[Talk] Operation Cleeves, SOE's Forgotten Wartime Tragedy in Thailand

Details

Title: [TALK] Operation Cleeves, SOE's Forgotten Wartime Tragedy in Thailand

Speaker: Ms. Kate Reid-Smith and Mr. Steve Wright

Moderators: Mr. Steve Wright and Dr. Tan Chee Seng

Date: Friday, August 15th

Time: 2:00 – 3:30 pm

Venue: Conference Hall, Penang Institute.

Registration (For Physical Attendance): https://bit.ly/KRS-TALK

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Note: Entrance to this event is FREE. Join us in person or watch the live stream on Penang Institute's Facebook and YouTube channel.

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On December 8, 1941, Malaya, then under British administration, began to be occupied by Japanese forces. This occupation would last for three years and eight months, profoundly impacting post-war Malayan society.

As we approach the 84th anniversary of this pivotal event, it prompts us to reflect on its lasting implications. In this talk, Ms. Kate Reid-Smith will discuss her latest book, Operation Cleeves: SOE's Forgotten Wartime Tragedy in Thailand, which explores the overlooked role of Penang during World War II. Her research reveals a previously unknown chapter in Penang's crucial involvement in the first British Special Operations Executive (Far East) covert planning behind enemy lines in December 1941. These new perspectives reveal Penang's previously unrecognized role in orchestrating small-scale sabotage and demolition operations planned for Southern Thailand during Japan's invasion on December 8, 1941.

Following Ms. Kate Reid-Smith’s presentation, there will be a panel discussion featuring her, Mr. Steve Wright, and Dr. Tan Chee Seng.

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About The Speakers

Ms. Kate Reid-Smith is a former military officer, now military and intelligence historian. She specializes in uncovering, investigating and bringing to light covert Southeast Asian World War Two history, including SOE and other behind-enemy-lines operations. Kate has lived, worked and travelled extensively in and around Southeast Asia, and now finds herself with a travel addiction of purposefully stumbling upon old wartime-related books, stories and photographs, and has turned into a bit of a snob about laksa. She writes in the witching hours which suit her best, then spends the rest of the day trying to impress her wayward cat named Calico, that she does not own Kate’s writing desk.

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About The Moderators

Mr. Steve Wright was born to a Eurasian mother and English father in London in 1961. He embraces his mixed-race heritage and has been actively engaged in pursuing the family history and stories passed on by his maternal grandmother who moved to Kuala Lumpur from her birthplace in Borneo in the 1920's. The family, with his mother aged 2, escaped Singapore on the last Red Cross convoy to sail for India in February 1942 before returning after the war and subsequently relocating to the UK in 1956. Steve has also been fortunate to inherit his grandmother's cooking skills and passion for eastern cuisine which he is pleased to pass on to his three sons. He is Global Design Director for a major pharmaceutical organisation spending his time leading the creation of world-leading workplace environments. His career has afforded the opportunity to work and live across all regions of the world from Asia Pacific to The Americas. Steve is a regular speaker on the international Architecture and Design conference circuit.

Dr. Tan Chee Seng (Ph.D. in Chinese Studies, National University of Singapore) is currently the Chairperson and Senior Lecturer in the History Section at the School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). He was a Visiting Student at the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, in 2010 and 2011. His research focuses on modern Chinese history and the history of Overseas Chinese. He has published academic papers in Chinese, English, and Malay in both local and international journals. He has also been invited to deliver keynote speeches and presentations in Fuzhou (2018), Shanghai (2019), Penang (2024), and at Academia Sinica in Taipei (2025). Currently, he serves as the Vice President of the Malaysia Silk Road Society.

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