Sandrasegaran "Sidney" Woodhull (1932 – 26 November 2003) was a

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

an lawyer, former politician and

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

. He was a founding member of the

University of Malaya The Universiti Malaya (lit 'University of Malaya'; abbreviated UM) is a public university, public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest Malaysian institution of higher education, and was the only university in ...

's University Socialist Club, and the

's political parties,

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 ...

and the

Barisan Sosialis Barisan Sosialis (BS), also known as the Socialist Front, is a defunct left-wing political party in Singapore. It was formed on 29 July 1961 and was officially registered on 13 August 1961 by the leftist faction of the People's Action Party (PA ...

Biography

Born in

British Ceylon British Ceylon (; ), officially British Settlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon with its Dependencies from 1802 to 1833, then the Island of Ceylon and its Territories and Dependencies from 1833 to 1931 and finally the Island of Cey ...

in 1932, Sandrasegaran Woodhull, sometimes referred as "Sandra", "Sydney" or "Sidney" in the press, entered the

in 1951 as a Sultan Ibrahim scholar from Johor. He was a founding member of the University Socialist Club in 1953, serving as Financial Secretary in the first Central Working Committee. He was also involved in the Fajar controversy because of his contribution to the Fajar magazine and occasional attendance at group meetings although he was not the member of the Fajar editorial board. Woodhull eventually became a prominent union advisor and leader of the Singapore Naval Base Labour Union. Together with other trade unionists, Woodhull was officially recruited into the

on 21 November 1954. He was detained by the police after the Chinese middle school riots in 1956. Following his release after the PAP gained power in 1959, Woodhull was appointed as the Political Secretary to the Ministry of Health. Woodhull was one of the thirteen PAP left-wingers who were expelled from the PAP on 20 July 1961, he later joined the

on 29 July 1961 as was made its Vice Chairman. On 26 October 1962, Woodhull married Peng Tsu Ping, who was also a graduate of University of Malaya and a librarian at the

University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University. The university offers degree program ...

at the Singapore Registry witnessed by Secretary-General of Barisan Sosialis

Lim Chin Siong Lim Chin Siong (; 28 February 1933 – 5 February 1996) was a Singaporean politician and union leader active in Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s. He was one of the founders of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), which has governed the ...

and Dr Gopal Baratham. Woodhull was against the PAP proposal for merger with Malaysian Federation, calling it a political "strait jacket". He was arrested and detained without trial under

Operation Coldstore Operation Coldstore was the code name for a covert anti-communist security operation that took place in Singapore on 2 February 1963, which was then an internally self-governing state within the British Empire. It led to the arrest of 113 peop ...

in February 1963. He was released afterward and exiled to

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

in November. He later went to London to study law. Woodhull returned to Kuala Lumpur where he was called to the Malaysian Bar in 1967. He was a partner with law firm of Shearn Delamore & Co. He was allowed to return to Singapore in 1990. He retired from law practice in December 2000.

Death

Woodhull died on 26 November 2003 at the age of 71 at a Singapore Hospital after heart surgery. His wake was held at the Mount Vernon Columbarium at night in 28 November and his cremated remains was later brought back to

. He is survived by his wife Peng, his daughters Anashuya and Anuita, his son Anshumann, and a granddaughter Lara Sayana Bell.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodhull, Sandrasegaran 1932 births 2003 deaths People's Action Party politicians Singaporean prisoners and detainees Barisan Sosialis politicians

Biography

Death

See also

References