About this ebook
The Review of Life, the method of formation used by the Young Christian Workers Movement inspired hundreds of young men and women to take their painstaking part in building the new society. I doubt there are many comparable pastoral analyses on this scale of church youth leadership in modern society. This record is rare in the way it pursues young people’s own initiatives and perspectives.
While numerous groups of young workers form the core of this story, the players include student groups and specialised chaplains. The approval of the island’s archbishops was constant.
How the aims of several generations of youth modulated with shifts of the economy, what succeeded and what failed, what depth was achieved, all make To Jurong with Love a page-turner. It all constitutes an inspiring work-book for those seriously committed to young people becoming active players in church and society.
This account shows that ‘fidelity’ is no longer a simple thing if it ever was, but requires endless study of interplaying faith and fact as church and society, workers, races, genders, social and movements.
This book will command the respect of anyone even tempted to underestimate youth as agents of our complex new global order. Daily life as a vocation beyond church shines in these 300 pages.
Like some recent Acts of the Apostles, To Jurong with Love is a first-hand account of how extraordinary ordinary young Kingdom-builders can be.
Bob Wilkinson
Former Australian YCW and YCS Chaplain at parish and national levels,
and former Pacific YCS Chaplain
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About the author
Tang Lay Lee was a member of the Asian Team of the International Movement of Catholic Students followed by full-time work for the Catholic Students Society of Singapore Polytechnic.
From the 1980s, Tang was an active volunteer at the YCW Centre. A law graduate, she used her skills to serve the workers especially when they were unfairly treated by their companies. In December 1986, she informally became a full-time staff member of YCW, then officially from the beginning of 1987.
In the mid-1980s, YCW’s call for better protection of workers and job security was not well received by the authorities. The legitimate activities of the YCW were interpreted as agitating workers against employers.
Lay Lee was imprisoned without trial in the infamous episode of the alleged Marxist conspiracy (Operation Spectrum) in 1987. Following her release, she worked with refugees in Hong Kong and on refugee and migrant worker issues.
