Key figures of Khmer Rouge

(Pic on far left - Pol Pot)
(Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea live next door to each other)


Monday, 19 November 2007, 08:58 GMT



Key figures in the Khmer Rouge

Pol Pot's regime is thought to have led to the deaths of 1.7m people
A United Nations-backed genocide tribunal has been set up in Cambodia, to seek justice for the Khmer Rouge's hundreds of thousands of victims.

It could see surviving leaders of the brutal regime brought to the dock, but the man most wanted for crimes against humanity in Cambodia will never be brought to justice.

Pol Pot, the founder and leader of the Khmer Rouge, died in a camp along the border with Thailand in 1998.

Other key figures have also died. Ta Mok - the regime's military commander and one of Pol Pot's most ruthless henchmen - died in July 2006.

As time goes on, some people are beginning to question whether it is too late to achieve a proper sense of justice for the Cambodian people.

But there are several surviving figures who have been implicated in the genocide that took place during the Khmer Rouge's four-year regime.

Judges at the tribunal started questioning their first suspect - Kang Kek Ieu, more commonly known as Duch - on 31 July, to decide whether he should stand trial.

Duch was the boss of Phnom Penh's notorious Tuol Sleng prison, where thousands of people were killed during the Khmer Rouge regime.

Now aged 65, he is the youngest surviving member of the movement's leadership.

Duch, who has since become a born-again Christian, has been in custody since 1999. He is said to be eager for his chance to go to trial to tell his version of events.

Defectors

Nuon Chea, known as 'Brother Number Two" as he was second in command to Pol Pot, was arrested on 19 September and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

He defected from the Khmer Rouge in 1998 and was granted a pardon by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

In December 2002 he was called to testify on behalf of the former Khmer Rouge general Sam Bith, who was sentenced to life in prison for ordering the kidnap and murder of three Western backpackers in 1994.

So far he has denied being involved in the atrocities that went on during the Khmer Rouge regime, but critics suggest that at the very least he was fully informed of what was happening.

Ieng Sary, also known as "Brother Number Three", was the third person to be arrested by the tribunal on 12 November.

The Khmer Rouge's minister of foreign affairs, Ieng Sary was also Pol Pot's brother-in-law. His wife, Ieng Thirith, was the regime's social affairs minister. She was also taken to appear before the tribunal.

Ieng Sary became the first senior leader to defect in 1996 - and as a result was granted a royal pardon.

The United Nations says such a pardon cannot protect someone from prosecution, but Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has previously warned that going after Ieng Sary could re-ignite civil unrest in Cambodia.

The former minister is said to be ill with a heart condition, and has been travelling to Bangkok regularly for treatment.

His arrest was followed by that of Khieu Samphan, the Khmer Rouge's official head of state, on 19 November.

He was the public face of the Khmer Rouge, who defected at the same time as Nuon Chea.

Until his arrest, the 73-year-old was said to spend most of his time at his home in Pailin, once the movement's jungle headquarters, reading, listening to music or gardening

Last Updated: Monday, 19 November 2007, 09:08 GMT


Top Khmer Rouge leader detained

Khieu Samphan is the fifth Khmer Rouge official to be detained
Police in Cambodia have arrested Khieu Samphan, the Khmer Rouge's former head of state, and taken him to a UN-backed genocide tribunal.
The elderly ex-leader was taken from a hospital in the capital, Phnom Penh, to face a panel of investigating judges.

He is the fifth person to be targeted by the court, set up to bring surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge to the dock.

More than one million people are thought to have died between 1975 and 1979 under the brutal Maoist regime.

Close confidant

Khieu Samphan's arrest had been widely expected

A former guerrilla fighter, he became the president of Democratic Kampuchea - as Cambodia was then known - after the Khmer Rouge came to power. He was a close confidant of leader Pol Pot.

He has long claimed that his position was ceremonial, and in a recently published book he denied responsibility for policies to starve people and orders to carry out mass killings.

Last week, amid reports that his detention was imminent, he was flown to hospital in Phnom Penh after apparently suffering a stroke.

Early on Monday, police entered the hospital and drove the former leader to the special courts to appear before a panel of investigating judges.

"An initial appearance will be held today during which he will be informed of the charges which have been brought against him," a tribunal statement said.

Delay fears

Khieu Samphan's arrest completes the initial round-up of suspects by the tribunal, which was established last year after decades of delay.

Former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary and wife Ieng Thirith, the social affairs minister, were arrested last week and charged with crimes against humanity.

Pol Pot's second-in command, Nuon Chea, and Kang Kek Ieu - known as Duch - the head of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, are also facing similar charges.

Their trials are expected to begin next year.

Under the Khmer Rouge, more than one million people died from starvation or overwork as leaders strove to create an agrarian utopia.

Hundreds of thousands of the educated middle-classes were tortured and executed in special centres.

Khmer Rouge founder Pol Pot died in 1998 and many fear that delays to the judicial process could mean that more of the regime's elderly leaders are never brought to justice.

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TRIBUNAL SUSPECTS
Prison chief Duch (or Kang Kek Ieu), charged in July with crimes against humanity
Khmer Rouge second-in-command Nuon Chea, charged in September with war crimes and crimes against humanity

Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, charged in November with war crimes and crimes against humanity

Social Affairs Minister Ieng Thirith, charged in November with crimes against humanity

Head of State Khieu Samphan, arrested in November, yet to be charged

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WHO WERE THE KHMER ROUGE?

Maoist regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979
Founded and led by Pol Pot, (above) who died in 1998
Abolished religion, schools and currency in a bid to create agrarian utopia
Brutal regime that did not tolerate dissent
More than a million people thought to have died from starvation, overwork or execution

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Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime

More than a million people died under the four-year regime
The Khmer Rouge was the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, but during this short time it was responsible for one of the worst mass killings of the 20th Century.
The brutal regime claimed the lives of more than a million people - and some estimates say up to 2.5 million perished.

Under the Marxist leader Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge tried to take Cambodia back to the Middle Ages, forcing millions of people from the cities to work on communal farms in the countryside.

But this dramatic attempt at social engineering had a terrible cost, and whole families died from execution, starvation, disease and overwork.

Communist philosophy

The Khmer Rouge had its origins in the 1960s, as the armed wing of the Communist Party of Kampuchea - the name the Communists used for Cambodia.

Based in remote jungle and mountain areas in the north-east of the country, the group initially made little headway.

The Khmer Rouge expanded their reach from the remote north-east
But after a right-wing military coup toppled head of state Prince Norodom Sihanouk in 1970, the Khmer Rouge entered into a political coalition with him and began to attract increasing support.

In a civil war that continued for nearly five years, it gradually increased its control in the countryside.

Khmer Rouge forces finally took over the capital, Phnom Penh, and therefore the nation as a whole in 1975.

During his time in the remote north-east, Pol Pot had been influenced by the surrounding hill tribes, who were self-sufficient in their communal living, had no use for money and were "untainted" by Buddhism.

When he came to power, he and his henchmen quickly set about transforming Cambodia - now re-named Kampuchea - into what they hoped would be an agrarian utopia.

Declaring that the nation would start again at "Year Zero", Pol Pot isolated his people from the rest of the world and set about emptying the cities, abolishing money, private property and religion, and setting up rural collectives.

Anyone thought to be an intellectual of any sort was killed. Often people were condemned for wearing glasses or knowing a foreign language.

Pol Pot led the brutal regime, but died without being brought to justice
Hundreds of thousands of the educated middle-classes were tortured and executed in special centres.

The most notorious of these centres was the S21 jail in Phnom Penh, where more than 17,000 men, women and children were imprisoned during the regime's four years in power.

Hundreds of thousands of others died from disease, starvation or exhaustion as members of the Khmer Rouge - often just teenagers themselves - forced people to do back-breaking work.

Opening up

The Khmer Rouge government was finally overthrown in 1979 by invading Vietnamese troops, after a series of violent border confrontations.

The higher echelons of the party retreated to remote areas of the country, where they remained active for a while but gradually became less and less powerful.

In the years that followed, as Cambodia began the process of reopening to the international community, the full horrors of the regime became apparent.

Survivors told their stories to shocked audiences, and in the 1980s the Hollywood movie The Killing Fields brought the plight of the Khmer Rouge victims to worldwide attention.

Pol Pot was denounced by his former comrades in a show trial in July 1997, and sentenced to house arrest in his jungle home.

But less than a year later he was dead - denying the millions of people who were affected by this brutal regime the chance to bring him to justice.

Battle for Bukit Timah in context

Bukit Timah Village 1912

Bukit Timah Railway station 1910


Bukit Timah is home to Singapore's highest hill at 163.63 m. Composed mainly of granite, the hill was once an active quarrying site in the mid-1900s. One abandoned quarry has been developed as a park. Hindhede Nature Park is now a popular spot to enjoy the quarry’s scenic beauty and have some fun with the more adventurous play equipment.

In the early 1800s, Bukit Timah was reportedly never visited as the terrain was declared too tough, except for the Chinese gambier farmers who squatted around the hill. In 1882, the Government of the Straits Settlement, alarmed by the rate of deforestation, commissioned Nathaniel Cantley to prepare a report on the forests. Cantley, then Superintendent of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, recommended that several forest reserves be created over the next few years. Bukit Timah was one of the first forest reserves established in 1883. All the reserves except Bukit Timah were worked for timber. When these reserves were later deleted in 1937, the protection of Bukit Timah’s flora and fauna was retained. In 1951, Bukit Timah received further protection under the Nature Reserves Ordinance. The narrow ridge connecting the sources of the Jurong and the Kranji Rivers was a natural defence line protecting the north-west approach to the city. The Allied troops were to defend this line strongly against the invading Japanese.

The Battle for Bukit Timah represented Lieutenant General Percival's final defence of the southern portion of Singapore. This last defence perimeter included the town, the Kallang aerodrome, the reservoirs and the supply depots in Bukit Timah.
Percival had to decide what to do if the Japanese broke through to Bukit Timah, at a meeting with Heath and Simmons (Commanding Southern Area) at midnight on the 9th February, told them a parameter defines of Singapore City would be put into operation.

However, Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival's secret orders to withdraw to the last defence line around the city, only if necessary, were misunderstood by the defending Allied troops. Brigadier Maxwell and Brigadier Taylor thought these orders were to be carried out immediately and withdrew from their strong positions on the Kranji to Jurong Line. The 44th Indian Infantry Brigade, the 12th Indian Infantry Brigade and the 22nd Australian Brigade, reinforced after their withdrawal from Sarimbun Beach in the north-west, abandoned the Jurong-Kranji Line on 10th February 1942.

This gave the Japanese a clear run towards Singapore City with only Bukit Timah in its way.At night, the Japanese troops from the 5th and 18th Divisions, supported by armor, attacked troops of the 12th and 15th Indian Brigades, the 22nd Australian Brigade, The Special Reserve Battalion, Tomforce, Merrett's Force, the Argylls, Jind State Infantry and 'X' Battalion. (formed from the disbanded administrative service). The Allied forces had re-grouped to defend the critical junctions at Choa Chu Kang, Jurong and Clementi Roads, leading to Bukit Timah Road. By the 11th February, the Japanese had repaired the causeway, this enabled the Japanese to speed up the attack by getting more tanks and troops onto Singapore Island and the road from the causeway ran directly to Bukit Timah.

British forces made many attempts to stop the Japanese advance around the critical junctions of the Chua Chu Kang Road, Jurong Road and Reformatory Road (around Clementi Road) with Bukit Timah Road. Some of the forces involved were the Special Reserves Battalion. Tomforce, Merrett force, The Argylls, the Jind State Infantry, Dalforce and the X Battalion.

The Malaya Command defending Kranji were pushed back by sheer numbers and with a lack of communication confusion and panic set in. The 27th Australian Brigade, 8th and 12th Indian Brigades tried to counterattack but could not stop the Japanese advances from the west and north. By the afternoon Japanese tanks began to arrive and quickly scattered the Indian troops on the hills at Bukit Timah leaving the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to defend the supply dumps at Bukit Timah. A road block was quickly thrown up and they knocked out the leading tank. At 1600 hours, Percival ordered the fuel depots east of Bukit Timah to be destroyed as the numbers of tanks and troops were increasing. A company of British and Special Reserve troops, numbering 1,500 men, engaged the Japanese on the Jurong Road at about 1930 hours and counterattacked, fierce hand to hand fighting developed, the Japanese were forced back and the British commander Brigadier Coates then realised they had been cut off. Coates then divided his troops into three columns (British, Australian and Indian) and headed south. They were caught in the open while crossing Sleepy Valley and suffered very heavy casualties, only 400 men reached the 22nd Australian defensive lines. By 2230 hours the Japanese were pushing the defences back to the east of the main road, this then gave the Japanese control of the major road junction in the centre of the Island, cutting off any communication between north and south.

By dawn of 11th February 1942, the Japanese troops reported to their commander Lieutenant-General Tomoyuki Yamashita that they had seized Bukit Timah. The road to the city was open.

The Japanese built man-made caves in the jungle hills of Bukit Timah to store supplies and ammunition. These caves are still standing today. Bukit Timah, which dominates the arterial Bukit Timah and Dunearn Roads leading to the city, was a strategically important point for both the Allied troops and the Japanese.

Bukit Timah Road was said that on 15 February 1942, Lieutenant-General Arthur E Percival walked to Bukit Timah with a white flag to meet General Yamashita.

The Bukit Tinggi Area

Fierce battle in the Swiss Club area Swiss Club housed the Royal Australian Medical Corps During battle for Singapore final phase General Matsui set up his headquarters in Bukit Tinggi Hill and directed operations End of 1943 Japanese took over Swiss Club and became the residence of the Commander of the Japanese military unit

There was fierce fighting between Japanese forces under Lieutenant General Matsui, Commander of the 5th Division and British forces in the vicinity of the Swiss Club and Bukit Tinggi where Matsui set up his Divisional Headquarters and conducted the final operations in the Battle for Singapore.

The Swiss Club had housed the Royal Australian Medical Corps. During the Malayan campaign the Club was used by the Royal Air Force as arrest camp.

Before the British Surrender on 15 February 1942 the Australians vacated and it became the residence of the Commander of the Butai, a Japanese military unit.

The Swiss Club was established in 1871. It was then known as the Swiss Rifle Shooting Club of Singapore and had its premises off Balestier Road. Later in 1910 the Club moved to Bukit Timah and in 1925 to Bukit Tinggi.

Though Switzerland remained a neutral country in World War II, the Swiss in Singapore did voluntary services as Air Raid Precaution Wardens and served in the auxiliary medical services and bomb disposal squads.

The Swiss Club
By Vincent Soh
Prestige Magazine August 2001
- Club house in 1927


Sprawled over 28 acres on the verdant slopes of Bukit Tinggi (“High Hill”) is one of Singapore’s oldest and most famous social fraternities, the Swiss Club. For the 130 years since its formation as the Swiss Rifle Shooting Club in 1871, the Club has been the convivial heart and pulse of social life for the Swiss community. No longer restricting membership to Swiss nationals and even at one time, men only, the Club today embraces more than a 1,000 persons of 40 different nationalities.(In 1870, it was also established as the Swiss Rifle Shooting Club of Singapore to ensure that Swiss citizens continued to fulfil their national requirement of military readiness.)

The Swiss Club survived two world wars, decades of creaking financial problems, the changing times and a destructive fire. Its colourful history reads like a dipstick lifted from the waters of Singapore’s past.

The beginnings

The Swiss community in 1870 was mainly from the weaving industry, used to putting in 14-hour days, seven days a week. The jaunty English, on the other hand, rested during Saturday afternoons and Sundays, taking the time to passionately pursue national interests like cricket.

Otto Alder, a Swiss who envied the English for their leisure pursuits, fretted over the lack of Swiss activities and a place for the community to come together. It was suggested one day that he invite his friends to his home at “lonely Bunker Hill” for tiffin, whereupon inspiration, as Otto himself would write, resoundingly struck:

“Then a thought came to my rescue and I asked my friends to turn up with their rifles and I would get ready a target. I made a large one after the Swiss pattern...”

And flushed with success afterwards: “The good spirits rose higher and higher; we all felt ourselves to be real Swiss. I tinkled the glass, stood up and said: “Friends, how would it be if we took this game seriously and formed a shooting club where we would gather every Saturday afternoon for real Swiss shooting practice?” The motion was carried with deafening applause.

Three founder members roamed the island on horseback looking for a suitable site, and found one off Balestier Road on which was located a small valley of a size that matched the distance required of a shooting range. The first constructions of the Club were five wooden targets on one end of the valley and a simple attap hut at the other. In August 1871, the shooting range was opened.

In August 1872, the Swiss community celebrated the first official shooting festival as the inaugural event for the young Club. To the jubilation of all, the first shots were slammed into the bulls-eye by a Miss Baenziger, who came from a family stocked with shooting champions.

A photograph survives in the possession of Diethelm & Co of a shooting festival in 1877. About 22 members, nearly the whole of the shooting club, posed for the photograph. Behind them flapped a life-sized flag of Helvetia drawn by Otto Alder himself, complete with a squinting, cross-eyed lion.

It turned out later that the land actually belonged to influential Chinese business man Whampoa, who arrived in haste one day to complain about bullets not only missing their targets, but fired over the hill.

The Early Years

For many decades after 1871, the membership of the Club would not exceed 30 people. From the beginning, however, the feeling of solidarity and belonging flourished with the enjoyment of ethnic activities, and the small Club not only managed to keep things together but also gradually improved the amenities and increased the variety of activities.

In 1875, a rather large clubhouse was erected on the Balestier site, clear progress from the simple small affair constructed earlier. No pictures survive of this building, but it was clearly designed to entertain a number of members and guests, constructed, as it was, with a stage.

According to records, this meeting place became a favourite of the community where “happy and informal hours” could be spent with friends and companions. Impromptu singing and yodeling, for example, did not raise eyebrows but beer mugs in salute. On the matter of beer, it was recorded by the Baumgartner family that roughly 36 gallons of beer, to slake some terrible thirsts, were consumed during every club event.

These were heady days. The thunder of artillery from pieces located on nearby hillocks heralded the start of every shooting practice and competition. Clear records were kept of events from those days when ladies shot at pictures of Cupid instead of bulls-eyes and the German Consul would hand out prizes to competition winners. Swiss leisure was also found in skittling and other traditional activities.

A significant milestone was reached in 1881 when the tenth anniversary of the Club was celebrated. Under President W.H.Diethelm, the Club toiled to host a very special shooting competition for numerous guests from abroad. W. H. Diethelm was a remarkable and prominent man of the club. As a founding member, his continuous efforts to elevate the Club above obscurity were matched only by his popularity and the generosity of his repeated donations, over many years from abroad after he left Singapore for Switzerland in 1886. During the tenth anniversary event, he attended to his duties despite grieving over the recent death of his infant daughter. Lulled by singing and musical performances at the Club, members enjoyed these halcyon days. The Club became known in all sections of the European community for its informal hospitality and meditative surroundings. Members were menaced by only sporadic rioting from Chinese secret societies and the threat of tropical diseases.

The High Hill

The Balestier site however became untenable in June 1901 when the Swiss Rifle Shooting Club received a notice of eviction from the place it had occupied for exactly 30 years. This would prove to be the start of a series of financial struggles for the fraternity.

Despite opposition from fainthearted members who opposed splashing out on a new piece of land and building, a dynamic personality in the person of then-president J. Schudel, pushed through a motion to keep the Club going and made every effort to live up to the Club’s purpose.

Despite an extraordinary $2,000 which had to be paid out for the direct purchase of land at Bukit Tinggi, members of the Club showed foresight in avoiding a lease that would have seen its termination date in the financially-troubled 1920s. The plot of land was subsequently increased to incorporate land for a swimming pool, or bath as it was then called. A large club house was built and in August 1902 a formal opening and glittering party was celebrated there from which the last guest only barely staggered away in the early hours of the next morning.

In 1909, however, smack in the middle of the good times at the splendid club, both the Club building and shooting house burned down. Everything was destroyed, and the cause of the fire, either a disgruntled servant or a merciless bolt from the heavens, was never clearly determined. With money from the insurance company, swift action was taken to construct another Club house, this time even more ambitious in layout. It was only later realised that, quite obviously now, funds would be insufficient, and another round of soliciting donations was ruefully conducted.

In June 1914, extraordinary revisions of the rules and regulations of the club were made when H. R. Arbenz, an outspoken and influential member, proposed that the pro vision allowing only German-speakers to be inducted into the Club be removed. It was a major step forward in removing discrimination and indirectly lead to the popularity of the Club today. Determined, Arbenz became president and remained so for many years.

Despite some harassment in the British colony due to their German ties, Swiss members would find the years of the First World War to be easy and lucrative due to increased trade in Singapore. In any case, most of the members were quietly thankful they avoided the muddy hell and killing fields of Europe with their dire privation and untold miseries. Having to give up their guns during this time seemed an inconsequential affair.

(left) Members in 1915

The 50th anniversary of the Club in 1921 was another gala affair. According to records, it was “a memorable day of Swiss customs and ways (Schweizerart)”. The occasion, with the year, would prove however to be a cornerstone in the interpretation of Swiss tradition in Singapore.

Pre-Second World War Years

In the year 1925, the yearly report noted, “1924 can be considered a year of restoration and transition in the political and economic field, as well as in the life of the Club.” Strengthened by a new generation of members, filled with vim and enterprise, the Club too sought a new direction and purpose.

A significant motion was subsequently passed in changing the name of the Club from Schweizer Schützen Verein (Swiss Rifle Shooting Club) to simply Schweizer Klub (Swiss Club). The members rejected the traditional military spirit of Swiss shooting clubs in light of the terrible killing in the First World War. The new Club sought instead to be a club for the community, practicing rifle shooting only on a competitive level and ranking it behind other activities which cultivated social together ness. Swimming and skittling were very popular while tennis gradually found its footing.

During the same year, the club building became less than house-worthy with the discovery of worm-eaten woodwork full of dry rot and damaged by beetles and white ants. After some consideration, members bravely decided to build a stone clubhouse, rare in those days, costing some $18,000.

The new clubhouse, built under the guidance of H. R. Arbenz, was a delight. Its solid construction at the top of the hill with the green slope at its feet spurred the elation of members. Designed on the lines of a small Swiss chalet, complete with turreted roof, it was reported to be “excellently appointed in every respect” by the Malay Tribune in 1927. It is still in service and underwent a face-lift with repainting in 2001.

Neutrals in an Occupation

The Swiss, like other communities, were caught cold by the sudden invasion of North Malaya. Within three months Japanese soldiers shouldered British forces aside in Malaya and defeated them in a pitched battle in Singapore. A monument to the invasion troops was built on Bukit Tinggi after the capitulation.

The recognition of the neutral status of the Swiss by the Japanese was successfully carried out and incarceration was avoided, although it did not spare the men occasional bullying. The Swiss Club was looted by forces from both sides as well as the local population, smashing everything in view. Members fled to other parts of Asia in droves, quite unlike during the previous conflict.

Visits to the clubhouse diminished, which was somewhat good considering that supplies had also plummeted, and atten dance finally fell to zero when the house was appropriated by a Japanese commander who promptly installed a lavatory at the bar counter.

The succeeding years until the liberation were a period of increasing deprivation, malnutrition and decay, although a glimmer of light could be found in increased interaction and friendliness between the locals and the dwindling numbers of foreigners. By the war’s end, 20 Swiss nationals were the only Caucasians among more than a million Asians.

With the appointment of Hans Schweizer Iten as the Delegate of the Red Cross of Geneva, the Swiss community took the initiative in collecting and delivering food stuffs, medicine and goods to prisoners in over 13 internment camps, amid increasing chaos and social disorder. After surrender, for the three weeks until the British arrived, the Red Cross worked feverishly with others to save souls in peril.

After the war, Club life ran its course, although improved significantly by a heavy renovation and improvement project carried out in 1960. In 1966, the Swiss Club had to give up 10 per cent of its land to the government while it also had to battle and pay off squatters.

On October 30, 1983, some land was finally let out for lease with building rights to the Dutch, French and German schools as well as the British Club. Otherwise much of the Club land today remains green in the manner of a country estate with beautiful trees shading steps and paths.

1978 Jonestown massacre

1978: Mass suicide leaves 900 dead
The bodies of 914 people, including 276 children, have been found in Guyana in South America.
Most of the dead - members of the People's Temple Christian Church - had consumed a soft drink laced with cyanide and sedatives.

However, the body of the People's Temple charismatic leader, Jim Jones, was said to have a bullet wound in the right temple, believed to be self-inflicted.

The deaths are being linked to the earlier killings of five people, including US Congressman Leo Ryan, on a nearby airstrip.

Mr Ryan had led a fact-finding mission to the church's jungle settlement - Jonestown - after allegations by relatives in the US of human rights abuses.

Last year Jim Jones and most of the 1,000 members of the People's Temple moved to Guyana from San Francisco after an investigation began into the church for tax evasion.

People who had left the organisation told the authorities of brutal beatings, murders and a mass suicide plan but were not believed.

In spite of the tax evasion allegations, Jim Jones was still widely respected for setting up a racially-mixed church which helped the disadvantaged.

Five dead at airport

Leo Ryan's delegation arrived in Jonestown on 14 November and spent three days interviewing residents.

They left hurriedly earlier on Saturday after an attempt on Mr Ryan's life, taking with them about 20 People's Temple members who wished to leave.

Delegation members told police as they were boarding planes at the airstrip a truckload of Jim Jones' guards arrived and began to shoot.

When the gunmen left five people were dead: Congressman Ryan, a reporter and cameraman from NBC, a newspaper photographer and one "defector" from the People's Temple.

A producer for NBC News, Bob Flick, survived the attack.

Mr Flick said: "Every time someone fell down wounded they would walk over and shoot them in the head with a shotgun."

STILL SOME RESISTANCE: Though women are now allowed, these three who tried to enter the Men's Bar last night were run out the door by a merry-making male member the moment they walked in. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN


Cricket Club gives women full access after 155 years
The last off-limits room - the Men's Bar - opened to them this month
By Arti Mulchand

THE final bastion of male exclusivity at the Singapore Cricket Club has come crumbling down - women have finally won elbow room at its Men's Bar & Billiards Room.
It is the only room at the 155-year-old club, and probably the entire country, that has stayed off-limits to women - till now.

The club, which started in 1852 as a 'For Men Only' hut on the Padang, took its time breaking from that mould.

So harsh was the ban on women that they could not even peek inside the door - the penalty was a chiding for their male partners from the committee. And to rub some salt into it, he would have to buy a round of drinks for the entire bar to boot, revealed club president Anwarul Haque with a laugh.

But since Nov 3, by-laws have been changed to allow women to move freely in and out of the room they only ever saw once a year, on New Year's Eve.

Over the years, the segregation had its detractors, who lambasted it as a throwback to the club's colonial past. But Mr Haque said protests were 'feeble', and besides, some female members did not mind giving their husbands a space of their own.

So why change the rules now?

Some of the club's 3,500 members said it has been prompted less by the desire to bridge the gender divide than to boost the bottom line.

The club's renovation, completed exactly a year ago, saw the men gain more privacy than many could stomach when the Men's Bar was moved from the first floor to the basement, so space could be better utilised.

Not only did they lose their view of the Padang, but the new spot was dark, with lower ceilings, and 'not very nice', some members said.

Business took a hit as drinkers gravitated towards Stumps, a unisex sports bar created on the first floor.

Still, the change means the final barrier to equality of the sexes has been removed, something that has been a long time coming.

From the time the club opened, women - when allowed to be there - often occupied an upper pavilion and left the club by a rear staircase, never passing through the main area where men were watching sports or the bar, said club member and writer Ilsa Sharp, who documented the club's history.

It was in 1938 when they were finally allowed to be associate members of the club. That same year, the gents got the Men's Bar, a space that could not be invaded.

It was close to six decades later that women inched closer to equality: In 1996, they could become full members, vote and run for office.

That was 'real emancipation' said Ms Sharp, even if the men still wanted to 'get together to tell absolutely filthy jokes'.

The switch was made without fanfare so club members could 'ease into it', said Mr Haque, though he added that some women had wandered downstairs over the last few nights.

And what do the ladies think? Said member and former committee member Margaret Cunico: 'If there's a lack of demand, it makes sense to lift the restriction. To leave it there for symbolic sake is to undervalue what it's best for... I think there will be some women who go there.'

Still, having to welcome the women in is an idea that will clearly take some time to sink in. When three women tried to enter while The Straits Times was visiting the bar last night, one merry-making male member ran them out the door the moment they walked in.

His confusion, perhaps, is understandable, since some changes take longer than others: the search is on for a new name, but for now, the sign on the door still says 'Men's Bar & Billiards Room'.

arti@sph.com.sg

Nov 16, 2007
MYANMAR'S MONKS
Chants of change gaining resonance
By Ooi Keat Gin, For The Straits Times

HUNDREDS of saffron-robed Buddhist monks once again meandered through the streets of Myanmar a few weeks ago in a silent demonstration against the country's repressive military government. It was a peaceful protest and, thankfully, the authorities this time did not wield their iron fist, as they did during the September protests. The monks returned to their temples without incident.
The monks' protests must be understood in their proper historical context, which will allow us to better appreciate their effect on the future of the regime.

Monks, or pongyis (meaning 'great glory') as they are referred to in Myanmar, are revered figures in this deeply religious heartland of Buddhism. Every village and district has its own wat, or temple, with communities of monks who serve the spiritual needs of the people.

Buddhist monks, by virtue of their spirituality, spartan lifestyle and role as transmitters of Buddha's teachings, are highly regarded figures. As a result, they are immensely influential among the people, particularly in the rural areas. For a long time now, the secular authorities have been wary of the power and influence over society of the sangha, or community of monks, and have attempted to put them under surveillance and control.

Thus, the sangha has not had a comfortable relationship with the military. The uneasy ties began at the outset of military rule. General Ne Win, who in 1962 seized power from civilian prime minister U Nu, also repealed the State Religion Act of 1961. That law had established Myanmar, or Burma as it was then known, as a Buddhist nation. He also dismissed the Buddha Sasana Council, in effect taking the pongyis out of politics.

Thus, the monks' recent protest marches are not so much an unusual turn of events as a return to politics, where they had been entrenched until Gen Ne Win seized power.

Indeed, the monks also have a tradition of opposing existing power. During British colonial rule, they played a pivotal role in the anti-colonial, nationalist struggle.

The practice of removing one's shoes when entering a temple or private home and at a royal audience became a sensitive issue during the British colonial period. In fact, the 'Shoe Issue' became a factor in the war between Britain and the Konbaung dynasty (1752-1885).

The refusal of British representatives to remove their shoes at an audience with the Burmese monarch led to the cessation of ties between the two sides. In the absence of diplomatic interaction, the battlefield was the alternative forum for settling differences. After the final clash in 1885, Burma became part of British India.

Shoes were the cause of conflict again in 1919 when Buddhist monks attacked Europeans who insisted on keeping their shoes on when entering the Eindawya Pagoda in Mandalay. This followed the publication of a Burmese-language book, On The Impropriety Of Wearing Shoes On Pagoda Platforms, by the revered monk Ledi Sayadaw, and an appeal to the colonial government to respect this customary practice.

In December 1930, monks again made news when they organised and led the Saya San Rebellion that attempted to overthrow British rule. Although the uprising was suppressed, it marked an important milestone in the development of Burmese nationalism. In particular, the rebellion was responsible for the rise of a new generation of political leaders who would resist British rule.

Ever since the inception of military rule in 1962, however, the sangha has been forced out of any role in politics. This makes the recent events especially significant. The re-entry of monks into the political arena - taking part and leading street protests - is a crucial indication of the level of crisis in the country, marked in particular by the military's mishandling of the economy, which has severely impoverished ordinary citizens.

Indeed, the generals' poor management of the economy could well cause their demise as rulers.

Given these precedents, the defiance of the monks against the military regime could usher in a progressive development in Myanmar. The military regime would be well advised to re-think how to come to terms with Myanmar's traditional agents of influence and power - namely the sangha - and with pro-democracy elements.

For the future of Myanmar and its multi-ethnic population, a healthy coalition and working relationship must be created between all three parties, each having its own prudent role.

The writer is an associate professor and coordinator of the Asia-Pacific Research Unit in the School of Humanities at Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang.



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OPENING DOORS

Given these precedents, the defiance of the monks against the military regime could usher in a progressive development.