The leftist hole in history books - Clarissa Onn, The Sunday Times 17 June 2012
"....The history syllabus also says very little about the Barisan Socialis, the leftist party founded by the likes of Dr Lim Hock Siew and Mr Lim Chin Siong and the main opposition to the PAP in the 1960s. The likely reason is the touchy matter of the detentions of many leftists under the ISA, which allows for preventive detention of security threats before a crime has been committed. Detainees are arrested based on classified intelligence and never tried in open court. The two Lims as well as Fong Swee Suan and Dr Poh Soo Kai - two other prominent former leftists who are still alive - were among more than 100 left-wing politicians and trade unionists detained under the ISA in Operation Coldstore.
The lower secondary history textbook mentions this security operation in a footnote, saying those arrested were "alleged to be involved in subversive activities to establish a 'Communist Cuba' in Sngapore." Dr Lim, who was detained for a total of 19 years because he refused to agree to conditions that would have granted early release, is not mentioned.
These Barisan leaders deserve a fuller sketch putting their actions in context. While they were undoubtedly influenced by Marxist and socialist ideas prevalent at the time, some historians have since judged there to be inconclusive evidence as to whether they were acting as part of a wider communist united front or on their own initiative.
In the end, they proved to be on the wrong side of history and it is doubtful if Singapore's economy would have been as successful under a leftist government. Yet, as one letter writer pointed out in the ST Forum Page, pro-working class activists like Dr Lim "provided a formidable psychological force to ensure that any newly elected government of post-independent Singapore would have only one option - to be corruption-free and effective to improve the livelihood of the people."
Today, the official pro-PAP version of Singapore's history has been challenged by published accounts of former leftists, also circulated online. The result, however, is a tendency by some young Singaporeans to be "reading the past selectively for heroes and acts of repression in order to address contemporary concerns", as a new book by four Singaporean historians and educators puts it. The book is about one of the cradles of political activism in the 1950s, the University of Malaya's University Socialist Club.
Authors Loh Kah Seng, Edgar Liao, Lim Cheng Tju and Seng Guo Quan say their response to such selective reading is to "tell an emphatic story of the club, detached from the old cliches of communist manipulation, while not forgetting the ideological blinkers and failures in the club's history." To make history meaningful for the young, the least school lessons could do is strive for an accurate and impartial account that covers all sides.
The bottom line is that there was nothing inevitable about this nation state. It was formed out of a contest of ideas, and the passion, determination, self-sacrifice and intellectual verve shown by the PAP Old Guard and their opponents are all qualities the young can learn from. History, which is fundamentally about weighing one source against another, equips the young with the critical skills to parse evidence and come to their own conclusions. Needless to say, your future and mine depend on how effectively they can do that in all areas of life."
Everyone died in their glory. Devan, TCH, GKS, Raja, Lim Hock Siew, Lim Chin Siong - they all died heroes for their respective whatever!
By keeping silent, the old guard and the Fajar gang all ensured that they each lived as heroes and died as heroes. Yet, common sense and tells us that this is not possible. The more likely truth is that everyone was a human and did do some wrong. But by keeping quiet they ensured that they would be ensured a heroic life. But history will hopefully not allow them to be let free so easily.
The truth will be told and they will not be allowed to rest in peace for signing their deal with the devil.
