TAN WAH PIOW AND THE MARXIST PLOT

Mr Chiam See Tong asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether Tan Wah Piow or people behind him were the masterminds of the recent Government alleged Marxist plot to destabilise Singapore; and, if the latter, if he will identify those people.

Prof. S. Jayakumar: Tan Wah Piow was the mastermind of this particular network of Marxist conspirators. As I have stated publicly, there are many unanswered questions about Tan Wah Piow. In view of his sympathies for, and links with, the CPM (about which several of the detainees who are his close associates related on television), we have good reasons to conclude that Tan Wah Piow is not the mastermind behind the larger, more dangerous communist conspiracy. Until we interrogate Tan Wah Piow, we cannot be certain of the identity of persons or groups immediately behind Tan Wah Piow.