Sandrasegaran "Sidney" Woodhull (1932 – 26 November 2003) was a

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

an lawyer, former politician and

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

. He was a founding member of the

University of Malaya The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...

University Socialist Club The University Socialist Club (abbrev: USC) was a left-wing student group active from 1953 to 1971 that played an important role in the politics of colonial Malaya and post-colonial Malaysia and Singapore. Members of the club played a significant ...

, and the

's political parties,

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...

and the

Barisan Sosialis Barisan Sosialis ( eng, Socialist Front) was a political party in Singapore. It was formed on 29 July 1961 and officially registered on 13 August 1961 by left-wing members of the People's Action Party (PAP) who had been expelled from the PAP. ...

Biography

Born in

British Ceylon British Ceylon ( si, බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ලංකාව, Britānya Laṃkāva; ta, பிரித்தானிய இலங்கை, Biritthāṉiya Ilaṅkai) was the British Crown colony of present-day Sri Lanka between ...

in 1932, Sandrasegaran Woodhull, sometimes referred as "Sandra", "Sydney" or "Sidney" in the press, entered the

in 1951 as a Sultan Ibrahim scholar from Johor. He was a founding member of the

in 1953, serving as Financial Secretary in the first Central Working Committee. He was also involved in the Fajar controversy because of his contribution to the Fajar magazine and occasional attendance at group meetings although he was not the member of the Fajar editorial board. Woodhull eventually became a prominent union advisor and leader of the Singapore Naval Base Labour Union. Together with other trade unionists, Woodhull was officially recruited into the

on 21 November 1954. He was detained by the police after the

Chinese middle school riots The Chinese middle schools riots were a series of riots that broke out in the Chinese Singaporean community in 1956, resulting in 13 people killed and more than 120 injured. Overview In 1956, after Lim Yew Hock replaced David Marshall as Ch ...

in 1956. Following his release after the PAP gained power in 1959, Woodhull was appointed as the Political Secretary to the Ministry of Health. Woodhull was one of the thirteen PAP left-wingers who were expelled from the PAP on 20 July 1961, he later joined the

on 29 July 1961 as was made its Vice Chairman. On 26 October 1962, Woodhull married Peng Tsu Ping, who was also a graduate of University of Malaya and a librarian at the

University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

at the

Singapore Registry The Registry of Marriages (ROM) is a government agency in Singapore that administers all marriages carried out in the country and solemnises civil marriages. Overview Marriage records in Singapore date back to the year 1875. On 15 September 1961, ...

witnessed by Secretary-General of Barisan Sosialis

Lim Chin Siong Lim Chin Siong (; 28 February 1933 – 5 February 1996) was a Singaporean politician and union leader active in Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s. He was one of the founders of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), which has governed the ...

and Dr Gopal Baratham. Woodhull was against the PAP proposal for merger with Malaysian Federation, calling it a political "strait jacket". He was arrested and detained without trial under

Operation Coldstore Operation Coldstore was the code name for a covert security operation executed in Singapore on 2 February 1963 which led to the arrest of 113 people, who were detained without trial pursuant to the Preservation of Public Service Security Ordinan ...

in February 1963. He was released afterward and exiled to

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

in November. He later went to London to study law. Woodhull returned to Kuala Lumpur where he was called to the Malaysian Bar in 1967. He was a partner with law firm of Shearn Delamore & Co. He was allowed to return to Singapore in 1990. He retired from law practice in December 2000.

Death

Woodhull died on 26 November 2003 at the age of 71 at a Singapore Hospital after heart surgery. His wake was held at the

Mount Vernon Columbarium Mount Vernon Columbarium was a columbarium complex on Mount Vernon, Singapore. Built in 1962 as a crematorium, the columbarium closed in 2018 to make way for future redevelopments in the upcoming Bidadari housing estate, with plans for a new funera ...

at night in 28 November and his cremated remains was later brought back to

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

. He is survived by his wife Peng, his daughters Anashuya and Anuita, his son Anshumann, and a granddaughter Lara Sayana Bell.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodhull, Sandrasegaran 1932 births 2003 deaths People's Action Party politicians Singaporean prisoners and detainees Barisan Sosialis politicians

Biography

Death

See also

References