Who beat up Lim Chin Siong in Prison that let to his attempted suicide?
- Thread starter scroobal
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Seriously, it had to be one of either parties, either the govt or his own people. Either the prison auths did it with official sanction from the highest office and who then tried to frame the Barisan themselves. Or their own comrades fearing he had turncoat. Didnt Dr Lim Hock Siew come out and threaten to sue the govt for propagating rumours of a beating?
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Not 'beating', but 'fight'. The government concocted a story that LCS sustained his injuries in a fight between LCS's faction and LHS's faction, which was ludicrous, since everyone knew that LCS was beaten up by the authorities.
Dr Lim Hock Siew sues NLB and book publisher
This crude and uncouth hatchet man of LKY was rewarded as a MP for Nee Soon Central.
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Camping here for juicy nuggets.
Actually it caught the authorities by surprise. They got excited and without checking spiked a story amongst the press that it was a battle of wills over ideology to wit Maoism and Russian revisionism with followers of both factions fighting it out. One of those named was Dr Lim Hock Siew who was in E Block and physically distant and separate from the refractory block where Lim Chin Siong and other some other detainees were held. Dr Lim sued successfully while a detainee and caused another incident in the process. The press that carried the story relented and paid damages except for Sin Chew Jit Poh. They purposely fought the case and revealed in court that it was the ISD that gave them the story. Thus it came out in the open and embarrassed the Govt. Dr Lim recently sued again on the exact same subject when ex SPH Editor Peter Lim forgot to check his facts and Carried the same incident in a book that he edited. Again successfully. Will write about the events later today or tomorrow as it quite long and have to rush off now.
Bro, you making my mouth water. Anyway here goes.
Preamble
This incident is probably the most mysterious with many seeking answers to questions for last 41 years. ISD had no clue what happened, most of the detainees did not witness what happened as they were not in the immediate vicinity or were incarcerated in different blocks. The prison officers also did not see any thing. The very few who would have known refuse to say anything or chose to bury it for good.
I am writing this now as the chief protagonist and one of 4 possible men who could have known passed away this year in June. He cannot defend himself but his death might pave the way for the riddle to unfold but I suspect it will remain a mystery. 2 others including Lim Chin Siong passed away.
The incident
On 17th November 1965 shortly after lunch, not a fight but certainly a scuffle broke out between Lim Chin Siong with one other individual or more. No blood was spilled, no bones broken nor bruises noted. Whatever transpired, it frightened the hell out of Lim Chin Siong noted for his calm and confident manner. He left the the Refractory Block to seek out the Prison Superintendent. He was met by a Prison officer who noted his disheveled appearence, his ruffled clothes, his excited manner and desperate manner with a tear running along one side of his trousers. He remained in the Prison Office until the Superintendent met him 2 hours later. Noticed that he was pale, staring blankly every now and then and trembling. He asked to be relocated from the Refractory Block to avoid being "beaten up". He kept repeating this and the threat to his life and was clearly shaken. He never gave the names but his fear was apparent. The superintendent agreed to transfer him to E Block. It should also be noted that Lim wrote a note to his fellow inmates stating that he was not a spy. When the note was delivered, 2 of his inmates asked to see him.
Tan Jing Quee and Tan Yam Seng then went to see the superintendent to ask to see Lim Chi Siong. They were allowed to do so behind a partition. The Prison Superintendent noticed that after awhile Lim Chin Siong attempted to leave but was prevented by Tan Jing Quee who used his leg to block his exit.
That night Lim was placed in E block and away from his regular co-inmates. The next day on the 18th, sometime in the afternoon, he asked to see his fellow inmates in the refractory block. He was allowed to do so. He interestingly also asked that he wanted his meals from the prison kitchen as he feared that he might be poisoned. Political prisoners cooked their own food in a communal manner. He also asked the meal from the detainees communal kitchen be still be delivered to him so that when asked what was served, he was able to his fellow inmates that he had food cooked by them.
He then left to see his fellow inmates in the Refractory Block. Sometime later, he was found in a collapsed state in a rattan chair. The Superintendent also noted that as he was doing his daily rounds it was Tan Jing Quee who greeted him and found it unusual. The practice was Lim who greeted him and the rest would not greet or acknowledge him.
Lim was sent to hospital that evening. Early next morning while being treated at SGH, Lim went to the toilet accompanied by a Prison Officer, a warder and a Special Branch Officer. When he did not come out as expected, the warder went to the next cubicle and saw that he Lim was hanging from a pipe with his pyjama bottom around his neck. The door was kicked opened and he was brought down. A duty doctor managed to resuscitate him and his was placed in an oxygen tent.
So what could have transpired that led to a man known for his charisma, his steely determination and fortitude to attempt to end his life?
This incident is probably the most mysterious with many seeking answers to questions for last 41 years. ISD had no clue what happened, most of the detainees did not witness what happened as they were not in the immediate vicinity or were incarcerated in different blocks. The prison officers also did not see any thing. The very few who would have known refuse to say anything or chose to bury it for good.
I am writing this now as the chief protagonist and one of 4 possible men who could have known passed away this year in June. He cannot defend himself but his death might pave the way for the riddle to unfold but I suspect it will remain a mystery. 2 others including Lim Chin Siong passed away.
The incident
On 17th November 1965 shortly after lunch, not a fight but certainly a scuffle broke out between Lim Chin Siong with one other individual or more. No blood was spilled, no bones broken nor bruises noted. Whatever transpired, it frightened the hell out of Lim Chin Siong noted for his calm and confident manner. He left the the Refractory Block to seek out the Prison Superintendent. He was met by a Prison officer who noted his disheveled appearence, his ruffled clothes, his excited manner and desperate manner with a tear running along one side of his trousers. He remained in the Prison Office until the Superintendent met him 2 hours later. Noticed that he was pale, staring blankly every now and then and trembling. He asked to be relocated from the Refractory Block to avoid being "beaten up". He kept repeating this and the threat to his life and was clearly shaken. He never gave the names but his fear was apparent. The superintendent agreed to transfer him to E Block. It should also be noted that Lim wrote a note to his fellow inmates stating that he was not a spy. When the note was delivered, 2 of his inmates asked to see him.
Tan Jing Quee and Tan Yam Seng then went to see the superintendent to ask to see Lim Chi Siong. They were allowed to do so behind a partition. The Prison Superintendent noticed that after awhile Lim Chin Siong attempted to leave but was prevented by Tan Jing Quee who used his leg to block his exit.
That night Lim was placed in E block and away from his regular co-inmates. The next day on the 18th, sometime in the afternoon, he asked to see his fellow inmates in the refractory block. He was allowed to do so. He interestingly also asked that he wanted his meals from the prison kitchen as he feared that he might be poisoned. Political prisoners cooked their own food in a communal manner. He also asked the meal from the detainees communal kitchen be still be delivered to him so that when asked what was served, he was able to his fellow inmates that he had food cooked by them.
He then left to see his fellow inmates in the Refractory Block. Sometime later, he was found in a collapsed state in a rattan chair. The Superintendent also noted that as he was doing his daily rounds it was Tan Jing Quee who greeted him and found it unusual. The practice was Lim who greeted him and the rest would not greet or acknowledge him.
Lim was sent to hospital that evening. Early next morning while being treated at SGH, Lim went to the toilet accompanied by a Prison Officer, a warder and a Special Branch Officer. When he did not come out as expected, the warder went to the next cubicle and saw that he Lim was hanging from a pipe with his pyjama bottom around his neck. The door was kicked opened and he was brought down. A duty doctor managed to resuscitate him and his was placed in an oxygen tent.
So what could have transpired that led to a man known for his charisma, his steely determination and fortitude to attempt to end his life?
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So what Happened?
It was period of turmoil. In early 1960s, the Mao and the Communist Party of China denounced the Soviets as "revisionist" and a split formed. This was played out around world with Singapore communists forming their views and period of debate and confrontation began to occur. It did take up much time amongst the detainees. In the jungles of Malaya, the Communists guerrillas were having similar issues which would end up in 3 separate entities.
Or was it just plain good old fashioned fight for power and control. The three who were identified with the incident of the 17th are Tan Jing Quee, Tan Yam Seng and Ho Piao. Bear in mind that they were young and in their 20s. Hot blooded and keen to lead. Or was it the English educated attempting to take over the Chinese ed. After all Tan Jing Quee and Ho Piao were English educated and had studied at the University of Singapore while the rest in the refractory block except for ST Bani were Chinese ed.
Whatever happened the attempted suicide of Lim Chin Siong changed everything. Was it regret, repentance or the shame of having tried to do in one of Singapore's famous sons, that the communists closed ranks and did not want to talk about it. Chin Siong himself claimed amnesia and refused to recall the incident.
So where was Chia Thye Poh when this happened.
It was period of turmoil. In early 1960s, the Mao and the Communist Party of China denounced the Soviets as "revisionist" and a split formed. This was played out around world with Singapore communists forming their views and period of debate and confrontation began to occur. It did take up much time amongst the detainees. In the jungles of Malaya, the Communists guerrillas were having similar issues which would end up in 3 separate entities.
Or was it just plain good old fashioned fight for power and control. The three who were identified with the incident of the 17th are Tan Jing Quee, Tan Yam Seng and Ho Piao. Bear in mind that they were young and in their 20s. Hot blooded and keen to lead. Or was it the English educated attempting to take over the Chinese ed. After all Tan Jing Quee and Ho Piao were English educated and had studied at the University of Singapore while the rest in the refractory block except for ST Bani were Chinese ed.
Whatever happened the attempted suicide of Lim Chin Siong changed everything. Was it regret, repentance or the shame of having tried to do in one of Singapore's famous sons, that the communists closed ranks and did not want to talk about it. Chin Siong himself claimed amnesia and refused to recall the incident.
So where was Chia Thye Poh when this happened.
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so Tan Jing Queetried to kill him and then later write a book called
Comet in our Sky: Lim Chin Siong in History
to said how great he is ???? WTF?!?!?!?!
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Dear Scroo
If your source reporting and accounts are accurate. There are two interesting points of note. Firstly LCS was ostracized. Even before the incident. It is telling as such that amongst the political prisoners , he would be the only one being friendly with the guards whereas the rest were giving them the cold treatment. I do wonder how strongly the communist cell and pecking order was kept to in prison . i,e rank and power. A modern day example would be jailed gang members whose power outside over the gang , extended very much inside. Inside he was not the hero that he was outside and that is extremely surprising.
Locke
If your source reporting and accounts are accurate. There are two interesting points of note. Firstly LCS was ostracized. Even before the incident. It is telling as such that amongst the political prisoners , he would be the only one being friendly with the guards whereas the rest were giving them the cold treatment. I do wonder how strongly the communist cell and pecking order was kept to in prison . i,e rank and power. A modern day example would be jailed gang members whose power outside over the gang , extended very much inside. Inside he was not the hero that he was outside and that is extremely surprising.
Locke
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