Sydney Woodhull

Biography

Sandrasegaran Woodhull, sometimes referred as "Sandra", "Sydney" or "Sidney" in the press, entered the University of Malaya in 1951 as a Sultan Librahim scholar from Johor. He was a founding member of the Socialist Club in 1953, serving as Financial Secretary in the first Central Working Committee. He was also involved in the Fajar controversy because of his contribution to the Fajar magazine and occasional attendance at group meetings although he was not the member of the Fajar editorial board.

Woodhull eventually became a prominent union advisor and leader of the Singapore Naval Base Labour Union. Together with other trade unionists, Woodhull was officially recruited into the People's Action Party. He was detained by the police after the Chinese middle school riots in 1956. Following his release after the PAP gained power in 1959, Woodhull was appointed as the Political Secretary to the Ministry of Health.

When the PAP split in 1961, he joined the Barisan Sosialis. Woodhull was against the PAP proposal for merger with Malaysian Federation, calling it a political "strait jacket". He was arrested and detained without trial under Operation Coldstore in 1963 and exiled to Kuala Lumpur. He was released in November that year and went to London to study law. Woodhull returned to Kuala Lumpur where he was called to the Malaysian Bar in 1967. He was a partner with law firm of Shearn Delamore & Co. for three decades until his retirement in December 2000. He passed away in 2003 at a Singapore Hospital after heart surgery.