publichouse.sg

By Biddy Low

Who is Tan Wah Piow?

His is a name riddled with such fearful labels by our state's government and media - exile, rioter; "Marxist Mastermind." Yet as I sat with him in our video interview, I perceived none of the shadowy demeanour one might expect from a man of his reputation. Instead, he displayed a candour befitting of a free and fearless spirit.

In 1976, Wah Piow, then a young man of 24, escaped to the UK and sought asylum from what he believed was a precarious situation. He had just been released from prison after an 8-month long term. The charges of rioting and illegal assembly were the result of a "frame-up", he claimed, a plan adopted by the government to make an example of him and subvert a growing interest in social causes among the student body at the university.

By Loh Kah Seng

A change is occurring in public history in Singapore. When Dr Lim Hock Siew passed away on 4 June this year, the Straits Times (ST) published a fairly balanced obituary on the socialist activist, tracing his life and politics through the memories of his family members and associates [1].

Two weeks later, a senior ST writer, Clarissa Oon, called attention to the ‘leftist hole’ in history books [2].  Socialists, long demonised as part of a ‘communist united front’ seeking to subvert the constitutional process, are becoming acceptable to the mainstream.

Another historical gap, not yet officially acceptable, is being filled: the ‘Marxist conspiracy’ of 1987 when a small number of church workers and social activists were detained without trial on allegations of communist subversion. In April last year, an opposition politician said on national television that the charges against them were ‘trumped up’ [3].