To Catch a Tartar: A Dissident in Lee Kuan Yew's Prison (Southeast Asia Studies Monograph Series) [Paperback]

Francis T. Seow (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0938692569 | ISBN-13: 978-0938692560 | Publication Date: October 1, 1994

A semi-autobiographical account of Seow's experiences as a government official and his 72-day detention in 1988 for (quote) courting if not colluding (unquote) with U.S. diplomats to build an opposition in Singapore

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a devastating account of the destruction of the rule of law..." -- Ian Baruma, The New York Review

"...a very necessary book which will affect public perceptions...a worthy contribution to the serious study of repression everywhere." --Margaret John, Amnesty International

About the Author

Francis Seow was educated at Saint Joeph's Institution in Singapore and at the Honorable Society of the Middle Temple, London. He joined the Singapore Legal Service in 1956, serving as deputy public prosecutor until 1972, when he entered private law practice. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew approved his appointment as senior counsel to a Commission of Inquiry which "successfully exposed communist tactics" in the Secondary IV examination boycott by Chinese students. Seow was subsequently appointed Solicitor General of Singapore. Seow dates the beginnings of political friction between himself and Lee Kuan Yew's government from 1986 when Seow was elected president of the Law Society. In 1989, Seow was appointed the first Orville Schell Fellow, Yale Law School, and in 1990, a Fellow at East Asian Legal Studies, Harvard Law School. A widower, Seow now lives in Arlington, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 390 pages
• Publisher: Yale Univ Southeast Asia Studies (October 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0938692569
• ISBN-13: 978-0938692560
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #323,824 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > History > Asia > Singapore

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Look at the Darker Side of LKY's Singapore, July 4, 2000

By 

Alvin Tan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To Catch a Tartar: A Dissident in Lee Kuan Yew's Prison (Southeast Asia Studies Monograph Series) (Paperback)

As a Singaporean, I heard about Francis Seow when I was younger. I remember him as a very eloquent speaker and a potential contender for Lee Kuan Yew's PAP government. I also remember how he was constantly potrayed by the local media as a 'dishonest' tax-evader, a 'collaborator' with the Americans to disrupt Singapore's political stability, a 'womaniser', etc. This book looks into the darker side of Singapore's politics from Seow's point of view. It begins with Seow's account of his early career as a government official, his clash with LKY after becoming president of the Law Society, and his 72-day detention without trial under Singapore's Internal Security Act in the late 1980s. Seow's book is a first-hand account of how a Singaporean has suffered under the PAP government's use of biased legislation and media manipulation to maintain political hegemony. Parts of LKY's speeches in the 1950s and 1960s were cleverly quoted by Seow to show the irony of LKY's government, demonstrating how LKY has become almost everything he used to be against since he came into power. Although the economic success of Singapore since independence is indubitable and has often been attributed to the great leadership and foresight of LKY, this book looks into the lesser known aspects of LKY's regime, and will no doubt, raise many questions for the reader.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Important material obscured by opaque language, April 30, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: To Catch a Tartar: A Dissident in Lee Kuan Yew's Prison (Southeast Asia Studies Monograph Series) (Paperback)

My wife and I are Americans who recently honeymooned in Singapore, and we were quite impressed by how clean, orderly, and efficient it was. Yet we knew there had to be a catch, and none of the locals we met were willing to talk about it. So, upon returning home, we bought this book and also "Singapore's Authoritarian Capitalism," by Christopher Lingle, to find out. (To be fair, we bought Lee Kuan Yew's "The Singapore Story" as well, but haven't read it yet.)

After reading these books, we now understand Singapore's dark side. And it goes way beyond the prohibition on chewing gum and being caned for vandalism. Both of these books are important reads for those seeking to understand Singapore and authoritarian governments in general.

My only criticism of both books is that they are written for those who can sit down and finish the NY Times Sunday crossword puzzle in 20 minutes or less. The vocabulary, diction, and syntax are unnecessarily tortured (so to speak) in both books. Granted, they're both written by scholarly gentlemen, but I have an Ivy League education, and I can't help but think that both authors' voices would be better heard if their prose was more accessible to the general public. Seow's detention was especially dramatic, but he describes his interrogation by heavy-handed, chain-smoking thugs with a Shakespearean lilt that is completely at odds with the material.

Nevertheless, they're good reads, so make a pot of coffee, grab your dictionary, and dive in.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read to Understand Singapore, December 13, 2001

By 

The Book Reader (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Catch a Tartar: A Dissident in Lee Kuan Yew's Prison (Southeast Asia Studies Monograph Series) (Paperback)

Francis Seow is a Singapore hero. By Singapore standards, however, he was flawed in that he was compassionate as he gave legal assistance to political detainees in Singapore. By so doing, Mr. Seow became a detainee, himself.

His account of his imprisonment by the Singapore police is as harrowing as anything written by Kafka. No one so articulate as Mr. Seow has described what it is like to be a detainee in Singapore.

I am an American, but was living in Singapore at the time of Mr. Seow's detention. I was in charge of the computer department of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). Many of my colleagues at IRAS were disturbed by the million-dollar budget had been allocated to investigate Mr. Seow's tax matters. Naturally, IRAS determined that Mr. Seow had a considerable tax debt.

Mr. Seow was and is a charismatic and brilliant individual. He had become Solicitor General of Singapore, and President of the Law Society. Had he gone along with the dictates of the Singapore system, he could be living a very distinguished life in Singapore today, in high political office. He now lives in the United States, but has not been forgotten in Singapore.

His generosity, which shows so clearly in his book, was extended to my wife (a Singaporean), and myself recently with his kind review of our book on many of the same subjects, entitled "Escape from Paradise."