Operation Spectrum, also known as the 1987 "Marxist Conspiracy", was the code name for a covert security operation that took place in Singapore on 21 May 1987. Sixteen people were arrested and detained without trial under Singapore's Internal Security Act (ISA) for their alleged involvement in "a Marxist conspiracy to subvert the existing social and political system in Singapore, using communist united front tactics, with a view to establishing a Marxist state." On 20 June 1987, six more people were arrested, bringing the total number of detainees to 22. The mostly English-educated group was a mix of Catholic lay workers, social workers, overseas-educated graduates, theatre practitioners and professionals. According to the Singapore government allegations, Operation Spectrum was conducted to "nip communist problem(s) in the bud". The mastermind behind the alleged Marxist plot was Tan Wah Piow, a former University of Singapore Students' Union president who had been in de facto exile in London since 1976. His "key man" in Singapore was Vincent Cheng Kim Chuan, a full-time Catholic Church worker in the Justice and Peace Commission. Cheng's role was allegedly to use the Catholic church in Singapore as a "ready cover" to organise the infiltration of disparate groups of influence including the Law Society, the opposition Workers' Party and various student bodies. These would allegedly become pressure groups that would eventually come into open confrontation with the government. By December 1987, all the detainees had been released except for Cheng. However, in April 1988, nine of the released detainees issued a joint statement accusing the government of ill treatment and torture while under detention. They also denied involvement in any conspiracy and alleged that they were pressured into making confessions. Eight of the nine were re-arrested and detained for a second time. They were eventually released after they signed statutory declarations denying everything they had said in their press statement. The truth of the allegations is contentious. Historians Mary Turnbull and Michael D. Barr have described the conspiracy as likely "myths" and a "fanciful narrative", arguing that the arrests were politically motivated. In an interview with The Straits Times on 14 December 2001, then-Senior Minister of State Tharman Shanmugaratnam said that "although I had no access to state intelligence, from what I knew of them, most were social activists but were not out to subvert the system." However, the People's Action Party (PAP) government has continued to maintain its stand that the ex-detainees "were not detained for their political beliefs, but because they had involved themselves in subversive activities which posed a threat to national security." (en)
Operasi Spectrum dilakukan pada 1987 oleh (DKDN) Singapura dengan menggunakan (Internal Security Act - ISA). Dalam operasi keamanan ini 22 orang muda anggota Gereja Katolik Roma yang juga merupakan aktivis sosial dan professional, ditahan tanpa proses peradilan di bawah Undang-Undang Keamanan Dalam Negeri. Mereka dituduh menjadi anggota Marxis yang berbahaya yang bermaksud untuk mensubversi pemerintah yang dipimpin oleh Partai Aksi Rakyat (People's Action Party – PAP) dengan paksa, dan menggantikannya dengan sebuah negara Marxis. Terbukti kemudian bahwa beberapa orang di antara mereka diam-diam telah membantu Partai Buruh (Workers' Party) yang merupakan partai oposisi pemerintah. Setelah mereka dilepaskan, beberapa dari bekas tahanan itu menerbitkan sebuah pernyataan yang membantah penyangkalan oleh pemerintah bahwa mereka telah disiksa. Dengan segera mereka ditahan kembali. Mereka belakangan dilepaskan dengan syarat bahwa mereka menandatangani pernyataan di bawah sumpah yang isinya menolak segala sesuatu yang pernah mereka katakan dalam pernyataan pers mereka. Seorang pengacara yang berani, mantan jaksa agung Francis Seow, ikut campur untuk mewakili salah seorang tahanan yang meminta bantuan hukumnya. Ketika Seow tiba di tempat penahanan, ia sendiri pun ditahan oleh Departemen Keamanan Dalam Negeri dan baru dilepaskan setelah dua bulan lebih. Ia belakangan dikenai tuduhan dan dinyatakan bersalah secara in absentia karena menghindari pembayaran pajak. Seow kini hidup di pengasingan di Amerika Serikat. Bahkan hingga baru-baru ini, kasus komplotan Marxis ini tetap menjadi teka-teki. Para tahanan itu sendiri tidak kelihatan sesuai dengan gambaran stereotipe sebagai "agitator" yang aktivitas-aktivitasnya begitu mengganggu PAP seperti yang terjadi pada 1950-an dan 1960-an. Didorong oleh keberhasilan pemberontakan komunis di Tiongkok dan Vietnam, para tokoh kiri tua cenderung menjadi orator populis yang suka berdebat. Sebaliknya, para tahanan itu umumnya terdiri dari kaum professional yang terdidik. Malah, orang yang dituduh sebagai otak di balik komplotan ini adalah Vincent Cheng, seorang pekerjaan sosial dari Gereja Katolik Roma yang berusia 40 tahun, yang pernah belajar untuk menjadi seorang pastor. Target lainnya yang menonjol adalah seorang pengacara, Teo Soh Lung, seorang pendukung Partai Buruh, yang pernah berbenturan dengan PM Lee Kuan Yew pada suatu dengar pendapat di parlemen tentang Masyarakat Hukum pada 1986. Para tahanan lainnya termasuk pekerjaan sosial, pengacara, dan aktor. (in)
Operation Spectrum, also known as the 1987 "Marxist Conspiracy", was the code name for a covert security operation that took place in Singapore on 21 May 1987. Sixteen people were arrested and detained without trial under Singapore's Internal Security Act (ISA) for their alleged involvement in "a Marxist conspiracy to subvert the existing social and political system in Singapore, using communist united front tactics, with a view to establishing a Marxist state." On 20 June 1987, six more people were arrested, bringing the total number of detainees to 22. The mostly English-educated group was a mix of Catholic lay workers, social workers, overseas-educated graduates, theatre practitioners and professionals. (en)
Operasi Spectrum dilakukan pada 1987 oleh (DKDN) Singapura dengan menggunakan (Internal Security Act - ISA). Dalam operasi keamanan ini 22 orang muda anggota Gereja Katolik Roma yang juga merupakan aktivis sosial dan professional, ditahan tanpa proses peradilan di bawah Undang-Undang Keamanan Dalam Negeri. Mereka dituduh menjadi anggota Marxis yang berbahaya yang bermaksud untuk mensubversi pemerintah yang dipimpin oleh Partai Aksi Rakyat (People's Action Party – PAP) dengan paksa, dan menggantikannya dengan sebuah negara Marxis. (in)