Fighting for the right to be represented
By Woo Wei Ling
In reporting, timing is often everything. Several weeks ago, publichouse.sg editor Andrew Loh and I spoke to Ms Vellama Marie Muthu at her flat in Hougang to get to know the lady often described by the mainstream media simply as a “42-year old part time cleaner.” She is the Hougang resident who got constitutional law experts and other concerned citizens excited when she filed a high court application in March calling for the Prime Minister to call a by-election in the ward within three months or “within such reasonable time” as the Court deems fit.
Her application was filed following the expulsion of Hougang MP Yaw Shin Leong from the Worker’s Party, thus vacating his parliamentary seat.
Since our meeting, many dramatic events have taken place (see our timeline below), including the fulfilment of Mdm Vellama’s apparent objective, as the Prime Minister announced a date for the by-election. However, Mdm Vellama has decided to push ahead with her case.
Third Stage: Theatre company or "Marxist network"?
By Lisa Li
Wong Souk Yee, founding member of deregistered theatre company Third Stage, reflects on her detention under the ISA
If you search for "Wong Souk Yee" in the National Library catalogue, you won't find a thing. But type in the titles of her plays, and you'll find this:
'No Foul Play' (No named author or published date). Lee Kong Chian Reference Library [RCLOS]. Photocopy; Handwritten notes at bottom of some pages. For reference only.
'Cry for a Cactus' (No named author or published date). Lee Kong Chian Reference Library [RCLOS]. Photocopy; Handwritten notes on some pages; Includes a single poem on an unnumbered page. For reference only.
'Esperanza' (No record found).
I was intrigued. So I went to the counter on Level 11 and found I had to submit a written request, along with my full name and identity card number. A staff member went to retrieve the manuscripts from the closed access section. "Come back in 15 minutes," they said.
Hougang - what it will really come down to
Has the WP, which had campaigned on the platform of a "First World Parliament" in last year's GE, done enough to dispel doubts which may have crept into the minds of Hougang voters about its credibility?
It has been more than a year since the elections last year, and Singaporeans and Hougang voters in particular, have had the chance to assess its performance, both in Parliament and in the constituencies it is in charge of — which include Aljunied GRC, besides Hougang SMC.
The PAP's insinuations of WP's alleged "dishonesty" may not stick with voters.
"The flame must be alive!" - Chiam See Tong
On Sunday, 20 May, 7 young Singaporeans staged the play, "Chiam's Finest Hour", to recount Mr Chiam See Tong's defence of the 22 Singaporeans who were arrested under Singapore's Internal Security Act in May 1987.
See our earlier report on the event here.
We spoke to Mr Chiam after the event, where he was the Guest of Honour.
May 1987 still holds relevance today
By Joses Kuan
21 May marked the 25th anniversary of the alleged Marxist Conspiracy in Singapore in 1987. It has been a protracted and arduous process bringing this episode back onto the national terrain. For various reasons - out of fear, self-censorship and surveillance, a blanket conviction that the state knows better, national amnesia or simply just lethargy and inertia - hauling this ignominious incident back from near obscurity represents a seminal point in our national consciousness today.
I am 26 now, and the Marxist Conspiracy is not some abstract or amorphous misadventure that unfolded some 25 years ago. It’s not history to me. In fact, it’s far from history. It has everything to do with our nation today, and with addressing old wounds, questions and injustices that still exist before we can move on. Otherwise, in the event that something similar happens again, are we going to be debilitated into silence and be cowed into fear once more? Are we going to know how to deal with it, to want to pursue justice or to yield silently?
“I have always loved the Catholic Church”
As we commemorate the 25th anniversary of Operation Spectrum, former priest Edgar D’Souza gives a detailed and frank account of his experience of that harrowing time.
By Elaine Ee
When Edgar D’Souza decided in the early 1960s, at the tender age of 16, that he wanted to become a Catholic priest, little did he foresee that some 20-odd years later he would get caught up in a web of arrests that resulted in some of his most respected colleagues being detained without trial and he being suspended from the Church he so dearly loved.
For this Selangor-born gentleman, who had come to Singapore in the early 1950s as a child, the Church has always been a source of inspiration.
“I was brought up in a devoted Catholic family by my widowed mother and maternal grandparents,” D’Souza recalls. “From primary school days at St Michael’s, I was an altar boy and saw priests as leaders of a worshipping community. A number of them were also family friends.
Withdrawn edition of Catholic News on "Marxist conspiracy"
On 14 June 1987, the Catholic Church had printed copies of its June 14 edition of the Catholic News with a statement from the Church to its faithful.
However, for reasons unknown, the then Archbishop, Gregory Yong, decided to withdraw that edition of the Catholic News.
We reproduce it here, with the statement from the Church to its followers, explaining the Church's position on the arrest of 22 Singaporeans, including church workers, by the Government on 21 May 1987. [Click here to download a copy.]
The arrests were known as "Operation Spectrum".
The Catholic Church's statement as on 14 June 1987 in the withdrawn edition of the Catholic News:
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