Launch of book by ex-MPs a reunion of old comrades
By Leong Weng Kam, The Straits Times, 9 Jul 2014
By Leong Weng Kam, The Straits Times, 9 Jul 2014
Although only 25 wrote autobiographical essays for the book, nearly 40 "Men In White", as PAP members are popularly known today, were among the 120 guests.
They included guest of honour and former Cabinet minister Othman Wok, and Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who dropped in at the reception after the book launch to meet the former MPs.
Mr Othman, 89, who is among the contributors to the collection of personal essays by former MPs, said he met many of his old colleagues at the event yesterday.
Pointing to 84-year-old Chor Yeok Eng, a former senior parliamentary secretary and a fellow contributor, he said: "I haven't seen him for years and I am happy to know he is well."
Others like Mr Chai Chong Yii, 79, added: "We rarely meet after we retired from politics and I am happy so many who did not contribute to the book also came."
They included several former PAP ministers, namely Mr Lee Khoon Choy, Dr Seet Ai Mee, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua and former Speaker of Parliament Abdullah Tarmugi.
In his speech, Dr Chiang Hai Ding, one of the book's two editors, said that there were more than 100 former PAP MPs from the period between 1965 and 2011.
He urged them to follow the example of the book's 25 contributors to tell their stories and "inform and inspire other Singaporeans".
"Who knows, some Singaporeans who read their stories may follow in their footsteps and, in time, they too can say, 'We also served'," he said.
A panel discussion followed the launch when Dr Chiang, co-editor Rohan Kamis and former MPs Chau Sik Ting, Wan Hussin Zoohri and R. Sinnakaruppan took questions from the floor.The questions included whether a Chinese-language edition would be published and why it had taken the editors eight years to put the book together.
Mr Kamis said the book changed its publisher from the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies to The Straits Times Press midway. They also had to raise money to get it published.
Ex-MPs put together personal stories to inspire the young
Group effort containing 25 essays by the 'Men In White' to be launched today
By Leong Weng Kam, The Straits Times, 8 Jul 2014
Group effort containing 25 essays by the 'Men In White' to be launched today
By Leong Weng Kam, The Straits Times, 8 Jul 2014
The book, a group effort by the "Men In White", as PAP members have been known to be called, took two former MPs, Dr Chiang Hai Ding and Mr Rohan Kamis, eight years to put together. They are the book's editors and contributed to the volume.
Dr Chiang, 76, now retired, and Mr Rohan, 65, managing partner of a public accounting firm here, said the idea for the book, titled We Also Served - Reflections Of Singapore's Former PAP MPs, was mooted in 2006.
"That was when we passed over the organising of informal gatherings for former PAP MPs, held once in three months or so since the early 1980s, to the party headquarters," said Mr Rohan, who was MP for Telok Blangah between 1979 and 1984.
"Then we thought of the book of autobiographical essays, for former MPs to share their experience and inspire the young, and it received support even from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong," recalled Dr Chiang, who was MP for Ulu Pandan between 1970 and 1984.
They were further encouraged when the then Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew wrote to The Straits Times Forum in July 17, 2007, to encourage them.
As Mr Lee wrote: "MPs are important actors in determining Singapore's history. I encourage all MPs, including those who opposed the PAP, to give their accounts of the past.
"They will give a multi-dimensional view of past events and provide richness and texture to the story."
Dr Chiang and Mr Rohan received a $100,000 grant from the Lee Foundation to finance the project and they worked with the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies first before passing it to the Straits Times Press to publish it for them.
They had written to more than 100 former PAP MPs, including those who stepped down in 2006, inviting them to write for the book.
Though, in the end, only 25 essays were published, Dr Chiang said they represent a very diverse group, from Mr Chor Yeok Eng, who was among the first batch of 43 PAP assemblymen in 1959, to cardiologist Michael Lim, who was MP for Punggol and, later, Cheng San GRC between 1991 and 2006.
Former Cabinet minister Othman Wok, 89, the guest-of-honour at the book launch at Singapore Press Holdings' News Centre, is also among the essayists.
Others include Nanyang University graduates Ho Kah Leong and Chai Chong Yii, English-educated scholars Tan Eng Liang and Bernard Chen, and trade unionists and professionals from the Malay and Indian communities.
But three of the contributors - the late Ho See Beng, Sha'ari Tadin and Dixie Tan - will not be able to see the fruit of their labour.
On seeing the book published today, former MP Teong Eng Seong, 79, said: "I am glad because I can finally tell my story and my struggles in the early days of Singapore for the benefit of the young."