Living in a Time of Deception by Poh Soo Kai

by Poh Soo Kai

“This is a powerful, well-researched history of Singapore that will be invaluable to scholars and ordinary citizens alike. For those of us aspiring activists, hoping for a more democratic and just Singapore, the work is both inspiring and cautionary in the ‘post-knuckle duster’ era. Dr Poh describes the release of the ISA detainees as ‘accompanied by the endeavour to imprison us within a narrative in which we were villains who had been defeated’. Books like this are essential to the process of the freeing of the Singaporean mind that is only just beginning." – Paul Ananth Tambyah, Professor of Medicine and Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) candidate in the 2015 General Election “I think we do have a breakthrough here. This is probably the first time that an account of Singapore’s history in the 1950s and 1960s is pieced together outside of The Singapore Story logic. It will be something that the authorities, scholars and Singaporeans in general must reckon with.” – Sai Siew Min, Singaporean historian

406 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[mantareads · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do you want to read a bitter old man complain in detail about the Lee Kuan Yew regime for 400 pages? If so, this is the book for you.

Yes it's important: that there are different versions of the truth out there, that there are resources available for us to come to decisions ourselves. Poh's book is valuable for the historian and the determined researcher who wants to spend precious hours of their lives disentangling the minutiae and the blow-by-blow account of the political struggle of the 1950s and 1960s.

But not everyone is a determined researcher, and not everyone is a political historian, and not everyone has an axe to grind with the PAP. For the casual reader, the narrative is simply too granulated to be coherent, or even readable. One comes away only with a sense that the writer is deeply, deeply bitter and angry with Lee Kuan Yew, through the numerous snide asides, name-calling and name-dropping. Lee Kuan Yew is "diabolical", Lee Kuan Yew is "scheming", Lee Kuan Yew is "smug" and "arrogant". In some ways this almost reads like an intense love-letter to LKY, with Poh's singular focus on all the wrong done to him by Lee and Co.

I'm not saying Poh isn't justified to feel the way he feels. He has obviously lived through a lot of trauma, and very clearly still carries a lot of that darkness with him. I'm just saying that it's a very difficult flavour to stomach and sustain for 400 pages as a casual reader.

It's important to remember, coming away from this book, that while it offers a more unflattering perspective of the PAP and its allies, it is ultimately just another man's view of the world. A necessary book for SG history, to better appreciate how Singapore's stories are also coloured with intense rage, resentment. Its biggest contribution is to offer a different window into Singapore in a different time.

Not so much as a work of History-capital-H. Like LKY's so-called "The Singapore Story", this text offers an extremely narrow view of ONE specific moment in Singapore's recent past. It can in no way be Definitive. Like Lee's memoir, this book should not be taken uncritically as The Truth of Singapore. It is not, as some hysterical anti-PAP commentators have screeched, "THE real story", simply because it deviates from more mainstream viewpoints. To assume Poh's story is The True Untold Story is to fall into the same fallacies one accuses pappie doggies of possessing.

Poh's story is ONE story. And it is important to have many stories. But whether or not it is a good story, a believable story, are (at least) three separate issues. Many of the other reviews on Goodreads so far seem to have conflated 'different' with 'worthy of 4 stars'. I think Singaporeans can afford to be more discerning, especially since we no longer live In a Time of Deception.

(I don't think Hong Lysa's contribution here really helps to polish up its credibility either, although Poh seems to think name-dropping "historians" helps up his street-cred, because of how loudly and uncritically he brandishes that profession WHEN it dovetails with his narratives. The overall effect is rather oily and dubious.)

There is simply too much angst, too many snide, petty asides for me to take this book as a credible work of history. So I will measure it as a memoir, and as a casual reader. On these counts, it was simply an unhappy, unlikeable read. And I think life is too short to dwell over-long on the single-minded bitterness of any one man.

A thoroughly unhappy book written by a thoroughly unhappy man (who will most likely continue to blame LKY for his unhappiness too).

P.S. Finally, I also take issue with the title, because the implication is that Singaporeans are too sheeplike to think for themselves, and that they have all been deceived. This kind of framing carries with it the whiff of a patronising with-us-or-against-us complex that I find rather distasteful.

[Imran Shah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first book on an alternate history of Singapore (I dont subscribe to 'the actual truth' paradigm). I must say the drama of it is gripping and thrilling! so much of politics, shady behaviour. So much misjudged and misrepresented. Dr Poh writes in a very personal manner, so much so that the lay reader who is unfamiliar with much of his history might get lost or confused. Very informative to hear an alternative view of Singapore's history for a Singaporean fed so much of The Narrative growing up.

[Jee Koh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Poh Soo Kai was detained without trial for a total of 17 years on the false charge of being a communist out to subvert the state of Singapore. What he shows convincingly in this historical memoir is that, like many of his fellow detainees under Operation Coldstore, he was not a communist, but an anti-colonialist and socialist, in other words, a patriot. He was detained for so long because he refused to sign any statement that suggested otherwise. Such a powerfully principled person deserves a hearing at the very least. If you read this book and give him a hearing, as I did, you will make astonishing discoveries about Singapore's struggle for independence from the British, and the legacy of that struggle. After reading this book, I am outraged by the political chicanery for personal ends, but I am also inspired by the heroism of a few good men.

[Christian Huber · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first time reading a memoir from someone who went through detention during the Operation Coldstore period in Modern Singapore's early years. Nice to read a different account of things and perspectives which was refreshing and engaging.

[Horatio · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very enlightening memoir from the perspective of someone who had been detained without trial during Operation Coldstore, but I felt like it was overly bitter at times (understandably so!) which limited his credibility. Nothing that was not already known, but I guess it's a good resource for people who didn't know about Coldstore and want to find out more.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing wise, very difficult to read unless you possess a copious amount of knowledge about this area of history in Singapore. Still an eye opener and a good insight into the lives of people who truly loved Singapore.