Former detainees and social activists marked the 30th anniversary of the alleged Marxist conspiracy in 1987 with the launch of a new book at The Projector on Sunday (21 May).
Entitled “1987: Singapore’s Marxist Conspiracy 30 Years On”, it consists of essays by some 30-odd contributors, including many who were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA). It is published by civil society group Function 8.
The launch was preceded by a screening of the documentary 1987: Untracing The Conspiracy by filmmaker Jason Soo, and a dialogue session with former ISA detainees Vincent Cheng, 70, Kenneth Tsang, 64, Chng Suan Tze, 68, and Low Yit Leng, in her 50s. The ex-detainees called for the abolition of the ISA and to allow political exiles to come back to Singapore.
Cheng, who was a full-time church worker in 1987, was fingered as the ringleader of the so-called conspiracy.
“Deep down, the trauma is still there… it still features back, now and then, in my dreams,” he said in response to a question from the audience about whether he had suffered any post-detention trauma. He also noted that, before the events of 1987, he had been “very pro-PAP” – referring to Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party – while training at a seminary to become a Catholic priest.
Veteran activist Constance Singham, who moderated the event, also called the detainees’ experience “the cruelest of injustices”, adding that the events of 1987 had made Singaporeans “cynical, suspicious and fearful” of civil society. “We all lived in fear of detention, that knock on the door at midnight,” she said.
read more at https://sg.yahoo.com/news/ex-detain...ersary-1987-marxist-conspiracy-184921962.html
Entitled “1987: Singapore’s Marxist Conspiracy 30 Years On”, it consists of essays by some 30-odd contributors, including many who were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA). It is published by civil society group Function 8.
The launch was preceded by a screening of the documentary 1987: Untracing The Conspiracy by filmmaker Jason Soo, and a dialogue session with former ISA detainees Vincent Cheng, 70, Kenneth Tsang, 64, Chng Suan Tze, 68, and Low Yit Leng, in her 50s. The ex-detainees called for the abolition of the ISA and to allow political exiles to come back to Singapore.
Cheng, who was a full-time church worker in 1987, was fingered as the ringleader of the so-called conspiracy.
“Deep down, the trauma is still there… it still features back, now and then, in my dreams,” he said in response to a question from the audience about whether he had suffered any post-detention trauma. He also noted that, before the events of 1987, he had been “very pro-PAP” – referring to Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party – while training at a seminary to become a Catholic priest.
Veteran activist Constance Singham, who moderated the event, also called the detainees’ experience “the cruelest of injustices”, adding that the events of 1987 had made Singaporeans “cynical, suspicious and fearful” of civil society. “We all lived in fear of detention, that knock on the door at midnight,” she said.
read more at https://sg.yahoo.com/news/ex-detain...ersary-1987-marxist-conspiracy-184921962.html
