ABSTRACT
The spearhead of the Dutch Labour Party attack was targeted on the Government's powers of detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) of 1963 which it accuses the People’s Action Party of using to intimidate or lock up political opponents, trade unionists, journalists, intellectuals and other dissenters. Singapore society is largely rid of the scourge of the secret societies. For the mainstream of Singaporeans, their lives have seen a dramatic improvement and they would rather keep the man who led them to this, even if he is sometimes seen as a rather imperious team captain. The start of 1984 saw encouraging signs that Singapore was climbing out of the recession. In the long term, Singapore's prospects of continuance of this stability would benefit from the repeal or suspension of some of the provisions of the ISA or of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act before they become too deeply ingrained.
