Chitchat The facts behind the Laju Incident

soikee said:

Laju incident: ST’s portrayal of Nathan completely ignores Yoong Siew Wah’s contribution.


Now we get to hear the truth from someone who is still alive.

Not surprise that the establishment would paint Yoong Siew Wah as a bitter old man.

Click to expand...

mojito said:

Was the inflight meals good?

Click to expand...

Boliao said:

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1372_2009-01-15.html

"On 7 February, the four were taken to Paya Lebar Airport, where they surrendered their arms, released the hostages, and boarded a specially arranged Japan Airlines (JAL) aircraft. At 1:25 am on 8 February, the plane departed. On board with the hijackers were 13 Singapore government representatives acting as guarantors, two Japanese government officials and 12 JAL crew members.

The Singapore guarantors – comprising eight government officials and four Singapore Armed Forces commandos – were led by S. R. Nathan, who was then director of security and intelligence at the Ministry of Defence.12 Besides Nathan, the other guarantors were: Yoong Siew Wah, Tee Tua Bah, Seah Wai Toh, Andrew Tan, S. Raja Gopal, Saraj Din, Tan Kim Peng, Gwee Peng Hong, Teo Ah Bah, Tan Lye Kwee, Haji Abu Bakar and Haji Rahman.13

Upon arrival in Kuwait, the Singapore party handed the matter over to the Kuwaiti and Japanese governments and returned to Singapore, arriving the following day on 9 February."

Click to expand...

scroobal said:

1) The Singapore Govt had no traction with the hijackers from the word go. The hijackers demanded to only negotiate with the Japanese Govt. The hijackers considered Singapore as a non-entity in the World stage. In the meantime 2 out of 5 hostages had escaped by jumping overboard and swimming away leaving 3 hostages.

2) When their red army counterparts captured the Japanese Embassy in Kuwait few days later, this dragged the Japanese Govt to negotiate and also brought in the Kuwait Govt. Singapore stood by while the actual negotiation and deal was done with the Japanese and Kuwait officials.

3) The terrorist demanded Japanese hostages (not Singapore hostages) to replace Singapore hostages and a JAL plane. The Japanese Govt agreed and 2 Senior Government Officials plus 12 JAL crew was offered.

4) At Paya Lebar Airport, the hijackers handed over the weapons and the 3 Singapore hostages after seeing the 2 Japanese Govt officials and the JAL Japanese Crew. The 13 Singaporeans then boarded the plane after the weapons were handed over.

5) Out of the 13 Singapore, there were 4 Commandoes led by (Clarence) Tan Kim Peng. Each of the Commandoes were assigned a specific hijacker to monitor to take on if even needed. They became the bodyguards for the 9 other Singaporeans. Yoong Siew Wah was Head of ISD then and the ISD team comprised Seah Wai Toh, Raja Gopal and Saraj Din. Seah Wai Toh 3 years alter also handled the hijacking of Vietnam airlines that landed at Seletar Airport. The Commandoes were led by Clarence Tan Kim Peng and comprised Gwee Peng Hong, Teo Ah Bah, Tan Lye Kwee.

6) When the 13 Singaporeans entered the plane, the hijackers had already given up their weapons and had 2 Japanese Sr govt officials and 12 JAL crew as replacement hostages. Much of the on-board conversation was among the Japanese. The Singaporeans sat there for the ride while one clown obviously tried to crack jokes which fell on deaf years.

7) When the plane landed in Kuwait. The Kuwait and Japanese Govt began the next stage of the negotiations. Apparently the Kuwait Govt had no idea that 13 Singaporeans were in the place. All they knew was that the hijackers had exchanged 3 Singaporean hostages for 2 Sr Senior Japanese Govt Officials and 12 JAL crew. Because of the confusion, the Singapore team was neglected. It took matter of minutes when the Kuwait Govt realised that there 13 Singaporeans after traffic controllers told them. The Kuwaits told them that they are no longer needed and do whatever they want to do.

Now you know the story by the Straits Times is inaccurate and misleading and creates a picture of danger for the 13 Singaporeans. I was pissed when they left out the 2 Japanese Sr Govt Officials and the 12 JAL Crew who volunteered for the mission and were the actual hostage replacements as demanded by the hijackers.

The reason it was 13 Singaporeans was for 2 reasons. The 4 Commandoes to act as bodyguard for the 9. The remaining 9 was because of inter-agency rivalry - ISD vs SID. Yoong as head of ISD felt that it was domestic event having taken place in Bukom and SID felt that it was an international incident and wanted control. To compromise, each side came up with own folks and thus it ballooned unnecessarily from each side. The 9th person was Tee Tua Bah who was Head of Marine Police and was involved directly from the first hour of hijacking and had been talking to the hijackers.

Click to expand...

scroobal said:

1) The Singapore Govt had no traction with the hijackers from the word go. The hijackers demanded to only negotiate with the Japanese Govt. The hijackers considered Singapore as a non-entity in the World stage. In the meantime 2 out of 5 hostages had escaped by jumping overboard and swimming away leaving 3 hostages.

2) When their red army counterparts captured the Japanese Embassy in Kuwait few days later, this dragged the Japanese Govt to negotiate and also brought in the Kuwait Govt. Singapore stood by while the actual negotiation and deal was done with the Japanese and Kuwait officials.

3) The terrorist demanded Japanese hostages (not Singapore hostages) to replace Singapore hostages and a JAL plane. The Japanese Govt agreed and 2 Senior Government Officials plus 12 JAL crew was offered.

4) At Paya Lebar Airport, the hijackers handed over the weapons and the 3 Singapore hostages after seeing the 2 Japanese Govt officials and the JAL Japanese Crew. The 13 Singaporeans then boarded the plane after the weapons were handed over.

5) Out of the 13 Singapore, there were 4 Commandoes led by (Clarence) Tan Kim Peng. Each of the Commandoes were assigned a specific hijacker to monitor to take on if even needed. They became the bodyguards for the 9 other Singaporeans. Yoong Siew Wah was Head of ISD then and the ISD team comprised Seah Wai Toh, Raja Gopal and Saraj Din. Seah Wai Toh 3 years alter also handled the hijacking of Vietnam airlines that landed at Seletar Airport. The Commandoes were led by Clarence Tan Kim Peng and comprised Gwee Peng Hong, Teo Ah Bah, Tan Lye Kwee.

6) When the 13 Singaporeans entered the plane, the hijackers had already given up their weapons and had 2 Japanese Sr govt officials and 12 JAL crew as replacement hostages. Much of the on-board conversation was among the Japanese. The Singaporeans sat there for the ride while one clown obviously tried to crack jokes which fell on deaf years.

7) When the plane landed in Kuwait. The Kuwait and Japanese Govt began the next stage of the negotiations. Apparently the Kuwait Govt had no idea that 13 Singaporeans were in the place. All they knew was that the hijackers had exchanged 3 Singaporean hostages for 2 Sr Senior Japanese Govt Officials and 12 JAL crew. Because of the confusion, the Singapore team was neglected. It took matter of minutes when the Kuwait Govt realised that there 13 Singaporeans after traffic controllers told them. The Kuwaits told them that they are no longer needed and do whatever they want to do.

Now you know the story by the Straits Times is inaccurate and misleading and creates a picture of danger for the 13 Singaporeans. I was pissed when they left out the 2 Japanese Sr Govt Officials and the 12 JAL Crew who volunteered for the mission and were the actual hostage replacements as demanded by the hijackers.

The reason it was 13 Singaporeans was for 2 reasons. The 4 Commandoes to act as bodyguard for the 9. The remaining 9 was because of inter-agency rivalry - ISD vs SID. Yoong as head of ISD felt that it was domestic event having taken place in Bukom and SID felt that it was an international incident and wanted control. To compromise, each side came up with own folks and thus it ballooned unnecessarily from each side. The 9th person was Tee Tua Bah who was Head of Marine Police and was involved directly from the first hour of hijacking and had been talking to the hijackers.

Click to expand...

Boliao said:

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1372_2009-01-15.html

"On 7 February, the four were taken to Paya Lebar Airport, where they surrendered their arms, released the hostages, and boarded a specially arranged Japan Airlines (JAL) aircraft. At 1:25 am on 8 February, the plane departed. On board with the hijackers were 13 Singapore government representatives acting as guarantors, two Japanese government officials and 12 JAL crew members.

The Singapore guarantors – comprising eight government officials and four Singapore Armed Forces commandos – were led by S. R. Nathan, who was then director of security and intelligence at the Ministry of Defence.12 Besides Nathan, the other guarantors were: Yoong Siew Wah, Tee Tua Bah, Seah Wai Toh, Andrew Tan, S. Raja Gopal, Saraj Din, Tan Kim Peng, Gwee Peng Hong, Teo Ah Bah, Tan Lye Kwee, Haji Abu Bakar and Haji Rahman.13

Upon arrival in Kuwait, the Singapore party handed the matter over to the Kuwaiti and Japanese governments and returned to Singapore, arriving the following day on 9 February."

Click to expand...

Boliao said:

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1372_2009-01-15.html

"On 7 February, the four were taken to Paya Lebar Airport, where they surrendered their arms, released the hostages, and boarded a specially arranged Japan Airlines (JAL) aircraft. At 1:25 am on 8 February, the plane departed. On board with the hijackers were 13 Singapore government representatives acting as guarantors, two Japanese government officials and 12 JAL crew members.

The Singapore guarantors – comprising eight government officials and four Singapore Armed Forces commandos – were led by S. R. Nathan, who was then director of security and intelligence at the Ministry of Defence.12 Besides Nathan, the other guarantors were: Yoong Siew Wah, Tee Tua Bah, Seah Wai Toh, Andrew Tan, S. Raja Gopal, Saraj Din, Tan Kim Peng, Gwee Peng Hong, Teo Ah Bah, Tan Lye Kwee, Haji Abu Bakar and Haji Rahman.13

Upon arrival in Kuwait, the Singapore party handed the matter over to the Kuwaiti and Japanese governments and returned to Singapore, arriving the following day on 9 February."

Click to expand...

scroobal said:

To be fair to Nathan, he was indeed designated leader for the crisis shortly after the hijacking took place. He was at Marine Police HQ at Kallang during the days of the event. The decision to appoint Nathan rather than Yoong was because Perm Sec MHA worked with Nathan in Labour Min as colleagues. Nathan also became his No. 2 when he set up SID before moving to MHA. ISD with its longer history tend not reveal too much to Perm Sec as this was matter of practice as Old Man was briefed directly. This naturally led to tension.

However the details provided are inaccurate and misleading. Tee Tua Bah did most of the contact and together with Arabic interpreter Haji Rahman followed the hijackers to the Airport when the hijackers were armed. All 4 hijackers spoke Arabic including the 2 Japanese.

The Laju incidents and even the classified details have been put out as case study for Intelligence Officers over the years, discussions held in conferences and even much of the details revealed in the press without revealing what each of the officers did but the Govt yesterday sent out a false description of the story. A story that many who were the years who were taught or attended conference and familiar with the event reading the newspapers during the crisis would know to be false.

Click to expand...

mojito said:

There? Proof! The 13 Singaporeans were exchanged as hostages while flying to Kuwait with the JAL crew serving them green tea and sashimi. Cannot be the Singaporeans there to serve food to the terrorists, no?

Click to expand...

Debonerman said:

One cause and effect was the creation of a live firing exercise for sniper trainees named Laju Laju. You have four riflemen side by side prone and aiming at eight targets in pairs with one painted in black and the other in white. Black is hijacker. White is hostage. No attempt made for realism with black half hidden behind white. And they were as still as Nathan in his casket.

Team leader is supposed to call out a precise cadence so that all four can fire at the same split second. We tried different suggestions of calls during dry rehearsals. None worked until I suggested using "Chao Chee Bye, Chao Chee Bye, Chao Chee Boooom!" We would have won an Olympic Gold for synchronized pulling of triggers!

Click to expand...

scroobal said:

This is today's press report by the Straits Time. Read this first and I fill in the gaps in my second post.

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/steely-hero-of-laju-hostage-drama
Leading the Laju mission was one of S R Nathan’s key contributions

PUBLISHED6 HOURS AGO

The 1974 crisis ended smoothly, largely because of the clear-headed leadership of Nathan
Danson Cheong
In the long and remarkable career of SR Nathan, the Laju hijack of 1974 had all the ingredients of a thriller movie, with the future president of Singapore playing a starring role.

The young today may find it hard to reconcile the jocular grandfather figure with the steely hero of Singapore's hostage drama.

When he boarded the Japan Airlines plane at Paya Lebar Airport with Singapore government officials and commandos to guarantee the safe passage of four terrorists bound for Kuwait, Singapore and his family did not know if he and his team would make it home alive.

PUTTING NATION BEFORE SELF

An immediate worry was my family... My wife and children were bound to be concerned... When I left for the airport... I avoided looking at any of my family in the eye.

MR NATHAN, describing his reaction upon being given the mission of escorting the hijackers out of Singapore, in An Unexpected Journey: Path To The Presidency.
DANGEROUS MISSION

As soon as the aircraft came to a stop, it was tightly surrounded by a cordon of tanks, armoured vehicles and tens of soldiers armed with automatic weapons. The scene looked like the middle of a war zone.

MR NATHAN, describing the scene at Kuwait airport in An Unexpected Journey: Path To The Presidency.
A BRAVE LEADER

He was a good negotiator, a brave man in a foreign country. He took care of us, comforted us, and gave us direction.

Mr S R Nathan being greeted by his wife and children upon his safe return at the Singapore airport.

The drama was played out at a time when there was no Twitter, no Facebook and no live blog to give a blow-by-blow account of what happened.

What the Singaporean team had was guts and gumption.

Mr Saraj Din, 71, a former officer in the Internal Security Department (ISD), who was on the Feb 8 flight, said of Mr Nathan: "He managed to save all our lives when we were all very uncertain of the outcome."

The drama had started on Jan 31, when four terrorists equipped with sub-machine guns and explosives landed on Pulau Bukom.

Their plan was to blow up the Shell oil refinery on the island to disrupt the oil supply from Singapore to South Vietnam to show their support for communist North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

Two were Arabs from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and two were Japanese nationals from the communist militant group Japanese Red Army. The two groups believed in changing the world through revolution, and trained together in guerilla warfare in the Middle East.

On Bukom, they planted explosives at three oil tanks but the blasts caused little damage, and the rest of the explosives failed to go off.

Chased by the police, the terrorists hijacked a ferry at Bukom jetty called Laju, or "fast" in Malay - and held five crew members hostage.

After six days of protracted negotiations, the bombers agreed to release the hostages in exchange for safe passage out of Singapore.

Their destination: an Arab country. But no one would take in the terrorists until another group of terrorists stormed the Japanese Embassy in Kuwait, taking hostages and demanding that the Japanese government send a plane to Singapore to take the Laju terrorists to Kuwait.

On Feb 7, the bombers were taken to Paya Lebar Airport, where they surrendered their weapons and released the remaining three hostages. Two hostages had escaped earlier.

The terrorists were to board a special flight to Kuwait on a plane loaned from Japan. But they had one condition: They demanded a group of guarantors to accompany them on the flight.

Then Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Goh Keng Swee needed a man who would not buckle under pressure to lead the dangerous mission.

He turned to Mr Nathan, then 49, and the director of Singapore's external intelligence agency, the Security and Intelligence Division (SID) in the Ministry of Defence.

Mr Nathan had been involved in the negotiations with the hijackers from the start.

The other 12 members of the team were drawn from government units handling the crisis: the ISD, police, Singapore Armed Forces commandos, and translators: Mr S. Rajagopal, Mr Saraj Din, Mr Tee Tua Ba, Mr Yoong Siew Wah, Mr Seah Wai Toh, Mr Andrew Tan, Mr Tan Kim Peng, Mr Gwee Peng Hong, Mr Teo Ah Bah, Mr Tan Lye Kwee, Haji Abu Bakar and Haji Rahman.

If Mr Nathan was afraid, he did not show it.

In separate interviews with The Straits Times and The New Paper decades after the incident, he recounted how he broke the news of the mission to his wife Urmila. Their children were then 15 and 11.

"I just looked at her and told her, 'I'm going'," Mr Nathan said.

"I knew it'd be very emotional for her and for my children... I had to display some confidence."

When he left for the airport, he avoided looking at any of his family members in the eye.

In an interview with The Straits Times, former ISD officer Rajagopal, 76, recalled then Minister for Home Affairs Chua Sian Chin telling the group at the airport on Feb 8: "Thanks for your service. If anything happens, we will take care of your family."

During the 13-hour flight, the thoughts swirling in Mr Nathan's head veered from the personal - Would he see his wife and children again? - to the practical - Would the plane be allowed to land in Kuwait or would they be forced to refuel and sent off elsewhere? Would the hijackers refuse to let the Singaporeans go and use them as bargaining chips? Everything was up in the air. But Mr Nathan steadied himself with these words: "Have faith and do your duty."

Demonstrating the diplomatic skills that he showed in the foreign service, he chatted with the terrorists and tried to win their trust.

Mr Tee, who was then 31 years old and the officer-in-charge of the Marine Police, recalled: "In the plane, Mr Nathan asked me to engage them, talk to them, and as I was talking to them he would join in."

Mr Tee, 74, later became Commissioner of Police.

"Mr Nathan was quite relaxed, because by that time the terrorists had surrendered their guns. He cracked some jokes, tried to break the ice."

Mr Nathan's goal was to establish rapport with the terrorists, in case negotiations soured and endangered the lives of the Singaporeans on board the plane.

When they landed in Kuwait before sunrise, they were greeted by a wall of tanks, armoured vehicles and soldiers.

It "looked like the middle of a war zone", Mr Nathan wrote in his 2011 memoirs, An Unexpected Journey: Path To The Presidency.

It became clear that getting the Singapore team off the plane was not one of the Kuwaitis' priorities. It seemed likely that the group of terrorists in the country would be bundled onto the plane and flown to a new destination with the Singaporeans on board.

But Mr Nathan had a plan, said Mr Tee. He told the air traffic controllers he had an important message from Singapore's Prime Minister and needed to speak to "somebody high up".

Tense hours passed. The group could not do anything but wait on the tarmac.

"For four to five hours, we were eating instant noodles in the plane and just waiting, so you can imagine our frame of mind," Mr Tee recalled.

Then a fleet of cars approached with lights flashing and sirens blaring. One of the cars, a Cadillac, carried the Kuwaiti Defence Minister, who had finally arrived to negotiate.

Mr Nathan pressed Singapore's position, which was that the team had done their part in bringing the hijackers to Kuwait. Subsequent negotiations were between the Kuwaiti and Japanese governments, and the Singaporeans should be allowed to return home. He stressed that the Singapore team was on Kuwait soil and thus came under the protection of the Kuwaiti government.

The Kuwaiti Defence Minister rebuffed him several times and told him to shut up.

At one point, he threatened to arrest Mr Nathan.

"Mr Nathan was very calm but very determined... It was not an easy situation to handle, how much can you push the line?" said Mr Tee.

The hours ticked by. Mr Nathan left the plane several times to negotiate with the Kuwaitis and the Japanese ambassador.

The breakthrough came with the arrival of Kuwait's Foreign Minister. After more talking, he finally told Mr Nathan: "All of you get down and get lost."

The Singapore delegation did as they were told.

The Kuwaiti Foreign Minister told Mr Nathan that the Singaporeans should make themselves scarce until their flight home was due, in case the hijackers demanded they be put back on the plane if negotiations with the Kuwaitis did not go well.

So the team did what Singaporeans do best - they went shopping. Mr Nathan gave each member of the team US$100 and they disappeared into a bazaar.

They met later that day to catch a Kuwaiti Airlines flight to Bahrain. From there, they boarded a Singapore Airlines flight home. They arrived in Singapore around sunset on Feb 9.

Mr Rajagopal described how Mr Nathan rose to the occasion: "He was a good negotiator, a brave man in a foreign country. He took care of us, comforted us, and gave us direction."

But the man of the hour did not make a big deal of the fraught situation. He told The New Paper: "It was a job I did. It was an episode we all wanted to forget."

A month before Mr Nathan stepped down as president in 2011, he invited the group involved in the Laju incident to tea at the Istana.

Mr Saraj said they talked about Singapore's tense formative years: battling the communists, racial unrest and other security problems.

"Young people these days see Mr Nathan as a father figure, but they don't know him in his younger days. The situation in Singapore then was entirely different."

It was a time for a generation of "pragmatic leaders" like Mr Nathan, who could handle these situations, said Mr Saraj.

"With the passing of Mr Nathan and Mr Lee Kuan Yew, that generation of leaders is largely gone."

Click to expand...

kingrant said:

Fuck! He couldnt even get past the Kuwaitis, let alone negotiate with the terrorists!

He was told to shut up and fuck off and gven money to go shopping! What the fuck sacrifice was that?

Giant of our time? S'pore's greatest son! My shoes and feet already so wet with my spit..I just had to spit one more time! Pui!

Opened todays paper and pages after pages of propaganda to make it all look so good when he was just a dispensable sacrificial lamb to save the LKY govt from embarrassment! Really scraping the barrel I say! Pui pui!

Click to expand...

GoldenDragon said:

Looks like Saraj Din is the biggest loser among his police and ISD kakis. Saraj was later involved in the SQ incident.

Tee made it as CP and later ambassador. He continues to be in the good books of the Establishment and was never punished with a Sr DS or Sr Fellow posting after retirement from the SPF.

Seah retired as Supt or DAC and served till his late 70s. He was basically cbl for many years. His daughter joined the ISD years ago. I am sure father played no role in her getting a job there.

Gopal retired as a Supt. Opened a pharmacy in Little India and continues to be a listening post in LI.

Poor Saraj retired as a DSP I think. Could even be ASP 2. They found him a job at Premier Security! What a lousy deal. Should have retired by now.

Scroobal is right. The rivalry between SID and ISD continues has always been intense with each trying to outwit the other, all the time. Interference is another. While domestic Intel belongs to ISD, this did not stop SID from putting an Ah Neh to contest against LKY as an independent.

Click to expand...

scroobal said:

To be fair to Nathan, he was indeed designated leader for the crisis shortly after the hijacking took place. He was at Marine Police HQ at Kallang during the days of the event. The decision to appoint Nathan rather than Yoong was because Perm Sec MHA worked with Nathan in Labour Min as colleagues. Nathan also became his No. 2 when he set up SID before moving to MHA. ISD with its longer history tend not reveal too much to Perm Sec as this was matter of practice as Old Man was briefed directly. This naturally led to tension.

However the details provided are inaccurate and misleading. Tee Tua Bah did most of the contact and together with Arabic interpreter Haji Rahman followed the hijackers to the Airport when the hijackers were armed. All 4 hijackers spoke Arabic including the 2 Japanese.

The Laju incidents and even the classified details have been put out as case study for Intelligence Officers over the years, discussions held in conferences and even much of the details revealed in the press without revealing what each of the officers did but the Govt yesterday sent out a false description of the story. A story that many who were the years who were taught or attended conference and familiar with the event reading the newspapers during the crisis would know to be false.

Click to expand...

steffychun said:

Was ISD less valued by Lau Lee except fro political cases like Marxists and Coldstore?

Click to expand...

GoldenDragon said:

Looks like Saraj Din is the biggest loser among his police and ISD kakis. Saraj was later involved in the SQ incident.

Tee made it as CP and later ambassador. He continues to be in the good books of the Establishment and was never punished with a Sr DS or Sr Fellow posting after retirement from the SPF.

Seah retired as Supt or DAC and served till his late 70s. He was basically cbl for many years. His daughter joined the ISD years ago. I am sure father played no role in her getting a job there.

Gopal retired as a Supt. Opened a pharmacy in Little India and continues to be a listening post in LI.

Poor Saraj retired as a DSP I think. Could even be ASP 2. They found him a job at Premier Security! What a lousy deal. Should have retired by now.

Scroobal is right. The rivalry between SID and ISD continues has always been intense with each trying to outwit the other, all the time. Interference is another. While domestic Intel belongs to ISD, this did not stop SID from putting an Ah Neh to contest against LKY as an independent.

Click to expand...