<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published September 9, 2009
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>At last, the 'untold story' of the PAP
New book captures the 'rise, fall, split and resurgence' of the political party
By LEE U-WEN
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WITHIN the confines of the historical Old Parliament Chamber, as 150 politicians from Singapore's past and present looked on, a new book detailing the 'untold story' of the country's ruling political party was officially made public to much fanfare.
<TABLE class=picBoxL cellSpacing=2 width=100 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD>Having a ball: Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew (left) and SPH chairman Tony Tan at the launch of the book at the Old Parliament Chamber yesterday </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Titled Men In White, the book - put together after compiling the views of 500 different voices - captures the 'rise, fall, split and resurgence' of the People's Action Party (PAP), one of the world's most successful and longest-ruling political parties, said Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) chairman Tony Tan.
Dr Tan was joined by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew as they both launched the 692-page book, which was the culmination of seven years of work and research by a team of three senior journalists.
The trio - Sonny Yap, Richard Lim and Leong Weng Kam - conducted more than 300 interviews and, with the help of four researchers, pored through more than 60 years of press and government records. The book was commissioned and published by SPH, and produced by Marshall Cavendish.
'The story is untold because the voices of the Mandarin- and dialect-speaking, Malay-speaking and Tamil-speaking cast of characters often overlooked in PAP literature are aired for the first time,' said Dr Tan.
'Without their inputs, the PAP story would be incomplete and unbalanced. The result is a story of the PAP - warts, blemishes and all.'
Among those spotted in the audience yesterday who helped contribute to the book were Fong Swee Suan, a prominent ex-unionist involved in the Hock Lee bus riots in 1955, where workers demanded better working conditions; Chen Say Jame, a former student activist; and Dominic Puthucheary, who was a committee member of the Barisan Sosialis, a former Singaporean left-wing political party formed in 1961.
The project team also paid tribute to those who had passed away since their interviews were conducted, such as war heroine Elizabeth Choy; the first Housing Development Board chairman Lim Kim San; and opposition leader J B Jeyaretnam.
In a four-page foreword, MM Lee recalled how he was given advance scripts of the book to read. He then pointed out a number of factual errors to the writers, but ultimately left them to decide 'who is more reliable'.
'SPH sent me their first proof copies for comments. I pointed out what I thought were errors of fact, but told them to accept or just give my different recollections. This is their book, not the PAP's,' wrote Mr Lee. 'The final version is their book and they had to exercise their editorial right.'
In his speech, Dr Tan said that the present generation of Singaporeans would not enjoy the peace and prosperity (?) today 'if not for the thrift, frugality, hard work and tremendous sacrifices' of the leaders (?) and the people.
'We believe that the book will be new grist for the history mill, a source of reference for future writers, researchers and scholars to pursue new lines of enquiry and expand on the themes and issues raised,' he said.
'This huge project will not be in vain if the book helps to equip a new generation of readers to rethink the Singapore story, overturn some long-standing assumptions, question some conventional wisdom and debunk some myths and taboos.'
At the launch, it was also announced that all 20 limited-edition copies of the book, autographed by Mr Lee, had been sold for $10,000 each, raising $200,000 for the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund.
Men In White, which has a print run of 30,000, is now available at leading bookstores at $39.90 a copy (before GST).
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>At last, the 'untold story' of the PAP
New book captures the 'rise, fall, split and resurgence' of the political party
By LEE U-WEN
<TABLE class=storyLinks border=0 cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Email this article</TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Print article </TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>WITHIN the confines of the historical Old Parliament Chamber, as 150 politicians from Singapore's past and present looked on, a new book detailing the 'untold story' of the country's ruling political party was officially made public to much fanfare.
<TABLE class=picBoxL cellSpacing=2 width=100 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD>Having a ball: Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew (left) and SPH chairman Tony Tan at the launch of the book at the Old Parliament Chamber yesterday </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Titled Men In White, the book - put together after compiling the views of 500 different voices - captures the 'rise, fall, split and resurgence' of the People's Action Party (PAP), one of the world's most successful and longest-ruling political parties, said Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) chairman Tony Tan.Dr Tan was joined by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew as they both launched the 692-page book, which was the culmination of seven years of work and research by a team of three senior journalists.
The trio - Sonny Yap, Richard Lim and Leong Weng Kam - conducted more than 300 interviews and, with the help of four researchers, pored through more than 60 years of press and government records. The book was commissioned and published by SPH, and produced by Marshall Cavendish.
'The story is untold because the voices of the Mandarin- and dialect-speaking, Malay-speaking and Tamil-speaking cast of characters often overlooked in PAP literature are aired for the first time,' said Dr Tan.
'Without their inputs, the PAP story would be incomplete and unbalanced. The result is a story of the PAP - warts, blemishes and all.'
Among those spotted in the audience yesterday who helped contribute to the book were Fong Swee Suan, a prominent ex-unionist involved in the Hock Lee bus riots in 1955, where workers demanded better working conditions; Chen Say Jame, a former student activist; and Dominic Puthucheary, who was a committee member of the Barisan Sosialis, a former Singaporean left-wing political party formed in 1961.
The project team also paid tribute to those who had passed away since their interviews were conducted, such as war heroine Elizabeth Choy; the first Housing Development Board chairman Lim Kim San; and opposition leader J B Jeyaretnam.
In a four-page foreword, MM Lee recalled how he was given advance scripts of the book to read. He then pointed out a number of factual errors to the writers, but ultimately left them to decide 'who is more reliable'.
'SPH sent me their first proof copies for comments. I pointed out what I thought were errors of fact, but told them to accept or just give my different recollections. This is their book, not the PAP's,' wrote Mr Lee. 'The final version is their book and they had to exercise their editorial right.'
In his speech, Dr Tan said that the present generation of Singaporeans would not enjoy the peace and prosperity (?) today 'if not for the thrift, frugality, hard work and tremendous sacrifices' of the leaders (?) and the people.
'We believe that the book will be new grist for the history mill, a source of reference for future writers, researchers and scholars to pursue new lines of enquiry and expand on the themes and issues raised,' he said.
'This huge project will not be in vain if the book helps to equip a new generation of readers to rethink the Singapore story, overturn some long-standing assumptions, question some conventional wisdom and debunk some myths and taboos.'
At the launch, it was also announced that all 20 limited-edition copies of the book, autographed by Mr Lee, had been sold for $10,000 each, raising $200,000 for the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund.
Men In White, which has a print run of 30,000, is now available at leading bookstores at $39.90 a copy (before GST).
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
