- Joined
- Mar 12, 2009
- Messages
- 13,160
- Points
- 0

NLB accused of falsifying history by smearing Lim Chin Siong in book
December 31st, 2010 | Author: Your Correspondent
Mr Lim Chin Joo, the younger brother of one of the founding fathers of
modern Singapore and the PAP, the late Mr Lim Chin Siong has written
a letter to the Straits Times Forum accusing the National Library Board
(NLB) of ‘falsifying’ history.
The book ‘1959-2009 Chronicle of Singapore, Fifty Years of Headline
News,’ written by Editions Didier Millet and the NLB, carries a report
published in The Straits Times on Nov 22 1965 claiming that Mr Lim
was involved in a ‘fight’ in prison which turned out to be false.
“My brother had sued the paper for libel and the lawyer for Straits
Times Press (Malaya) had acknowledged that ‘there is in fact no truth’
in the allegations made against my brother in the report
(”Free for all’ libel action by Chin Siong is settled’; May27, 1966).
The paper had also printed a correction and apology, and ‘paid into
court a sum of money in satisfaction of the plaintiff’s claim in this
action without admission of liability’,” Mr Lim wrote.
Mr Lim wondered how such a falsehoold could be missed by all
the proof-reading that such a ‘major collaborative effort
involving a national institution would have entailed.’
“As a key custodian of published national history, the
National Library Board owes members of the public a duty
not to let falsehoods be perpetuated as part of history,” he added.
It is unlikely that Mr Lim or Singaporeans will get any reply
from NLB as the establishment has no qualms distorting
Singapore history to preserve the ‘legacy’ of PAP strongman Lee Kuan Yew.
Thousands of declassified British archives have revealed that
the British did not believe that Mr Lim Chin Siong would lead
a ‘violent’ communist insurgency to overthrow the PAP regime,
for which he was detained for in 1962 under the Internal Security Act.
Mr Lim, whom Lee once introduced as the ‘future prime minister’
of Singapore to the British, was released from detention in 1966
and retired from politics altogether. He is still widely regarded
as the PAP leader who single-handedly brought the PAP to
power in the 1959 legislative council elections.
Alan Au