SINGAPORE: Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan wrote in a Facebook post that he met up with Tan Wan Piow, a former student leader who has lived in the United Kingdom since 1976.
Dr Chee, who announced in October that he had been invited for a series of talks in London and Oxford, wrote in his Nov 6 post that he was “embarrassed to say” that it was the first time he had personally met Mr Tan, though he has talked about him in the past.
Sharing a photo of their meeting, Dr Chee said that the two men had discussed philosophers John Dewey and Antonio Gramsci as well as Lu Xun. He added, “Wah Piow is as Singaporean as they come. He still speaks perfect Singlish, replete with all the lahs and mehs. I feel, at once, comfortable and at home. He’s spent more years here than in his own country. I see a Singaporean fiercely loyal to the idea of justice for his fellow countrymen and women. It was that ideal that led him to his present state.”
The SDP chief added, “People like him, and many others who came before, are Singaporeans who truly loved Singapore. Let no one tell you otherwise.”
Mr Tan, now aged 76, was the president of the University of Singapore‘s Students’ Union (USSU) in 1974, when he advocated for social justice, specifically workers’ rights. However, in November of that year, he was arrested for unlawful assembly and rioting and was later given a one-year jail sentence.
In 1976, he and Chew Beng Lan, who later became his wife, sought political asylum. The couple has one son. Mr Tan, who had previously studied architecture, took up law studies at Balliol College in Oxford. He practised law afterwards for three decades, specialising in human rights and refugee law.
In the years that followed, he has also written books and found expression in art.
In 2016, Mr Tan asked for his conviction to be reviewed and published the response from the Attorney-General’s Chambers in a Facebook post, having been told that the conviction could only be “quashed by the court”.
Dr Chee, who is no stranger to controversy and political troubles, addressed his Nov 6 Facebook post to “Dear young people,” underlining the importance of “must be alive to our nation’s history and learn from it as we navigate the future,” especially in the age of artificial intelligence.
He added that “to my younger fellow citizens, the struggle for freedom and democracy for our nation continues. And it will expand. How do I know? Because the human spirit can only be suppressed, never crushed.” /TISG
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