The Foreword of
“Probing into the sufferings of Singapore's left-wing labour movement in the 1960s”
Author: Chng Min Oh @ Zhuang Ming Hu
▲The 83-year-old author, Chng Min Oh @ Zhuang Ming Hu with the front and back cover of his upcoming book in the English rendition.
The author Chng Min Oh came from working class. He devoted himself to the labour movement at an early age. In 1970, he was detained without trial for 13 years by the Singapore government under the Internal Security Act. During his detention, he studied Chinese medicine theory very diligently. Upon his release, he and his wife, the late Tan Cheng Nui @ Chen Jing Lian made a living by hawking food. Chng provided voluntary medical consultations after work. He started to practise traditional Chinese medicine in 1995 and obtained the registration certificate of acupuncturist in 2001. He later became a registered TCM Physician in Singapore and has been practising until now.
In addition to Part 1 and Part 2 of “Probing into the sufferings of Singapore's left-wing labour movement in the 1960s" written by Chng, this book also includes the English rendition of several important articles related to the topics explored in this book as follows ——
• “The Best Way to Commemorate Lim Chin Siong Is to Propagate His Ideology and Ideal” released by Sahabat Rakyat Working Committee in 2016 in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Lim Chin Siong’s departure;• “The Experience by and Conclusions Drawn About the Outstanding Leader, Lim Chin Siong’s Constitutional Struggle” written by Chng Min Oh in 2016 in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Lim Chin Siong’s departure;
• “Part of Lim Chin Siong’s Q&A Posthumous Manuscript” written by Lim Chin Siong in 1992;
• “The voice of victims: Abolish ISA now” written by Chng Min Oh in 2013 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of “February 2 Incident” Singapore.
Chng's book is published by Sahabat Rakyat Editorial and is expected to come out next week. Next Wednesday (September 9) is the 19th anniversary of Sahabat Rakyat Working Committee. On that day, apart from releasing an article about our views on the political situation in Malaysia in Chinese and Malay language (as the Editorial is busy editing the book, the English rendition of the article will only be released later), the publication of this book can also be deemed as our meagre contribution to the democratic reform movement of the people of Malaysia and Singapore.
Below is the full text of the “Foreword” of this book, written in Chinese by Chng and translated to English by Ang Pei Shan ——
I wrote probing articles (Part 1 & Part 2) in Chinese language
When delving into the decline of the left-wing labour movement in Singapore in the 1960s, some people choose to focus on the issue of detention and suppression by the enemies from without, but they fail to refer to the subversion as well as the destruction caused by certain elements within the left-wing forces. Such approach is hardly acceptable.
I happened to be one of those unfortunate victims having had personal experience in the movement during those years. I feel duty bound to narrate the relevant historical facts prevailing at the material time so that justice can be done to those involved in the left-wing labour movement in Singapore.
I feel the obligation to do so for two reasons:
First, to enable those who were personally involved in the movement during that era to judge for themselves whether or not my narrative represents the “truth”, or whether it is purely my “personal grudges”?
Secondly, to enable the younger generation to learn from such past mistakes which had resulted in the irreparable damage caused by “the enemies who succeeded in destroying the fortress from within”. This is aimed at avoiding repetition of such errors in the future.
In this respect, I have written two articles in Chinese, namely, “Probing into the sufferings of Singapore's left-wing labour movement in the 1960s” ("Part 1" and “Part 2”of my articles) since the year 2013.
In 1965, I was the Section Head of the Publicity and Education of the Central Committee of SCHFEU (Singapore Commercial House & Factory Employee`s Union) headed by Tan Sin (Chen Xin@Tan Seng Hin). I was given the task to carry out activities to raise political awareness of the union members.
But differences in opinion within certain quarters led to the schism within the left-wing movement. Some left-wing leaders and cadres, including myself, were vilified by Lee Siew Choh and his cohorts. We were labelled as “underworld gang leaders”, "traitors of the left-wing forces", "PAP agents", and so on.
After Part 1 of my articles was published, those with a jaundiced view launched massive attacks against me, spreading rumours about me, alleging that “Min Oh is a ‘problem guy’”. Any views put forward by me were looked upon as my“personal grudges”against others.
My article was deemed to be a political retaliation against Lee Siew Choh and his faction. Some made the remarks that it was ‘unfair’on my part to level criticisms against the late Lee Siew Choh who was no more; that‘the dead is not in a position to testify’and such like.
In short, they tried to see to it that my firm belief in the struggle was shaken and my persistence in the struggle thwarted. I paid no heed to such vain attempt on their part.
The historical facts I narrated are corroborated by documents
To my mind, my integrity was above reproach. I remained steadfast in my stand despite their intimidation and vilifications. I have no doubt that in time to come, when the relevant documents pertaining to the movement have been brought to light, the truth of the matter will certainly prevail.
Such allegations as unfairness on my part in "leveling criticisms against the late Lee Siew Choh and that‘the dead is not in a position to testify’" were groundless.
The historical facts stated in my articles are corroborated by articles published in "Zhen Xian Bao (阵线报)" which had been advocating Lee's so-called "revolutionary line". Corroboration can also be found in articles appearing in publications produced by the party as well as in articles published by organisations toeing the Lee Siew Choh's so-called “revolutionary line”.
Besides, the material referred to in my articles is available on the website http://xingmarenmin.com/.
Lee Siew Choh was without any doubt an iconic figure. Though he has passed away, his numerous followers and right-hand men are still around. If any statement in my articles is at variance with the actual facts, they are liberty to propose any corrections to be done or make the necessary rebuttal.
In the present-day Singapore, English is the common language of the majority of the population, in particular, among the younger generation. The task of carrying out social reform rests squarely on the shoulders of the youths today. It is of benefit to the younger generation to learn from the past experiences gained in the bitter struggle of the earlier generations.
It is my sincere hope that the English rendition of my articles will be available soon for publication. In view of the restrictive environment I find myself in, it may not be easy for me to find a trustworthy or reliable English translator in Singapore. Most of my friends who are able to do the translation are too bogged down in their own daily lives. I am therefore rather hesitant to ask for their assistance.
The journey of finding English translator for the articles and the publication
In mid-2016, a friend Yap in Singapore volunteered to translate my articles. But later on, he found himself in a dilemma since he too was bogged down in other important matters. He then introduced me to a lady friend of his who would like to do the translation in consideration of some remuneration.
This lady friend of his, after having perused my articles, agreed to take up the task. When we met on another occasion, she indicated that she was deeply touched by the contents of my articles. She even evinced an intention to conduct a featured interview with me upon the completion of the translation. She planned to write the outcome of the interview in English and have it published in the mass media.
As soon as she commenced the translation work, I paid her the full remuneration in advance. When the translation of Part 1 of my articles was near completion, she indicated that she could let me have the English rendition duly completed in a few days’ time. But she intimated that shortly she would be away to attend to her personal matter in Kuala Lumpur. She promised to complete the translation upon her return.
To my great surprise, her attitude was totally changed upon her return from Kuala Lumpur in that she did an about-face, and persuaded me to give up my decision to have the English rendition of my articles published.
One of the reasons she gave for the sudden change in her attitude was that the article was too lengthy; no one would have the patience to read it.
She added: "Lee Siew Choh has passed away, but you are criticising him now. He has no chance to rebut any allegations made by you. “The dead is not in a position to testify”. This is extremely unfair to Lee!" "Why do you want to defend Tan Sin?" etc.
Her words sounded rather familiar to me. I felt that I had heard them before from somewhere else. Then I realised at once the real reason why she had changed her attitude. She had in fact been adversely influenced by some unknown person who had an axe to grind. She had lost her enthusiasm and interest in translating the articles for me.
Faced with the sudden turn of event, I had no alternative but to seek assistance from Sahabat Rakyat editorial board. I forwarded her English translation to the editorial board of Sahabat Rakyat.
The editorial board at once took the trouble to make a comparison of the published Chinese manuscript with her English rendition. It was discovered that some salient paragraphs and quotations had been omitted in the English translation. Among other things, there were omissions of the sources and dates of some important quotations.
Without much delay, the editorial board rectified such omissions, adding in the words, sentences or paragraphs found missing in the English rendition.
The English rendition was ultimately completed and published on the blog of Sahabat Rakyat on 30 September 2018. The name Angela Chew was referred to as the translator.
The lady who originally promised to complete the translation of my two articles never liaised with me after publication of Part 1 of my articles. Obviously, she had no intention to proceed with the translation of Part 2 of my articles as promised.
This was indeed a sudden blow to my long-standing aspiration to publish the complete English rendition of Part 1 and Part 2 of my articles. Fortunately, friends in Sahabat Rakyat who are capable of doing the English translation, understood my difficult situation. They took the initiative to help me complete the English rendition of Part 2 of my articles. It was then published on the blog of Sahabat Rakyat on 8 September 2019 as scheduled.
Appreciation to fellow friends for the voluntary assistance in translation and the editing of articles
I am very thankful to Ang Pei Shan, Choo Shinn Chei and Choo Shinn Chien for completing the English translation of Part 2 of my articles.
I also wish to express my strong appreciation to William Young. He has edited all by himself the English rendition of Part 1 of my articles published on Sahabat Rakyat blog.
The editorial board of Sahabat Rakyat and myself have collectively decided to adopt the final English version edited by William with a view to standardising the use of words and style in both Part 1 and Part 2 of my articles. I am very grateful to William for his effort and contribution.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to all the members of Sahabat Rakyat Working Committee for their arduous and collective efforts in making the publication of this book a success and as scheduled.
Chng Min Oh
2020-06-22
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