Salute to Soh Lung
MONDAY, 28 JUNE 2010
Singapore Democrats
Ms Teo Soh Lung has broken her long silence about her
cruel detention under the Internal Security Act with the
publication of her memoir Beyond The Blue Gate: Recollections of A
Political Prisoner.
Ms Teo was arrested in May 1987 together with 21 other church and
social workers, accused of hatching a Marxist-inspired plot to
overthrow Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his ministers.
In truth,
Operation Spectrum was used by the PAP to crackdown on dissent that
it had perceived as growing within the legal and social communities
against its oppressive rule.
After more than 20 years, Ms Teo has written a very readable book
that chronicles events from the moment the ISD officers arrested
her at home to the day she was released and everything in
between.
Launched this past weekend, the near-400 page tell-all reveals in
detail the former detainee's experiences during her imprisonment,
including Mr Lee Kuan Yew's role in the whole affair, and her cruel
and inhumane treatment in the hands of the ISD officers. Below is a
brief excerpt from the book:
And so
it continued. The team of interrogators came in shifts. I noticed
that they were all well dressed, contrary to my impression of
interrogators in police stations. Some officers used the gentle
technique, others the shouting style. They would coax and reason
and they would be unreasonable and loud.
There was one big man who asked why David Marshall, Singapore's
Ambassador to France, had such high regards for me. Marshall was a
well-known criminal lawyer before he joined the diplomatic service
and I had served my pupillage under him. I looked at the officer's
face and believed that he wouldn't use his hands. But I looked at
his knuckles and they told me he knew karate. I was afraid. He was
DSP Benny Lim.
There was one male officer who came in and shouted something. My
answer did not satisfy him or rather he was not prepared to be
convinced. He gave me four hard slaps. I stared at him and he
challenged loudly if I was going to remember his face and complain.
I did not respond. The slaps sent a gush of hot blood to my face. I
could feel a stinging warmth. After slapping me, he walked out of
the room.
During the launch
which was attended by more than 200 people, Ms Teo said that like
rape victims, the scars and trauma of the detention remained with
her all these years. The script was written several years ago but
it didn't make its way to the printers until now. She had finally
found her voice.
History, they say, is written by the victors. But truth can only be
authored by the victims.
And the truth is
beginning to surface with regularity. First there
was Comet In Our Sky, a book compiled by
the late Lim Chin Siong's political colleagues, that recounted how
Mr Lee Kuan Yew was aided by the British to thwart his arch-rival
Lim from becoming Singapore's premiere leader.
Then Mr Said Zahari released his double-volume (Dark Clouds at
Dawn and The Long Nightmare) recounting his 17 years
of imprisonment by the PAP Government. This was followed by
an interview he did with Mr Martyn See which the
Government has banned. All of Mr Said's accounts debunked the myth
that the PAP ordered the arrests becuase of national security
concerns. Rather, it was to cripple opposing voices so that the PAP
could continue its undemocratic rule.
Last year, a few of the 1987 detainees got together to
publish That We May Dream Again to reveal
even more cruelty of the regime.
Even the quiet Mr Vincent Cheng was ready to speak at a seminar at
the National Library a few weeks ago only to be banned by the authorities. Mr Cheng was
accused by Mr Lee of being the chief culprit behind the Marxist
plot.
Former long-term detainees Drs Lim
Hock Siew and Poh Soo Kai have also begun to speak up with
Dr Lim memorably insisting that Mr Lee Kuan Yew must apologise to him first before he would
shake the Minister Mentor's hand.
Now Ms Teo has come up with her book that will continue to push
back the PAP's domination of the narrative. Eventually the truth
will be revealed and all will learn of the proper history of this
Republic of Singapore.
With this publication, Ms Teo Soh Lung has done our nation a great
service.
Beyond the Blue
Gate is
available at Select Books (Tanglin Shopping Center), Kinokuniya
Bookstores (Ngee Ann City) and Ethos
Book.
Read also:
Ex-detanees fight back
Thank you, Soh Lung (by
Chee Siok Chin)
http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/3854-salute-to-soh-lung