“I went through the hoops of detention without trial for 13 years long”
An article by Chng Min Oh written for the Souvenir Issue of Old Friends' Camp
Source: 庄明湖@sahabatrakyatmy.blogspot.com
Written by Chng Min Oh @ Zhuang Ming Hu
Translated by Ang Pei Shan
This article is translated from original version in Chinese language. In the case of any discrepancy between the English rendition and the original Chinese version, the Chinese version shall prevail.
Function 8, a Human Rights organisation based in Singapore interviewed Chng Min Oh @ Zhuang Ming Hu in 2016. The recorded video interview was then uploaded to YouTube.
Chng Min Oh is the author of the book (originally written in Chinese) entitled “Probing Into The Sufferings Of Singapore`s Left-Wing Labour Movement In The 1960s”. Its English rendition was published by Sahabat Rakyat Committee in 2020.
Sahabat Rakyat Editorial however had unexpectedly received the full article and the following letter from the writer around 2 weeks back (in mid-July) ——
To the Editorial of Sahabat Rakyat
Hello comrades!
3 August 2022 marks the 52nd anniversary of my long-term detention without trial in the 1960s. I wish to take the opportunity of the anniversary to express my indictment against the Singapore authorities on the persecution of me and my family (my personal experience is only the tip of the iceberg of political detainees persecuted by the Singapore authorities). Therefore, I hope that your blog could consider publishing the following article " I went through the hoops of detention without trial for 13 years" in early August (hereinafter referred to as "Went through the hoops").
I penned “Went through the hoops” for the following reasons:
- In early 2020, after watching the video interview by Function 8, a human rights organisation pertaining to my long-term imprisonment, a good friend of mine suggested me to convert the content of the interview into a transcript and distribute to the old friends who do not know how to surf the Internet. I agreed.
- At the same time, old friend Chng Wee Thian @ Chng Ler Thian told me that some former political detainees from the political detention camp of Kemunting, Taiping, Malaysia decided to organise a “Political detainees camp 2020” gathering in July, and publish the “Souvenir Issue of The Former Political Detainees Camp 2020”. Wong Kwai Man, the old friend in charge of the publication of the “Souvenir Issue” asked Chng Wee Thian to suggest me to convert the content of the above-mentioned video interview into a transcript for publication in the "Souvenir Issue". I concurred.
In early March 2020, upon the completion of the article, I distributed a few copies to the old friends whom I am in close contact with. Chng Wee Thian also passed it to Wang Kwai Man, the person in charge of "Souvenir Issue". As the Covid pandemic worsened, the abovementioned gathering and the publication of the " Souvenir Issue " were postponed. Until mid-June of this year (2022), I am glad to know that both the gathering and " Souvenir Issue" will resume in mid-October.
After finished writing "Went through the Hoops" in March 2020, my plan back then was to first publish it in the " Souvenir Issue", and followed by the web.
However, in view of the unpredictability of the pandemic, it is hard to tell whether the abovementioned gathering and the publication of "Souvenir Issue" will be further delayed by then (October this year). As such, I now choose to publish on the web first. Such arrangement gained the kind understanding and acknowledgement by the person in charge of the "Souvenir Issue".
Thanks in advance! Wishing you good health!
Chng Min Oh 10 July 2022
Upon discussion, Sahabat Rakyat Editorial decided to publish the article 2 days in advance, on 1 Aug (Monday) in consideration of Chng Min Oh’s request and aspiration to publish the article on the web (i.e. Sahabat Rakyat blog), which was also acknowledged by the abovementioned person in charge of the "Souvenir Issue" of the Old Friends’ camp.
The Editorial members unanimously agreed that the publication of this article, 2 years after the publication of the English rendition of Probing Into The Sufferings Of Singapore's Left-Wing Labour Movement In The 1960s by Chng Min Oh, would be of the followings but not limited to such significance:
●(1) Chng’s fighting spirit against imperialist, colonialisation and hegemony (not giving in, not surrendering, not accepting “enlistment”) is praiseworthy and should be held in high esteem -- such "noble" temperament serves as a role model to current and even future generations participating in the democratic reform movement of Malaysia and Singapore;
●(2) Chng’s opposition to the path of the radical adventurism and separatism (especially vigilance against the enemy's attacking the people's fortresses of struggle from within) of Lee Siew Choh and others has been consistent and unremitting - such tenacity is inspiring to the democratic reform movement of our country and Singapore at present and in the future.
According to Ang Pei Shan, translator of the English rendition, part of the translations of Chng's article quoted the English subtitles of the abovementioned video interview produced by Function 8 whom we would like to express our appreciation to. Below is the full text from Chng Min Oh (pictures are provided by Chng and the corresponding captions are added by the editor of Sahabat Rakyat) ——
I went through the hoops of detention without trial for 13 years long
Chng Min Oh @ Zhuang Ming Hu (Singapore)
In 2016, lawyer Teo Soh Lung, person in charge of "Function 8 Ltd", a civil human rights organisation in Singapore, and her two teammates came to my TCM clinic to conduct a video interview about my experience of long-term imprisonment. The video recording of the interview was then uploaded to the Internet. A good friend of mine came to me after seeing this video on the Internet and said that our friends are all elderly, and most of them do not know how to surf the Internet. He suggested that I convert them into transcript, print and distribute them. I agreed. When I started writing, I realised most of the interviews were self-narration and in oral expression, some paragraphs were repetitive, and some paragraphs were not exhaustive. Therefore, in order to meet the requirements of a transcript and the complete logic of words and sentences, this article is based on the transcript of the above video interviews, with some deletions, additions and modifications.
I was arrested on 3 August 1970
My name is Chng Min Oh, I was detained on 3 August 1970. That night while I was having dinner at home, two Internal Security Department (ISD) officers took me away. They said nothing except "You are under arrest". In late 1960s to early 1970s, I was active in the Singapore Gold and Silversmiths’ Union, a left-wing trade union. I was its chairman at the time of detention.
At that time, brute force was not used on me so I did not resist. Reason being is that I had a hunch that I might be arrested soon as a comrade of mine from the same trade union Tan Sin / Chen Xin @ Tan Seng Hin was detained two months back. I was already mentally prepared that I may be detained too. I was not afraid, if the authority wants to arrest me, so be it. As I did not resist, they did not handcuff me. Two ISD officers, one on my right, the other on my left led me to a car park nearby my house. I was brought to Internal Security Department and then detained at the Central Police Station.
Picture above was taken in 1967 when the members of the Singapore Gold and Silversmiths’ Union camped at Loyang Holiday Villa. Tan Cheng Nui @ Chen Jing Lian was the girl in floral dress（6th from the left in the second row）and Chng Min Oh was the 1st from the right in black shirt. People in the front row were holding the union flag and the portrait of Lim Chin Siong, an eminent leader in the left-wing labour movement who was destroyed by the reactionary ruling clique led by Lee Kuan Yew.
Since 1967, the Singapore Gold and Silversmiths’ Union had openly debated with the “unarmed struggle commander” self-proclaimed by Lee Siew Choh who usurped Lim Chin Siong’s leadership in the Barisan Sosialis Singapura (BSS) at the time. Relevant debate materials can be found in the last few editions of the Souvenir published by the union. (Now available in xingmarenmin.com website).
In 1968, the union drew the conclusion that the “BSS Leadership” appointed by Lee Siew Choh is the “separatist commander” of the left-wing movement, and launched an uncompromising struggle against them.
The National Union of Building Construction Workers Executive Committee took the above group photo in 1962. Second from the left in the back row is Chng Min Oh, the then deputy treasurer. The main leaders of the union at the time were: Chairman: Lee Keng Wah @ Lee Chin Hua(3rd from the right, front row), Deputy Chairman: Dong Hua Rong (3rd from the left, front row); Secretary of General Affairs: Yang Xiaohei (namely Yeo Meng Teck) (2nd from the right, front row); Deputy Secretary of General Affairs: Goh Chong Kwee (4th from the right, front row) and Zhang Qing Hua (4th from the left, front row); Treasurer: Phua Yong Siao (not in the picture). Yang Xiaohei and Goh Chong Kwee fled to Riau Island, Indonesia in 1963 as they were hunted by the Singapore and Malaya governments in "Operation Cold Store".
Picture above is the first order of detention without trial under the Internal Security Act (ISA) issued to Chng Min Oh by the Singapore Home Ministry on 2 September 1970. An extended detention order was issued every two years thereafter until he was released on 7 August 1983.
I was detained at the Central Police Station for about a month. No officer came to see me. I saw only those policemen who delivered my meals. After a month, they began to see me to issue a detention order for two years. That evening I was taken from the Central Police Station to the Moon Crescent Detention Centre (MCC). I was very happy to finally reach the prison! But it was short-lived. After a night of solitary confinement, the next morning I was brought back to Central Police Station for another round of solitary confinement. My solitary confinement cell was a mere 10 square feet. I was let out only for shower and toilet. I was not given pillow nor blanket. I was also not allowed to exercise (outside the cell).
After I was detained for 45 days, they started to interrogate me but not to get my confession. At the beginning, the ISD officers were not rude, they gently expressed that they wanted to help me to get out, they wanted me to "solve some problems" with them. They did not say how to “solve those problems”. I replied, "Since you detained me, so just release me and your problems will be solved." They said, "It is not that simple. You must give suggestions on how to resolve those problems."
So I said, "There's nothing to discuss. If you want to lock me up, so be it." Then they got really mad and started reprimanding me. They said, "We want to help you to resolve the problem, but you refuse!" I replied "There isn’t any problem if you don’t detain me. Isn’t it ridiculous when you detained me in the first place, then say ‘help me to get out’, and need me to ‘resolve problems’!”
Then they started to taunt me "You are afraid of going out", "Your wife is having a difficult time, so you are afraid to bear the responsibility", "Your children and your wife need your care, you don't want to go out, you are afraid of the hard life outside, you don't dare to go out, you have no conscience and don't care about the life and death of your wife and children" and so on, a lot of insults to my dignity. I replied, "It's you who imprison me. I didn't come here voluntarily." "If you release me and I don't want to leave, then you'll have the right to say so!"
Deprivation of my citizenship upon confession
After around 10 sessions of such insulting interrogation, they started to get statement from me. They then deprived me of my citizenship. I was taken back to the interrogation room after that. They said, "Your citizenship is now deprived, you better apply to return to China (because I was born in China). We can help transport your family to China.” I said, "No way, I am Malayan, I will not go back to China."
"If you don't go to China, we will force you to."
I said, "You can try. When the ship arrives (in China), I will not embark."
After this round of interrogation, they didn't force me anymore. They didn't take me to the interrogation room, and didn't ask me any more questions, the interrogation was over.
In fact, the interrogation process on me was quite simple. Why didn't they force a confession out of me like the others? I think that firstly, I have no links to underground (Malayan Communist Party) activities. My activities were above-board (legal organisation).
Secondly, they knew that I was not a threat to them (the government). Yet they still arrested me hoping that the difficult financial circumstances my family was in would make me succumb under detention and accept their conditions for release. But I am not such kind of person. Some people were detained, maybe because of their underground activities, or because they were preparing to launch a struggle. If they were caught, they may face forced confession, forcing you to answer what you have done and what are you planning to do.
I was arrested on 3 August 1970. The left-wing movement then was already very weak and had developed into a serious schism. In the second half of 1960s, I was already one of the activists in the left-wing trade unions. As I opposed to the radical line of struggle of Lee Siew Choh led Barisan Sosialis Singapore, I was then suppressed, and accused by Lee Siew Choh and his followers for being a People’s Action Party (PAP) agent, proxy and so on. I no longer had influence in Singapore. Since I was of no significance in any anti-government struggle, why was I arrested? The main reason is, even though you have no influence you are still part of the movement. You would still be detained and offered “enlistment”. And once you give up your belief and succumb, your political life is finished. I guess that was the main reason for my detention, i.e. to destroy me politically so that I can't live with dignity.
I was determined that I would rather be detained than accept "enlistment"
Although they did not specify how to resolve those problems, but I knew what they meant about “resolving problems”. For instance, among the political detainees released from prison, some had issued confessions on television, some had signed public statement of “confession” or “repentance”, making remarks that went against their conscience. I knew that I was just detained, and I would probably be asked to accept a similar way of surrendering to solve the problem. I guessed at the time that they would ask me to go on TV to express my repentance or sign a public repentance statement, and it couldn't have come out of low-level compromises (and not possible to be freed with a low-level way of compromise) (such as joining the Ex-Political Detainees' Association, signing Restriction orders of political activities and living (signing of political activities and life restriction terms)).
So I was eventually put in Moon Crescent Detention Centre. Whenever the two-year period was up, I was then issued with a new detention order for another two years. Every time not long after the new detention order was issued, they would bring me from the prison to solitary confinement. In the beginning, it was in the detention centre of the Central Police Station and then to Whitley Road Holding Centre. This was how I was mentally abused in solitary confinement every two years. This was very inhumane. Because in solitary confinement, I was not allowed to read books and newspapers. I was not given blanket nor pillow. From time to time, I was brought to the interrogation room for so-called "brainwashing", which was a torture of mental bombardment, insulting my self-esteem, trying to force me to compromise and surrender, and accepting their "enlistment", but I refused every single one.
It went on until around late August 1978 (after I was detained for 8 years) when I was again transferred from Moon Crescent Detention Centre to Whitley Road Holding Centre. I thought it was solitary confinement again, which is more suffering compared to imprisonment, because the Whitley Road Holding Centre solitary confinement is worse (compared to Central Police Detention Centre). As I was being escorted, I thought, if this is still the same this time, I'm going to resist, I can't let them do it. Because the purpose of taking me there to solitary confinement was to force me to give up my beliefs and unable to live an open-hearted and above-board life. I was determined that I would rather continue to be detained than accepting "enlistment".
Went on a hunger strike to protest "solitary confinement"
I was locked up in this tiny cell, about 10x6 feet. It was too warm and we were not allowed out to go out for exercise. I requested to read the books I brought but was denied. The next day I started to sing loudly. The agent then asked, “Why are you singing”. I said, "Singing is my exercise. Since you refused to let me out to exercise, I sing in order to exercise my body. If not, I will fall sick."
So they warned me, "If you dare to sing again, we will punish you!" So I gave them an ultimatum that in 3 days they are to bring my books to me and to let me exercise. But they ignored me. On the third day, I went on a hunger strike. I shouted, "I am Chng Min Oh. I am on hunger strike, I protest this ill-treatment! I demand to be taken back to the prison."
Then, another political detainee, Ho Koon Kiang detained not far from my cell, also staged a hunger strike. He made a similar demand to be sent to prison. Both of us started our hunger strike on 3 September 1978. About a week later, they brought us to Changi Prison Hospital.
During that week of hunger strike in Whitley Road Holding Centre I was beaten up twice. The first beating, I was taken to the interrogation room where more than 10 angry men surrounded me. One of them hit my chest and kicked my private part.
"You are here to make trouble", they said.
I said, "I am no trouble-maker. I just want to be in the prison." After the beating, I was taken back to the cell.
After two days, another officer a Deputy Director (his surname was reportedly Foo) entered my cell and barked, "Why are you not eating?"
I replied, "I want to go back to the prison! I object to my solitary confinement here!"
"That depends on whether you are going to eat or not!", he said.
I said, "Take me back to the prison and then I'll eat! I am not eating to protest your ill-treatment!"
So he used both hands to smash my ears for around 20 times, causing my hearing loss for a few days. I still have the sequelae of poor hearing. I wasn’t allowed to go out to urinate, they took a potty for me to urinate in instead. At that time, I was sitting on the bed, and after beating, they poured the urine all over my head. My head, whole body and bed were covered with urine. I was not allowed to shower so stank for a few days until I was brought to Changi Hospital, only then I could take the shower.
After a week of hunger strike, Ho Koon Kiang and I were sent to the Changi Prison Hospital on the same day but separately, not together. The hospital had two floors. I was detained downstairs together with other patients and him upstairs, on his own.
At that time, the main purpose of our hunger strike was, firstly, "Stop the ill treatment and take us back to prison". Secondly, to expose the authorities for using of the usual means of solitary confinement to force political detainees to compromise and surrender. In the hospital, we insisted on "Continue the hunger strike until we are moved back to the prison." As a result, we were brought back to the Moon Crescent Detention Centre after going on hunger strike for 84 days.
In the first 14 days of our hunger strike, we refused to eat but we drank water. From the 15th day, we refused to eat and drink. Doctor from the Changi Prison Hospital persuaded us to eat, we responded, “Return to the prison (detention centre), only then we will eat.”
After about 20 days, they started to force-feed us milk. On the first day of force-feeding milk, the chief of the prison and 7 to 8 prison officers came. One grabbed my hands, another my legs and used handcuffs to secure my hands to the bed. Another officer pressed hard on my head and shoulder till I could not move. They had to prise open my mouth using metal spoon which I kept tightly shut, it wasn’t successful. Then they tried inserting a tube through my nose straight to my stomach but still failing as I kept struggling by shaking my head. At last they still managed to force-feed me milk.
We heard that there were political detainees who died when they struggled during tube insertion to their nose, causing the tubes to accidentally puncture their lungs. Hence I thought, we must protest when we were force-fed. We must struggle, but we could not escape being force-fed. I would die if the tube accidentally puncture my lung. There wasn’t a need to die under such circumstances, hence only they managed to force feed me. They did this twice everyday. The next day, the nurse who force fed me said, “Mr Zhuang, do not struggle and cooperate, please. We are going to insert the tube. If you keep on struggling, the tube may puncture the lung and you may die. It's not worth it, please cooperate with us."
I think what he said made sense. So I negotiated with him, I didn't voluntarily let you do this, so before you force-feed me, I want to shout a slogan. He agreed. So every time before I was inserted a tube, I would shout in Chinese and English, "We protest against the torture of political detainees! We demand to be taken back to the prison! We protest …"
Since then, every time when the nurse came to force feed milk, he would half-jokingly say, "Say your prayer." After I finished shouting the slogan, the nurse would then insert a tube through my nose from mouth to the stomach to force-feed me milk, and removed the tube after it was done. They did this twice everyday.
My feeling about “Solitary Confinement”
Someone asked me, how do you feel about solitary confinement? My answer is: If I didn't have a strong resentment with my solitary confinement, do you think I would risk my life and go on an 84-day hunger strike? Without strong resentment, it is impossible. Moreover, the hunger strike in prison is different from the hunger strike in the ISD, especially the hunger strike at the Whitley Road Holding Centre, where people were dragged and beaten to death at any time.
I was detained at the Whitley Road Holding Centre three times. I went on hunger strike the second time. The third time I went there, I was no longer in solitary confinement but a big cell with a cell mate instead. I was then brought to the house of the Chief Police Officer until released.
I did not accept any conditions for my release. It was only 5 to 6 years after I was detained that the authorities told me, "You have to accept six conditions for your release." I refused. This went on for some time. Finally they offered a bargain. "It's fine if you don't accept the conditions, but you must join the Ex-Political Detainees' Association as the only condition." Again, I refused.
Finally they said, "Since you refuse this and that, our President has the power to force you accept four conditions and release you. If you don't abide, we will charge you in the court." I said, "I refuse to accept any condition." They said, "We will issue you a letter of the conditions. But you must sign. Your signature only meant that you acknowledge the receipt, not accepting the conditions." I told them “I don't want to sign. I can't read English. If I sign, you can turn around and say that I’ve ‘accepted the conditions’, so I won’t sign."
My stance on the 4 Restriction Orders for my release
They had four restriction orders for my release. They put it very nicely. You can take part in politics, such as Workers' Party type of politics, but not Communist Party politics. I said I have never been involved in Communist Party. Participating in political activities is my democratic right. I will insist this whether your permit me or not. I will not abide by the restriction orders. If you want, you can take me in court. Among the four restrictions was prohibiting contact with other former political detainees. In fact, I met with former political detainees on the next day right after my release. No action was taken against me.
I still remember that on the day of my release, they gave me a Restriction Orders document, and forced me to sign as acknowledgement of receipt. In fact, I have long known that signing the above-mentioned release conditions or not is not a matter of principle and did not go against my political position. But at that critical juncture when I was just about to be released from the prison and heading home, and I was forced to acknowledge the receipt, it seemed to me that they regarded this as my position on whether or not I would compromise. Therefore, I was determined to resist to the end. I said, I have already said that I won’t sign. If you want to release me, I will leave, I will go home, otherwise, take me back to the prison! In the end, I insisted on not signing, and they released me anyway.
It is worth mentioning that the authorities did not inform my wife of my release. Instead they informed my younger brother. Why so? I guess that the authorities might want to force me to sign at a critical moment. If my wife was there, she would dissuade me if I wanted to sign. According to common sense, my younger brother, who was a senior civil servant, would not go against the will of the ISD to persecute me, who knows he might even persuade me to sign. Fortunately, my brother just sat quietly, not saying a single word.
A year after my release, one day in September 1984, ISD officers came by to my house and issued me a notice to inform me that my Restriction Orders have been lifted. Before they issued me this, they sent a female officer to my house and asked me to go Phoenix Park (ISD HQ). I told her I would not go.
Then someone from the ISD phoned me and said, "Chng Min Oh, we have a good news for you."
"What is the good news?", I asked.
He said, "We are considering to cancel your Restriction Orders."
I said, "I have never accepted it in the first place. So cancellation makes no difference."
He said, "Come to Phoenix Park. We will notify you officially."
I said, "I have never accepted it in the first place. This notice makes no difference." Twice they had asked me to go to Phoenix Park, I did not go. So finally, a male special agent came to my house to issue me a notice. Again, I refused to sign. I said, "I did not sign the first notice of the Restriction Orders, so why should I sign this notice of cancellation of the Restriction Orders?"
My wife's death was the result of the persecution by the PAP Government
Even though I was imprisoned, living condition was harsher on my wife, Tan Cheng Nui @ Chen Jing Lian. She suffered much more. For example, I need not worry about food, clothing and lodging. Three meals were delivered to me. When I was detained, we had two daughters. One was 4 years old, the other 5 years old. My wife was 3-months pregnant. She had a weak heart and was not able to work.
How weak she was? We lived in the second floor of the HDB Flat. Just to walk up to the second floor of our house, she would pant. She had to stop 4 times before she could complete the climb. How could she cope with working? Hence, I was the sole breadwinner. I can imagine how tough her life was after I was detained.
Not long after I was detained, in mid-January 1971, there was a meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government held in Singapore. This led to a public demonstration. Some of the family members of political detainees went to the meeting place petitioning for the release of political detainees. Although my wife was weak and pregnant, she also brought our 4-year-old daughter to participate. They participated several times. She and our younger daughter had been arrested in the police station and once even in Changi Women's Prison. So her life would not be calmer than mine. She was originally a sewing worker. After giving birth, she quit the job as a sewing worker with little income, and went to a construction site to work as a steel worker with better paid, so that she could raise the family.
Reinforcing steel bars is a heavy work. Imagine how hard it must be for her with a weak heart to do heavy rebar work. That's how she endured. When I was detained at the Whitley Road Holding Centre 8 or 9 years after my arrest, she visited me, got off the car at the side of the road and could not walk up the slope to the holding centre. She then had to ask the Taxi driver to take me to the door of the centre. At that time, she was already very weak from overwork.
This photo of Chng Min Oh and Tan Cheng Nui @ Chen Jing Lian was taken on 26 March 1984, about half a year after Chng was released from ISA detention. Tan Cheng Nui's face looks bloated and swollen. She suffered from various health problems due to continued overwork. Tan Cheng Nui’s health was deteriorating and getting worse. Unable to bear the prolonged torture of illness, she ended her own life on 11 January 1989. She was only 52 years old. In the 13 years when her husband was detained under the ISA by the PAP government, apart from giving undivided support to her husband's struggle for justice, Tan also had to work hard to support herself and raise her 3 children who were still studying. The unbearable torment finally collapsed her. Her fighting spirit is impressive and highly commendable!
Later, she became a hawker, she sold kway chap. There was a lot of tedious work. She wanted to hire workers but could not afford the money. My wife had no choice but to ask our 2 daughters who were studying in secondary school to help out at the stall. So our two children, everyday before they went to school, helped to clean pig's intestine at the stall. After that, they rushed to school. Sometimes there were not enough hands in the afternoon, the children had to rush from school to help and then rushed back to school. This had an impact on my children's lives and studies.
After I was released, my wife told me, “If you are released any later, I would have collapsed.” I presumed she was right. Before that her health was not that bad. When I was released, she was already suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure. About 3 years after my release, she was diagnosed with brain cancer and prolapse of the uterus (hysteroptosis). She suffered from multiple illnesses. In the 4th year of my release, she underwent surgery for brain tumour.
She could no longer work because her uterus prolapse was at the third stage. Her uterus slipped out and could not retract. She had to use bandage to tie it up. She could no longer do any heavy work. She was like, in her own words like a walking corpse. Almost 6 years after my release, she could eat but could not pass motion. She could not sleep every night. Sleeping pills were useless, it was a great torture for her. In the end, to end her pain, she committed suicide by jumping into the sea. She was only 51. To say that my wife's death was the result of the PAP Government's persecution would not be an exaggeration!
Conclusion: The broad masses should oppose the Internal Security Act!
It is not only detainees like us who were victimised by ISA. Weren’t my wife and my daughters also victims? The ISA - it is not just up to the former detainees like us to oppose it as those participating in the struggle for the democratic rights of the people who have not been detained may also face it one day. You have to oppose it. It is a national problem.
Photo above was taken during when Chng Min Oh’s family celebrated his 79th birthday in February 2016. From the left: His eldest daughter, Chng Chor Hwa, his second wife, Ong Yau Kin, Chng’s second daughter, Chng Tang Buay, and his youngest son, Chng Hiang Aik.
The amazing life that Chng had, is inseparable from the undivided support and endless sacrifice by both Tan Cheng Nui and Ong Yau Kin, in addition to his strong faith and determination!
Ong Yau Kin was a worker. In the 1960s, she took part in the cultural learning activities of the BSS at Serangoon Branch San He Cun (三合村）Office. In late 1970s, she was arrested and imprisoned for more than three months by the PAP government on suspicion of involvement in underground activities. She married Chng Min Oh on 12 June 1989 while Chng was peddling Kway chap on his own after the departure of Tan Cheng Nui.
After Chng Min Oh was released, Chng voluntarily guided the local community on “Yi Quan health piling” (“意拳养生桩”) at Lau Clan General Association and The Singapore Buddhist Lodge Cultural Activities Centre in his spare time to make sure his life was not divorced from the broad masses.
The group photo above was taken while Chng Min Oh (4th from the left, front row) and Ong Yau Kin (3rd from the left, front row) celebrated Chinese New Year with “Yi Quan health piling” learners in 1998 at Lau Clan General Association. The photo below was taken with “Yi Quan health piling” learners in 2007 at The Singapore Buddhist Lodge Cultural Activities Centre during the mid-autumn festival celebration (4th from the right, front row is Chng Min Oh, while 5th from the right is Ong Yau Kin).
Ong Yau Kin actively makes an effort and contribution not only by supporting Chng to continue in political struggle for democracy and human rights, but also joins hand with Chng in teaching the public health exercises.
Written in March 2020
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