I refer to the launching of Kou Yok Ling's 'tell-all' book on the Nanyang takeover. It was with great sadness that I read of yet another conspiracy which has been an open secret for the past few years.

In the 1970s, when I was practising law in Singapore under David Marshall, we were acting for the boss of the Nanyang Siang Pau, the eldest and the youngest of the Lee brothers who was detained under the ISA on charges of, inter alia, 'black operations'. Nanyang Siang Pau had been fiercely independent then, hence incurring the wrath of the Singapore government.

The Lee brothers suffered greatly for defending the great tradition of press freedom but I like to think posterity will make the final judgment on this black period in the history of Singapore. Just as posterity will judge all those who were part of the conspiracy that Kou's book talks about.

What was Nanyang's 'crime' in highlighting the disgraceful misappropriation of the MCA's Chang Ming Tian Education Fund of about RM10 million? This was a despicable misappropriation of funds meant for poor Chinese students.

Education is a subject revered by the Chinese community. The failure of the MCA trustees to carry out the terms of the trust fund caused the family of the late Chang Ming Tian to sue about 10 years after the fund was first set up.

Allegations about what exactly happened to the fund have been documented in the court case which the Chang family won. It was a sorry tale which had to be told to the Chinese community. What was Nanyang's 'crime'?

I would like to thank Kou Yok Ling for documenting the conspiracy for posterity. One day when the Great Malaysian Graveyard is finally swept clean of the skeletons, his book will be put to good use.