Theresa Lim Chin Chin: Bearing witness to Operation Lalang

Theresa Lim Chin Chin: Liberation Theology, Operation Lalang, and the Price of Pursuing Justice by Theresa Lim Chin Chin and Dave Anthony

Book review by Chee Heng Leng

This book is many things.

It is, first and foremost, Dave Anthony’s composite biography of, and tribute to, his wife, Theresa Lim Chin Chin.

Constructed in a unique way, the book incorporates not only Dave’s and Chin’s writings, but also those of Chin’s sister, Elizabeth, contributions from their two sons Daniel and Joel, Chin’s friends, and other significant people in her life.

Collectively, these various pieces provide a multi-dimensional picture of who Chin was.

The personal stories make it a compelling read.

But beyond them, this book is an important contribution to the history of social activism in this country. At least half of its pages cover the experiences of Chin and Dave when Chin was arrested and detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA), together with over a hundred other people, in a police dragnet called Operation Lalang.

At the core of the book is Chin’s own recollection of her arrest on 27 October 1987 and her subsequent detention in Kamunting until 3 June 1988. Written retrospectively 18 years after her detention, the account nonetheless retains vivid detail, losing none of its impact.

In addition to Chin’s retrospective journal, Dave has juxtaposed their letters to each other during that period, as well as his diary written at the time.

These pieces, written as events unfolded, combine to give us a direct, unmediated glimpse of that era, capturing the immediate emotions and viewpoints as things played out.

This is an invaluable legacy – not just at the personal level for their own children and grandchildren but also for future generations of history students in this country.

Although the book is about Chin and her life – from childhood until death – through the lens of her life, faith and commitment, we also learn about liberation theology and the social and political causes and movements she was involved in.

These eventually led to Operation Lalang, which brought life-altering changes to those caught up in it, hence the subtitle “the Price of Pursuing Justice.”

In all of this, Chin was of course not alone. There were many others with her. I was involved in some of the same social movements, and together with her, I too was caught in the dragnet of Operation Lalang in 1987.

What were the key events that led up to it?

Clamping down on civil society

Dr Mahathir Mohamad had become Prime Minister in July 1981. On the legislative front, his regime moved immediately to clamp down on civil society with the 1981 and 1983 amendments to the Societies Act 1966, which considerably widened the government’s powers to control civil organisations.

This was strongly opposed by a broad spectrum of civil society groups. The opposition was spearheaded by the Bar Council, Aliran and Abim, then led by Anwar Ibrahim.

This was just the first of many crises that arose as the decade unfolded. Different sectors of society – Chinese educationists, environmentalists, urban settlers, railway workers and women’s groups – organised to resist evictions, environmental threats and unfair government actions, and to fight for their rights.

As part of the fledgling women’s movement at the time, for example, we had organised a campaign focused on violence against women. In April 1987, we took to the streets to protest against the brutal rape and murder of nine-year-old Ang May Hong. This was the beginning of Citizens’ Against Rape, the banner under which actions against rape have been taken ever since.

Arrests in Singapore – and then Malaysia

In May 1987, we were shocked when the Singapore government used the ISA to arrest 16 people, eventually 22. Among them were community workers, Catholic church workers, theatre practitioners and lawyers.

The security operation was codenamed Operation Spectrum, and those detained were accused of being part of a “Marxist conspiracy” to subvert the government.

Many of these detainees were known to us, and some were friends. We organised an overseas campaign for their release and facilitated the visit of an international mission of jurists to Singapore.

It was the Singapore arrests that made us think this could also happen in Malaysia. Perhaps others were thinking the same.

In our women’s group, we tried to foresee what could happen. We wrongly speculated that those among us who were more in the public eye would be most vulnerable. In fact, it was the opposite.

The first arrests came in the early hours of 27 October. I was among the first to be detained. I remember the fear, the trembling and the cold I felt as the police entered my home and spent several hours going through all my books, finally taking away several boxes – and me along with them.

Much of what Chin recounts in the book is familiar to me. During the first 60 days of police custody and near-total solitary confinement, there was non-stop interrogation, sleep deprivation, mental fatigue, emotional manipulation and frightening threats.

The intense interrogation warped my memory, leaving me unsure whether what I recalled had actually happened or had been planted by my interrogators.

Life inside Kamunting

When we were finally served with two-year detention orders and sent to the Kamunting detention camp, it was such a relief.

Only four women received detention orders – Cecilia Ng and Irene Xavier, besides Chin and me – and we were placed together. It was still a prison, with all its restrictions and prohibitions, but at least we were not alone.

In Kamunting, we settled into a routine that included a yoga session every day. A friend had given me a book on yoga, and we used it to practise until we became quite good at it.

Towards the end of her life, when medicines could no longer help much, Chin returned to yoga. She was practising with a group of supportive friends until a few weeks before her final admission to hospital.

Chin was an exceptional individual – In her commitment to service, her steadfastness, clarity of vision, perseverance, and the persistently positive way in which she faced adversity.

With this book, Dave honours her memory. He has also gifted us with the preservation of memories of an important moment in our own history.

Available at Gerakbudaya (Price RM48) and other leading online bookshops.

Dr Chee Heng Leng spent many years as an academic researcher and lecturer, and is an advocate for equitability in health care. A long-time Penang-based activist, she continues to be active in the Citizens’ Health Initiative and Penang Forum.

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