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16-02-2014, 11:30 PM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
there are many "things" that are concealed from us. things of miseries and sufferings that were brought upon people who dare to disagree but still loved this country. why weren't the tormentors paid for their crimes? why is the country hushed about such sad incidents? why??
teo soh lung
Francis Khoo Kah Siang crossed the Singapore-Johore causeway on 15 February 1977, never to return to his country of birth. He died on 20 Nov 2011 without fulfilling his wish to see his homeland. What was the "crime" he committed that compelled him to leave home? In Francis' own words:
"On that 15 February 1977, they [secret police] also came for me. Why? I could only guess. Was it because I was a lawyer defending workers and acted for one in a three-month trial involving a government MP and trade union leader? Was it because I was one of the five Singaporeans attempting to save the Singapore Herald, a liberal independent newspaper closed down by the government? Was it because I actively took part in the peace movement; the American war in Vietnam was raging while Singapore was a trading beneficiary of the US presence? Was it because I had opposed the Suitability Certificate which barred students and those from families deemed 'politically undesirable' a place at university? Or because I opposed the abolition of the jury system when I was vice-president of the students' Law Society at the University of Singapore? Or because I was a student activist, executive council member and on the editorial board of the monthly Singapore Undergrad? Was it because I had been a political cartoonist since campus days? Was it because I was an advocate of justice and peace and the Church's 'option for the poor'? Who knows? ..."
Francis had married Dr Ang Swee Chai just two weeks earlier and many of his friends who attended his wedding were rounded up by the security police and disappeared. He recorded his narrow escape with his song:
FIFTEENTH OF FEBRUARY
1) 'twas the 15th of february
at dead of the night
they kept knocking
and banging my door
i slipped quietly away
but the others could not
and i know that
i'd see them no more
2) they had taken so many
how many i know not
well, there's maha
and mike and samy
and there's jing quee
and others
the brave and the tall
and they're once more
behind changi wall
3) then i packed
my small green bag,
some clothes
and my toothbrush
never knowing
what lies ahead
though the darkness
surrounds me
i'll hold my head high
and i know
i'm no longer afraid
4) o my dear bride,
my dearest
just two weeks we're wed
please remember
the vow that we made
i have left my homeland
for a place far away
but i know
i'll be back home someday
5) o my people,
my homeland
the ones that i love
i will never
see you again
till the storm clouds gather
at break of the dawn
and bungaraya
shall bloom
in the rain
______________________
- lyrics and melody
written while in exile -
Francis was later joined by his wife in London. He mused: "From just one, the Mukabarat now had two who slipped through its dragnet. They must have felt duped and were not amused. We have never been forgiven for this. We have yet to return 34 years later, now having spent more than half our lives in exile."
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://sammyboy.com/showthread.php?175108-for-what-crime-did-they-do-for-standing-up&goto=newpost).
there are many "things" that are concealed from us. things of miseries and sufferings that were brought upon people who dare to disagree but still loved this country. why weren't the tormentors paid for their crimes? why is the country hushed about such sad incidents? why??
teo soh lung
Francis Khoo Kah Siang crossed the Singapore-Johore causeway on 15 February 1977, never to return to his country of birth. He died on 20 Nov 2011 without fulfilling his wish to see his homeland. What was the "crime" he committed that compelled him to leave home? In Francis' own words:
"On that 15 February 1977, they [secret police] also came for me. Why? I could only guess. Was it because I was a lawyer defending workers and acted for one in a three-month trial involving a government MP and trade union leader? Was it because I was one of the five Singaporeans attempting to save the Singapore Herald, a liberal independent newspaper closed down by the government? Was it because I actively took part in the peace movement; the American war in Vietnam was raging while Singapore was a trading beneficiary of the US presence? Was it because I had opposed the Suitability Certificate which barred students and those from families deemed 'politically undesirable' a place at university? Or because I opposed the abolition of the jury system when I was vice-president of the students' Law Society at the University of Singapore? Or because I was a student activist, executive council member and on the editorial board of the monthly Singapore Undergrad? Was it because I had been a political cartoonist since campus days? Was it because I was an advocate of justice and peace and the Church's 'option for the poor'? Who knows? ..."
Francis had married Dr Ang Swee Chai just two weeks earlier and many of his friends who attended his wedding were rounded up by the security police and disappeared. He recorded his narrow escape with his song:
FIFTEENTH OF FEBRUARY
1) 'twas the 15th of february
at dead of the night
they kept knocking
and banging my door
i slipped quietly away
but the others could not
and i know that
i'd see them no more
2) they had taken so many
how many i know not
well, there's maha
and mike and samy
and there's jing quee
and others
the brave and the tall
and they're once more
behind changi wall
3) then i packed
my small green bag,
some clothes
and my toothbrush
never knowing
what lies ahead
though the darkness
surrounds me
i'll hold my head high
and i know
i'm no longer afraid
4) o my dear bride,
my dearest
just two weeks we're wed
please remember
the vow that we made
i have left my homeland
for a place far away
but i know
i'll be back home someday
5) o my people,
my homeland
the ones that i love
i will never
see you again
till the storm clouds gather
at break of the dawn
and bungaraya
shall bloom
in the rain
______________________
- lyrics and melody
written while in exile -
Francis was later joined by his wife in London. He mused: "From just one, the Mukabarat now had two who slipped through its dragnet. They must have felt duped and were not amused. We have never been forgiven for this. We have yet to return 34 years later, now having spent more than half our lives in exile."
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://sammyboy.com/showthread.php?175108-for-what-crime-did-they-do-for-standing-up&goto=newpost).