<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Sep 18, 2009
ELDERLY EXILES
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Let them come home
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->IT WAS heartwarming to read about Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and his Men In White achieving reconciliation with their political opponents ('Friends and foes under one roof', Sept 9) after almost 50 years, and to see them posing for pictures at the Old Parliament House.
Many People's Action Party (PAP) opponents who suffered long years of incarceration attended the book launch without rancour or bitterness. It demonstrates the magnanimity of both sides of the political divide and bodes well for the future.
The political struggle in the 1950s and 1960s centred on the question of Singapore's independence. The PAP and its opponents had their share of idealistic young men who were prepared to sacrifice much for their cause.
The report, 'Once a war zone, now a tourist spot (Sept 5), stated that there are still some 30 Singaporeans in the Betong Peace Village on the Malaysian-Thai border who want to return home. They include Mr Liu Bo, a former leftist trade unionist, and Madam Fang Bai Lian.
The friendly reconciliation of the independence-era freedom fighter rivals stands in stark contrast to the situation of the Betong exiles who have been banned from returning home.
It would be a magnanimous gesture by the Government to let these elderly exiles realise their nostalgic longing.
Patrick Low
ELDERLY EXILES
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Let them come home
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->IT WAS heartwarming to read about Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and his Men In White achieving reconciliation with their political opponents ('Friends and foes under one roof', Sept 9) after almost 50 years, and to see them posing for pictures at the Old Parliament House.
Many People's Action Party (PAP) opponents who suffered long years of incarceration attended the book launch without rancour or bitterness. It demonstrates the magnanimity of both sides of the political divide and bodes well for the future.
The political struggle in the 1950s and 1960s centred on the question of Singapore's independence. The PAP and its opponents had their share of idealistic young men who were prepared to sacrifice much for their cause.
The report, 'Once a war zone, now a tourist spot (Sept 5), stated that there are still some 30 Singaporeans in the Betong Peace Village on the Malaysian-Thai border who want to return home. They include Mr Liu Bo, a former leftist trade unionist, and Madam Fang Bai Lian.
The friendly reconciliation of the independence-era freedom fighter rivals stands in stark contrast to the situation of the Betong exiles who have been banned from returning home.
It would be a magnanimous gesture by the Government to let these elderly exiles realise their nostalgic longing.
Patrick Low
