Linda Chen passed away peacefully o­n Dec 29 last year, four days after she suffered a stroke at her home in Hua Guan Avenue o­n Christmas Day. She was cremated at Mount Vernon o­n New Year's Day.

A large crowd attended the simple ceremony, at which her husband, Professor Dr Tan Seng Huat and their three children spoke with emotion about Linda, the idealist, mother and friend.

Linda had a distinctive and unmistakable laugh which was at o­nce infectious and disarming. She was gracious and self assured, and always wore a smile for any o­ne she met.

It was almost impossible to be angry with Linda, even if you disagreed strongly with what she said. She had a rare combination of courage and amiability, an unobtrusive intelligence coupled with an honest humility.

In Seng Huat's words, she was simple and frugal in her personal lifestyle and needs, but was always generous and helpful to friends.

Student activist

She was born in China in 1928, but came to Singapore as a child, when she was o­nly a year old. She grew up and was educated in colonial Singapore, and became proficient in three languages Chinese, English and Malay a rare feat in the 1950s and 1960s, even more so now.

A pioneer in Malay studies, she edited o­ne of the earliest Malay-Chinese dictionaries and published translations of children's stories from Chinese into Malay.

Her academic exercise for her B.A. Honours degree o­n a prominent Muslim scholar and intellectual, Syed Shaykh al-Hady, was published in a collection by the Malaysian Sociological Research Institute in 1999.

Her pioneering monograph for her Masters of Arts degree, The Early Years of Chinese Newsapers in Singapore, 1881-1912 was published by the University of Malaya Press in 1967.

Linda was very active in the University's Socialist Club. After the Fajar editorial board was charged for sedition, she rallied others and gave much of her time to help cyclostyle new issues and help distribute them to stalls in town. She was also a very enthusiastic supporter of the Pan-Malayan Students Federation.

Detained without trial

Linda was a prominent and early advocate of women's rights in Singapore. She was the founder and secretary of the Federation of Women in 1956. It was banned o­n Sept 18, 1956, the very day of her own detention without trial, under the Preservation of Public Security Ordinance, the precursor of the Internal Security Act.

She was released with conditions in 1958 and married Seng Huat, whom she had met and fallen in love when both were members of the University Socialist Club in the early 1950s.

When PAP came into power in 1959, Linda was an active participant in the debate and discussions among women activists which led to the drafting of the Women's Charter in 1960. This outlawed polygamy and instituted monogamy in Singapore's marriage laws.

Linda was detained for the second time during Operation Coldstore in February 1963. Following her release, she accompanied Seng Huat to London where he pursued his postgraduate professional qualification.

After they returned in 1967, Linda assumed management of her family business, Shanghai Book Company, with a branch in Kuala Lumpur.

Strong convictions

Despite her business commitments, Linda retained her concern for the status and position of women in society.

In an obituary in the Straits Times o­n Jan 1, the (Singapore-based) Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) paid the following tribute to Linda. It succinctly summarised Linda's commitments.

"AWARE extends her deepest condolences to the family of the late Linda Chen. We honour her as a role model and pioneer woman warrior who fought for nationalism in her youth, and never wavered despite the high personal cost of acting o­n her convictions.

"We acknowledge with deep appreciation her contributions to the work of AWARE as the stalwart volunteer and longest serving Counsellor o­n the help line. We remember Linda as a woman who lived by her values and whose commitment and constancy will continue to inspire us."

Seng Huat and Linda were inseparable throughout their married life; they entertained friends and colleagues widely and generously at their home, and traveled regularly together.

Linda recalled, with fondness, their second journey o­n the Silk Road with close friends and relatives in September 2002, three months before her passing.

She shall be sadly missed by relatives and the many friends whose lives she has touched. She shall be remembered by all those who shared her commitment for freedom and social justice.