COMMENT What I appreciate most about Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) is his choice of the unexpected response. Thus, when he was asked what he thought was the most important technological innovation by humankind, he answered: “Air-conditioning”.

Allow me then to give an atypical evaluation of LKY’s achievements. We have read and seen the gushing tributes to LKY for making Singapore what it is today. He was of course all of these... except he was no democrat.

The Malaysian prime minister seems to have picked up the wrong lessons from Lee, for soon after going to pay his respects to LKY, he confidently justified the use of the Sedition Act 1948 and other draconian laws by echoing Lee:

“... there is no such thing as complete freedom to say or do as one pleases... we can’t be apologetic to some people who accuse us of being undemocratic. There is no complete freedom for anyone.”

PM Najib Abdul Razak also touched on the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), saying it too was necessary to reduce crime and curb the spread of extremist groups such as Islamic State (IS). This was straight out of LKY’s quotable quote of 1986:

“We have to lock up people, without trial, whether they are communists, whether they are language chauvinists, whether they are religious extremists. If you don’t do that, the country would be in ruins.”

In fact, LKY used to say that Singapore will only have the ISA as long as Malaysia still uses the Internal Security Act. Surprisingly, squeaky clean Singapore has not kept its word to its own citizens and still clings on to the ISA even though Malaysia has repealed this draconian law, albeit “transformed” under different guises, viz. Sosma, POCA and now the proposed POTA.

But to be fair to LKY, his party never claimed to be a ‘Democratic’ Party, only an ‘Action’ Party. Boy, did he know a thing or two about swift action! The same cannot be said for Malaysia’s Democratic Action Party. In his tribute to LKY, the DAP adviser Dr Chen Man Hin said:

“Lee will always be remembered as a great leader, who not only upheld democracy, but was an icon both in Singapore and the region for the progress he brought...”

DAP Deputy CM of Penang and former socialist Dr P Ramasamy also paid to tribute to LKY. However Dr Ramasamy was not so much interested in LKY’s democratic legacy as in name dropping about his “encounter with a legend” and how the great man had helped him in his academic career in Singapore!

DAP secretary-general, Lim Guan Eng likewise praised and spoke in awe of the late LKY, describing Lee as a “moderniser par excellence”, although he deftly avoided mentioning LKY’s record on democracy. I have not seen any comment from the DAP’s de facto leader Lim Kit Siang on Lee’s passing but I would be most interested in his assessment of LKY’s record as a “democrat”.

‘Air-con’ treatment under Operation Coldstore

I don’t think the DAP’s Dr Chen and Dr Ramasamy have ever suffered detention without trial before and they may not appreciate the scope and essence of what true democracy means. The DAP secretary-general and his father certainly know how it feels to be detained without trial and to be defamed as “threats to national security” for we were in the same ISA dragnet under Operation Lalang.

However, I do not think they were subjected to the ‘air-con’ treatment experienced by some other detainees, at the hands of the Special Branch.

Certainly, those who have not suffered detention without trial are more easily impressed by the convenient justification for its use by autocrats, that it is necessary for ‘national security’. Autocrats like LKY and Dr Mahathir Mohamad (who detained us in 1987) try to paint a picture of their adversaries as “dangerous threats” to the nation, who have to be dealt with by iron-fisted methods:

 “...nobody doubts that if you take me on, I will put on knuckle-dusters and catch you in a cul de sac... Anybody who decides to take me on needs to put on knuckle dusters. If you think you can hurt me more than I can hurt you, try...” ( LKY)

If you have ever met Singapore’s longest serving detainee, Dr Chia Thye Poh who was arrested under Operation Coldstore in 1963 and detained for 32 years, you will instinctively wonder what sort of regime could be so insecure and which autocrat could be so heartless as to detain this soft spoken intellectual at all. His detention was far longer than that of Nelson Mandela’s, and at a time when Singapore was already an economic success story.

Did LKY need knuckle dusters and hatchets against this gentle yet principled man who just refused to confess to things he did not subscribe to?

And what of petite Teoh Soh Lung who was detained under Operation Spectrum in 1987? Did Big L really need a hatchet or knuckle dusters against her? Those who have never met Dr Chia Thye Poh ( right ) or Teoh Soh Lung can google them on YouTube and make up their own minds as to whether Big Lee was justified in locking up these intellectuals for so long without giving them the basic human right to a fair trial.

Thus, as we bid adieu to Harry, let us remember his achievements and also his failings as a democrat. He was everything except a democrat. If we aspire to be a democratic country, we should eschew detention without trial and live by the rule of law and other democratic values.

DR KUA KIA SOONG is Suaram adviser.