Interesting times in indeed.
You seem to know what is going on. KL is now the centre for all these activist and one prominent ex-detainee has actually moved there. They have no idea the excellent relationship that Special Branch and ISD have.
And it it is shadows that we should be worried about. When Operations Spectrum was done and dusted, these detainees should have worked out who the authorities amongst those detained that they were actually after or more importantly who made use of them. Teo Soh Lung till this day has no clue.
Here is another example and recent as well. TOC is now their vehicle and Terry Xu and Howard Lee have no clue. When they took the $5,000 as donation from Monsoon Book Club which was founded by Tan Wah Piow did they not work out what is going on. Firstly it is not a commercial entity. It clearly shows on its website that it is a non-profit organisation and itself is asking for and dependent on donations. Did it not occur to them why MDA did not object first and wait for things to run its course.
And for Tan Wah Piow. He knows full well that the formation of a book club to advance their cause was central to why Operation Spectrum came into being. I would suggest that he was been mischievous when he formed it and then gave the money thru it but he does not realise the damage he has done to Terry and Howard who have no idea that they are part of the Wayang Kulit that is going. That money could have been given in hundreds of other ways.
It's this convenient oversight of the overall narrative that exposes the gullibility of the electorate, past present and future.
The heads-up on Function 8 is another example how well-meaning individuals can easily fall prey to the machinations of another game being played.
I was made aware that there was a group of ex-detainees and dissidents that had been gathering in Malaysia around the time the Old Man was on his death bed in preparation - since he has passed I believe we have entered into a new chapter of an old storybook - there is much happening on the ground and self-martyrs like Roy and the fiendish Amos serve a purpose for those in the shadows. Perhaps they are also overreaching especially given the small island that we are as their presence is known and not gone un-noted.
I am sure Tharman was playing on the typical idealism of those gathered for the seminar - many have stood up and asked questions only to look back and shudder at their naivity when they grow up and have to hold down jobs and pay bills.
The term "dissident" is hackneyed and almost embarrassing in today's context when you have the Internet and social media apps like Facebook and Twitter at your disposal to push out perspectives. Plus you have anti rely new generation of voters who are cynical but complacent and would rather sell chai lattes than innovate. And they've grown up in what has been declared as the " lost decade" of Singapore where issue of identity have not been resolved yet been challenged and diluted further by new arrivals and converts.
Interesting times.