The Sobering View of an Ex-ISD Officer

[cheekenpie]

The Sobering View of an Ex-ISD Officer

Those who are sobering readers of the political book Men In White cannot help but form an impression that the tome is a glorification of the narcissistic Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. It is small wonder that some people and portals describe it as a propaganda book. It depicts Lee Kuan Yew to be a one-man crusader in his fight against the might of his so-called pro-communist foes. The authors fail to highlight Lee Kuan Yew's more ignominous persona.

On the other hand the book Fajar Generation by an aggrieved group of former detainees connected with the old Malaya University Socialist Club is an antithesis and contains an incisive indictment of what they imply as the iniquities of a treacherous and inhuman Lee Kuan Yew. The authors, especially Dr. Poh Soo Kai and Tan Jing Quee. had apparently visited the British Archives in the United Kingdom and quoted extensively relevant extracts from the Archives to expose the so-called treachery and perfidy of Lee Kuan Yew in complicity with the British to push through the Malaysia plan. The book Fajar Generation is published in West Malaysia and surprisingly is available in some book stores in Singapore.

To debunk the subtle assertion in Men in White that Lee Kuan Yew had been able through his own industry to build up a mass base for his political ambition by simply agreeing to serve as legal adviser to pro-communist trade unions and other communist front organisations (CUF), it is obvious the authors are over-simplifying the issue. It was a well-known fact that Lim Chin Siong, the former general secretary of the powerful Singapore Factory & Shop Workers Union was the undisputed leader of the communist united front and controlled the mass base. Lee Kuan Yew could not have been unaware of this fact and knew that he had to depend on Lim Chin Siong and his mass base to advance his political ambition.

To give an example of the massive influence of Lim Chin Siong over his CUF members, the CUF used to hold anti-colonial mass meetings at the old Happy World Stadium which were invariably packed to capacity. It was an unforgettable experience to behold that Lim Chin Siong was given a standing ovation when he entered the stadium. Lee Kuan Yew would usually be tagging along holding his briefcase and this phenomenon could not have escaped the sharp attention of Lee Kuan Yew. He had no doubt kept this at the back of his mind for reference in his dealing with Lim Chin Siong in future. Lee was of the conviction that as long as Lim was a free man, Lim would be a great obstacle to his ambitious plan of capturing political power. So along came an unsuspecting benefector in the person of Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock who did Lee a great favour by detaining Lim Chin Siong and his fellow activists thus allowing the ambitious Lee Kuan Yew to inherit Lim Chin Siong's mass base to advance his political ambition. The word gratitude is not to be found in Lee's lexicon. In fact, it would have been a great joke if Lim's detention had caused him any grief.

 

[scroobal]

The story is much more complex and interesting than the above. There was no sleight of hand or hidden ambition. The communist needed a front as they knew very well that the British would not grant independence to them. They thought that the front man would be old man and his fellow bourgeois in the form of PAP.

There are 5 people that led to the events that we now know as Singapore. They are the old man, Goh Keng Swee, Rajaratnam, Samad Ismail and Eu Chooi Yip. The latter 2 being communist and dedicated to their cause.

One fateful night in the basement of an Oxley Drive home, Samad brought Lim Chin Siong and Fong Swee Suan, the first an exceptionally gifted and handsome orator and proven crowd puller, the other a youthful but seasoned organiser. Thus began what Mao calls the United Front strategy and what the Western academia would eventually call " Mao's Doctine of United Front" , a marriage not to last.

How did the parties end up at the Altar? It began with the British crackdown of University of Singapore students engaged in anti-colonial rhetoric and publications. The likes of Poh Soo Kai, Lim Hock Siew, Rajakumar, Edwin Thumboo etc were charged for sedition by the British. Behind the scenes were luminaries like Arthur Lim, Tommy Koh etc.

To defend them, they sought the services of a young Cambridge trained Hakka Lawyer who sought the services of a well regarded British silk. They won the case and University of Singapore students were acquitted. The cost was paid by no less a person than Lee Kong Chian.

On seeing the sucess of the English speaking and educated anti-colonial Singaporeans, the Chinese leftist students, some of whom were facing charges of rioting, made the first overtures to engage the old man ( the cambridge trained Hakka lawyer). Thats where the pink cadillac came on the scene. Gifted to his young idealistic and a firebrand of a daughter by a one of Singapore's richest towkay, it appeared one evening at the front of the Oxley Drive home of the famous basement. The very first contact between the communist and the non-communist, both of anti-colonial suits were made. A series of contacts followed with the non-communist seeking an alliance with little success. They needed old man for his legal counsel but not to contribute to his political ambition.

The relentless assault by the British forced the hands of the communist and they went to the Altar on what they thought was on their terms only to find out that it was not.

 

[cheekenpie]

So correct la.... Old Man ride on the communists wind then betray them to please the brits!

My heroooo

 

[johnny333]

So correct la.... Old Man ride on the communists wind then betray them to please the brits!

My heroooo

Interseting historical stuff .

So LKY betrayed the communists, & today its Sporeans he's betraying.

LKY is an oppurtunists who uses others for his own ends. Maybe that's why he needs so many bodyguards. When he's gone, no one will miss him just as no one misses Marcos, Suharto, ...

 

[shelltox]

怡天屠龙记who was the leader and who became emperor