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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Ex-Barisan: PAP suppressed rivals</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt_89 <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>2:16 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 4) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>36121.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Jul 15, 2010
Ex-Barisan leader refutes historian
He claims PAP suppression of rivals, not Cultural Revolution, led to decline of S'pore leftists
<!-- by line -->By Cai Haoxiang
http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_553606.html?sunwMethod=GET
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Former Barisan Sosialis leader Poh Soo Kai (above) locked horns with Dr Cheng Yinghong during a seminar at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. -- ST FILE PHOTO
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FORMER Barisan Sosialis leader Poh Soo Kai has rejected a China historian's claim that the decline of Singapore's once-powerful left was due to radical influences from China's Cultural Revolution.
He said the People's Action Party's (PAP) determined suppression of its opponents - especially the Barisan which was a splinter from the PAP in 1961 - was to blame instead.
Dr Poh, 77, locked horns with Dr Cheng Yinghong, 51, during a seminar at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Dr Cheng, who was born in China but is teaching at Delaware State University in the United States, presented his thesis that China's Cultural Revolution that began in the summer of 1966 misled the Barisan and alienated the post-independence populace.
The Barisan's radical rhetoric was reflected in its party newspapers, the Front and Party News, he said.
Said Dr Cheng: 'If you're familiar with the history of the Cultural Revolution, you will be amazed, if not overwhelmed by the similarities.'
Similarities with Cultural Revolution propaganda could be seen in the political cartoons and editorial articles of the Barisan, for example in the use of terms like 'rebellion', 'eliminate', 'running dogs' and 'black gangsters', he added.
The radicalisation of the Barisan culminated in its remaining seven Members of Parliament, led by party chairman Lee Siew Choh, staging a walkout from the House in October 1966 to launch an extra-parliamentary struggle.
Said Dr Cheng: 'The Barisan's abandonment of the parliamentary path was self-defeating and that helped the PAP consolidate a one-party authoritarian regime without an effective opposition.'
Dr Poh, a medical doctor and former assistant secretary-general of the Barisan, caused a stir in the 80-strong audience when he stood up to speak.
'The demise of the left is essentially a result of the PAP's policy not to accept opposition,' he declared.
He asserted that the PAP government made plans to 'smash' the Barisan in 1962, and these came to fruition in Operation Cold Store in February 1963 when more than 100 leftist unionists and politicians were detained under the Internal Security Act.
Caught in the dragnet were 24 Barisan members, including key leaders Lim Chin Siong, Lim Hock Siew and Dr Poh.
The 13 Barisan legislative assemblymen and party chairman Lee Siew Choh were spared.
To Dr Poh however, Operation Cold Store was decisive in changing the Barisan, as it became 'a party without a united leadership accepted by the general masses'.
The Cultural Revolution, which began only three years after the arrests, was not significant in causing the Barisan's decline, he felt, even though Cultural Revolution ideas found fertile ground within it.
A critical factor for the Barisan's radicalisation, Dr Poh argued, was that its more moderate leaders were in prison.
Had leaders like Mr Lim Chin Siong, himself, Mr S. Woodhull and others not been imprisoned, they would have had a moderating influence on the Barisan rank and file such that the party would never have taken its self-destructive path after 1966.
In response, Dr Cheng stuck to his original thesis. He said that he never claimed the Cultural Revolution was a 'decisive' factor in causing the left's decline, just a 'significant' one.
He agreed with Dr Poh that Operation Cold Store was a 'decisive' reason for the left's decline, but said the Barisan could still have survived as a movement if not for its radicalisation after 1966.
___________He added: 'Democracy is a game that you have to play; you can't give up.'[/SIZE]
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Ex-Barisan leader refutes historian
He claims PAP suppression of rivals, not Cultural Revolution, led to decline of S'pore leftists
<!-- by line -->By Cai Haoxiang
http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_553606.html?sunwMethod=GET
<!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar -->
<!-- story content : start -->
FORMER Barisan Sosialis leader Poh Soo Kai has rejected a China historian's claim that the decline of Singapore's once-powerful left was due to radical influences from China's Cultural Revolution.
He said the People's Action Party's (PAP) determined suppression of its opponents - especially the Barisan which was a splinter from the PAP in 1961 - was to blame instead.
Dr Poh, 77, locked horns with Dr Cheng Yinghong, 51, during a seminar at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Dr Cheng, who was born in China but is teaching at Delaware State University in the United States, presented his thesis that China's Cultural Revolution that began in the summer of 1966 misled the Barisan and alienated the post-independence populace.
The Barisan's radical rhetoric was reflected in its party newspapers, the Front and Party News, he said.
Said Dr Cheng: 'If you're familiar with the history of the Cultural Revolution, you will be amazed, if not overwhelmed by the similarities.'
Similarities with Cultural Revolution propaganda could be seen in the political cartoons and editorial articles of the Barisan, for example in the use of terms like 'rebellion', 'eliminate', 'running dogs' and 'black gangsters', he added.
The radicalisation of the Barisan culminated in its remaining seven Members of Parliament, led by party chairman Lee Siew Choh, staging a walkout from the House in October 1966 to launch an extra-parliamentary struggle.
Said Dr Cheng: 'The Barisan's abandonment of the parliamentary path was self-defeating and that helped the PAP consolidate a one-party authoritarian regime without an effective opposition.'
Dr Poh, a medical doctor and former assistant secretary-general of the Barisan, caused a stir in the 80-strong audience when he stood up to speak.
'The demise of the left is essentially a result of the PAP's policy not to accept opposition,' he declared.
He asserted that the PAP government made plans to 'smash' the Barisan in 1962, and these came to fruition in Operation Cold Store in February 1963 when more than 100 leftist unionists and politicians were detained under the Internal Security Act.
Caught in the dragnet were 24 Barisan members, including key leaders Lim Chin Siong, Lim Hock Siew and Dr Poh.
The 13 Barisan legislative assemblymen and party chairman Lee Siew Choh were spared.
To Dr Poh however, Operation Cold Store was decisive in changing the Barisan, as it became 'a party without a united leadership accepted by the general masses'.
The Cultural Revolution, which began only three years after the arrests, was not significant in causing the Barisan's decline, he felt, even though Cultural Revolution ideas found fertile ground within it.
A critical factor for the Barisan's radicalisation, Dr Poh argued, was that its more moderate leaders were in prison.
Had leaders like Mr Lim Chin Siong, himself, Mr S. Woodhull and others not been imprisoned, they would have had a moderating influence on the Barisan rank and file such that the party would never have taken its self-destructive path after 1966.
In response, Dr Cheng stuck to his original thesis. He said that he never claimed the Cultural Revolution was a 'decisive' factor in causing the left's decline, just a 'significant' one.
He agreed with Dr Poh that Operation Cold Store was a 'decisive' reason for the left's decline, but said the Barisan could still have survived as a movement if not for its radicalisation after 1966.
___________He added: 'Democracy is a game that you have to play; you can't give up.'[/SIZE]
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