To Jurong With Love

By Tang Lay Lee

To Jurong with Love analyses a coherent story of young Singaporeans, Catholics and others, from 1960 to 2000, around a remarkable Workers Centre at Jurong, an industrial estate in Singapore.

The Review of Life, the method of formation used by the Young Christian Workers Movement inspired hundreds of young men and women to take their painstaking part in building the new society. I doubt there are many comparable pastoral analyses on this scale of church youth leadership in modern society. This record is rare in the way it pursues young people's own initiatives and perspectives.

While numerous groups of young workers form the core of this story, the players include student groups and specialised chaplains. The approval of the island's archbishops was constant.

How the aims of several generations of youth modulated with shifts of the economy, what succeeded and what failed, what depth was achieved, all make To Jurong with Love a page-turner.  It all constitutes an inspiring work-book for those seriously committed to young people becoming active players in church and society.

This account shows that 'fidelity' is no longer a simple thing if it ever was, but requires endless study of interplaying faith and fact as church and society, workers, races, genders, social and movements.

This book will command the respect of anyone even tempted to underestimate youth as agents of our complex new global order. Daily life as a vocation beyond church shines in these 300 pages. 

Like some recent Acts of the Apostles, To Jurong with Love is a first-hand account of how extraordinary ordinary young Kingdom-builders can be.   

Bob Wilkinson
Former Australian YCW and YCS Chaplain at parish and national levels,
and former Pacific YCS Chaplain

• Language: English
• Publisher: Word Image Pte Ltd
• Release date: Apr 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9789811872341

Book preview

To Jurong With LoveTo Jurong With Love

To Jurong With Love

ISBN: 978-981-14-9044-6 (Paperback)

ISBN: 978-981-18-7234-1 (eBook)

© Tang Lay Lee, 2021

Published by Word Image Pte Ltd

28 Sin Ming Lane #06-131

Singapore 573972

URL: www.wordimagesg.com

Email: [e-mail]

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

Printed on 80gsm Woodfree Smooth Cream

Cover design by Fransiska Amelia Narulita

Book layout by Chan Wai Han

Printed by Ho Printing Singapore Pte Ltd

To Jurong With Love

Contents

Foreword

Chapter 1: Introduction — French Midwives

Born in Heroic Times

First midwife—Fr Berthold

Rendel Process

Labour pains

Student woes

10 percent

Second midwife—Fr Amiotte

Three more midwives

Catholic Action and the Bishop

Cardijn’s Belgium

The Steam Engine and the Working Class

Catholic liberalists and the Church leaders

The working class and the Church

Cardijn—reality before theory

The Trade Union Youth

The French Connection

From French YCW to French YCS and JV

Why?

The Belgian Connection

Non-Christian mission country and the alternative approach

The Communist factor

Fr Bêcheras and the Catholic High School

The First YCWs in Singapore

1957: From Singapore to Rome

To build a new world

Growing with YCW in Singapore

Fr Paul Tong

Only workers know better the problems of workers

Chapter 2: Parish to Periphery

Singapore: 1961

Rio International Council: labour movement, worker consciousness

Growing YCW in parishes

Chinatown Girl to YCW Full-timer

Bangkok International Council 1965

Merger and separation

Freddy and the Timber Graders’ Union

YCWs and the Union World

The Cardijn Movements and the Second Vatican Council

The YCW, The Archbishop and the Minister for Home Affairs

Time for you to take over, Teresa!

Tax holidays and working conditions

From Beirut to Jurong

Jurong Workers Centre

Chapter 3: Supergirls, Wonderwomen

You must be working in Paradise!

Pink Shirts

Welcome to the Electronics World

Let’s stop work for one day!

Rocky road to SILO

Fairchild Lockout/Strike

Cartoon characters

Truth

Chapter 4: Priests in Jurong

Welcome to Jurong!

Joseph of Taman Jurong

The Archbishop and the Prime Minister

Gulf Plastics girls and the American Ambassador

The Group of 15+ and the Archbishop

The Centre and what is good for the workers

The Priest and the Human Rights Committee

The Linz Council and workers of all religions

The Linz Principles and the Jurong Workers’ Centre

The Worker Priest at the Workers’ Centre

The Spyros Effect: From Serangoon to Jurong

Chapter 5: Angels, Saints and Demons

Where are you going, my friend?

YCW Jurong Centre

Brave New World

Good bye low tech

The Jurong Project

‘Ban 12-Hour Shift!’

GEHMO Days: Before the Big Slump

The Big Slump

Retrenchment Project

The International IYCW and The Split

Breakfast at GEHMO: After the Big Slump

Fallout

Keeping track

Chapter 6: Battered… But not broken

At the Airport

Three is better than half

Midnight Doraemon

1987

‘We Want Work to Build Families’

5am 21 May

Prelude

Keep calm... hold your head up high

Dialogue

Day of Honour

If we do right, be not afraid

The Bigger Picture

In Harmony

Chapter 7: Go not gently

‘Children of a Lesser God?’

PIS—Post-Industrial Singapore

Gen X YCW

Wah—What has retrenchment got to do with faith?

‘Of new things’

Tall man for the long haul

Hail, young workers!

‘At work, choose life...!’

Parish Revival

What do young people need?

Belonging

Becoming leaders

Group experiences

Labour Day celebrations

Go not gently into the night

The quiet one

The last full-timer

What is your dream?

Chapter 8: Actions speak louder than words

See Judge ACT?

Action Man

Never study, how can win??

The Fax

Chapter 9: Circles

Study circles

Life, at the Centre

Rising to the occasion

Steady

Drama of life

One young woman

Another young woman

Creative

It’s our life!

Growing with respect

Overseas encounters

‘Young women workers, let’s build the future’

Making a difference

Last but not the least

Chapter 10: To Jurong With Love

Bouquets

Photo Memories

YCW—1960s to 1970s

YCW Centre Programmes

Formation Programmes

Outreach and Celebrations

Labour Day—Building Workers' Solidarity

Labour Day Celebrations

Appendices

APPENDIX 1: Declaration of Principles

APPENDIX 2: The Review of Life Method

APPENDIX 3: YCW Full-timers through the years

APPENDIX 4: YCW Chaplains through the years

Memories of YCW Days

Foreword

In November 2017, former members of Young Christian Workers Movement (YCW) gathered at Agape Village to reflect and share on their experiences in YCW. Many spoke about how YCW transformed their lives and deepened their faith. They agreed to put on record how they lived their faith through YCW.

To Jurong with Love narrates how YCW evangelised in the world of work during that period. It began with Fr Joseph Ho who initiated the ministry to young industrial workers in Jurong, starting the Jurong Workers Centre in 1971 and visiting workers in the hostels, assisted by a few friends.

In 1974, Fr Patrick Goh opted to leave the comforts of parish life to devote himself to the workers’ ministry. Soon he brought in the YCW leaders and its experience, followed by catholic graduates of the Catholic Students Society of Singapore Polytechnic, Catholic Students Society of National University of Singapore and Nanyang University Catholic Students Association. Together with the workers they formed a growing community, at the service of workers in Jurong. They made tremendous sacrifice every week after work, travelling to Jurong with love—to help out in the various activities and projects for the workers. From 1971 to 1987, two promising young priests opted to live among young industrial workers. They enjoyed moral and financial support from Archbishop M Olcomendy and Gregory Yong.

Tang Lay Lee interviewed more than 43 former YCW members and worker leaders from the YCW Jurong Centre, and six former YCW chaplains. Rich, engaging stories that we can relate to, illustrate how the YCW had contributed to a better workplace and community. Some members testified that the time they spent in YCW infused their lives with a new purpose and orientation.

This book contain stories of Catholics and young workers who took actions to improve the situations they and their fellow workers faced at work and made a positive difference to the lives of workers. The YCWs and their work colleagues prioritised the interests and well-being of the workers, over their own interests. They realised that it was important to organise the workers and to belong to a workers’ movement to overcome common challenges.

Many of the actions emphasised the power of small actions in the gradual process of changing situations and people’s attitude. Our objective in sharing these stories with readers is to encourage others that it is possible to overcome similar challenges. There are many learning points that could be helpful to those working for a better society. This book is a small attempt to pass on the spirit of sacrifice and commitment to workers’ solidarity.

It traces the development of the YCW movement through six decades. The author introduces the economic and political development during that period. The information provides the historical context, and what the situation of workers was like.

During the period of industrialisation and rapid economic development in the 1960s through the 1990s, workers faced many problems at work with consequences on their health, family and social life. They were placed at the service of production and profit. Their dignity and rights were not respected.

The Second Vatican Council saw the opening of the Church to the world. Catholics were called to live out the Catholic Social Teachings at home, work place, and in society, to love others as Christ loves us, to be concerned for their physical, mental and social well-being and to uphold their human dignity. The Church teaches that the promotion and protection of human rights and social justice is an integral part of her mission.

The YCW inspired by Christ’s love for the poor and the Church’s social teachings reached out to the workers, the poor and needy in society, to build a better world. The Jurong Workers Centre is an important base for this purpose. With industrialisation, the forming of trade unions to defend workers’ rights was of paramount importance. YCW members at their workplaces were involved actively in trade unions.

Cardinal Joseph Cardijn, the founder of YCW expressed his wisdom in these simple words, A worker is worth more than all the gold in the world. Above all else, we value the dignity of the worker, a person, created in the image of God. He founded the YCW in 1925 in Belgium in response to workers’ needs and problems. He encouraged young workers to think for themselves and to take responsibility for their own lives. He devised the Review of Life method, commonly known as ‘See, Judge and Act’. Today the YCW is an international organisation of the Catholic Church.

Lay Lee began as a team member of the International Movement of Catholic Students followed by full-time work for the tertiary Catholic Student Movement in Singapore. From the 1980s, she was an active volunteer at the YCW Centre. A law graduate, she used her skills to serve the workers especially when they were unfairly treated by their companies. In 1986, she became a full-time staff at the Jurong Workers Centre.

The YCW made a number of surveys and reports on workers’ issues. In the early 1983, the YCW presented a Report on the12-hour shift to the Ministry of Labour, calling for a ban on 12-hour shift. The YCW’s research highlighted the grave consequences of prolonged working hours on workers’ health and well-being. The call for better protection of workers and job security was not well received by the authorities. The legitimate activities of the YCW were interpreted as agitating workers against their employers.

In 1987, Lay Lee was accused of being a member of the alleged Marxist Conspiracy and detained without trial under the Internal Security Act (Operation Spectrum, 1987). The YCW vouched for her innocence and called for her immediate release.

In compiling the sharing of experiences in a book, our hope is that readers and church members might be inspired by the lives and actions of the YCWs to love and serve the poor and needy, to build a better society where workers are respected and valued for their immense contributions to society.

Goh Han Serm, Hans, National President YCW, 1986 to 1988

Fr Patrick Goh, National Chaplain YCW, 1974 to 1987

To Jurong With Love

Chapter 1: Introduction

French Midwives

Born in Heroic Times

To Jurong With Love

W hy did you start the YCW at the parish?

Were you in the YCW in France?

Or the YCS or the littlest ones of the Cardijn movement—the Joyful Vanguard?

Even if you weren’t, you must have known about the JOC (French acronym for YCW) or Joseph Cardijn, the founder?

What did you think about the YCW in France?

What was it about the YCW that made you think it would fit well with young working people at Sts Peter and Paul?

These would be some of the questions for both Fr Hippolyte Berthold¹ and Fr Louis Amiotte-Suchet.² Fr Berthold was the first midwife to the first one or two YCW groups in Singapore. Fr Amiotte was the second, but he was not working alone. Perhaps, it might have turned out to be a fascinating conversation. Or perhaps not, since a face-to-face conversation is not possible—Fr Berthold died in 1995, Fr Amiotte in 1998. Nevertheless a peek into the background of each, the MEP, the Belgian-French Connection, and post-War Singapore might yield a clue or two.

To Jurong With Love

First midwife—Fr Berthold

For sure, Fr Berthold saw the best of human beings, and the worst, in the Malayan jungle in the mid-1940s. He went to Bahau camp during the Japanese occupation to accompany the Singapore Christian exiles there. Together with several other religious men and women, Fr Berthold worked with the exiles to clear the jungle to make way for food gardens, fought against malaria, and survived the tribulations under the Japanese army.

Fr Berthold returned to Singapore after the war. Before the Japanese overran the Malay Peninsula, Fr Berthold had spent a year learning Teochew at the parish of Sts Peter and Paul in Queen Street. In 1950, Fr Berthold was posted once again to the same parish in the heart of town. This time, he was assistant to the parish priest, Fr Edward Bêcheras. A year later, they were joined by Fr Pierre Abrial³ after his expulsion from China. The horrors of war and the sufferings of the people after the war affected them deeply. The three priests were moved to work hard caring for the parish community struggling to survive. With the help of the Marist Brothers who specialised in education, Fr Bêcheras set about reviving the Catholic High School, which he had built in 1937 before the war.

Catholic High was a bilingual school, students were taught in English and Mandarin. Fr Abrial taught catechism and visited the Chinese within the community. Fr Berthold tended to the poor, setting up St Vincent de Paul groups to care for those in poverty and in need. That must have kept him busy enough. Instead, Fr Berthold decided to set up a couple of YCW groups in the parish. Why? Well, the year was 1954. The year after the British launched their political plan for Singapore. The year when Chinese middle school students protested the 1953 National Service Ordinance.⁴ The year before the Hock Lee Bus strike which turned into a riot.⁵

Rendel Process

After the end of World War II and the Japanese army surrender, Singapore returned to British hands. Relief and some semblance of peace reigned but not for long. The Cold War cast a long shadow, food and other daily necessities were in short supply, poverty and desperation fuelled crime and violence. The British imposed emergency regulations in 1948 to curb communist activities. Tiny Singapore was soon caught up in the throes of self-determination and independence struggles sweeping across South East Asia. Those were times of chaos, confusion, conflict, betrayal, fury and sorrow. Those, too, were days of idealism, convictions, visions, courage and heroism.

The British Government had to manage the volatile situation before it spiralled out of control. Plans were made to afford some form of self-government for Singapore to appease the rising demands for self-determination and independence. In July 1953, a nine-man constitutional commission headed by George Rendel was set up to study the constitutional status of Singapore. Seven months later, the Rendel Constitutional Commission Report to the Governor Sir John Fearns Nicoll recommended some form of internal self-government to increase local participation in politics: a single-chamber Legislative Assembly coupled with popular election of two-thirds of its members and automatic registration of voters.⁶ On 8 February 1955, the Rendel Constitution became law. On 3 April 1955, the first Legislative Assembly General Elections were held.⁷ The Labour Front won 10 out of 25 seats at the elections, ahead of five other parties. On 6 April 1955, David Marshall of the Labour Front became the first Chief Minister of Singapore,⁸ just before the Hock Lee Bus protests which began on 23 April 1955.⁹ Students from the Chinese middle school student union supported the workers of the Singapore Bus Workers Union in the protests. The strike ended on 12 May 1955, with the clash between the police and about 2000 strikers; four persons died and 31 were injured.

Labour pains

Passions ran high in 1954 and 1955 Singapore. Life was tough, people survived from day to day, maybe week to week. Food and a place to stay, the rest were luxuries beyond the reach of most families, even those with jobs. Wages were chasing inflation striding way ahead. Prices of goods rose 19% from 1950 to 1955; wages creeping along at 0.8%.¹⁰ Emergency regulations had eased after the Rendel Constitution came into effect. Trade unions mushroomed. In 1946, there were just 11 trade unions; by 1955, there were 236 as workers became more and more upset about wages and working conditions.¹¹ In the eyes of the workers, the post-war colonial administration was not only corrupt and inefficient, but also responsible for the awful situation they were in. Workers in trade unions, pursuing wage rise and decent working conditions, were thwarted by employers. Putting their business interests first, the employers refused to recognise unions. Even worse, they formed pro-management unions, such as the Hock Lee Employees Union, to break worker solidarity.

Student woes

Students were just as upset as the workers with the colonial administration, especially Chinese middle school students. They perceived that colonial educational policies discriminated against them. The colonial administration’s post-war social programmes in Singapore included setting up English-medium schools. Chinese students and teachers resented this policy as the administration did not fund Chinese middle schools, which had to rely on the Chinese community. The colonial administration seemed to favour English-educated students. The 1950 School Registration Ordinance allowed the administration to close Chinese schools deemed to be involved in subversive activities. The National Service Ordinance passed in December 1953 added to their grievances. They saw too their future in the way the workers were suffering under the colonial administration and the employers.

10 percent

The Rendel process failed to reassure the students, nor the workers, that their plight would be taken seriously. The student demonstration against the National Service Ordinance on 13 May 1954 turned into a clash with the police. 24 persons were injured, and 48 students arrested. More demonstrations followed, as opposition against colonial rule gained momentum. The turnout for the Legislative Assembly General Elections less than a year later was telling. Slightly over half of those eligible to vote went to the polls in April 1955. Meanwhile, from March to June 1955, there were 129 strikes involving 31,000 workers driven by frustration over low wages and poor working conditions and fears for the life and future of their families.¹² The Hock Lee Bus workers strikes were followed by two other major strikes—the Singapore Harbour Board workers strikes at the end of April 1955 and the Singapore Traction Company Bus workers strikes in September 1955. At the end of the day, these strikes saw the workers’ pay increased by about 10% an hour.¹³

Second midwife—Fr Amiotte

Fr Louis Amiotte-Suchet was expelled from China in May 1955. Fr Amiotte and Fr Abrial were among twenty MEP missionaries in China who were deported after the Communists drove Chiang Kai Shek’s Kuomintang off the mainland and set up the PRC (People’s Republic of China). One year later, Fr Amiotte was posted to Singapore. He arrived in July 1956, a missionary on a new mission, according to the archives of the MEP. Meanwhile, the Archdiocese of Malacca (including Singapore and the Malay Peninsula) was divided up in 1955. Penang and Kuala Lumpur became separate dioceses. Archbishop Michel Olçomendy became bishop of Malacca, Johore and Singapore. Fr Vendargon of St Anthony’s parish in Kuala Lumpur became bishop of Kuala Lumpur. Fr Francis Chan, parish priest of the Church of the Nativity, became the bishop of Penang. Fr Berthold left Sts Peter and Paul to take his place at Nativity Church.

To Jurong With Love

Fr Amiotte was ready for the action in Singapore, arriving at the tail end of the unrest, strikes and protests. Apparently, Bishop Olçomendy was keen to develop YCW, YCS and Joyful Vanguard (JV) groups—the unique Catholic Action movements.¹⁴ Fr Berthold’s transfer to Nativity must have left the first one or two YCW groups feeling a little lost. Fr Amiotte seemed like the chaplain to fill Fr Berthold’s shoes, and more. Fr Amiotte made a beeline for parishes, seeking potential members from youth groups to build the YCW and sister movements. He revived the YCW groups at Sts Peter and Paul and started new YCW groups at Holy Family Church in Katong.

To Jurong With Love

Three more midwives

Energetic and enthusiastic, Fr Amiotte found kindred spirits among his MEP brothers across the causeway, who had also been expelled from China. Their efforts fostered the growth of the Catholic Action movements on the Malay Peninsula and Singapore. Fr Pierre Decroocq¹⁵ launched the YCW in Kuala Lumpur towards the end of 1957 after his holiday in France. In 1958, Fr Decroocq became the National Chaplain of YCW for the Malay Peninsula, including Singapore at the time. Besides developing the YCS in Malaya and starting the YCW in Burma in 1960, Fr Decroocq was drawn into the regional and international meetings and extension work, with the young leaders of YCW. Meanwhile, Fr Leon Diffon was taking care of the Chinese community in Klang from 1954 to 1960.¹⁶ Together with a French nun, he launched the JV, the children’s Catholic Action movement in 1956/7. Fr Diffon went on to become the South East Asian Chaplain for the JVs. Fr Aime Julien set up the Heng Ee High School in 1957 in Penang but also found time to pioneer YCW groups in Penang.¹⁷

To Jurong With Love

This remarkable team of chaplains, and the members of the three Catholic Action movements met several times over the next few years to prepare joint campaigns of actions. For the YCW, YCS and the JV, talk without action was meaningless. They were movements true to the spirit and tradition of their founder, Joseph Cardijn, and recognised by the Popes as an authentic form of Catholic Action.¹⁸ Their tireless efforts led to more young people—working youth, secondary and primary school students—joining the YCW, the YCS and the JV in Malaya and Singapore.

To Jurong With Love

Catholic Action and the Bishop

Back in Singapore, Fr Amiotte was appointed assistant to Fr Paul Munier at the Church of the Holy Family in 1960. He did not forget the YCW groups he had been nurturing. He made sure that a local diocesan priest would take over the chaplaincy for the groups at Saints Peter and Paul. Involving local priests in the Catholic Action movements was clearly part of the MEP mission to build the local clergy in Singapore. By then, YCW groups were thriving at the parishes of Saints Peter and Paul, the Holy Family, St Joseph’s (Victoria St), St Bernadette, Our Lady of Lourdes, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady Queen of Peace and St Francis Xavier. He was the chaplain for the groups at the Holy Family Church. Fr Amiotte would continue to support young full-timers building up YCW groups in the far corners of Singapore well into the 1960s.

In turn, Bishop Olçomendy was quietly and solidly behind Fr Amiotte and the priests, both MEPs and local ones, drawn to the new venture in more and more parishes—the YCW, the YCS and the JV. The Cardijn movements were the forerunner of the apostolate of the laity—meaning that priests and religious are apostles but so too are lay or ordinary Catholics. Cardijn was clear that ordinary Catholics must witness to their Christian faith at home, at work, in society. No priest or religious can do that for them. Not even Cardijn.

So, what moved working girls as young as 12 and 13 in the poor working-class neighbourhood of Laeken in Brussels to become the pioneers of the YCW in Belgium before World War I? What did they understand about being apostles? What prompted the MEPs in Singapore and Malaya to pioneer the Catholic Action movements in the parishes after World War II? Here’s a