Jul 17, 2010
Ex-cop remembers communist subversion
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THURSDAY'S report, 'Ex-Barisan leader refutes historian', took me on a walk down memory lane.
I was part of the fray when the Singapore Government was trying to overcome its teething problems while battling the communists who controlled the many trade unions.
Former Barisan Sosialis leader Poh Soo Kai's refutation of Chinese historian Cheng Yinghong's view that the decline of Singapore's once-powerful left (Barisan) was due to radical influences from China's Cultural Revolution is unconvincing to me.
Dr Poh claimed that it was the suppression of rivals by the People's Action Party that led to the decline of Singapore's leftists. This is a fallacy. In 1961, the Barisan was the "formidable" opposition in Parliament. Its members decided to walk out and make the streets their Parliament by resorting to violence and acts of vandalism.
Operation Cold Store was started not to suppress the opposition, but to apprehend and detain subversive elements so that Singapore could enjoy peace and stability. Subversive members from the Barisan were hauled in through the operation and had to be detained under the Internal Security Act. Those members who managed to escape the dragnet entered the Malaysian jungle to join their comrades in the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM).
In 1981, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping ordered the Suara Revolusi Malaya (Voice of the Malayan Revolution), which had been operating in Hunan, China, since 1969, to be shut down. This was a big blow to the CPM's propaganda machinery.
Another big blow suffered by the CPM was in the mid 1970s, when the party was fractured internally into separate communist party factions.
Hence, with Deng in power, the Cultural Revolution was crushed and without the support of the CPM, the Barisan was orphaned. Thus, Dr Cheng's claim that its decline was due to radical influences from China is plausible and holds more water.
And my part in the fight against communist subversion?
I was serving in the Singapore Police Force from 1961 to 1988 and had the privilege of cutting the chain that secured the front door of the Barisan headquarters then in Victoria Street. And this was during a raid on the premises in the early hours of the morning and in connection with Operation Cold Store.
Lionel De Souza
Ex-cop remembers communist subversion
<!-- by line --><!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
THURSDAY'S report, 'Ex-Barisan leader refutes historian', took me on a walk down memory lane.
I was part of the fray when the Singapore Government was trying to overcome its teething problems while battling the communists who controlled the many trade unions.
Former Barisan Sosialis leader Poh Soo Kai's refutation of Chinese historian Cheng Yinghong's view that the decline of Singapore's once-powerful left (Barisan) was due to radical influences from China's Cultural Revolution is unconvincing to me.
Dr Poh claimed that it was the suppression of rivals by the People's Action Party that led to the decline of Singapore's leftists. This is a fallacy. In 1961, the Barisan was the "formidable" opposition in Parliament. Its members decided to walk out and make the streets their Parliament by resorting to violence and acts of vandalism.
Operation Cold Store was started not to suppress the opposition, but to apprehend and detain subversive elements so that Singapore could enjoy peace and stability. Subversive members from the Barisan were hauled in through the operation and had to be detained under the Internal Security Act. Those members who managed to escape the dragnet entered the Malaysian jungle to join their comrades in the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM).
In 1981, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping ordered the Suara Revolusi Malaya (Voice of the Malayan Revolution), which had been operating in Hunan, China, since 1969, to be shut down. This was a big blow to the CPM's propaganda machinery.
Another big blow suffered by the CPM was in the mid 1970s, when the party was fractured internally into separate communist party factions.
Hence, with Deng in power, the Cultural Revolution was crushed and without the support of the CPM, the Barisan was orphaned. Thus, Dr Cheng's claim that its decline was due to radical influences from China is plausible and holds more water.
And my part in the fight against communist subversion?
I was serving in the Singapore Police Force from 1961 to 1988 and had the privilege of cutting the chain that secured the front door of the Barisan headquarters then in Victoria Street. And this was during a raid on the premises in the early hours of the morning and in connection with Operation Cold Store.
Lionel De Souza
