Introduction

　　The arrest of 16 people in the early hours of 21 May 1987 shocked the nation. Codenamed Operation Spectrum, the arrests were touted as a national security exercise and made under the Internal Security Act (ISA) even though not a single weapon or explosive was seized from any one of them. As if 16 arrests at dawn in one fell swoop were not sufficient to terrify the population, another six were detained a month later. These six had merely spoken out or campaigned against the first arrests.

　　The allegations against the detainees were bizarre. They were accused of having communist links[1] and later making use of lawful and registered organisations (both political and non-political), to further their aim of establishing a Marxist state. The government claimed that many of them had also made use of the Roman Catholic Church “to subvert the existing social and political system in Singapore, using communist united front tactics, with a view to establish a Marxist state.” Strangely, under continuous interrogations and torture, many of the detainees were ultimately forced to admit that they were unwittingly “made use of” by friends. And even stranger was the subsequent revelation by the government that it was unhappy with the four Catholic priests and not those 16 arrested.

　　In the days, weeks and months following the arrests, the government was unexpectedly kept busy rebutting statements and claims of ill treatment of prisoners from human rights organisations, Church, government and individuals outside Singapore and the international media. Friends of the prisoners had immediately set up a network around the world to rebut the government's allegations, testify to the good character of the prisoners and claim that they were subjected to physical and mental torture. Singapore embassies and offices of the Singapore Airlines were inundated with queries and protests. Congress of the United States, the Diet of Japan and the European Union were kept informed of the arrests. Singapore ambassadors and ministers were compelled to answer questions on the government's treatment of the prisoners and the use of detention without trial which is contrary to the rule of law in civilised countries.

　　The prisoners were released in stages but not before they were forced to appear on television for rehearsed interviews. By the end of December 1987, all were released except Vincent Cheng Kim Chuan.

　　The ISA empowers the government to arrest and imprison people indefinitely and without any trial. History has shown that innocent people — students, university lecturers, medical doctors, journalists, lawyers and trade unionists had been imprisoned for years without trial. Several were detained for periods longer than life sentences. The government's refusal to release Vincent Cheng in December 1987 therefore caused grave unease among those who were released. This, coupled with the government's relentless accusations of wrongdoings and denial that the detainees were ill treated, led to the issue of a joint public statement.

Joint Statement and re-arrests

　　On 18 April 1988, nine released prisoners issued a statement rebutting the government's allegations against them and confirming that they had suffered ill treatment. Eight of them were immediately re-arrested the next day. The ninth, Tang Fong Har who was in England, did not return to Singapore but embarked on a campaign to free her friends. She is today living in Hong Kong as a political exile.

　　The re-arrests in 1988 ended the hope of release for Vincent Cheng. It also led to the arrests of Francis Seow and Patrick Seong, two prominent lawyers who were acting for many of the prisoners. It seemed incredible that Singapore, a developed country could abuse lawyers so openly.

　　Left with the prospect of indefinite detention, several prisoners turned to the Supreme Court for relief. The court failed them. Its half-hearted judgment in December 1988 may have given hope to future generations of Singaporeans but it dealt a hefty blow on the prisoners. They were ordered to be released on a technical ground but were promptly re-arrested. They had to commence legal proceedings all over again.

　　By June 1990, everyone, including Vincent Cheng was released. They were all subjected to severe restrictions on their freedom of movement, assembly, free speech and expression for many years.

Picking up the pieces

　　The released prisoners went about their lives quietly for two decades. Except for a few, they returned to the professions before their arrests. Vincent Cheng was the hardest hit. He lost his job as the executive secretary of the Archdiocesan Justice and Peace Commission which was shut down soon after the arrests in May 1987. Luckily his resourcefulness and intelligence led him to embark on a new career as a natural health care practitioner. Reflexology, a skill he acquired from books while he was in prison became handy.

　　Several of those released left Singapore for work or further education, at least for several years if not for good. Those who remain, made good the years they lost in prison. More importantly, they kept in touch with one another. They occasionally remember the anniversaries of 21 May 1987. They got together with friends and relatives on several of these anniversaries for meals, renewed their friendship and sang a song or two for old times' sake.

　　On the 10th anniversary, friends and relatives came together for lunch at The Vines in Thomson Road. A small booklet of letters from prison was distributed to those who attended. Busy with work, the 15th anniversary was forgotten. When the 20th anniversary (2007) approached, several of the former prisoners decided to discuss and reflect on what happened in 1987. They invited the alleged leader of the conspiracy, Tan Wah Piow and a few concerned friends to a weekend retreat in Johor. It was a private gathering to trash out 1987 and exchange experiences. For the first time, a soul-searching discussion and analysis took place.

Awakening

　　In May 2009, several young Singaporeans held a protest calling for the abolition of the ISA at Hong Lim Park. It was the 22nd year of 21 May 1987. Remembering 22 Singapore Victims of ISA was attended by several former detainees. They quietly observed the protest. The young people knew who they were but did not speak to them. It was good to see them organise the event.[2]

　　That protest had a great impact on the ISA survivors. They realised that Singaporeans were curious about the past and it was perhaps time for them to tell their story.

　　The following year, Function 8 was incorporated as a social enterprise and Teo Soh Lung's prison memoir, Beyond the Blue Gate was published.

　　In 2012, Function 8 in collaboration with MARUAH, a human rights organisation, commemorated the 25th anniversary of Operation Spectrum at Hong Lim Park. They put up an exhibition of various objects, artworks and constructed mock prison cells and interrogation room to give the public an idea of what it is like to be in prison. The event was called That We May Dream Again, Remembering the 1987 'Marxist Conspiracy'.

　　In March 2015, Roman Catholic Archbishop William Goh in his address to a “crowd of 5000 Catholics, including 40 priests”[3] at a special mass for former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, referred to the arrest of 22 people in 1987 as a “dark period” in the Church's history. He was also reported as having said:

　　The archbishop is wrong to advise that it is pointless to go back to the past. It is not helpful to add that to go back to the past is to “lick our wounds”.

　　To this day, the Catholic Church has not made any attempt to investigate the truth about the government's serious allegations against her church workers, volunteers and priests. Will silence and inaction light up the “dark period” in the Church's history? Will this “dark period” go away if the Church does nothing? Will the ghost of the past live to haunt us?

　　While we do not deny that the Church was also a victim of state violence in 1987, when Archbishop Gregory Yong, not being a politician, succumbed under pressure at the Istana, she can emulate the example set by Bishop Desmond Tutu who led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa in the 1990s. As we wait for the Church to take steps to be reconciled with the Catholic victims of Operation Spectrum, we are exceedingly grateful for the essays of Fr Patrick Goh and Edgar D'Souza. Their stories shed much light on the exemplary role of the Church before Operation Spectrum, which regrettably earned the displeasure of the authorities and met the full force of their suppression.

　　Operation Spectrum was a clumsy but successful attack on a re-emerging civil society. It was a multi-pronged attack that wiped out student activism, destroyed or crippled several legitimate organisations and one professional body — The Law Society of Singapore.

　　It is our hope that with this publication, Singaporeans will know what actually happened in 1987 and decide for themselves if there was a national security threat that necessitated the mounting of Operation Spectrum and the arrest of 22 people and two of their lawyers.

Teo Soh Lung
May 2017

Notes:
[1] The Straits Times, 22 May 1987
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j604lzFjFDY — Remembering 22 Singapore Victims of ISA, accessed on 21 March 2017
[3] http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/archbishop-goh-mr-lee-kuan-yew-did-what-hethought-was-best-for-the-country, accessed on 21 March 2017
[4] ibid