Shocking news gripped the United Kingdom when a 73-year-old
man named Aravindan Balakrishnan (aka Comrade Bala) was arrested on suspicion
of holding three women captive in a south London flat for 30 years. According
to the UK press, the victims were brainwashed by the Marxist Comrade Bala, held
against their wishes for years, and were often beaten by Balakrishnan and his
wife.
The three victims were Josephine Herivel (daughter of a
renowned Bletchley Park codebreaker during the Second World War), Aishah Wahab (a
Colombo plan scholar who came to Britain to study in 1968) and Sian Davies, who
died in 1997 (a high-flying law student who studied at Cheltenham Ladies’
College). Having an academic discussion about Marxism is one thing but taking
it to the extreme is disconcerting to say the least. Furthermore, the victims
being western educated individuals rekindles the point that Communism is not reserved
exclusively for the typical Chinese chauvinist but also Western intellectuals who
are equally attracted to the ideology.
In a weird turn of events, the perpetrator of this heinous
crime is apparently a Singaporean so obsessed with Marxist ideology that he
left for England to set up a commune in the 1960s. By the 1970s, he had worked
his way up and became a member of the Communist party of England's central
committee. However, he soon left the party in 1974 and set up a separatist group
styled as a direct component of Maoist China, calling on the Red army to come
to south London to liberate working people.
Because of his Marxist ideology, the Singapore government
deemed him to be pursuing "activities that are prejudicial to the security
of Singapore" and stripped of his Singapore citizenship for his close ties
with Eurocommunists in 1977 (see below for newspaper clippings). Was this a
blessing in disguise for Singapore? No one can say for certain but history has
its unique way of eventually unravelling the truth.
Another interesting point observed was the time period (1960s)
in which Balakrishnan left for England. If we recall it was in 1963 that
Operation Coldstore was launched to counteract the spread of Communism in
Malaya. Was Aravindan Balakrishnan one of those Communists who slipped past the
security dragnet and escaped to the United Kingdom?
I wonder how many more Singaporean Marxists are hiding in the UK. In fact, even the famous pianist who dodged the draft hid in London for many years. London is also known as the playground of Russian millionaires who have run foul of the Russian law. Of course, the Western press paint these people as being oppressed and persecuted to paint a bad picture of these Oriental states while they sip their champagne in high-end clubs.
ReplyDeleteNot every Singaporean hiding in London then was a Marxist.
DeleteI like how justice is served in Singapore. The famous pianist was welcomed back to Singapore and paid $3000 in lieu of 2.5 years of National Slavery.
Saycheese
Dear blogger,
ReplyDeleteI believe Tan Wah Piow still harbours intention to topple government with undemocratic means. After I read this post, I am convinced what the government has done in the past was right. You look at the last paragraph of what Tan has written:
http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/06/04/the-real-reason-behind-the-internet-crackdown/
"Ultimately, the final solution is to vote out the PAP so that we can have the political space to restore our democratic constitutional rights. (see my Critique on Tharman’s Pap as a Dominant Party in TRE and Public House sg,). During the interim, we need more guerrilla-type bloggers and cyber-warriors to counter the current set of regulations. Each time we forward an article we like in cyberspace to our friends and acquaintances, we are actively undermining the legitimacy and dominance of the PAP."