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PM Lee on declassified British documents: Revisionists 'still deny historical facts'

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Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has commented on a debate over the 1963 crackdown on communists here, saying declassified British documents and accounts by former communist leaders confirm that then prime minister Lee Kuan Yew was right.

They also "leave no doubt" that communists instigated the formation of the Barisan Sosialis, and that detained Barisan leader Lim Chin Siong was a communist cadre, Mr Lee said in a Facebook post yesterday.

He also provided a link to the Government's detailed reply to a commentary by former Barisan assistant secretary-general Poh Soo Kai which questioned the legitimacy of the crackdown, codenamed Operation Coldstore.

Both the commentary and the response were published by the Australian National University's New Mandala website.

Mr Lim and Dr Poh were among 113 communists and supporters detained without trial during Coldstore.

PM Lee noted that many old communist and pro-communist activists have reconciled with their past, and become good citizens.

"But a few hardcore ones still deny these historical facts. They don't want to admit that they had fought on the wrong side, and that luckily for Singapore they lost," he wrote.

"Some 'revisionist' historians make this argument too. One motivation: Cast doubt on the legitimacy of the (People's Action Party) government, not just in the 1960s, but today."

He said the Communist Party was a violent, illegal organisation. So it operated secretly, underground.

But the communists also infiltrated open, legal organisations like trade unions, student associations and political parties.

"These supported the communist cause, but denied that they themselves were communist," PM Lee wrote.

His post included photos of two original handwritten documents that he said showed Mr Lim was a communist, and that the Barisan was communist controlled.

You can view it Mr Lee's Facebook page ​here and the full statement from Singapore here.

 

SingaporePMLee Hsien LoongcommunistsColdstore