Memorial of Tan Jing Quee

I attended the memorial of political attendee Tan Jing Quee to learn more about the man and his involvement in the political history of Singapore. I have read about the detention of Dr. Lim Hock Siew, Dr. Poh Siew Kai and Mr. Chia Thye Poh, but did not know anything about Tan Jing Quee before.

It was a useful visit. I get to know more about the use of the Internal Security Act in the early 1960s against the detainees, where were accused of being a security threat. It was useful to hear the side of the detainees.

At the memorial, I was impressed with the speech by Dr. Lim Hock Siew and his political beliefs. He explained socialism is not the same as social welfare - it seeks to remove the exploitation of people by the owners of capital. It means giving people a fair wage that is sufficient for them to raise a family in dignity - a goal that I share.

Some of the people that were detained do not appear to be security threats, so it seemed that their detention might have been unjustified. However, this is only one side of the story, so I shall keep an open mind.