A SERIOUS threat of closure faces the Workers' Party led by Mr
J. B. Jeyaretnam because of failure to pay the forbidding damages
awarded against the Party by a court in Singapore. One hopes
against hope that this might be avoided at the last minute. It is a
slim hope. The world has come to assume, rightly or wrongly, that
the political tactics used by the governing PAP against opposition
politicians have for some time come to include suing their pants
off, forcing them into bankruptcy and losing their seats in
parliament as a result. Now the same device is resorted to against
opposition political parties themselves, as registered
institutions. The onus of proof is on the government of Singapore -
not on global public opinion.
Nothing that smacks of opposition seems safe in Singapore any
longer. Singaporeans must sooner or later come to realise the harsh
truth that nobody in Singapore is truly saved unless ALL are SEEN
to be saved. The post of no return has long passed for
Singaporeans, and one fears they will perforce learn this lesson
the hard way. In the ultimate analysis, this is probably best. The
more painful the price paid to learn basic human lessons, the more
firmly might they become embedded in the national fibre. A free
Singapore will arise and justify the sacrifices and efforts of
undaunted Singaporeans, now including the courageous Chee Soon
Juan, who had immolated themselves on the altar of freedom.
Phoenix-like, their dreams will rise once again from their ashes.
Were this process not true, the world would have come to an end
long ago.
It is just as well that I release this requiem now. If not timely
yet, it will be soon enough. Here goes, for good or ill to
myself:
Some months after I was kicked upstairs to the presidency of the
republic of Singapore in October 1981, there was a by-election in
the parliamentary constituency of Anson, which I had held prior to
my ill-fated elevation. I had won that seat with a comfortable
majority of some 80 percent of the votes cast. The PAP's candidate
in the by-election was a relative unknown, while the Workers Party
put up J.B Jeyaretnam. To the consternation of the PAP, Jeyaretnam
won.
The day after the by-election verdict was declared, I had lunch
with the Prime Minister. I was amazed at how he fretted and fumed
like a caged fury. As I saw it, Jeyaretnam constituted no threat at
all to the PAP whether in parliament or outside it. For one thing,
despite Jeyas courage, he displayed a woeful lack of economics. He
clearly never knew at any point of time how Singapore clicked
economically. And it was as plain as a pikestaff to me that in five
years of free performance in 'parliament against the likes of Dr
Goh Keng Swee, Mr Lim Kim San et al, he would stand exposed in
public for his abysmal ignorance of economics.
In truth, if I had to cope with J.B Jeyaretnam as a hostile
delegate at regular National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) Delegates
Conferences, I would have given him all the rope and more he wanted
to hang himself with. And after free and open arguments over three
days of conferencing, I would have beaten him hands down at the
ballot box. I knew this, as did the workers. For they knew that in
the colonial days, Jeyaretnam had never stood on a picket line. I
had, not once but several times, not only stood on picket lines,
but also bedded down for the night on the gravel with the workers
whom I led.
I told all this to Kuan Yew. Nothing I said sank in. He fretted
about a potential critical percentage drop in PAP votes across all
the constituencies that could eventually bring the PAP government
down, and he wouldn't stand for it. Only later did I realise that
this was the moment that started his formidable brain box ticking
away furiously at the fecund gerrymandering schemes he was to
introduce later to ensure that all opposition parties would be put
in a Gordion bind that would make it impossible for them to ever
achieve control of parliament, unless an Alexander came along. Such
a possibility appears impossible now, unless it takes the awesome
shape of shattering geo-political circumstances already building up
around Singapore.
Immediately, however, Kuan Yew's attention was concentrated on how
he would deal with J.B Jeyaretnam in parliament. I was quite
alarmed at some of the things he told me at that lunch. "Look," he
said, "Jeyaretnam cant win the infighting. I'll tell you why. WE
are in charge. Every government ministry and department is under
our control. And in the infighting, he will go down for the count
every time." And I will never forget his last words. "I will make
him crawl on his bended knees, and beg for mercy."
Jeyaretnam was made of sterner stuff. To his eternal credit he
never did crawl on bended knees, or ever begged for mercy. And it
is to Lee Kuan Yew's eternal shame that Jeyaretnam will leave the
political scene with his head held high, enjoying a martyrdom
conferred on him by Lee. Lest I be misunderstood, let me state that
Jeya more than deserves the crown of the martyr for his indomitable
courage and dignity in the face of the vilest persecution.
Even greater human spirits than Jeyaretnam had refused to bend
their knees to Lee Kuan Yew. It is my considered view that the
greatest human being living in Singapore today is one who declined
to surrender to the intimidation of prolonged incarceration and
restrictions imposed on him without trial for a total period which
exceeds that suffered by Nelson Mandela. And here was the mark of
true greatness. He emerged from the experience like a god
unembittered. His name is Chia Thye Poh. And it is Lee Kuan Yew who
emerged from the episode as the knave and fool of his own mindless
vindictiveness, while the real conqueror smiles benignly - unnoted,
of course, by the local media. For only sound waves from the Istana
Annexe are picked up and regurgitated by His Master¹s Voice.
There is no political justification for obliging the Workers' Party
to close down. And not a shred of moral justification. What lies
behind the move is among the most brazen vindictiveness ever shown
in the political life of Singapore. It merely adds one more nail in
the coffin of the PAP's reputation when the true history of the
party will be exposed to the world, as it surely will be one day in
the coming decades of the third millennium. As mankind accelerates
to the abyss, the shining memories of the past will certainly not
include Lee Kuan Yew and the department store dummies he boasts
today as his acolytes. He clearly does not possess the foresight to
avoid such a fate.
I gladly salute J.B. Jeyaretnam and the Worker's Party at this
highly deserved requiem, even if I never once had shared their
platform.
C. V. Devan Nair.
Former President
Republic of Singapore.
March 26, 1999
