Mr Fang Chuang Pi, 71, was a powerful communist underground
leader in the '50s and '60s. In a recent interview, he called
Singapore a "freak". ALETHEA LIM speaks to someone who knew
him
HE seemed an innocent-looking court reporter on the rare occasions
when he sat opposite police prosecutors in court during the
1950s.
Little did they know that the
smiling Mr Fang Chuang Pi was really a Singapore leader of the
now-defunct Communist Party of Malaya.
The Reds, as the Communists were known, could stir up trouble in
trade unions and Chinese schools in those days.
Mr Fang himself became a legend for his ability to "disappear" and
avoid arrest.
One person who remembers him well was fellow court reporter Philip
Goh of the now defunct Malaya Tribune.
Said Mr Goh: "It's quite an irony that on the days Mr Fang attended
court trials and sat across the police prosecutors in court, they
never knew who he really was."
Mr Fang then worked for the Chinese newspaper, Nan Chiau Jit
Pao...
http://ourstory.asia1.com.sg/independence/ref/plen8.html
China-born Singaporean Fong Chong Pik or Fong Chong Pi @ "The
Plen", (1926-2004) was an important force in the Communist Party
from 1950 until his death.
These memoirs, originally published in Chinese, offer Communist
Party points of view on various aspects of the anti-colonial
struggle, the policies of the People's Action Party, and
underground activities including jungle guerrilla activities in
Northern Malaya.
The pieces are illuminating, savagely bitter, episodic and
combative as well as at times ruminative and more humane than
self-justifying. After the 1989 Peace Accords the author and his
family lived along with other former comrades at the Peace &
Friendship village in Southern Thailand. With black-and-white
photographs and sketch maps.
http://www.selectbooks.com.sg/getTitle.aspx
