Operation Spectrum
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Operation Spectrum, also known as the 1987 "
Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
Conspiracy", was the code name for a covert security operation that took place in
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 ...
on 21 May 1987. Sixteen people were arrested and detained without trial under Singapore's
Internal Security Act Internal Security Act may refer to: *Internal Security Act 1960, former Malaysian law *Internal Security Act (Singapore) *McCarran Internal Security Act, a United States federal law *Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, a South African law, renamed ...
(ISA) for their alleged involvement in "a Marxist conspiracy to subvert the existing social and political system in Singapore, using
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
united front tactics, with a view to establishing a Marxist state." On 20 June 1987, six more people were arrested, bringing the total number of detainees to 22. The mostly English-educated group was a mix of Catholic lay workers, social workers, overseas-educated graduates, theatre practitioners and professionals. According to the Singapore government allegations, Operation Spectrum was conducted to "nip communist problem(s) in the bud". The mastermind behind the alleged Marxist plot was
Tan Wah Piow Tan Wah Piow () is currently a lawyer and a former Singapore student leader, who since 1976 lives in political exile in London. In 1987, he was accused by the Singapore government of being the alleged mastermind behind the Marxist Conspiracy. Th ...
, a former University of Singapore Students' Union president who had been in ''de facto'' exile in London since 1976. His "key man" in Singapore was Vincent Cheng Kim Chuan, a full-time Catholic Church worker in the Justice and Peace Commission. Cheng's role was allegedly to use the Catholic church in Singapore as a "ready cover" to organise the infiltration of disparate groups of influence including the
Law Society A law society is an association of lawyers with a regulatory role that includes the right to supervise the training, qualifications, and conduct of lawyers. Where there is a distinction between barristers and solicitors, solicitors are regulated ...
, the opposition Workers' Party and various student bodies. These would allegedly become pressure groups that would eventually come into open confrontation with the government. By December 1987, all the detainees had been released except for Cheng. However, in April 1988, nine of the released detainees issued a joint statement accusing the government of ill treatment and torture while under detention. They also denied involvement in any conspiracy and alleged that they were pressured into making confessions. Eight of the nine were re-arrested and detained for a second time. They were eventually released after they signed statutory declarations denying everything they had said in their press statement. The truth of the allegations is contentious. Historians
Mary Turnbull Constance Mary Turnbull (9 February 1927 – 5 September 2008) was a British historian known for her work on Southeast Asian history, in particular on the history of Singapore. Her expertise on Singapore history and citations from her book ''The ...
and Michael D. Barr have described the conspiracy as likely "myths" and a "fanciful narrative", arguing that the arrests were politically motivated. In an interview with ''
The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...
'' on 14 December 2001, then-Senior Minister of State
Tharman Shanmugaratnam Tharman Shanmugaratnam (Tamil: தர்மன் சண்முகரத்தினம்; born 25 February 1957) is a Singaporean politician and economist who has been serving as Senior Minister of Singapore since 2019 and has also been Co ...
said that "although I had no access to state intelligence, from what I knew of them, most were social activists but were not out to subvert the system." However, the People's Action Party (PAP) government has continued to maintain its stand that the ex-detainees "were not detained for their political beliefs, but because they had involved themselves in subversive activities which posed a threat to national security."


Alleged Marxist conspiracy

On 21 May 1987, 16 people were arrested in a pre-dawn raid carried out by the
Internal Security Department Internal Security Department may refer to: * Internal Security Department (Brunei) * Internal Security Department (Singapore) The Internal Security Department (ISD) is a domestic counter-intelligence and security agency of Singapore under the ...
. They were Vincent Cheng Kim Chuan, Teo Soh Lung, Kevin Desmond de Souza, Wong Souk Yee, Tang Lay Lee, Ng Bee Leng, Jenny Chin Lai Ching, Kenneth Tsang Chi Seng, Chung Lai Mei, Mah Lee Lin, Low Yit Leng, Tan Tee Seng, Teresa Lim Li Kok, Tang Fong Har, Chia Boon Tai, Tay Hong Seng and William Yap Hon Ngian. Over the next two months, Singapore's national broadsheet ''
The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...
'' published numerous articles about the unravelling of what the
Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...
described as a "Marxist conspiracy" to "subvert the existing system of government and to seize power in Singapore." According to the paper, the conspirators were "hybrid pro-communist types who...augment traditional CPM (Communist Party of Malaya) tactics with new techniques and methods, using the Catholic church and religious organisations."


The Catholic Church and the State

The Catholic organisations that were named by the government as having been used by Cheng to further the Marxist cause included the Justice and Peace Commission (of which Cheng was the executive secretary), the Student Christian Movement of Singapore, the Young Christian Workers Movement and the Catholic Welfare Centre, which assisted foreign workers and maids working in Singapore. The government also said that the detainees had links with Filipino leftists and advocates of liberation theology as well as Sri Lankan separatists. Several members and alleged conspirators had trained with the
Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) is an Eelam Tamils, Eelam Tamil organisation which campaigned for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam in the northeast of Sri Lanka during 1972-1987 which later accepted the December 19th ...
, a Sri Lankan terrorist group. Several pictures, especially of Chung Lai Mei, was published, showing her holding a gun, as well as participating in military training. Documents and witnesses said that several of them had gone through weapon training courses and forms of military training by Marxist-affiliated or terrorist-linked groups.


Initial reaction

Following the arrests, Archbishop
Gregory Yong Gregory Yong Sooi Ngean D.D., J.C.D. (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Yòng Sui-ngèn'') (20 May 1925 – 28 June 2008) was the second, and the first local, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore. Biography Early years Archbishop Yong was born in ...
, the head of the Catholic Church in Singapore, issued a joint statement with his priests that expressed support for the four full-time church workers and six volunteers who were detained. It also affirmed that "the Catholic Church... must continue its mission of spreading its teachings on matters pertaining to justice as they apply to social, economic and political issues." The joint statement and a pastoral letter supporting the Church workers were read in all Catholic churches on 31 May 1987. The Church also held a special Mass for the detainees and their families. All this led to a build-up of tension between the Church and the government.


Meeting with Lee Kuan Yew

On 2 June 1987, a meeting was arranged between Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Archbishop Gregory Yong as well as nine other Catholic Church representatives who had been cleared by the Internal Security Department. Lee was concerned about the reaction of the Catholic community to the detentions. When Yong asked for proof that nine of the detained church workers had been involved in a clandestine communist network, Lee interrupted him by saying, "It is not a practice, nor will I allow subversives to get away by insisting that I've got to prove everything against them in a court of law or evidence that will stand up to the strict rules of evidence of a court of law." In a press conference given immediately after the meeting, Yong said that he accepted the Internal Security Department's evidence against Cheng and was satisfied that the government had nothing against the Catholic Church when they arrested him. Yong said, "That the man himself incent Chengadmitted that he was using the Church...I think this is one of the biggest reasons why I have to accept the Government's statement. ...After going through the depositions made by the person concerned himself, I have no way of disproving this statement." Lee stressed that the government upheld freedom of religion but would not tolerate the use of religion for subversive activities. However, two years later in 1989, speaking in court during the defamation suit launched by the government against the '' Far Eastern Economic Review'', Father Joachim Kang gave a different account of the meeting. One of the Catholic priests who was present at the meeting, Kang said that Lee Kuan Yew was dismissive of Vincent Cheng and the detainees, saying they were "stupid novices" and calling Tan Wah Piow a "simpleton". Instead, Lee turned the spotlight on four priests: Fathers Edgar de Souza, Joseph Ho, Patrick Goh and Guillaume Arotcarena. Edgar D'Souza was the associate editor of ''The Catholic News'' and press liaison officer of the Church; Joseph Ho was the chairman of the Justice and Peace Commission; Patrick Goh was the national chaplain of the Young Christian Workers' Movement and a commission member; and Guillaume Arotcarena was the director of the Catholic Centre for Foreign Workers. Lee criticised them for venturing into the political arena and gave the impression that he considered the priests to be "subversives, Marxists or communists", and mentioned that the government had full rights under the Internal Security Act to arrest them. It left Kang feeling "dead worried" about the fate of the priests and the Church. Kang also said that he got the impression that the real target of the government's action was not the 16 detainees but the four priests.


Subsequent actions

Following the press conference, Archbishop Gregory Yong implemented measures that were an about-turn from his earlier stance. He withdrew the most recent issue of ''The Catholic News'' which focused on the Church's support for the detainees and accepted the resignation of the four priests involved with the organisations named in the conspiracy as well as suspended them from their preaching duties. He also ordered his priests not to mix politics and religion in sermons and shut down the Justice and Peace Commission and the Catholic Centre for Foreign Workers.


Confessions on television

During their time in prison, all the detainees eventually signed confessions of their involvement in the alleged Marxist plot. Most of them also made confessions on television as it had become customary for the government to televise confessions of those held without trial under the Internal Security Act. An interview with Vincent Cheng was broadcast on 9 June 1987, some 19 days after his arrest. For two hours, Cheng answered questions from four journalists about his role in the Marxist plot. Over the next few days, the Singapore press published lengthy extracts from the interview. In a two-part television documentary titled ''Tracing The Conspiracy'', broadcast on 28 June 1987, other detainees spoke of the purported roles they played in the conspiracy. Tang Lay Lee and Teo Soh Lung said that they targeted the
Law Society A law society is an association of lawyers with a regulatory role that includes the right to supervise the training, qualifications, and conduct of lawyers. Where there is a distinction between barristers and solicitors, solicitors are regulated ...
as a pressure group to oppose the government. Wong Souk Yee spoke of how the drama group, Third Stage, used plays as a tool to portray Singapore's social and political system in an unfavourable light. Low Yit Leng, Chung Lai Mei and Tan Tee Seng talked about their student activist days. The detainees said Tan Wah Piow had insisted that they infiltrate the Workers' Party, which was why they helped to print and distribute Workers' Party pamphlets during the 1984 General Elections. After the elections, they said, Kenneth Tsang Chi Seng and Tan Tee Seng moved into positions of influence within the party, and later took control of the party's publication, ''The Hammer'', and used it as a channel to propagate anti-government sentiments and influence public opinion against the government.


International response

Reactions to the news of the arrests arrived swiftly from abroad.
Senior Minister Senior Minister is a political title. It may refer to: * Senior Minister of Canada, a political office in the Cabinet of Canada **Senior Minister, a ceremonial position before the title Deputy Prime Minister was introduced in 1977 * Senior Minister ...
S. Rajaratnam Sinnathamby Rajaratnam ( ta, சின்னத்தம்பி ராஜரத்னம்; 25 February 1915 – 22 February 2006), better known as S. Rajaratnam, was a Singaporean politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Singapo ...
stated that the detentions had drawn protests from about 200 organisations in the United States, Europe, Thailand, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Major Asian news publications such as the '' Far Eastern Economic Review'', '' Asiaweek'' and ''
The Star ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' followed the affair closely and offered minute analyses, generally taking a critical tone with regard to the actions of the Singapore authorities. Prominent examples of external organisations that challenged the People's Action Party during the 1987 Internal Security Act arrests are the
International Commission of Jurists The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists—including senior judges, attorneys and academics—who work to develop national and inte ...
(ICJ),
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
,
World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...
and Asia Watch. Amnesty International sent a group to Singapore to investigate the case, later adopting all twenty-two detainees as prisoners of conscience. The ICJ also sent a mission to Singapore. Its report on 12 October 1987 stated that there was no evidence which justified the detainees being labelled 'Marxists' or 'Communists'; that the treatment of the detainees by the Internal Security Department amounted to "clear and grave violations of human rights"; and that "the Mission's report endorses world opinion that the real motive for these detentions is to quash internal opposition and criticism of the Singapore government." The affair was also brought to the attention of the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
. On 4 July 1987, fifty-five members of the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
, among whom were several presidents of Justice Commissions, signed a letter demanding that legal procedures begin or else that the detainees be set free. At a meeting, the foreign affairs ministers of the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia asked their Singapore counterpart for explanations of the affair. Fifteen deputies of Japan's
National Diet The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (Japan), House of Councillors (, ...
also sent a letter to Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.


The joint statement and re-arrests of 1988

With the exception of Vincent Cheng, all the detainees were released, on various dates, before the end of 1987. On 18 April 1988, nine of the ex-detainees released a joint statement to the press. In the statement, Teo Soh Lung, Kevin Desmond de Souza, Tang Lay Lee, Ng Bee Leng, William Yap Hon Ngian, Kenneth Tsang Chi Seng, Wong Souk Yee, Chng Suan Tze, and Tang Fong Har said that even though they had hitherto kept a "fearful silence", they decided to release a statement because of "the constant barrage of Government taunts and its public invitation to speak the truth". The following are extracts from the statement: One day after release of the statement, all the signatories except Tang Fong Har, who was in the United Kingdom at the time, were re-arrested. Patrick Seong Kwok Kei, a
Law Society A law society is an association of lawyers with a regulatory role that includes the right to supervise the training, qualifications, and conduct of lawyers. Where there is a distinction between barristers and solicitors, solicitors are regulated ...
Council member and one of the lawyers who had acted for several of the detainees in 1987, was also arrested on the same day. On 6 May 1988, lawyer Francis Seow, who was representing Teo Soh Lung and Patrick Seong Kwok Kei, was arrested under the Internal Security Act while waiting inside the Internal Security Department's headquarters to meet his clients. He was supposed to have filed for writs of ''
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
'' for his clients on the same day. The government accused him of "colluding with foreign diplomats and officials to lead a group of opposition lawyers and professionals into Parliament." He was alleged to have misused his status as a legal counsel as a cover for political propaganda and agitation. Seow was held in detention for 72 days and was released, subject to restrictions on his freedom of movement and association, as a result of pressure by international human rights organisations. He was later charged and convicted '' in absentia'' for
tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...
, having left Singapore to live in exile in the United States where he became a Fellow at the Department of Asian Studies at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. In response to the ex-detainees' allegations of ill-treatment, the
Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...
announced on 19 April that a Commission of Inquiry would be held to determine if the Marxist conspiracy was a government fabrication and whether the detainees were assaulted and tortured. Trade and Industry Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that "the Government does not ill-treat detainees. It does however apply psychological pressure to detainees to get to the truth of the matter... the truth would not be known unless psychological pressure was used during interrogation." Ow Chin Hock, Member of Parliament for Leng Kee, revealed later that Singaporeans, notably intellectuals, had "harped on the need to protect detainees' rights". The ex-detainees who were arrested eventually signed statutory declarations (SDs) reaffirming their original statements to the Internal Security Department. Five of the detainees said that they were not ill-treated. In Patrick Seong Kwok Kei's SD, he admitted to encouraging the release of the joint statement as he saw it as "an opportunity to discredit the Government and embarrass it externally", as well as feeding information to foreign correspondents to generate "hostile publicity" to pressure govt to release the detainees. He was released after 30 days in detention together with Tang Lay Lee and Ng Bee Leng. Vincent Cheng was conditionally released after three years in mid-June 1990. He had to abide by six restrictive conditions, one of which was not to engage or get involved in any activity that advocated a political cause. Even after the signing of the SDs, there were continued calls for a public inquiry. Minister for Home Affairs
S. Jayakumar Jayakumar or Jeyakumar is a Sinhalese and Indian surname. It consists of two parts: ''jaya'', which means ''victory'' in Sinhalese and is also the name of a Hindu demigod, and ''kumar'', meaning ''child'', ''son'' or ''prince''. The name may refer t ...
stated that there was no longer a need to hold a Commission of Inquiry as investigations had showed that the ex-detainees "were not... seeking judicial or legal redress but were acting as political propagandists out to discredit the Government." He also claimed that the foreign press had "hysterical" reactions to the news of the re-arrests, which "did not come as a surprise" to the government.


''Habeas corpus''

''See Changes to the law'' After the re-arrests, four of the detainees – Teo Soh Lung, Kenneth Tsang Chi Seng, Wong Souk Yee and Kevin Desmond de Souza – were issued with one-year detention orders. They engaged
Anthony Lester Anthony Paul Lester, Baron Lester of Herne Hill, QC (3 July 1936 – 8 August 2020) was a British barrister and member of the House of Lords. He was at different times a member of the Labour Party, Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Dem ...
and Geoffrey Robertson,
Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...
s (QC) from the United Kingdom, to apply to the High Court for writs of ''
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
'', a legal action that requires a person under arrest to be brought before a judge to challenge detention lacking sufficient cause or evidence. They were unsuccessful. They then appealed to the
Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
. In a landmark ruling, the Court of Appeal ordered the four detainees to be released but they were immediately re-arrested under new detention orders. The detainees filed fresh applications for writs of ''habeas corpus'', but – with the exception of Teo – later withdrew their applications and were released. Teo's application was dismissed by the High Court after the government amended the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
and the Internal Security Act to reverse the Court of Appeal's earlier decision. The amendments were expressed to operate retrospectively. The legality of these amendments was unsuccessfully challenged by Teo in ''Teo Soh Lung v. Minister for Home Affairs (1989–1990)'' and Vincent Cheng in ''Cheng Vincent v. Minister for Home Affairs (1990)''.


Impact of Operation Spectrum


Changes to the law

The legal challenges mounted by the detainees led the Singapore government to introduce bills in
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
to amend the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
and the
Internal Security Act Internal Security Act may refer to: *Internal Security Act 1960, former Malaysian law *Internal Security Act (Singapore) *McCarran Internal Security Act, a United States federal law *Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, a South African law, renamed ...
to remove the power of the judiciary in cases related to internal security. Although the
Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
held in the seminal 1988 case ''Chng Suan Tze v. Minister for Home Affairs'' that the courts could review the legality of detentions under the Act, the government reversed the effect of the case less than two weeks later, announcing that it would restore the law to its pre-Chng Suan Tze state. Bills seeking to amend the Constitution and the Internal Security Act were introduced and enacted by Parliament on an urgent basis, and they came into force on 25 January 1989. The legality of the amendments was challenged by Teo in ''Teo Soh Lung v. Minister for Home Affairs'' (1989–1990) and Cheng in ''Cheng Vincent v. Minister for Home Affairs'' (1990) but they were unsuccessful. The amendments were determined to be effective by the High Court and Court of Appeal in 1989 and 1990 respectively, with the Court of Appeal holding that Parliament had effectively turned back the clock to 1971, and so it could not consider whether there were objective grounds for the detention. The Internal Security Act is now shielded from unconstitutionality by Article 149 of the Constitution. Appeals to the United Kingdom's
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
were also abolished because the government averred that only the local courts should be involved in matters that involved Singapore's national security. Following this episode, the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act was passed in 1990 as an additional legal instrument to keep politics and religion separate in Singapore. The law gives the
Minister for Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
the power to issue restraining orders against any religious leader whose sermons, speeches or actions threaten Singapore's religious harmony.


Gazetting of foreign media

The '' Far Eastern Economic Review'', a weekly news publication under Dow Jones Inc., was gazetted and its circulation restricted as a result of an article about the Marxist conspiracy, "New Light on Detentions", that offended the Singapore government. Its circulation was reduced from 9,000 copies to 500 copies per issue per week. In addition, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew commenced a personal action for defamation against the ''Far Eastern Economic Review'', its editor, the reporter, and all those connected with its publication. '' Asiaweek'', a regional weekly owned by
Time Inc. Time Inc. was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New York City. It owned and published over 100 magazine brands, including its namesake ''Time'', ''Sports Illu ...
, was also gazetted due to its refusal to publish two letters from the government concerning the magazine's cover story on the detentions. The magazine's circulation was reduced from 10,000 copies to 500 copies per week. When ''Asiaweek'' softened its stance against the government, its circulation was raised to 5,000 copies, but not before its resident correspondent,
Lisa Beyer Lisa Beyer is vice president of communications at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). Prior to joining IAVI, Beyer was assistant managing editor at ''Time'' magazine until early 2007. Career Beyer began her career as an editor for ...
, was transferred out to Hong Kong. Beyer had written articles relating to the 1987 arrests. When she chose to resign, the circulation of ''Asiaweek'' was raised to 7,500 copies weekly per issue.


Views of the Marxist conspiracy

The existence of the conspiracy is contentious among many political commentators, academics and members of Singapore's ruling elite. British historian
Mary Turnbull Constance Mary Turnbull (9 February 1927 – 5 September 2008) was a British historian known for her work on Southeast Asian history, in particular on the history of Singapore. Her expertise on Singapore history and citations from her book ''The ...
wrote that "the alleged Marxist conspiracy and the Liberation Theology menace turned out to be myths." Michael D. Barr, a historian at
Flinders University Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...
, called the conspiracy a "fanciful narrative". Goh Chok Tong revealed in his interviews for ''Men in White: The Untold Stories of the PAP'' that former Minister for National Development
S. Dhanabalan Suppiah Dhanabalan ( ta, சு. தனபாலன்; born 8 August 1937), also known as S. Dhanabalan, is a Singaporean former politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Singapore), Minister for Foreign Affairs between 1980 and ...
left the
Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
in 1992 because he was not comfortable with the way the government had dealt with the 1987 Marxist conspiracy. Goh said, "At that time, given the information, he was not fully comfortable with the action we took... he felt uncomfortable and thought there could be more of such episodes in future. So he thought since he was uncomfortable, he'd better leave the Cabinet. I respected him for his view." Law lecturer
Walter Woon Walter Woon Cheong Ming (born 12 September 1956) is a Singaporean lawyer, academic, diplomat and politician. He is currently professor of law at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law and the Dean of the Singapore Institute of L ...
, who would later assume the post of Attorney-General, said in a 1991 interview with ''
The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...
'' that "As far as I am concerned, the government's case is still not proven. I would not say those fellows were Red, not from the stuff they presented. I think a lot of people have this scepticism." There is evidence that Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew himself did not believe that those arrested were part of any Marxist conspiracy. According to notes taken by the Internal Security Department at a private meeting in the
Istana ''Istana'' is an Indonesian language, Indonesian and Malay language, Malay word meaning "palace". Notable Istanas *Istana Alam Shah, the official palace of the Sultan of Selangor *Istana Besar, 19th- and early 20th-century residence of the Sultan o ...
on 2 June 1987 at 1500 hours between Lee and Catholic church leaders, Lee said that he was "not interested in Vincent Cheng and his group", that he "did not believe Tan Wah Piow was in control," and that he regarded the detainees as nothing more than "do-gooders, who wanted to help the poor and dispossessed". According to Catholic priest Joachim Kang, who was present at the same meeting, Lee also dismissed Vincent Cheng and the others as "stupid novices" and called Tan Wah Piow a "simpleton".


30th anniversary silent protest, 2017

On 3 June 2017, 8 blindfolded protesters led by Jolovan Wham entered an
MRT MRT may refer to: Transport Rapid Transit Systems * Mass Rapid Transit (disambiguation) * MRT (Singapore) or Mass Rapid Transit, Singapore * MRT (Bangkok) or Metropolitan Rapid Transit, Thailand * Manila Metro Rail Transit System, Philippine ...
train holding up a book titled ''1987: Singapore's Marxist conspiracies 30 years on'' as part of a silent protest against Operation Spectrum. During the protest, Wham also pasted two sheets of A4 paper on an MRT train panel, for which he was charged on the count of vandalism in addition to charges for organising public assemblies without a permit. He was fined.


See also

* *
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 ...
* Operation Lalang


Notes


References

*Francis T. Seow (1994), ''To Catch a Tartar: A Dissident in Lee Kuan Yew's Prison'', (Monograph 42/Yale Southeast Asia Studies), . * *Michael D. Barr (2008), "Singapore's Catholic Social Activists", in Michael D. Barr and
Carl A. Trocki Carl A. Trocki is an American historian specializing in the history of Southeast Asia and China. He was formerly Professor of Asian Studies at the Queensland University of Technology and Director of the Centre for Community and Cross-Cultural Stud ...
, eds., ''Paths not taken: political pluralism in post-war Singapore'', Singapore: NUS Press, . *Michael D. Barr (2010), "Marxists in Singapore? Lee Kuan Yew's Campaign against Catholic Social Justice Activists in the 1980s", ''Critical Asian Studies'', 43(3), 335–362. * *Teo Soh Lung (2010), "''Beyond the Blue Gate: Recollections of a Political Prisoner''", Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia: Strategic Information and Research Development Centre, .


External links


Timeline of the "plot"
* * *

* Vincent Cheng's speech at SDP's Pre-Election Rally in 201
Part 1
an
Part 2


* ttp://www.singapore-window.org/sw02/020521fs.htm 'Marxist Conspiracy' anniversary remembered
15th Anniversary of May 21 ISA Arrests

Geoffrey Robertson, "Torture: the human-rights answer"

That We May Dream Again (Function 8 website)
{{Communism in Malaysia Political history of Singapore 1987 in Singapore Protests in Singapore