In this excerpt from Lee Kuan Yew’s second memoir, covering the period 1965 to 2000, the great founder of Singapore relates an account of foreign interference in Singapore’s domestic politics that shows why it is incumbent upon Americans to be very, very skeptical of all “pro-democracy opposition leaders” and “political dissidents” in countries that are not under the thumb of the neo-liberal world order:
When dealing with the opposition, I had two preoccupations: Were they being used by the communists? And was this a “black operation”, one funded and run by a foreign intelligence agency to cause mischief? It was this latter concern which led to our investigation of Francis Seow, a former solicitor-general. The Marxist group described earlier had gained influence in the Law Society. They canvassed for him and got him elected as president. With Seow as president, the Law Society became politicised, criticising and attacking government legislation not on professional but on political grounds, something it had never done as a professional organisation constituted by law to maintain discipline and standards in the legal profession.
Around that time, in 1987, a counsellor in the US embassy called Hendrickson met Seow to encourage him to lead an opposition group at the next election. The ISD recommended that we detain and interrogate Seow to get to the bottom of the matter. I agreed. We had to put a stop to this foreign interference in Singapore’s domestic politics and show that it was off-limits to all, including the United States. Under interrogation, Seow admitted in a sworn affidavit that he had been asked by Hendrickson to lead a group of lawyers to contest the elections against the PAP. He also admitted that he had been to Washington to meet Hendrickson’s superior in the US State Department, who had assured him of refuge in America were he to run into difficulties with the government. We published his admissions made in the sworn affidavit. Then we released Seow, two months before the general elections. He contested but lost.
He was on a charge for fraudulent income tax returns at that time but we gave him permission to travel to the United States to consult a cardiologist in New York and to attend a human rights conference. He did not return for his trial. Instead his lawyers submitted several medical reports from two doctors: the first, Dr Jonathan E. Fine, who signed himself as “Executive Director” on letter paper headed “Physicians for Human Rights”, stated that it was inadvisable for Seow to travel internationally; the second doctor stated that Seow was unable to undertake any air travel until treated for his heart condition. When the prosecution produced evidence that Seow had made at least seven air trips from December through January, the court directed that Seow submit more detailed medical reports. When Seow failed to provide further medical reports, his lawyers, an English Queen’s Counsel (QC) and a Singapore advocate, asked the court to discharge them. One doctor later admitted that in fact he had not examined him and that he had not renewed his medical licence to practise. Seow had no standing at the Bar, having been disciplined by the Law Society for financial misconduct. What was left of his credibility in Singapore was destroyed.
When human rights groups in America puffed him up as a major dissident figure, Singaporeans were not impressed. Several years later we learnt that the US government had indeed given Seow political asylum.
We had good reason for wanting to investigate Francis Seow. We knew he owed a Singapore bank some S$350,000. The loan was not repaid for many years. In 1986, as the date for election approached, the bank demanded payment. He was able to pay. Where did the money come from? We had seized his books to check for income tax and it was clear that he did not have the funds to settle this loan. He swore in an affidavit that it was paid by his girlfriend, or his fiancée as he called her, Mei Siah. She told Keng Swee in Bangkok in 1989, after Seow had fled from Singapore, that she was asked to lend Seow the money by a Singapore businessman. A CEO of a major company who kept Mei Siah as his mistress for a number of years told us that she was a grasping sort, extremely tight with money, and would never have parted with S$350,000 for anyone, and that she still had not paid him more than the sum of S$350,000 she owed him. This suggested that the money came from some interested agency.
From Third World to First The Singapore Story: 1965–2000, Lee Kuan Yew
Note that this operation was almost certainly funded by the CIA and targeted the very friendly country of Singapore. There should be no question at all that “pro-democracy” and “human rights” figures such as Alexei Navalny in Russia, Chen Guangcheng and Yang Maodong in China, and Roman Protasevich in Belarus should be regarded with extreme skepticism. They are not modern-day Solzhenitsyns, but rather puppets funded and controlled by the US Deep State intended to disrupt and destabilize the forces that stand against Babel.