By M Saraswathy
In the mid-1970s, Lim Chin Chin was the national coordinator of the Young Christian Workers (YCW) movement, working closely with Maureen and the team.
As a committed leader, she mobilised and radicalised youths through the lens of liberation theology – drawing strength and purpose from the Bible in the fight for justice.
I was deeply moved by her grassroots activism and the powerful way she mobilised workers. Once, I met her shortly after her 1988 release from detention without charge under the Internal Security Act (repealed in 2012). Her body was weak, but her spirit remained unbroken.
She told me how the authorities had repeatedly asked: “Who is Saras, and what is she doing?”
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Despite the torture she endured, Chin Chin never revealed my name. She did this out of deep concern. She did not want me to be detained under the same draconian law and risk having my activism crushed.
Together, we travelled by motorbike to rural towns, meeting workers without a moment’s hesitation.
There were days when the workers failed to turn up for meetings, and I would begin to doubt our efforts.
But Chin Chin never wavered. She would always say, “We shouldn’t give up.”
I often wondered where her inner strength came from – what drove her relentless commitment to organising workers.
When I was very young, my orthodox family often tried to stop me from meeting her. Chin Chin was ethnic Chinese, and my family viewed her with suspicion, questioning why she was so involved in my life.
But our bond and shared mission in the YCW movement gave me strength to resist. From 1970 to 1980, the YCW grew into a powerful workers’ movement, organising strikes and pickets across the textile, food and machinery industries to highlight workers’ issues.
Many worker leaders were arrested by the police. Yet the movement never crumbled. Instead, it evolved, turning its focus toward community organising.
Few remember or speak of the YCW’s noble struggle today. But the seeds of resistance and solidarity that Chin Chin helped sow live on.
Chin Chin is no longer with us, but I am a grassroots organiser today because of her. It was through the YCW that we learned to recognise and fight the injustices faced by the working class. We eventually chose our own paths, but our struggle remained rooted in that foundation.
Her thoughts and interventions on grassroots organising still burn brightly in my life. Even today, I continue organising hospital cleaners – workers at the margins, often forgotten – just as Chin Chin taught us: with courage, dignity and unshakeable solidarity.
Today, my tears fall for you, dear Chin Chin. Rest in peace.
My deepest condolences to comrade Anthony and your beloved sons.
In solidarity and love.
Saras
M Saraswathy is a founding member of the socialist party PSM.
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
