- Joined
- Aug 19, 2008
- Messages
- 38,563
- Points
- 113
BBC: The alternative political rule for SG Lee in jail, Lim in Power
- Thread starter steffychun
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2011
- Messages
- 24,413
- Points
- 113
Nice article, but next time can copy paste here?
Could Singapore have become communist?
By Tessa Wong
BBC News, Singapore
5 August 2015
Modern Singapore: prosperous and peaceful, and led by charismatic working-class hero Lim Chin Siong. His political rival, Lee Kuan Yew, is living in exile and ignominy.
This scenario - ludicrous to Singaporeans celebrating 50 years of independence led by Lee - was dreamt up by local artist Sonny Liew in a new book which imagines an alternative history.
But in the years leading up to Singapore's independence there really was a bitter political battle between Lim's leftist Barisan Socialis party and Lee's People's Action Party (PAP), one that arguably defined the path of the nation.
Stifling dissent?
During the instability after World War Two, Singapore and the rest of British Malaya saw a violent anti-colonial and communist insurgency.
In a subsequent crackdown in 1963, Lim and other Barisan leaders were detained, accused of being part of a communist terror network out to overthrow the authorities.
A wave of arrests followed of people accused of communist subversion which continued until the late 1980s. At least 690 people were detained without trial while others fled.
The official narrative is that they all posed serious security threats and had to be neutralised for Singapore to become a stable capitalist democracy.
But to this day, some of those detained maintain their innocence, and in recent years more voices have emerged accusing the PAP of using this narrative as a smokescreen to stifle dissent.
-----
Singapore communist crackdowns
1963 Operation Coldstore: More than 130 communists and leftists arrested, some held for years without trial
1963-1988: At least 690 people detained, with many accused of being "Euro-Communists".
1987 Operation Spectrum: Sixteen Catholic church workers and professionals accused of a "Marxist conspiracy" and held for nearly three years
----
In Mr Liew's alternative reality, Singapore prospers under Lim's rule while Lee is in exile
So was Barisan really part of a terror network?
The government certainly still says so. Just last year, it said the Barisan was "not an ordinary left-wing political party, and its leaders were not 'unwitting dupes' of the communists" but was planning "to use violent unconstitutional means to overthrow the government."
But former Barisan leader Dr Poh Soo Kai, among those arrested, insists this was not true.
"There may have been some communists in our party, but we were not following their orders. We did not want terrorism, we were committed to constitutional reform," the 83-year-old says.
Dr Poh was imprisoned twice, once in 1963 and again in 1976. He spent a total of 17 years in jail without trial.
He says the real reason for his second arrest on subversion charges was because of his civil rights activism and criticism of Lee Kuan Yew.
He now lives in Malaysia, returning often to Singapore in his campaign for alternative views of history to be recognised.
"I want to show that the government has not been telling the truth because they just want to be in power. Truth is on my side and I must explain this for future generations and for history," he says.
Another Barisan leader, Fong Swee Suan, was also imprisoned in 1963 and then lived in exile until the 1990s. He maintains he was never a communist, and also denies the charge that he instigated deadly riots among striking bus workers.
"I want people to be aware that my father has made a positive contribution to Singapore," says his son Otto Fong, speaking on his elderly father's behalf.
"He helped workers organise their unions. He only wanted to speak up for their needs, and make the relationship between employees and employers better."
With the government continuing to reject his father's claims of innocence, "there is a whole nation of people believing in something that is not healthy," he says.
Lingering doubts
Recently declassified British documents detailing discussions among the city's leaders have led some to see the Barisan arrests as a politically expedient decision.
Historian Thum Ping Tjin argues that Singapore's leaders viewed Barisan as an electoral threat, while Britain believed the party would be uncooperative if it won power.
"The fact that [the Singapore authorities] have not released any evidence which contradicts my work suggests that they have none," Mr Thum says.
Another controversial crackdown depicted in Mr Liew's book was the 1987 "Marxist Conspiracy"
There have also been doubts about subsequent crackdowns - one cabinet minister resigned over arrests made in 1987.
Lawyer Teo Soh Lung, who was detained at that time, says: "We were not politicians. In today's context you would consider us social activists. We were conducting open and legitimate activities."
Ms Teo is now part of an activist group that is campaigning for the abolition of laws that detained her and others without trial
Legacy of intolerance?
The arrests set Singapore on the path to the PAP-dominated capitalist state it is today, with no powerful opposition.
Singapore historian Kumar Ramakrishna believes the 1963 crackdown was "important to remove the communist threat".
Had the threat not been quelled, he says, communists "would have more deeply penetrated our body politic and destabilised not just Singapore but also relations with Malaya".
Documentarian Tan Pin Pin's film on political exiles has been banned from being shown publically in Singapore
But critics point to a chilling effect on society.
Singaporeans "tend to react badly when people present a different point of view, because clamping down is the only way we know how to deal with dissent," says Otto Fong.
Yet as Singapore turns 50, the struggle to control the narrative of the past continues.
Some of the ageing detainees have published their accounts and younger Singaporeans have made films or written books about the crackdowns.
But censors banned public screenings of a film on political exiles, and a national arts fund pulled its grant for Mr Liew's graphic novel. The works were deemed to have "undermined government authority".
The government has also reprinted a book promoting its version of events, and published strenuous rebuttals in local media.
In Mr Liew's book, the alternative reality of Singapore led by Lim Chin Siong is torn apart
As for Mr Liew's alternative vision of Singapore, it does not prevail. At the end of his book a ghostly apparition with Lee Kuan Yew's face turns back time, insisting there was only one path that Singapore could ever have taken.
While it might be futile to re-imagine history, says Mr Liew, "that does not mean that there is no point to exploring alternative interpretations".
"It is only when we allow for a greater variety of voices that we can come to a better, richer, understanding of our past."
Could Singapore have become communist?
By Tessa Wong
BBC News, Singapore
5 August 2015
Modern Singapore: prosperous and peaceful, and led by charismatic working-class hero Lim Chin Siong. His political rival, Lee Kuan Yew, is living in exile and ignominy.
This scenario - ludicrous to Singaporeans celebrating 50 years of independence led by Lee - was dreamt up by local artist Sonny Liew in a new book which imagines an alternative history.
But in the years leading up to Singapore's independence there really was a bitter political battle between Lim's leftist Barisan Socialis party and Lee's People's Action Party (PAP), one that arguably defined the path of the nation.
Stifling dissent?
During the instability after World War Two, Singapore and the rest of British Malaya saw a violent anti-colonial and communist insurgency.
In a subsequent crackdown in 1963, Lim and other Barisan leaders were detained, accused of being part of a communist terror network out to overthrow the authorities.
A wave of arrests followed of people accused of communist subversion which continued until the late 1980s. At least 690 people were detained without trial while others fled.
The official narrative is that they all posed serious security threats and had to be neutralised for Singapore to become a stable capitalist democracy.
But to this day, some of those detained maintain their innocence, and in recent years more voices have emerged accusing the PAP of using this narrative as a smokescreen to stifle dissent.
-----
Singapore communist crackdowns
1963 Operation Coldstore: More than 130 communists and leftists arrested, some held for years without trial
1963-1988: At least 690 people detained, with many accused of being "Euro-Communists".
1987 Operation Spectrum: Sixteen Catholic church workers and professionals accused of a "Marxist conspiracy" and held for nearly three years
----
In Mr Liew's alternative reality, Singapore prospers under Lim's rule while Lee is in exile
So was Barisan really part of a terror network?
The government certainly still says so. Just last year, it said the Barisan was "not an ordinary left-wing political party, and its leaders were not 'unwitting dupes' of the communists" but was planning "to use violent unconstitutional means to overthrow the government."
But former Barisan leader Dr Poh Soo Kai, among those arrested, insists this was not true.
"There may have been some communists in our party, but we were not following their orders. We did not want terrorism, we were committed to constitutional reform," the 83-year-old says.
Dr Poh was imprisoned twice, once in 1963 and again in 1976. He spent a total of 17 years in jail without trial.
He says the real reason for his second arrest on subversion charges was because of his civil rights activism and criticism of Lee Kuan Yew.
He now lives in Malaysia, returning often to Singapore in his campaign for alternative views of history to be recognised.
"I want to show that the government has not been telling the truth because they just want to be in power. Truth is on my side and I must explain this for future generations and for history," he says.
Another Barisan leader, Fong Swee Suan, was also imprisoned in 1963 and then lived in exile until the 1990s. He maintains he was never a communist, and also denies the charge that he instigated deadly riots among striking bus workers.
"I want people to be aware that my father has made a positive contribution to Singapore," says his son Otto Fong, speaking on his elderly father's behalf.
"He helped workers organise their unions. He only wanted to speak up for their needs, and make the relationship between employees and employers better."
With the government continuing to reject his father's claims of innocence, "there is a whole nation of people believing in something that is not healthy," he says.
Lingering doubts
Recently declassified British documents detailing discussions among the city's leaders have led some to see the Barisan arrests as a politically expedient decision.
Historian Thum Ping Tjin argues that Singapore's leaders viewed Barisan as an electoral threat, while Britain believed the party would be uncooperative if it won power.
"The fact that [the Singapore authorities] have not released any evidence which contradicts my work suggests that they have none," Mr Thum says.
Another controversial crackdown depicted in Mr Liew's book was the 1987 "Marxist Conspiracy"
There have also been doubts about subsequent crackdowns - one cabinet minister resigned over arrests made in 1987.
Lawyer Teo Soh Lung, who was detained at that time, says: "We were not politicians. In today's context you would consider us social activists. We were conducting open and legitimate activities."
Ms Teo is now part of an activist group that is campaigning for the abolition of laws that detained her and others without trial
Legacy of intolerance?
The arrests set Singapore on the path to the PAP-dominated capitalist state it is today, with no powerful opposition.
Singapore historian Kumar Ramakrishna believes the 1963 crackdown was "important to remove the communist threat".
Had the threat not been quelled, he says, communists "would have more deeply penetrated our body politic and destabilised not just Singapore but also relations with Malaya".
Documentarian Tan Pin Pin's film on political exiles has been banned from being shown publically in Singapore
But critics point to a chilling effect on society.
Singaporeans "tend to react badly when people present a different point of view, because clamping down is the only way we know how to deal with dissent," says Otto Fong.
Yet as Singapore turns 50, the struggle to control the narrative of the past continues.
Some of the ageing detainees have published their accounts and younger Singaporeans have made films or written books about the crackdowns.
But censors banned public screenings of a film on political exiles, and a national arts fund pulled its grant for Mr Liew's graphic novel. The works were deemed to have "undermined government authority".
The government has also reprinted a book promoting its version of events, and published strenuous rebuttals in local media.
In Mr Liew's book, the alternative reality of Singapore led by Lim Chin Siong is torn apart
As for Mr Liew's alternative vision of Singapore, it does not prevail. At the end of his book a ghostly apparition with Lee Kuan Yew's face turns back time, insisting there was only one path that Singapore could ever have taken.
While it might be futile to re-imagine history, says Mr Liew, "that does not mean that there is no point to exploring alternative interpretations".
"It is only when we allow for a greater variety of voices that we can come to a better, richer, understanding of our past."
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2008
- Messages
- 38,563
- Points
- 113
thy are courteous unlike Yee.
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2011
- Messages
- 24,413
- Points
- 113
Young man don't understand importance of staying classy.
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2013
- Messages
- 17,813
- Points
- 113
Communist is just an excuse to placate the western powers,"promote democracy",and cement LKY's position of power in the favour of the west.Just like suharto did in the 1960s.
Truth is singapore is every bit as communist as cchina.at least china has the balls to stand for who they truly are and tell the west to fuck off.
Truth is singapore is every bit as communist as cchina.at least china has the balls to stand for who they truly are and tell the west to fuck off.
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2008
- Messages
- 4,621
- Points
- 113
[TABLE="width: 100%"]
[TR="bgcolor: #cccccc"]
[TD][TABLE="width: 100%"]
[TR="bgcolor: #F9F9F9"]
[TD="width: 86%, bgcolor: #F9F9F9, colspan: 4, align: left"]Asia
[h=1]Could Singapore have become communist?[/h]By Tessa WongBBC News, Singapore
- 5 August 2015
- From the sectionAsia
This scenario - ludicrous to Singaporeans celebrating 50 years of independence led by Lee - was dreamt up by local artist Sonny Liew in a new book which imagines an alternative history.
But in the years leading up to Singapore's independence there really was a bitter political battle between Lim's leftist Barisan Socialis party and Lee's People's Action Party (PAP), one that arguably defined the path of the nation.
[h=2]Stifling dissent?[/h]During the instability after World War Two, Singapore and the rest of British Malaya saw a violent anti-colonial and communist insurgency.
In a subsequent crackdown in 1963, Lim and other Barisan leaders were detained, accused of being part of a communist terror network out to overthrow the authorities.
A wave of arrests followed of people accused of communist subversion which continued until the late 1980s. At least 690 people were detained without trial while others fled.
The official narrative is that they all posed serious security threats and had to be neutralised for Singapore to become a stable capitalist democracy.
But to this day, some of those detained maintain their innocence, and in recent years more voices have emerged accusing the PAP of using this narrative as a smokescreen to stifle dissent.
- 1963 Operation Coldstore: More than 130 communists and leftists arrested, some held for years without trial
- 1963-1988: At least 690 people detained, with many accused of being "Euro-Communists".
- 1987 Operation Spectrum: Sixteen Catholic church workers and professionals accused of a "Marxist conspiracy" and held for nearly three years
The government certainly still says so. Just last year, it said the Barisan was "not an ordinary left-wing political party, and its leaders were not 'unwitting dupes' of the communists" but was planning "to use violent unconstitutional means to overthrow the government."
But former Barisan leader Dr Poh Soo Kai, among those arrested, insists this was not true.
"There may have been some communists in our party, but we were not following their orders. We did not want terrorism, we were committed to constitutional reform," the 83-year-old says.
He says the real reason for his second arrest on subversion charges was because of his civil rights activism and criticism of Lee Kuan Yew.
He now lives in Malaysia, returning often to Singapore in his campaign for alternative views of history to be recognised.
"I want to show that the government has not been telling the truth because they just want to be in power. Truth is on my side and I must explain this for future generations and for history," he says.
"I want people to be aware that my father has made a positive contribution to Singapore," says his son Otto Fong, speaking on his elderly father's behalf.
"He helped workers organise their unions. He only wanted to speak up for their needs, and make the relationship between employees and employers better."
With the government continuing to reject his father's claims of innocence, "there is a whole nation of people believing in something that is not healthy," he says.
[h=2]Lingering doubts[/h]Recently declassified British documents detailing discussions among the city's leaders have led some to see the Barisan arrests as a politically expedient decision.
Historian Thum Ping Tjin argues that Singapore's leaders viewed Barisan as an electoral threat, while Britain believed the party would be uncooperative if it won power.
"The fact that [the Singapore authorities] have not released any evidence which contradicts my work suggests that they have none," Mr Thum says.
Lawyer Teo Soh Lung, who was detained at that time, says: "We were not politicians. In today's context you would consider us social activists. We were conducting open and legitimate activities."
Singapore historian Kumar Ramakrishna believes the 1963 crackdown was "important to remove the communist threat".
Had the threat not been quelled, he says, communists "would have more deeply penetrated our body politic and destabilised not just Singapore but also relations with Malaya".
Singaporeans "tend to react badly when people present a different point of view, because clamping down is the only way we know how to deal with dissent," says Otto Fong.
Read more: Amos Yee, the boy who insulted Lee
Yet as Singapore turns 50, the struggle to control the narrative of the past continues.
Some of the ageing detainees have published their accounts and younger Singaporeans have made films or written books about the crackdowns.
But censors banned public screenings of a film on political exiles, and a national arts fund pulled its grant for Mr Liew's graphic novel. The works were deemed to have "undermined government authority".
The government has also reprinted a book promoting its version of events, and published strenuous rebuttals in local media.
While it might be futile to re-imagine history, says Mr Liew, "that does not mean that there is no point to exploring alternative interpretations".
"It is only when we allow for a greater variety of voices that we can come to a better, richer, understanding of our past."
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33621862
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Last edited:
Friends,
Singapore Chinese were wealthy merchants trading in this region. Opium smoking was a for luxury for small group of rich people but NOT for ALL Chinese to consume. This was the problem Chinese politician faced at that time inheriting majority poor Chinese smoking opium. Inheriting a poor nation was always a struggle for the local politicians and Old fart has to become a devil advocate to make change.
The political struggle between LKY and Lim has to do with the drug trafficker muther fucker British governor that ruined the lives of mainly Chinese Singapore. The bastard white trash British turned Singapore into a poor nation drug addicts Chinese. Old fart has it wrong without taking the bastard white British into account they ruined Singapore.
Now, to talk about the struggle to fight Malaysia/ Singapore independent and political struggle for we have to include the white bastards drug trafficker British.
We should bring this White Bastard British back to apologize to Singapore and Borneo for the atrocities done to Mainly Chinese Singaporeans.
The Australia's Indigenous peoples had made the bastard white British to apologize for the lost generations, Singapore should do it also.
Apology Transcript
The Speaker of the House (Hon Harry Jenkins MP): The Clerk.
The Clerk: Government business notice number 1, Motion offering an apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples.
The Speaker: Prime Minister.
Prime Minister (Hon Kevin Rudd MP): Mr Speaker, I move:
That today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history
http://www.australia.gov.au/about-a...ople/apology-to-australias-indigenous-peoples
Singapore Chinese were wealthy merchants trading in this region. Opium smoking was a for luxury for small group of rich people but NOT for ALL Chinese to consume. This was the problem Chinese politician faced at that time inheriting majority poor Chinese smoking opium. Inheriting a poor nation was always a struggle for the local politicians and Old fart has to become a devil advocate to make change.
The political struggle between LKY and Lim has to do with the drug trafficker muther fucker British governor that ruined the lives of mainly Chinese Singapore. The bastard white trash British turned Singapore into a poor nation drug addicts Chinese. Old fart has it wrong without taking the bastard white British into account they ruined Singapore.
Now, to talk about the struggle to fight Malaysia/ Singapore independent and political struggle for we have to include the white bastards drug trafficker British.
We should bring this White Bastard British back to apologize to Singapore and Borneo for the atrocities done to Mainly Chinese Singaporeans.
The Australia's Indigenous peoples had made the bastard white British to apologize for the lost generations, Singapore should do it also.
Apology Transcript
The Speaker of the House (Hon Harry Jenkins MP): The Clerk.
The Clerk: Government business notice number 1, Motion offering an apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples.
The Speaker: Prime Minister.
Prime Minister (Hon Kevin Rudd MP): Mr Speaker, I move:
That today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history
http://www.australia.gov.au/about-a...ople/apology-to-australias-indigenous-peoples
China Chinese will NOT be a communist country if they are not destroyed by the bastard White British trafficking opium at China door step. China history will NOT be the same fi NOT for the bastard white British Empire.
As descendants of China Chinese we must NOT the these bastard White Briish off which they are trying to hide the atrocities past against the Asian Chinese and China Chinese.
We must work together to get the bastard white British accountable for making Asian nations poor countries for past 150 years (1700- 1945).
Fuck the bastard white British barbaric nation and race.
As descendants of China Chinese we must NOT the these bastard White Briish off which they are trying to hide the atrocities past against the Asian Chinese and China Chinese.
We must work together to get the bastard white British accountable for making Asian nations poor countries for past 150 years (1700- 1945).
Fuck the bastard white British barbaric nation and race.
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2010
- Messages
- 35,361
- Points
- 113
Fucking Brits were the ones who helped vile scum shit lky to power.
Anyways it's always good to think of alternate outcome of history....machiam if hitler's assassination had been successful. Alas we are stuck in this shitty version with lky as victor.
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2012
- Messages
- 15,733
- Points
- 83
i think the familee now promoting communism with one party, one leadership no?
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2008
- Messages
- 38,563
- Points
- 113
PAP members call each other Comrade
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2012
- Messages
- 15,733
- Points
- 83
Even boss sam is not accorded as dear leader here
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2014
- Messages
- 36,768
- Points
- 113
Asking around, you will realize that most sinkies are grateful to Ah Gong for locking up these Commie bastards. If not for that, PAP may have been toppled, Singapore becoming another Malaysia or Batam or worse, another Manila. Who cares if Lim Chin Siong could have been innocent? The imprisonment of hundreds of commies in exchange for the prosperity of millions under Ah Gong was a good deal. If we could turn back the clock, we would have done it all over again!
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2011
- Messages
- 28,046
- Points
- 113
Someday, you will suck up to Amos Yee.
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2011
- Messages
- 28,046
- Points
- 113
Pure BS ...if Barisan had taken over, we could have Norwegian standard of living and similar size sovereign funds.
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2008
- Messages
- 38,563
- Points
- 113
His Father maybe. His father has a sound mind to say his son is not wise.
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2008
- Messages
- 90,732
- Points
- 113
His father said his son "is intelligent but not wise". The "intelligent" part is very important. 
Similar threads
