Many friends, party comrades and other Singaporeans were surprised to learn from the posting in the 'Unseen Singapore", that I had at one time worked in, and detained by the ISD . Though this was no longer an issue as it has been brought up several times during the elections since 1984 when I first stood, many, especially the young seemed unaware of it and have no knowledge of the circumstances surrounding my detention.
Some have asked me to tell my side of the story to "clear the air" less I be accused of being either a mole or a traitor to my country . I shall try to do just that and be as brief as possible without losing tract of the main issue.
In 1969 I was appointed as a translator at the CID. Served my NS from 1969 to 1971. I was an instructor at the school of section leaders in SAFTI holding the rank of Corporal/Acting Sergeant. Was recommended for officer training but was overruled.
Returned to CID after ROD and, soon after, transferred to the ISD. Being a Malay I was not called for any army reservist duty - not once. I, together with all the other Malays in my batch were de-mobilized not long after our ROD and were asked to return all our military kits.
In the ISD I was stabbed in the back by a senior colleague and accused of not being cooperative and for having views which did not conform with the 'norms'.
I was warned that I should be "reducated".As a result I was sent back to the CID.
Outside my office hours I was involved in voluntary social and religious work. I was concurrently the Secretary of Masjid Khalid, Madrasah Asriah and Rose Badminton Party and the General Secretary of the Singapore Malay Badminton Association, whose President was the late Hj Mansor Sukaimi, the ex MP for Kg Kembangan.
As Secretary of Masjid Khalid I represented the mosque in meetings with the MUIS. In one of the meetings I had a skirmish with the then President (Hj Buang Siraj, whom I was told was a PAP member) and the Mufti, over some issues which many in the community were not happy with. This included the issue of toning down the volume of the "azan" to a ridiculously low level which the MUIS was instructed to implement. It seemed that non Muslims living near mosques had complained of it being a source of noise pollution.
This practice of broadcasting the azan had been in place for hundreds of years. I had argued that the British had allowed it without any problem. Even during the Japanese occupation, I argued, the soldiers would mercilessly have your heads chopped off if anyone would dare to defy them. But they never disturbed the azan.
To my surprise, after the meeting I was called by the ISD and warned for going against the MUIS and instigating others to do the same. I was told that Hj Buang had reported me to the ISD.
After the incident I knew that I had been put on a watch list.
Some time after the above incident and over another incident which was thought to have involved me the ISD raided my house in the early hours of the morning and took away most of my personal belongings, including my type writer, personal diaries and other personal documents.
I was blind folded and driven to the detention centre. The moment the blind fold was removed I found myself in a small room with powerful search lights shone of my face and immediately assaulted by a senior officer by the name of Hussein Salleh, a Police Superintendent in charged of the ISD Malay Section.
That was the first taste of police brutality with many more to come. I was accused of trying to "bite the hands that fed me".
This time I had been accused of circulating a petition accusing the government of ill treating the Malays, in particular over the detention of a group of university students who were members of PERMUSI (Singapore University Muslim Students Society) and allegedly involved in clandestine activities.
The fact of the matter is, though I knew some of the students who were detained, I had no knowledge whatsoever of what they were doing nor was I involved in any way with them. I was also not responsible for writing and circulating the petition because as an ex ISD staff I Knew the rules and would not have done such a stupid thing as that. (This fact was determined by the ISD much later after a colleague of mine, a fellow translator in the CID who was quite close to some of the detainees admitted to being responsible for it. It was done a few days earlier in my absence as I was on sick leave) He was also detained at the same time.
But I admit that I had been earlier approached by the relatives of some of those detained to help find out where the students were held and why they were arrested since they were kept incommunicado for some time. I had tried to contact some of the people I knew in the ISD for information which I could give to the families of the detainees. I did not make any headway and left it at that.
During the detention I went through the works and was completely at the mercy of the officers. Sleep deprivation for days on end and under intense cold and walloping sessions to extract confessions finally took their tole. I was admitted to the Changi Prison Hospital for observation when my limbs went numb.
I had thought that after the fellow translator had admitted his guilt the right thing they should have done was to apologise for my wrongful detention and release me.
But fat hope. They had to justify my detention no matter what the facts of the matter said. They resorted to a technical issue. They pounced on the discovery of some copies of my translation which I had kept in my office under lock and key in the CID and the alleged revelations of the ISD operational methods to the colleague (who was also bound by the Oath of Secrecy) and charged me in court. (Note, not revelations to any member of the public or any other party)
Before going to court an officer asked me how I was going to plead. I grudgingly said "guilty". He responded by saying, "You better do so or heads will roll and yours would be the first".
Do I have a choice?
Before I forget I also would like state that my beloved mother who had been unwell for some time passed away during my detention and the inhumane officers did not even allow me to attend her funeral. I was only brought out to view her body very briefly the night before as though I was a dangerous criminal. This was an additional factor which made the stressful condition worse.
In part II tomorrow I would give my take on the whole issue.
*The author is the current Chairman of the Singapore Democratic Party.