For their book, journalists (from left) Sonny Yap, Richard Lim and Leong Weng Kam, interviewed 300 PAP members, opponents and observers, including leftists banished from Singapore, to get the inside story on key events in the party's history. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

THREE senior Straits Times journalists have written a book on the ruling People's Action Party, describing the conflicts and the power struggles of the PAP's early years.

The 692-page book also lifts the veil from some of the most dramatic events in the party's 55-year history, such as the first leftist plot to seize control in 1957 and how Mr Lee Kuan Yew's parliamentary secretary came to lead the challenge against the prime minister in 1961.

However, its most outstanding feature is the voices of leftists in the retelling of key events.

Many of them were giving their views for the first time. They had lost the struggle for control of the PAP, spent years in detention and exile, and their voices are largely absent from the Singapore Story.

Said senior writer Sonny Yap, co-author of the book: 'Although many of them spent years in detention and suffered tremendous privations, they betrayed no bitterness and rancour while recounting their experiences.'

To write it, the trio interviewed 300 party members, opponents and observers, 25 of whom have since died. Among those they spoke to were leftists banished from Singapore. The interviews were often conducted where they now reside, in Malaysia, Thailand and China.

The authors also relied on 200 taped interviews with politicians deposited with the National Archives and 60 years of press reports in the local Chinese, Malay and English newspapers, as well as Government and Parliament records. They were helped by four researchers led by former Straits Times journalist Leong Ching, 40, who is doing her PhD at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

The end result, according to former left-wing activist Lim Chin Joo, 72, in an endorsement for the book, 'is an apt reminder that there is always another dimension to the Singapore Story'.

His older brother is the late Lim Chin Siong, a PAP assemblyman who quit and formed the Barisan Sosialis, which he led.

PAP founding member Fong Swee Suan, 78, who also left to join Barisan Sosialis, said in an endorsement: 'In Singapore where PAP is the dominant party, it is rare to see the publication of a book with different political views.'

Wrote political scientist Ho Khai Leong of Nanyang Technological University in his review: 'The accounts, from the horses' mouths and through the (un)reserved appraisals of supporters and critical narratives of regime bystanders, contributed significantly to our understanding of the inner psyche and ideological make-up of a group of leaders who pride themselves as men in white.'

The book tells of how a party founded in 1954 by a motley crew of English-educated professionals and Chinese, Malay and Indian trade unionists and activists fended off threats from pro-communist elements and made adjustments to win 12 successive general elections, becoming the longest-ruling political party in the world.

It marks its 50th anniversary in power this year.

The idea for the book was prompted by a request in 2001 from then-Prime Minister and PAP secretary-general Goh Chok Tong.

He had asked if SPH would be interested in publishing a book on the PAP.

Mr Cheong Yip Seng, then the editor-in-chief of SPH's English and Malay Newspapers Division, was enthusiastic.

'Nobody has told a non-partisan story of the PAP. It was long overdue,' he said.

'Second, here was a chance to get a version of the history from the defeated faction of the PAP, the radical left who came so close to winning. If we did not reach out to them, their voices would have been suppressed forever.

'Third, by any yardstick, it was a gripping tale. I had lived through part of that history as a journalist and know it had all the ingredients of a thriller,' said Mr Cheong, who led the project team until he retired in June 2008.

The book began life in two parts. Mr Yap and Mr Leong worked on telling the story of the party's early years, while Mr Lim explained how the party consolidated its hold on Singapore.

As the book neared completion, they decided to add a third part to examine the party's longevity.

The final chapter is provocatively titled 'Can PAP Survive LKY?'.

The book has a foreword by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, 85, a founding member of the PAP.

He wrote that he and Mrs Lee found the early chapters 'riveting'.

'They recreated the tension and drama of those life-and-death situations the PAP was trapped in,' he said, adding that he was reading many of the accounts in the book for the first time.

He also disagreed with the recollections of several people, but said the book was the writers' book, not the PAP's.

The Straits Times editor Han Fook Kwang, who also led the team, said: 'One of the attractions of the book is that it's done in a journalistic style, it's not a history book or an academic book.'

'Journalists are trained to extract the most compelling material from those they interview and to write the story in the most engaging way for readers.

'I think we've succeeded in doing this because it is a fascinating story to begin with, and we fielded some of our best story-tellers to do the book,' he said.

The book will be launched by SPH at The Arts House on Sept 8. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew will be the guest of honour and some 150 past and present PAP and non-PAP politicans will be present.

The book, which has a print run of 30,000, will be available at leading bookstores after the launch at $39.90 a copy before GST.