Dear The Real Singapore,
When Mandela was in Singapore sometime in the 1990s, I attended his talk at a function in his honour. After a senior minister introduced him, he started his talk modestly by saying he was not the world's longest serving political detainee.
He said the honour belonged to someone "on your island" and "in your country".
He was of course referring to Chia Thye Poh (who was imprisoned without trial over here for over 30 years). This was an incisive tribute to victims of abuse of the ISA here. After he finished his talk, as he was walking out on the red carpet, (flanked by our ministers),he stopped to reach out and shake hands with JBJ who was sitting near the aisle. The whole incident, ceremony and speech were completely blacked out and unreported in our local newspapers and media.
Naresh Mahtani
Editor's Note: Since there is news media blackout and the absence of social media back then, we are unable verify if this story is true or not. It is up to the readers to decide on their own.