Dr Lim Hock Siew, Singapore's second longest-held political
detainee, has died.
The 81-year-old is understood to have died on Monday night. He
suffered from kidney failure in 2009.
Dr Lim was a founding member and leader of Barisan Sosialis, the
party formed by a splinter group of the People's Action Party in
1961. On Feb 2, 1963, he was among over 110 leftists and unionists
who were arrested and imprisoned under Operation Cold Store, a
massive government security exercise targeted at communists and
suspected communists. Dr Lim was detained without trial for almost
20 years before his release on Sept 6, 1982.
In a statement released 10 years before his release, Dr Lim said
the Internal Security Department had indicated to him he would be
released if he issued a public statement that he was prepared to
give up politics and devote his time to medical practice, and that
he supported the parliamentary democratic system. However, he
refused and demanded to be released unconditionally. He said in his
statement: "The fact that I had been detained for over nine years
in order to coerce me to give up politics is proof enough that
there is no parliamentary democracy."
-- ST
