Francis Seow

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In this Chinese name, the family name is Seow.
Francis Seow
萧添寿
Born
Seow Tiang Siew

(1928-10-11)11 October 1928
Singapore, Straits Settlements
Died21 January 2016(2016-01-21) (aged 87)
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
EducationSaint Joseph's Institution
Middle Temple
OccupationWriter, lawyer
Known forPolitical dissidence in Singapore, and being the prosecutor of several sensational murder trials in Singapore (eg. Sunny Ang and Mimi Wong)
Political partyWorkers' Party (1988–1988)
Spouse(s)
Rauni Marjatta Kivilaakso
​
​
(m. 1953; div. 1987)​
Children2 sons and 2 daughters

Francis Seow,[a] born Seow Tiang Siew (Chinese: 萧添寿; pinyin: Xiāo Tiānshòu; 11 October 1928 – 21 January 2016), was an American writer, political dissident and former lawyer.

Seow started his legal career in 1956 in the Singapore Legal Service and became Solicitor-General in 1969 before he entered private practice in 1972. During his legal career, he was known for having both prosecuted and defended murderers such as Sunny Ang, Mimi Wong and Tan Mui Choo. After he was elected president of the Law Society of Singapore in 1986, he had a falling-out with Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew over the Law Society's role in commenting on legislation churned out by the government without any meaningful parliamentary debate.

In the 1988 general election, Seow contested in Eunos GRC as a candidate of the opposition Workers' Party against the governing People's Action Party, but lost with 49.11% of the vote. Before the election, Seow had been detained for 72 days without trial under the Internal Security Act. He was later accused of tax evasion but he left for the United States for health treatment and disregarded numerous court summons to return to Singapore to stand trial and was eventually convicted in absentia. Called a "prisoner of conscience" by Amnesty International in 2007, Seow spoke at events organised by student societies in universities outside Singapore while he was living in exile before he died in the United States in 2016.

Legal career[edit]

Seow was born in 1928 in Singapore[1] and educated at Saint Joseph's Institution before he read law at the Middle Temple and became a qualified lawyer. He joined the Singapore Legal Service in 1956 as a prosecutor and rose through the ranks to become the Solicitor-General in 1969, a position he held until 1971. Seow led a Commission of Inquiry in the Secondary IV examination boycott by Chinese students in 1963.[2] For his work, Seow was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold). During his time as a prosecutor, Seow prosecuted notorious murderers in sensational trials and sent them to the gallows, including 18 of the prisoners involved in the Pulau Senang prison riot, Sunny Ang, and Mimi Wong.[3]

Seow eventually left the Singapore Legal Service and entered private law practice in 1972. In 1985, he defended Tan Mui Choo, one of the three murderers in the Toa Payoh ritual murders case. Tan was eventually executed after an unsuccessful appeal against her conviction and death sentence.[4]

In 1973, Seow was suspended from law practice for 12 months by Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin for allegedly breaching an undertaking given on behalf of his junior law partner to Attorney-General Tan Boon Teik.[5] Nevertheless, he was later elected as a council member of the Law Society of Singapore in 1976 and became President of the Law Society in 1986.

1988 general election and conviction for tax evasion[edit]

Seow's new appointment as President of the Law Society led to a falling-out with Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew after he became embroiled in the politics surrounding the role of the Law Society. Seow had envisaged a restoration of the role of the Law Society to comment on legislation that the government churned out without any meaningful parliamentary debate, to which Lee took special exception. As a result, Lee caused special legislation to be passed that deprived the Law Society of any power to comment on legislation unless specifically asked to by the government. Seow stood for the 1988 general election as a candidate of the opposition Workers' Party team contesting in Eunos Group Representation Constituency against the ruling People's Action Party (PAP). However, his team managed to secure 49.11% of valid votes and lost marginally to the PAP.[6]

Just before the election, on 6 May 1988, Seow was detained without trial under the Internal Security Act for 72 days.[7] He was accused of having received political campaign finance from the United States to promote democracy in Singapore. According to his account, he was subjected to torture, including sleep deprivation and intensely cold air conditioning. Later, while awaiting trial for alleged tax evasion, he left for the United States for health treatment and disregarded numerous court summons to return to stand trial.[8][9] Subsequently, he was convicted in absentia.

Life in exile[edit]

While living in exile, Seow spoke at events organised by student societies in universities outside of Singapore. In a 1989 interview in London, Seow told The Sunday Times that he would return to Singapore to face tax evasion charges.[9]

On 16 October 2007, Amnesty International issued a public statement mentioning Seow as one of two prominent Singaporean lawyers who were penalised for exercising their right to express their opinions. Amnesty International also called him a "prisoner of conscience."[10]

On 8 October 2011, Seow and Tang Fong Har publicly addressed a Singapore Democratic Party forum via teleconferencing.[11] The Singapore Police Force investigated the legality of the event on the following day.[12]

Death[edit]

Seow died in Boston on 21 January 2016 at the age of 87. Chee Soon Juan, the secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party, announced the news of Seow's death on his Facebook page.[13][14] Seow was survived by two sons, and two daughters. His wife, Rauni Marjatta Kivilaakso, died in 1988 after a long battle with cancer.[15]

Writings[edit]

In the semi-autobiography, To Catch a Tartar: A Dissident in Lee Kuan Yew's Prison,[16] Seow wrote about his career in the Singapore Legal Service, opposition politics and his personal experience of being detained by the Internal Security Department. He also accuses the Singapore government of authoritarianism and human rights abuse under Lee Kuan Yew's administration. The book also contains a foreword by Devan Nair, the third President of Singapore, that is equally critical of the Singaporean government. Seow also wrote another book, The Media Enthralled, which describes how he believes the Singapore government undermined freedom of the media and turned the media into pro-government mouthpieces. He is also the author of Beyond Suspicion? – The Singapore Judiciary[17] that explores key cases in which the Singapore judiciary has bowed to political pressure.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Justin Corfield (2 December 2010). Historical Dictionary of Singapore. Scarecrow Press. pp. 234–. ISBN 978-0-8108-7387-2.
  2. ^ "Ex-solicitor-general Francis Seow dies in Boston, aged 88". 23 January 2016. Archived from the original on 2018-03-17. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Francis Seow: Prosecutor in some of S'pore's iconic trials". The Straits Times. 31 January 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  4. ^ Alan John (15 February 2016). Unholy Trinity. Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd. ISBN 978-981-4634-50-2.
  5. ^ C.M. Turnbull (1 January 2009). A History of Modern Singapore, 1819-2005. NUS Press. pp. 337–. ISBN 978-9971-69-430-2.
  6. ^ "EUNOS GRC". Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Newspaper Full Page - The Straits Times, 8 May 1988, Page 3". Newspapers.nl.sg. 1988-05-08. Archived from the original on 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
  8. ^ "Newspaper Full Page - The Straits Times, 3 October 1989, Page 19". Newspapers.nl.sg. 1989-10-03. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
  9. ^ a b "Newspaper Full Page - The Straits Times, 15 October 1989, Page 3". Newspapers.nl.sg. 1989-10-15. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
  10. ^ "Document - Document - Singapore: International Bar Association urged to take action on restrictions on freedom of expression". Amnesty International. 16 October 2007.
  11. ^ "Breaking News - Singapore". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
  12. ^ "Police investigating SDP forum". Channel NewsAsia. 2011-10-09. Archived from the original on 2012-01-21. Retrieved 2012-09-28.
  13. ^ "Chee Soon Juan received news on Francis Seow's passing". Chee Soon Juan. 2016-01-21. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  14. ^ "Stirring the conscience of the next generation: My farewell to Francis Seow". cheesoonjuan.com. 2016-01-24. Archived from the original on 2016-01-28. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  15. ^ "Top lawyers, law don recall late Francis Seow". The New Paper. 2016-01-23. Archived from the original on 2016-01-24. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
  16. ^ Gomez, James (1996). "Book Review: To Catch a Tartar: A Dissident in Lee Kuan Yew's Prison". Human Rights Quarterly. Project MUSE. 18 (2): 507–510. doi:10.1353/hrq.1996.0017. S2CID 144587847. Archived from the original on 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
  17. ^ "Book Review: Beyond Suspicion". The Online Citizen. 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-05-14. Retrieved 2014-05-01.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ He was also addressed as Francis T. Seow.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Seow, Francis T. (1998). The media enthralled: Singapore revisited. Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 978-1-55587-779-8.

External links[edit]

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