Leslie Chew, the cartoonist who drew the cartoon below, was arrested under the Sedition Act for drawing cartoons based on the hard truths in Singapore. He makes a living from Demon-cratic.com, a satirical collection of cartoons aimed chiefly at exposing the PAP for who they really are (hell, he even drew a cartoon of my sex blog saga back in 2012).
This particular cartoon here that he published a few days ago really resonated with me. I did some more research into this matter and read more about the unlawful detention of Lim Chin Siong, Lim Hock Siew, Chia Thye Poh, etc. (all duly-elected Members of Parliaments and some are even co-founders of the PAP along with Lee Kuan Yew, mind you) for one, two, or even three decades during Operation Cold Store in 1963.
These men were ambushed early in the morning, arrested by the police, denied access to lawyers, and immediately detained indefinitely without trial, investigation, or even a formal charge. This is the exact type of false imprisonment that took place in the USSR and Nazi Germany. Imagine the lives of these men irreversibly destroyed by Lee Kuan Yew, their wives husbandless and their children fatherless for decades. Their political ambitions and fundamental right to pursuit of happiness? All gone.
Their crimes? None. Nothing, except having the support of the people and having a different opinion on how to run Singapore. Mind you, these Barisan Sosialis leaders were also English-educated, professionals, graduates, and massively popular among the working class population, like Lee Kuan Yew. There was not a shred of evidence that they were inciting violence or contributed to terrorist endeavors; Lee Kuan Yew was just scared of losing the general election in 1963, like Najib is scared of Anwar now.
These men marched alongside Lee Kuan Yew in the early days of the PAP (during the 1950s), toiling day and night to build the future of Singapore, and Lee Kuan Yew decided to betray them once and for all once they started to diverge in opinion.
For those who think that prison is a walk in the park, think again. Prisoners are not only subjected to living conditions of total squalor but also mentally tortured and physically abused all the time. These political detainees were beaten, forced to do hard labor, and denied their basic human rights (like sanitation and edible food), even in prison.
I recommend that, while we watch hours upon hours of documentary on how great Lee Kuan Yew was, we take a break and dedicate 20 minutes to watching the recount of Dr Lim Hock Siew, a trained medical doctor, who was detained for more than 2 decades by Lee Kuan Yew for no reason whatsoever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nEyfVOKrPo. He recalled the tyranny and pure cruelty to which he was subjected under Lee Kuan Yew's iron-fist, authoritarian rule, and he was even magnanimous enough to let go and forgive Lee Kuan Yew.
This is a black mark on Lee Kuan Yew's record no matter how you argue it. It's a really fucked up thing to do, on par with murder. It also showed that Lee Kuan Yew feared these people so much that they had to be locked up right before the 1963 general election... just because they defected to form Barisan Sosialis.
Just like if Lee Kuan Yew had been a rapist or murderer, we should be very cautious about extending blanket respect and reverence to a man that has been documented to be so cold and heartless towards people who threatened his political position. He might not have murdered anyone that we know of, but some say torture is worse than death.
If you haven't been in prison, you know nothing about what it does to a person. News flash: more than one of these detainees have tried to commit suicide during their detention ordeal. That goes to show that even death is preferable to continuous actual torture.
Even if we accept the argument that the 1960s were tumultuous times and they were so-called communists who need to be locked up pre-emptively for Singapore's safety and security (that's laughable, but for the sake of argument please bear with me), Lee Kuan Yew's continued detention of them even long after he consolidated his own power shows that he's a cold, heartless tyrant. It was unnecessary, but he just wanted to show them who's boss.
When he finally released them, he offered no apology whatsoever, even though he personally was involved in detaining these people. Hell, post-World War II leaders of Germany have been continuously apologizing to the world for Adolf Hitler's actions even though they had nothing to do with him. Lee Kuan Yew, a man who was directly involved in this travesty of justice, pretended that nothing was happening.
Let's not even talk about compensation for the husbandless wives and fatherless children he so remorselessly deprived of love and care and a fair chance at life. Anything from the government after all these years? None of course. Compensation would amount to admission of guilt, and Lee Kuan Yew couldn't bear losing face like that. Face is more important than doing the right thing, which is still PAP's principle up to today.
Ultimately, the type of leaders you support reflects the type of people you are. Heartless selfish people elect heartless selfish leaders. I'm so glad that I don't live in a society that tries to place a value on the sanctity of human rights and human life.