Re: For a more in depth account of this sad sorry saga...
There were 3 agendas. The first one was Church related and there was an overall sense of liberation theology going overboard. After old man was snubbed by the Pope and his minions including Jayakumar by Gregory Yong, they acted. The church had been warned nearly a decade earlier about Bt Ho Swee and the Nazareth Centre and the Church responded but this time they did not. Teo became a target because she began accompanying Filipino maids to lodge complaints in Police stations. Not too mention her Law Society days including her infamous EOGM
The 2nd agenda was Tan Wah Piow. In the course of the detention, more was revealed including Vincent meeting Tan which was not known before. Which is not uncommon as many of us had met Tan during our time in the UK. Tan had become prominent again over the hanging of Tan Cha Wa by the Malaysian authorities and the Singapore Govt desire to prosecute his brother for putting up a communist tombstone.
The Malaysian Special Branch provided the evidence of Tan's link with Chin Peng and CPM when they arrested and detained a Malaysian Malay who is now with PAS. 5 of those who were expelled for USSU activities including Juliet Chin ended up at the VRM broadcasting station in China with Chin Peng. One returned to HK. This Malay chap was asked by Chin Peng personally to go to Hk to meet with Tsui Ho Kwong who was Juliet's boyfriend and Tan's USSU associate. He was provided money for education in UK and was sent to meet Tan. One of those who was detained in Spectrum was found to be using CPM code when communicating with Tan and ex-USSU associates. Another who was detained had stayed with Tan and wife at their home while doing her post-grad in UK. When VRM was disbanded at the request of the old man and the peace talks facilitated by the Thais came to a conclusion, 5 of the USSU chaps were given asylum in France, Holland and Belgium. Most are now in the UK. Interestingly, Teo Soh Lung who wrote a report on the then proposed law by Jayakumar to deprive citizenship to those who stay away from Singapore some years earlier came around to haunt her. It was well known that the law was aimed at Tan. Planned or unplanned, Tan was notified on the exact same day that the arrest and detention of first of the 26 occurred that he had lost his citizenship.
The 3rd agenda was unexpected. Patrick Seong had notified the International Press about the ex-detainees who would be releasing a statement about their torture and other claims. He also notified them that their re-arrest would follow. The foreign press staked out the homes of the ex-detainees which irritated ISD. He was then arrested and detained. He then revealed the Hank Hendrickson affair and Francis Seow who was acting for 2 detainees were also detained as he presented himself at Whitley. Seong's info was kept secret until LHL mentioned this during a dinner with ISD staff at the Istana years later.
Tan and other USSU activists were in Castro dilemma. They joined the CPM because they were the biggest irritant to the old man's regime. Notice all ended up in capitalist countries. Tan to gain credibility began to use Maoist dogma his meetings.
By the way, letters and notes showed to Yong by Old Man are in public records and that's how Barr got access to it. It became public because old man sued one of the foreign press agencies for defamation introduced those docs for the case.
Agree on the lawyers such as Roslina Baba etc. Lets not forget QCs Anthony Lester, Geoffrey Robertson and Lord Alexander. I believe that Lester was banned.
In a nutshell, if one goes thru what each individual did, none of the detention would make sense. I am sure the ISD officers would have second thoughts shortly after the event. One of the interesting thing about the way the ISD conducted its investigation indicates that they broke every rule in conducting a proper and fair investigation. I think they got excited as they only had Chia Thye Poh and the old timers had retired. They all got involved in the interrogation including the senior brass such as SK, Poh Heng and Benny that there no arm's length review of the interrogation and interview submissions. It thus led to collective actions towards lengthy detention of Teo and Vincent Cheng both of whom had no dealings with Tan while others had. I am sure this also lead to collective amnesia.
The same thing happened during the Official Secrets Case involving Tharman and company. The top brass got subpoened to court, because they all ended up in the interrogation room.
The sad part is many of those associated with CPM went on to have a good life including one having a multi-million dollar business. The church mice who looked after the lower income, abused maids and exploited employees ended with no closure and their life in a limbo. That is life.
ps. smiling sam ran the commission of inquiry after JBJ made allegations in parliament of executive interference in the Michael Khoo affair. Notice how smiling sam get all the delicate cases.
to try n derive a more informative balanced opinion of this dark bizzare sad sorry chapter in Singapore's history...read the following insightful texts which provide both an in depth well researched academic view...and a first hand account of this sad sorry saga by none other than Teo Soh Lung herself...
