton Selkirk, British representative and Chairman of the tri-partite Internal Security Council and Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first and only chief minister of the Federation of Malaya. Having done the dastardly deed, Lord Selkirk and the Tunku did nothing to secure the release of those political detainees. They were left to rot in prison. Save for the occasional reminders by Amnesty International and a few other organisations, they were largely forgotten by Singaporeans and the world.

    Even though Operation Coldstore wiped out the most outstanding leaders of opposition parties and civil society, it did not fully satisfy the leaders of Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew and his colleagues – Toh Chin Chye, Goh Keng Swee, E W Barker and S Rajaratnam went on to conduct many mopping-up operations in order to deprive opposition parties from fielding candidates for the general election expected to take place that year. 

    Against all odds and unfair practices including kidnapping of potential candidates of the opposition parties, 13 members of Barisan Sosialis and Ong Eng Guan of the United People’s Party were elected in the general election held on 21 September 1963,  Lee Kuan Yew and his colleagues must have been too shocked for words. They swiftly moved into action and  mounted Operation Pecah on 8 October 1963. Three of the 13 elected Barisan members, namely, Lee Tee Tong, S T Bani and Loh Miao Gong were arrested and imprisoned for 18, 7 and 3 years respectively.  Two of the 13 escaped arrest by leaving the country and going into self-exile. They were Chan Sun Wing who was Lee Kuan Yew’s parliamentary secretary and Wong Soon Fong. Wong died in 2015 while Chan is still in Thailand. 

    The eight who took their seats in legislative assembly included Ong Lian Teng. He served as assemblyman for Bukit Panjang till 1966 when Barisan Sosialis chairman,  Dr Lee Siew Choh called for a boycott of the legislative assembly.  I am told that one of the main reasons for calling this boycott was  the assembly’s failure to convene meetings except for the passing of the annual budget. The eight members were instructed  to resign from their seats in the assembly. Their resignations led to the PAP retaining absolute power in the assembly until J B Jeyaretnam won Anson in the by-election in 1981. 

    This then is the sad history of Singapore. It was the use of detention without trial that wiped out the presence of an effective opposition in parliament, The opposition parties did not lack good and credible leaders. Indeed they were brilliant leaders with a conscience that led Lee Kuan Yew to fear them. To ensure that he and his party will always be in power, he imprisoned many of them for over a decade. He made sure that potential leaders who did not share his views were swiftly “nipped in the bud”. 

    Lee Kuan Yew also had another method of ensuring his long reign. He co-opted his opponents or their children. His press secretary James Fu was once arrested and detained for a few months without trial. He became his loyal press secretary. Today, his daughter, Grace Fu is a minister for sustainability and the environment. 

    Subsequent leaders of the PAP followed these two rules. They continued to nip potential bright young people who do not share the PAP’s style of government and co-opt their opponents or their children. Janil Puthucheary, son of Dominic Puthucheary who was also once detained is now a senior minister of state, Janadas Devan, son of former president Devan Nair who was disgraced and had to seek refuge in Canada is now director of the Institute of Policy Studies. 

    Co-opting Ong Ye Kung into the PAP fold is therefore nothing new.

    What actually disappointed some people is his belief in the effectiveness of “ownself check ownself”. They think he has betrayed his father who was a opposition legislative assemblyman until he resigned on orders from the party. But people must understand that if you belong to the PAP and wants to become prime minister one day (a position which I doubt is open to children of once upon a time members of the opposition political parties), you have to tow the line and forget about your conscience. Conscience can never be a guide when it comes to political ambitions.

    Those of you who are interested in the past can read this book “We Remember” which was published to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Operation Coldstore. If you wish to purchase a copy (it is not in a pristine condition though unused) you can contact 2010Function8@gmail.com.