Fong Har breaks down as she talks about her citizenship

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Sunday, 09 October 2011

Singapore Democrats

An emotional Tang Fong Har addressing the audience Former ISA detainee Ms Tang Fong Har was emotional when she spoke at the SDP's Silenced No Longer forum. She choked up with tears when she said that after 23 years away from Singapore, she could not renew her passport to return home.

Ms Tang, a lawyer with Singapore's Law Society when Mr Francis Seow was its president, was speaking via the Internet from Hong Kong. It was the first time that she had done so since her release from detention.

Ms Tang also said that she could not bring herself to write about her ordeal under detention. She had shelved away all the documents and didn't want to even look at them. But after the forum yesterday, Ms Tang said that she was encouraged by the support and would write about her experience as a detainee.

Her announcement was warmly welcomed by the crowd who applauded several times during her presentation.

Ms Tang's husband is from Hong Kong. She mentioned that when they were talking about marriage, one of her requests was for their family to reside in Singapore. "It turns out that I am the one who is not allowed to stay in Singapore."

Filmmaker Mr Martyn See read out a passage that Ms Tang described about an incident when she was hit across the face by a male ISD officer by the name of S K Tan. "Do you still have a grudge against people like S K tan?" asked Mr See.

"Yes, I still have a grudge against S K Tan. In fact I have a grudge against a long list of people," the former lawyer said without hesitation.

These people have done much wrong and there needs to be justice, she added. She repeated the call for a commission of inquiry to be held so that the truth can be revealed. Several of the 1987 detainees have openly defied the PAP, calling for an inquiry. The Government has steadfastly refused to call for such an inquiry.

Martyn See interacting with Tang Fong Har Ms Tang was no exception. She said that if the Government has evidence against her, it should produce it in a court of law and not resort to cowardly measures like detention without trial where prisoners are tortured and confessions extracted.

She singled out Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam who was associated with some of the 1987 detainees. Tharman was also brought in for questioning by the ISD but was not detained.

Mr Tharman should know whether his contemporaries were Marxist conspirators or not. "Tharman was almost a victim of the ISA himself. He should have the courage to do the right thing," said Ms Tang. She also mentioned former minister Mr Dhanabalan who had indicated that he disagreed with the detentions when he was in cabinet.

Ms Tang indicated that she would be visiting Johor Bahru to see her 80-year-old mother later this year. She would be reunited with her family for the first time since her departure from Singapore.

She concluded by encouraging everyone in Singapore to continue working to abolish the ISA and bring about a free and democratic Singapore. She doubted she would be allowed to enter Singapore anytime soon but quickly added, "But if I am given the okay, I would take the next flight home tomorrow." The applause rang out long and loud.

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Comments (5)

Sun 09 Oct 2011 12:10 PM | maxchew - S K Tan the ISD assaulter

His full name is Tan Seck Kang aka Long-Jaw due to his long jaw.he was just an ASP at the time he showed his sadistic nature to TFH, a petite female lawyer.

Retired few years ago as Asst Commisioner, director CNB. He has been awarded several State medals for his service in ISD.

Likely to have been re- employed at ISD currently as he has a law degree from London.

Sun 09 Oct 2011 3:24 PM | Atobe - Shame on the PAP Leadership

It is totally shameless that the PAP will use the "citizenship" as a political tool to ensnare those who managed to escape from their vindictive clutch.

When the PAP Minister Wong Kang Seng introduced the Bill in Parliament that will remove "citizenship" of Singaporeans who stayed away for more then ten years - it was obvious that those targetted were those who were politically victimised by PAP Supremo Lee Kuan Yew, and managed to flee from the abusive use of the Internal Security Act to fulfill the personal political goals.

It is even more shameless that LKY will accuse these loyal Singaporeans to be "Marxist Conspirators" and remove their Singaporean Citizenship, but will happily embrace Mainland Chinese - who are mostly 'TRUE BLUE' Communist Party Members of the Chinese Communist Party - welcoming these Mainland Communist Chinese and freely giving them Singaporean Citizenship, and calling Singpaoreans to integrate these Communist Chinese into our midst.

This is the shameless hypocrisy of the political charges that LKY has levied against those whom he had falsely labelled as "Marxist Conspirators".

Ironically, LKY is the only Communist that continue to survive from the 1950s. In reality, he is a Stalinist as seen from his political methods of "divide and rule", and the ruthless use of "State Powers" to maintain his own political survival.

Even the economic model is borrowed from the Communist, when one sees that Singaporeans are made to depend on the State for all the essential goods and services to live in Singapore, and where Free Enterprise only exist with the State-Owned Companies monopolising the enterprises.

"Marxist Conspirators" - it is no more then the typical Communist methods to get ordinary citizens to be locked away.

Sun 09 Oct 2011 11:27 PM | Tan Tai Wei

CNA's "news" coverage of it gave the impression that it has been she herself who "renounced" her Singapore citizenship! Read Atope above to know the truth, and why she wept so when touching on the loss of citizenship.

She said she still held grudges, but had faith in "karma" for retribution and justice.

Perhaps, this would already be the karmic effect.

Had LKY and the likes of "K S Tan" (identified by Max above as a Tan Sek Kang, whom PAP had since rewarded with several "national" awards) not done her so, she would not have those lovely children she has now by her loving husband she met in Hong Kong? Having them now, and her husband, how can she now wish her past that sent her to live in Hong Kong to be any different?

And as for Tan Sek Kang and those others, she might find comfort in that, whilst the injustice and cruelty she suffered by them have had those good personal outcomes for her, those who did her injustice and cruelty have lost their character and personal integrity. The latter, involving the loss of self respect, must be the worst loss any person can suffer.

Mon 10 Oct 2011 10:30 PM | maxchew - The big bully from ISD

Forgot to mention that TSK her ISD assaulter is a 6-footer heavily built man and easily double Fong Har's size. What a sadistic big bully we have in the ISD.........they could have used a female ISD officer to do the rough physical interrogation instead of LongJaw Hulk.

Mon 10 Oct 2011 2:59 PM | Tan Tai Wei

Thanks, Max.

How to account for such "sadism"?

I don't think you need real "depth psychology" to explain the boyishness of the behaviour.

Probably just the fact that the likes of Tan Seck Kang had had too much of a diet of Hollywood's James Bond and Simon Templar. That only had been what Francis called "LKY's imaginativeness" at concocting those "cases" against the detainees?

And so a "petite". aweet thing such as Tang had to be slapped across the face till she fell and broke her glasses, like James Bond's pretty girls deserved!

Or was it that Tan Seck Kang, that hefty pounder of a natural bully, had had been so often jilted, and justifiably so, by such aweet tbings as Tang that he had been constrained to take it back on her?

So it was all merely school boyish vengefulness behind all that irrational, unnnecessary exertion of violence? How else to explain the madness? The situation then certainly could not give rise to profound, deep-seated conflict, such as occurred in Shakespearen tragedies, that would call for indepth analysis of motives and conflicts?