Francis Seow Tiang Siew ( zh, s=萧添寿, p=Xiāo Tiānshòu; 11 October 1928 – 21 January 2016), was a Singaporean lawyer who was Solicitor-General of Singapore and later the President of the Law Society of Singapore. Seow started his legal career in 1956 in the Singapore Legal Service, becoming Solicitor-General in 1969 before entering private practice in 1972. During his legal career, he was known for having both prosecuted and defended murderers such as Sunny Ang,

Mimi Wong Wong Weng Siu (; ; – 27 July 1973), more commonly known as Mimi Wong, was a Singaporean bar hostess who became the first woman to be capital punishment in Singapore, sentenced to death and executed for murder in Singapore since its independe ...

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 A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...

over the Law Society's role in commenting on legislation. In the 1988 general election, Seow contested in Eunos GRC as a candidate of the opposition

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

, against the governing

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...

. He lost with 49.11% of the vote. Before the election, Seow he been detained for 72 days without trial under the Internal Security Act. After being accused of

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

, Seow left for the United States for health treatment, subsequently disregarding numerous court summons to return to Singapore to stand trial. He was eventually convicted ''

in absentia ''In Absentia'' is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. The album marked several changes for the band, with it being the first with new drummer Gavin Harrison and the f ...

''. Called a "

prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

" by

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

in 2007, Seow was a frequent speaker at university talks outside of Singapore.

Career

Legal career

Seow was born in 1928 in Singapore and educated at Saint Joseph's Institution before he study law at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

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. For his work, Seow was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold). During his time as a prosecutor, Seow prosecuted multiple notorious murderers and sent them to the gallows, including Sunny Ang,

, and 18 of the prisoners involved in the Pulau Senang prison riot. Seow eventually left the Singapore Legal Service and entered private practice in 1972. In 1985, he defended Tan Mui Choo, one of the three murderers in the Toa Payoh ritual murders. Tan was eventually executed after an unsuccessful appeal against her conviction and death sentence. In 1973, Seow was suspended from law practice for 12 months by Chief Justice

Wee Chong Jin Wee Chong Jin (; 28 September 1917 – 5 June 2005) was a Malayan-born Singaporean jurist who served as a chief justice of Singapore between 1963 and 1990. Born in Penang, which was then a part of the Straits Settlements, he was the first As ...

for breaching an undertaking given on behalf of his junior law partner to

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Tan Boon Teik. 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. Seow's new appointment as President of the Law Society led to a falling-out with

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.

Political career

Seow stood for the 1988 general election as a candidate of the opposition

team contesting in Eunos Group Representation Constituency against the ruling

(PAP). However, his team managed to secure 49.11% of valid votes and lost marginally to the PAP. Just before the election, on 6 May 1988, Seow was detained without trial under the Internal Security Act for 72 days. He was accused of having received political

campaign finance Campaign financealso called election finance, political donations, or political financerefers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Donors and recipients include individuals, corpor ...

from the United States to promote democracy in Singapore. According to his account, he was subjected to torture, including

sleep deprivation Sleep deprivation, also known as sleep insufficiency or sleeplessness, is the condition of not having adequate duration and/or quality of sleep to support decent alertness, performance, and health. It can be either Chronic (medicine), chronic ...

and intensely cold air conditioning. Later, while awaiting trial for alleged

, he left for the United States for health treatment and disregarded numerous court summons to return to stand trial. Subsequently, he was convicted ''

''. On 8 October 2011, Seow and Tang Fong Har publicly addressed a

Singapore Democratic Party The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) is a social liberal political party in Singapore. Founded in 1980 by Chiam See Tong, the party gained its first seat in 6th Parliament of Singapore, Parliament in 1984 Singaporean general election, 1984 when ...

forum via teleconferencing. The

Singapore Police Force The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is the national and principal Police, law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention of crime and law enforcement in the Republic of Singapore. It is the country's lead agency against organised crime; hum ...

investigated the legality of the event on the following day.

Personal life

Seow married Rauni Marjatta Kivilaakso, who was Finnish, at the Swedish Protestant Church in London in 1953. They had two sons, Ashleigh and Andre, and two daughters, Ingrid Annalisa and Amara. Seow filed for and got a divorce in 1987, citing they had been living apart for four years. Kivilaakso died in 1988 after a long battle with cancer. 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. On 16 October 2007,

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 "

Death

Seow died in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

on 21 January 2016 at the age of 87.

Chee Soon Juan Chee Soon Juan (born 20 July 1962) is a Singaporean politician, activist, and former lecturer who was appointed Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) in 1993. Prior to entering politics in 1992, Chee was a lecturer at th ...

, the secretary-general of the

, announced the news of Seow's death on his Facebook page. Seow was survived by two sons, and two daughters.

Writings

In his semi-autobiography, ''To Catch a Tartar: A Dissident in Lee Kuan Yew's Prison'', 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

's administration. The book also contains a foreword by

Devan Nair Chengara Veetil Devan Nair (5 August 1923 – 6 December 2005), also known as C. V. Devan Nair, better known as Devan Nair, was a Singaporean politician and union leader who served as the third president of Singapore from 1981 until his resign ...

, the third

President of Singapore The president of the Republic of Singapore, is the head of state of Singapore. The president represents the country in official diplomatic functions and possesses certain executive powers over the government of Singapore, including the contro ...

, 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'' that explores key cases in which the Singapore judiciary has bowed to political pressure.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Review of To Catch a Tartar written by D. Zagoria

I'll return to face charges, says Francis Seow

New bid made to get trial started, Seow knew about summonses, says prosecuters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seow, Francis 1928 births 2016 deaths Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Singapore Harvard Law School faculty Attorneys-general of Singapore Singaporean emigrants to the United States Singaporean exiles 20th-century Singaporean lawyers Singaporean people of Chinese descent Workers' Party (Singapore) politicians Singaporean Non-constituency Members of Parliament Singaporean prisoners and detainees Recipients of the Pingat Pentadbiran Awam