61
filthy and evil-smelling room, infested by mosquitoes and
other insects, and he found his position so intolerable that
at last he consented to give a draft payable at three days
sight for $1,000 and signed a statement that he had been
fined for the illicit use of opium.
9.
It was 4.0 a.m. on the 11th instant before he was
released, having been in the hands of the Bureau for twelve
or fourteen hours.
10.
I immediately wrote to the Commissioner for Foreign
Affairs (Enclo. No.2) protesting against this outrage and
requesting that the draft be cancelled and that he would deal
with the case with all possible severity. I need hardly say
that nothing was done. On the 13th instant the Opium
Suppression Bureau sent one of their employees, accompanied by
armed men, to the bank on which the draft had been drawn, and
the draft was cashed. I again protested and expressed in
very strong terms my views of the case (helo. No. 4).
11.
The Opium Suppression Bureau and the Commissioner for
Foreign Affairs, who are of course fully aware that the action
taken against Low Peng Kiah cannot in any conceivable circum-
stances be justified, now maintain that Low is a Chinese
citizen and that the case is no concern of mine. They base
this argument on the alleged admission by Low that he was a
native of Chao An. The facts that he repeatedly asserted
that he was born at Singapore, that he has for many years
been recognized by the local authorities as a British subject
and that he did not sign the so-called "evidence" are
ignored and the deliberate falsification of his statement by
a band of unscrupulous ruffians is considered sufficient
grounds for establishing Low Peng Kiah's Chinese nationality.
12.
In support of Low's claim to be a British subject, I
have
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.