Singapore's brand of McCarthyism

Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew

A few months ago, Lee's Government in Singapore stated quite explicitly that the stability and progress achieved by the Government had made the communist ideology irrelevant and of no threat to the nation. However, a few weeks back, in a government statement released on June 21, 1974, it was announced that 30 people (now increased to 35) described as members of the Malayan National Liberation Front (MNLF), a Communist Party of Malaya underground organisation were arrested. Among those arrested were Mr T.T. Rajah, a prominent left-wing lawyer, one accountant, several students and many others whose identities were not disclosed.

A statement issued by the Singapore Polytechnic Students' Union and University of Singapore Students' Union pointed out that this campaign amounted to being "a repetition of Operation Cold Store conducted in 1963 on February 2, during which 113 people from the left-wing political opposition were arbitrarily arrested without trial, some of whom are still under detention after more than 11 years. Dr Lim Hock Siew, Said Zahain, ex-editor of Utusan Melayu, Chia Thye Poll and Lee Tse Tong are among those still in prison."

In its statement, the Singapore Polytech and University Students' Unions referred to the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states:

"Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of political jurisdiction or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty."

Article nine of the Declaration says "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile." In its statement the two students' unions strongly reiterated that they stood for "freedom of speech and expression and believe that all persons are entitled to their own political beliefs and condemns all form of political suppression on the opposition.

The statement also pointed out that: "Our unions strongly opposed the Internal Security Act which enables the government to detain persons without trial for an indefinite period and therefore contradicts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (especially Article nine). We have condemned the 1963 mass arrest and we condemned the government closure of the Singapore Herald, an English newspaper.

"Lastly, as a reminder to the government, we appeal to the minister who directed the arrest and the Cabinet to honour the democratic principles of the UN Charter to which the Singapore Government subscribes, and as laid down by our Prime Minister himself in 1955: 'If we are to survive as a free democracy, then we must be [unclear: prepared] in principle, to concede to our [unclear: enemies] even those who do not subscribe to our views - as much constitutional rights [unclear: as] you concede youself."

Lee's recent actions do not come as [unclear: a] surprise. Lee obviously practices his [unclear: own] special brand of McCarthyism. [unclear: Among] other things, as Lee sees it, a [unclear: newspaper] editor who dares to write articles [unclear: reflect] the real living conditions of [unclear: the] majority, a teacher who speaks [unclear: frankly] and discusses with his students the [unclear: harsh] legislations imposed upon the people, a politically active student who [unclear: question] the mounting repressions of the [unclear: people] the island state, a cultural show [unclear: organise] who dares to promote people's art [unclear: and] to combat 'yellow culture' is a [unclear: commui]

Within this context, one must [unclear: question] just why the New Zealand Labour [unclear: Party] Conference sought to express its [unclear: continue] support for Lee's reactionary [unclear: governme]