Mr Lee Kuan Yew told the truth about Communist united front: PM Lee

SINGAPORE - The first person accounts of senior Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) leaders, as well as declassified British documents confirm the extent of the Communist united front in Singapore, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a Facebook post on Saturday.

PM Lee said these documents "leave no doubt that the Barisan was formed at the instigation of the CPM, and that Lim Chin Siong was a Communist cadre".

His comments in the Facebook post comes two days after the Government's detailed reply to a commentary by former Barisan assistant secretary-general Poh Soo Kai which questioned the legitimacy of the crackdown, codenamed Operation Coldstore, The Straits Times reported.

PM Lee's post included a link to the Government's response to the allegations, which was carried in Australian National University's New Mandala website.

He wrote: "We have put together an account using evidence from the British archives as well as CPM sources, which confirm that Mr Lee Kuan Yew told the truth. Here it is, for your weekend reading."

The account can be found here.

Mr Lee also added that "many old Communist and pro-Communist activists have reconciled with their past, and become good citizens", but "a few hard core ones still deny these historical facts."

"They don't want to admit that they had fought on the wrong side, and that luckily for Singapore they lost."

Along with the post, PM Lee also attached photos taken from the Battle for Merger exhibition in October.

candicec@sph.com.sg