TAN JING QUEE (January 18, 1939 - June 14, 2011)
Tan Jing Quee was a trade unionist, lawyer, poet, writer and historian. He was a man of many
interests and talents. Towards the end of his life, he wanted to write a play. It was all in his head
but he did not have the energy to put it down in writing. His priority was finishing his memoir
and his book on Operation Coldstore. That book “The 1963 Operation Coldstore in Singapore,
Commemorating 50 Years” was finally completed posthumously by Dr Poh Soo Kai, Tan Kok
Fang and Hong Lysa.
Jing Quee witnessed the arrests of many of his friends – young idealists who wanted Singapore
to be free from colonial rule. They wanted a united Malaya and a region of peace and prosperity,
a vision that leaders picked by the British with their selfish motives did not have and could not
see. These friends included the late Dr Lim Hock Siew, Dr Poh Soo Kai and Ho Piao, his school
mate in Raffles Institution. They were too honest and kept to the constitutional struggle, taking
great care not to give the government an excuse to play foul. But foul play descended on them.
In politics, there is no need to be too gentlemanly. The PAP, the British and the Tunku mounted
Operation Coldstore on 2 February 1963 and put all of them in cold store. Dr Lim for 20 years,
Ho Piao for 18 years and Dr Poh for 17 years. It was so easy to use the ISA to arrest and
imprison political opponents so that the government can do whatever it wanted with the country
and its people.
Almost the entire CEC of the Barisan Sosialis were arrested. The faint-hearted would have
retreated into their shell. But not Tan Jinq Quee. He was in his early 20s and had just graduated
from the University of Singapore.
Jing Quee stepped up to the occasion. He joined the Singapore Business Houses Employees’
Union and became the vice-secretary of SATU. He contested the general election held on 21
September 1963, standing against the incumbent, S Rajaratnam in Kampong Glam. Harbans
Singh was the spoiler. Jing Quee lost by a mere 220 votes. To the surprise of Rajaratnam, Jing
Quee congratulated him with a handshake after the recounting of votes.
Despite losing the election, the PAP was so afraid of Jing Quee that they arrested him 17 days
later, on 8 October 1963. Three Barisan members who were elected in the general election were
also arrested. They were S.T. Bani, Loh Miao Gong and Lee Tee Tong. They were deprived of
their seats in the assembly. At least 40 others were also arrested before the end of 1963. In that
one year, more than 200 people were arrested and imprisoned without trial under the PPSO
(Preservation of Public Security Ordinance, the forerunner of the ISA). That was how the PAP
managed to stay in power.
Jing Quee was tortured and humiliated in prison. He remained in prison for more than two years.
Upon his release, he left for London to study law. He returned to Singapore after graduation and
chambered with Mr J B Jeyaretnam. Later he set up his law practice with Lim Chin Joo and
became a successful lawyer. He joined the golfing community but his heart was always with the
people of Singapore. He wanted to write the history of those who were marginalised by PAP.
Jing Quee did not return to politics to challenge the PAP though he enjoyed discussing politics
and the economy with his friends. Even that harmless activity alarmed the PAP.
And so Jing Quee was rearrested on 15 February 1977 together with many of his friends. They
were tarred with the name “Euro-Communists” a term coined by S Rajaratnam. No one except
the PAP knows what this term means. Rajaratnam was mean despite the amiable gesture of Jing
Quee towards him at the counting centre.
Jing Quee was again punished with solitary confinement in a tiny bloodstained and filthy
cell. This time he was released after two months and returned to legal practice.
Source:
Fn8org, V. a. P. B. (2020, June 18). TAN JING QUEE, trade unionist, lawyer, poet, writer and
historian (18 January 1939 – 14 June 2011). Function
8. https://fn8org.wordpress.com/2020/06/18/tan-jing-quee-trade-unionist-lawyer-poetwriter\and-historian-18-january-1939-14-june-2011/