They would refresh their memories if they read up old written materials, speeches, press cuttings, notes, letters and photos. It is worth the effort.

MPs are important actors in determining Singapore's history. I encourage all MPs, including those who opposed the PAP, to give their accounts of the past.

They will give a multi-dimensional view of past events and provide richness and texture to the story.

World War II accounts, whether in books, on TV or on film, that draw on sources from all parties, the Allies, Germans, Russians and Japanese, make fascinating reading because they give a three-dimensional depth to past events.

When writing memoirs, you are talking to posterity. Among them will be historians who will check what you write against the accounts of others. So do not shade the past.

I respected Chin Peng, so I asked to see him when he was in Singapore.

However, the Plen was a disappointment. He avoided the facts. Chin Peng did not.

Lee Kuan Yew

Minister Mentor