Pulau Senang: The Experiment That Failed

by Alex Josey

In 1965, 18 convicted criminals were sentenced to death for murder—a haunting testimony to the failure of a bold experiment on Pulau Senang to reform seasoned criminals in a gaol without bars. Right to the end, Daniel Dutton, director of the model penal settlement, could not believe that the men he had befriended and worked so hard to rehabilitate would want to destroy him. Too late he realised the extraordinary hold secret society leaders had over their men. Pulau Senang reconstructs the events that led to the tragedy and the trial, and throws light on a question that has never been answered satisfactorily—Why did the experiment fail?

133 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Russell Morton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most parts of this book was written almost like a court document so it can be good for research. However, the last summary was written in a biased, blindly colonial perspective with little empathy for the persecuted.