The infamous Operasi Lalang was as much a reaction to events in October 1987 as it was to the dissent sparked by several incidents from April that year.

It eventually spared no one. All felt the full wrath of the government under Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, recalls Dr Kua Kia Soong.

One of the those detained, Kua maintains that the "racial tension" surrounding the crackdown on activism was fabricated by the government in order to create an atmosphere of terror.

He backs his assertion by tracing the government's angst to the split within Umno, the dominant party in the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional. In April, a leadership tussle saw the party being torn apart and a narrow victory for Team A under Mahathir (photo) against Team B under Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Kua, who wrote 445 Days Under Operation Lalang to document his experiences under detention, finds confirmation in statements by former Umno president and first premier Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Said the Tunku: "Umno was facing a break-up. Dr Mahathir's hold on the party appeared critical...the case alleging irregularities brought by Umno members (on June 25, to nullify the Umno assembly and election) was pending in court.

"If the judgement went against him, he would have no choice but to step down. So he had to find a way out of his predicament. A national crisis had to be created to bring Umno together as a united force to fight a common enemy - and the imaginary enemy in this case was the Chinese community."

Protests begin

In August, the education ministry began appointing senior officers and principals who did not speak Mandarin to Chinese primary schools. This enraged the Chinese community, which saw the move as an attempt to change the character of Chinese schools through administrative changes.

In a memorandum to the ministry, education group Dong Jiao Zong stressed that the issue was not based on race but on the unsuitability of the teachers appointed. It added that "we are willing to accept any teacher of any race as long as he or she is qualified in Mandarin".

When then education minister Anwar Ibrahim refused to budge over the decision , it set off the events that fed directly into Operasi Lalang. (See Chart)

Among the 119 people detained under the Internal Security Act 1960 (ISA) were four Chinese educationists - Kua was then director of Malaysian Chinese Resource and Research Centre; Dong Zong president Lim Fong Seng (since deceased); and Jiao Zong president Sim Mow Yu and vice-president Dr Tuang Pik King.

The others included leaders of opposition parties, trade unionists, social activists, indigenous people, plantation workers, Christian evangelists, Islamic fundamentalists and Chinese educationists.

The publishing licence of three daily newspapers -The Star, Sin Chew Jit Poh and Watan were revoked a few days later.

Lim and Sim were released on June 3, 1988 while Tuang and Kua were only released on Jan 14, 1989. They were detained for "engagement in activities that incite racialism among the multi-racial communities of our country, or inciting racial feelings of the Chinese community".

Trial by fire

One of the 49 who were held for two years, Kua was adopted by Amnesty International as a 'prisoner of conscience'.

In an email interview from Britain, where he is on holiday, Kua reiterates his view that Operasi Lalang "exposed once and for all the cynical use of the ISA as a convenient tool of the BN".

He says the clampdown had special significance to the 184-year-old Chinese education movement in Malaysia, since this was the first time that the heads of both main groups were arrested and detained under the ISA, as was a headmaster (Tuang) of an independent Chinese secondary school.

"Operasi Lalang has come to symbolise another trial by fire in the protean saga of the Malaysian Chinese education movement," he said.

In the aftermath, many Chinese association leaders disappeared, he says, although some stood up for the detainees. This also marked the start of the slump in the civil rights movement that was so active during the 1980s, affecting Chinese educationists as well.

"Lim's leadership was certainly courageous and principled in the face of Mahathir's authoritarian rule. I don't think the leaders after him were of the same quality."

As to the lessons that civil society can learn from that dark period, Kua says: "We cannot accept the justification of the ISA because Operasi Lalang revealed the real function of this 'Insidious Suppression Apparatus'.

"ISA is not aimed only at terrorists but also threatens the security of peaceful-loving people like you and me."

Peak of resentment

After being released, Lim led the Chinese civil rights activists including educationists into political arena by joining opposition party DAP before the 1990 general election. This was to strengthen Barisan Alternatif.

Dr Thock Kiah Wah, Southern College president and an observer of Malaysian politics, says Operasi Lalang only served to deepen the dissatisfaction of Chinese community.

"The Chinese community was disgruntled by many government policies and this reached its peak after Operasi Lalang, as was observed from the voting behaviour of Chinese society in the 1990 election."

Both the Chinese-based ruling parties MCA and Gerakan secured fewer votes in 1990 than in the 1986 outing.

He notes that the crackdown prompted several Chinese educationists to become opposition politicians, although the rise of an educated middle class had a more prominent influence in such decisions.

Thock says the arrests did not hold back Chinese educationists as "they were determined persons with strong belief...they were not easily frightened by (the thought of) detention".

In this, Operasi Lalang failed to achieve the intended chilling effect - the Chinese education movement is active as ever, Thock points out.

"Chinese associations and political parties have protested the language switch (in the teaching of Mathematics and Science in primary schools). At the same time, efforts to establish a Chinese university have not let up," he adds.