Enigmas

Enigmas is a memoir of Tay Seow Huah, written by his son, revealing the personal roots of Singapore's pioneer spy chief set in the traumas of WWII, the Emergency in Malaya, and Singapore's pre-independence political tumult.

1965. Singapore is newly independent. Tay Seow Huah is appointed Director of the secretive Special Branch. Over the tumultuous first decade, he is key in ensuring the country's stability, shaping strategies and initiating new institutions for intelligence and security. He reports directly to PM Lee. In 1974, when Singapore is attacked in the Laju Incident - the oil refinery on Pulau Bukom is bombed and civilians held hostage at gun point - and Tay is tasked to coordinate all responses, negotiate with the attackers and foreign governments.

Encounters with the Israelis (codenamed "Mexicans") who assisted in Singapore's military build up are revealed, as are flash points across the region, when the Republic's fledgling intelligence agency must rapidly respond to the Vietnam War and tensions with neighbours and develop its place in the world.

This book also tracks Tay's own challenges: early retirement and his sudden death at 47. It then offers a daring, speculative and emotional conversation that juxtaposes those early years of Singapore with so much that has happened since.