Lim Hock Siew
|
Dr. Lim Hock Siew |
|
|---|---|
| Native name | 林福寿 |
| Born |
21 February 1931 Singapore |
| Died | 4 June 2012 (aged 81) Singapore |
| Resting place | Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery |
| Spouse(s) | Beatrice Chen |
Lim Hock Siew (simplified Chinese: 林福寿; traditional Chinese: 林福壽; pinyin: Lín Fú Shòu; 21 February 1931 – 4 June 2012) was a Singaporean politician, political prisoner and medical doctor.
Lim was born in Singapore, the second of ten children of a poor fishmonger. He attended the Rangoon Road School and then the Raffle institution. Then he studied medicine at the University of Malaya. At university, he was a committed founder-member of the University Socialist Club (USC) and a leader of the university's student union. In 1953, he met former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, then a young lawyer helping to defend eight USC students charged for sedition by the British. They won the case and the USC rallied behind Lee Kuan Yew and his associates when they formed the People’s Action Party (PAP) in 1954. Lim was a member of the PAP from its inception until 1961, and as its member campaigned in the 1955 and 1959 Singapore general elections. On 26 July 1961, thirteen left-wing PAP assemblymen who had abstained in a crucial vote of confidence for the government held five days earlier were expelled from the PAP. Lim left the PAP on his own accord and resigned from his government service doctor post in 1961. In the same year, he became a member of the Barisan Sosialis, a party which was formed in 1961 by the 13 expelled PAP assemblymen and 6 prominent left-leaning trade unions leaders. The Barisan Sosialis officially disbanded in 1988.
On 2 February 1963, along with over 110 other leftists and unionists, Lim was arrested during Operation Coldstore, a massive security crackdown ordered by the government and targeted at communists and alleged communists. Immediately after his arrest, he was detained without trial indefinitely under the Internal Security Act. At the time of his arrest he was only 32 years old and his son who was just 5 months old. During his two-decade long detention at Changi Prison, he constantly refused to repudiate his political beliefs despite being given every opportunity to do so. About 9 years into his detention, he was asked to sign a statement committing to support the democratic system in Singapore, and not to participate in politics. He refused, pointing out that the two demands were contradictory: if a democratic system really existed in Singapore, then there would be no reason for him to be deprived of his right to participate in politics. He was released from political detention on 6 September 1982 and was Singapore’s second-longest serving political prisoner after Chia Thye Poh.
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