Chia Thye Poh
Chia Thye Poh (born 4 April 1941) is a Singaporean former politician. A former member of the Barisan Sosialis, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Jurong SMC between 1963 and 1966. He was the 4th de facto Leader of the Opposition in 1966. A leftist populist, Chia is most notable for being detained between 1966 and 1989 under the Internal Security Act for allegedly conducting pro-communist activities against the government, with the intention of causing a communist revolution. As a result, he was imprisoned for 23 years without trial and subsequently placed under conditions of house arrest for another nine years—in which he was first confined to the island of Sentosa and then subject to restrictions on his place of abode, employment, travel, and exercise of political rights. All restrictions were eventually lifted in 1998. Prior to his detention, he was a teacher, physics lecturer, socialist political activist and a Member of Parliament. Subsequent to it, he was a doctoral student and an interpreter. Early life Born in 1941, he read physics at Nanyang University and upon graduating he worked briefly as a secondary school teacher and then as a graduate assistant at his alma mater. Political activism As a member of the Barisan Sosialis he was elected member of the Legislative Assembly for Jurong Constituency in 1963, being nominated as the candidate in replacement of a colleague who had been arrested by the government of Singapore. Concurrent with his holding of office, he worked as a university physics professor. Ban from Malaysia He was banned permanently from entering Malaysia in the wake of a political speech he delivered to the Perak division of the Labour Party of Malaysia on 24 April 1966. Conviction and arrest In July 1966, he was convicted for publishing a "seditious article" in the Barisan's Chinese-language newspaper. In the same month, he was arrested with 25 others and charged with unlawful assembly for his participation in a demonstration against United States involvement in the Vietnam War that resulted in open confrontation with police. It has been noted that he was active among peace campaigners calling for an end to the US bombing of Indochina during the Vietnam War in the 1960s. In early October 1966, he and eight other Barisan Sosialis MPs boycotted the Parliament over the decision by the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) to split from Malaysia. This was part of the Barisan's strategy to protest "undemocratic acts" of the Government, by carrying their struggle against the PAP outside of Parliament. He declared that the means of the struggle would be "street demonstrations, protest meetings, strikes". On 8 October 1966, he led an illegal protest march of 30 supporters to Parliament House and handed a letter to the Clerk of the House demanding a general election be held under eight named conditions, with the release of all political detainees and the revocation of all "undemocratic" laws. Arrest and imprisonment On 29 October 1966, he and 22 other Barisan Sosialis leaders