Hijacking of Laju


On 31 January 1974, two Japanese claiming to be members of the Japanese Red Army and two Arabs from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (Dolnick, 2007, pp. 81-82) attacked oil storage tanks at Pulau Bukom. They had united as an act of solidarity with revolutionary forces in Vietnam to retaliate against imperialism and disrupt the oil supply from Singapore to South Vietnam. This event came to be known as the Laju hijacking.

 

The group began its operation from PSA (Port of Singapore Authority) Gate 9. They offered a boatman named Yeo Chua Fatt S$25 to take them fishing. Believing they were fishing enthusiasts, Yeo agreed (The Straits Times, 17 Feb 1974. p. 8).

 

Terrorists pose as fishing enthusiasts

When the boat reached the Bukom area, the four men attacked Yeo with an engine starter and bound him. They then steered the boat, which ran into a rock. They spotted a second boat and beckoned the boatman to go over and when he did so, the four jumped into the water and waded to the beach. Reaching their objective, the four men planted plastic explosives on three oil tanks that could hold about 5,000 tons of crude oil each. The bombs exploded and left holes 8in to 12in wide in the tanks. One of the tanks burst into flames but firemen quickly put out the fire. The damage was estimated at S$30,000 and the loss of crude fuel oil at S$15,000.

 

Laju hijacked and crew taken hostage

The men then seized a small Straits Steamship ferryboat named Laju that brought Shell employees to and from Bukom. The gang then ordered the crew to sail to international waters. Two hostages escaped by jumping into the sea (The Straits Times,1 Feb 1974, p. 1).

 

Police were notified of the Pulau Bukom attack at 11:50 am. By 12:20 pm, police patrol boats had spotted the Laju near Sisters' Islands and moved in to intercept it. As the police neared the ferryboat, one of the four men shouted a warning that if the police came nearer, they would blow up the boat with high explosives and the hostages and themselves as well. One of the terrorists threw a plastic bag into the waters towards the police. It contained a message written in English. Between 1:15 pm to 1:30 pm, the Laju came to a stop in the Eastern Anchorage and negotiations soon began. At 3:00 pm, the hijackers sent a second message through the ferry’s radiotelephone via Pulau Bukom. They wanted to establish communications with Tokichiro Uomoto, the Japanese Ambassador to Singapore. The Ambassador arrived later in the evening and spoke to the hijackers from a police boat. He became the principal figure in negotiations with the terrorists for their safe passage out of Singapore (The Straits Times, 2 Feb 1974, p. 7).

 

On 1 February, negotiations became difficult as the bombers refused to surrender their arms. They also demanded for a plane to take them to an Arab country and have some hostages under their control, including Uomoto. However, the Singapore and Japanese governments could not agree over who should provide the bombers with a plane which in turn increased the terrorists' impatience (The Straits Times, 2 Feb 1974, p. 1).

 

Offer of asylum

The following day, the Singapore government offered the hijackers bunkers and a crew to sail the Laju out of Singapore to any destination of their choice. However, on 3 February, the hijackers rejected Singapore’s offer to ferry them to international waters and insisted that a flight be arranged for them instead. The Singapore government took the initiative in negotiations and looked for Arab countries that would accept the hijackers. It also searched for airlines that were prepared to fly them out. However, before the flight could be arranged, the terrorists had to be disarmed (The Straits Times, 6 Feb 1974. p. 1).

 

On 4 February, the Singapore government offered the hijackers asylum in any diplomatic mission of their choice in Singapore. The following day, the hijackers asked to seek asylum at the North Korean diplomatic mission in Singapore (The Straits Times, 6 Feb 1974. p. 1).

 

Negotiations took an unexpected turn when Japanese and Arab terrorists in Kuwait stormed the Japanese embassy on 6 February. They demanded that Japan send a Japan Air Lines (JAL) plane to Singapore. The Japanese government agreed to send a specially charted plane to pick up the hijackers (The Straits Times, 7 Feb 1974, p. 1).

 

Hijackers surrender arms, hostages freed

A JAL DC-8-62 plane flew from Tokyo on 7 February and arrived at Paya Lebar airport in Singapore, where the hijackers surrendered their arms. At 1:25 am on 8 February, the terrorists left Singapore for Kuwait. The hostages, Omar Ahmad, Ulot bin Idris and Mohammed bin Nik and all crew members of the Laju were freed.

 

Government guarantee safe passage, 13 Singapore guarantors honored

As a guarantee of safe passage, the terrorists were accompanied by Japanese officials and several top-ranking Singapore civil servants (The Straits Times, 8 Feb 1974, p. 24). The 13 Singapore officials who accompanied the terrorists were S. R. Nathan, Yoong Siew Wah, Tee Tua Bah (The Straits Times, 9 Aug 1998, p. 22), Seah Wai Toh, Andrew Tan, S. Raja Gopal, Saraj Din, Tan Kim Peng, Gwee Peng Hong, Teo Ah Bah, Tan Lye Kwee, Haji Abu Bakar and Haji Rahman (The Straits Times, 9 Aug 1974, p. 1). Their actions were later commended in Parliament (Parliamentary Debates: Official Reports, 25 March 1974, Vol. 33, col. 802).

 

After the attacks at Pulau Bukom, then Minister for Health and Home Affairs Chua Sian Chin mentioned in Parliament that “the government reviewed the security of all vital installations and also tightened the security of the airport and various entry and landing points” (Parliamentary Debates: Official Reports, 25 March 1974, Vol. 33, col. 802).

Sources

The information in this article is valid as at 2010 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

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