From Martyn See’s blog, Singpore Rebel:
Below is an excerpt from the newly-published The Fajar Generation.
The Barisan Sosialis was then the strongest political force in Singapore and its leadership united and staunchly anti-colonial in their outlook. That was the reason for the alarm. That it believed in democracy and constitutional struggle and was expected to win in any free and fair election was the reason for repressive action. The PAP was afraid of the odium that would go with repression while the colonial power was still around, afraid of going the Lim Yew Hock way. But the PAP leadership desired repression to save itself; thus its neurotic behaviour.
In a conversation with Selkirk, on 28 July 1961, at time of the formation of the Barisan Sosialis, Moore reported Lee Kuan Yew’s tactics in the following terms:
He went on to suggest that in order to avoid the Communists taking over, he would create a situation in which the UK Commissioner would be forced to suspend the Constitution. This might be done either by the Singapore Government inviting a Russian trade mission to Singapore thus forcing a constitutional crisis, or by instigating riots and disorder, requiring the intervention of British troops. I did, however, form the impression that he was quite certain he would lose a general election and was seriously toying with the thought of forcing British intervention in order to prevent his political enemies from forming a government (CO 1030/1149, p. 95, para 3).
Read the full post on Martyn’s blog.
HELP keep the voice of TOC alive!
If you like this article, please consider a small donation to help theonlinecitizen.com stay alive. Please note that we can only accept donations from Singaporeans. Thank you for your assistance.Do you have a flair for writing? Volunteer with us. Email us your full name and contact details to theonlinecitizen@gmail.com
“in order to avoid the Communists taking over,”
This statement might explain, thought it will not forgive, the reason why he suggested it.
1961? what do we expect? legal rights? from who? tactics and techniques. that is the way i see it.
lkm is a old fox. just look at those pair of eyeshe has, like wolf,
What about the 22 professionals and social workers arrested in 1987 and labeled as Marxist conspirators by Lee Kuan Yew? Were these people out to use “violence to overthrow” the PAP? If these are Marxists, then those arrested on 2 Feb 1963 were communists.
What a Revelation!
Time will revealed the truth…slowly the skeleton in the closet will see the light of day.
No mattter how much praise one sings to you to feed your ego…There will always be a dark side of the moon.
I would suggest that people read ‘ My Side of History” by Chin Peng to find out the other side of history. That both sides were locked in a life and death struggle for the streets and for political power
Locke
LKY should have himself arrested since he is the source of the instigation.
How much more suffering will he and his people cause in Singapore is really unknown.
time will also reveal the truths as to who was really behind the ethnic riots of the 1960s.
7) lockeliberal on December 27th, 2009 6.47 pm
This is what real politics is. Everything else is just wayang.
We were always told to avoid confrontation but LKY had actually thought about instigating riots to crush the opposition to his own benefit.
What a joke! He is shown to be a real snake.
We have been paying him 3 million a year. what for?
And he is still alive after almost 50 years? The ‘opposition’ is either too dumb or too inept, possibly both.
Donald
Some of the comments here refuse to see the other side of the equation, that the communist yes real communist of the 1960′s were very much in control of the unions and strikes of the day. Again not because LKY says so, but because Chin Peng himself admitted as much in his own autobiograohy.
So both sides wanted ti use strikes to crush the other. Lets not kid ourselves the communist were not saints in any way, neither was LKY but heck calling LKY the devil and Chin Peng a saint is a bit to extreme as well.
Locke
For those who are interested.
http://www.sginsight.com/xjp/index.php?id=3327
Hi lockeliberal,
In Singapore, PAP sues their opposition opponents bankrupt. Actually, this is quite a common practise in the USA where Republican politicians, supporters and activists sue their Democrat counterparts, and vice versa. I actually think many Singaporeans are too mild to handle such disdain.
what if the commies were actually to practice the current China model and not the extreme old model?
well, we will never know.
What is the reason behind “The 77-year-old doctor wants to tell his side of the singapore story before its too late.” ?
What does he really mean by ‘before its too late’?
Too late for what ? Who?
my taiwanese friend sent me this link, containing six parts commeting my city state early politic, economics etcs.
interestingly part 4-6 mentioning that our economics model, FT policy, IR copying from taiwan.
what interest me from my taiwan friend that our singapore FT policy different from them – that is taiwan foreign talent policy is to invite their own talented peoples from different parts of the world to return to their proud country to contribute to its present economics relevancy and politic vibrancy ie. economics drive politic not politic drives economics.
really kudos to my taiwanese friend knowing their personal democratic rights.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEYjcn_HMc4&feature=related
i have no doubts abt chin peng or lky or lim yew hock or lim chin siong ….
all are out for a political cause with a personal agenda.
the circumstances at that time are totally different from what we see now.
if we are going to say lky was wrong and lim chin siong was right and vice versa, then this debate will not end.
it is simply the survival of the fittest, whichever way, whatever way u use.
i have no idea why all this political shit that is being published so frequently recently and i dun like it because it is causing a divide among my fellow citizens.
all i can say is modern singapore was founded and built by singaporeans and their forefathers, NOT by 1 individual hero.
19) Nick Ong on December 27th, 2009 9.40 pm
Division? This sounds like a slippery slope towards squashing dissent.
There is no corruption in Singapore, and no nepotism. Its just god’s miracle that all the talent is found in one family. Not only that but the male species from the family have super sperm which can even make a ordinary woman into the world’s third most powerful woman. Ain’t that god’s miracle and dogs have three legs
Like many Singaporeans of the older generation, I have lived through the chaotic
era of the sixties where the Socialists or Communists are enamoured by the Cultural Revolution of China, and made life very difficult then, instigating riots and
strikes at bus companies and factories. Teachers of chinese schools like The
Chinese High now called Hwa Chong Institution brainwashed their students to
take part in above activities, and many students even sneaked to China to join the
Red Guards in the revolution there. My husband was one such zealous student and had to be dragged home before he could board the ship to China.
History seems to be repeating itself in today’s younger Singaporeans in their idealism about these former political detainees.
We have to be objective to separate facts from fiction-telling.
#popcorn, i only see Lee family running this country, from MM, PM, GLC ….
Are the PAP the communists of yesterday?
Donaldson
You know that comparison is not apt and not true in anyway. I would suggest we get back to the topic and era at hand. Were the communist of that era real or imaginary ? Were they responsible for instigating strikes or not ?
Locke
I think the key lies in asking America….if there was support given to Singapore….where, when , to whom….
mid 60′s was turbulent…and the commi threat was the greatest…..did anyone use or take advantage of this….
I think we are only looking at the tip of the iceburg….perhaps in time….USA might shed more light.
So, what i mean is, no one really knows ALL the Truths given the fact that we only have access to info that we can get our hand on – We Do Not know for sure what are ALL the Truths.
The more dark secrets about the Hatchet Man are revealed, the greater my revulsion for him. If all the skeletons in the cupboard are finally exposed for all to see, I think our country will need more than one day of cooling off for the citizens to recover from the shock.
remember that he didn’t give a straight answer to Catherine Lee.. even recently. that shows you what may happen in the near future.
@popcorn,
get your facts straight before you come and bull here.
The “Cultural Revolution” started in 1966. one year after Singapore independence.
Those bus companies and students strikes were in the 1950s, how are they related?
And if you want to find any resemblance of history with the current PAP ruled Singapore, it will be more like……..eh sorry , cannot find one …….cos Singapore is Unique…… it even pay $3 mil a year for a senile old man just to do forecasting….. even Kim Jong Il also no fight…..
president also cannot vote… singapore where got democracy…….
Those who lack real mental strength will use force or trap to use force to tackle.It may be right now since singapore story is of success in lot of perspective.It is easy to cut down a tree but the goodness it provided prevail so too the concept of people who died for good cause .
#31 ((It may be right now since singapore story is of success in lot of perspective.It is easy to cut down a tree but the goodness it provided prevail so too the concept of people who died for good cause ))
What success? The economy is in a tailspin with GDP contraction of close to 10 per cent. A senile old man who is drawing close to $4 million has put his incompetent son as prime minister and his inept daughter-in-law to squander away our reserves and hard-earned CPF savings.
Foreigners offering cheap labour are flooding the place to boost the economic numbers so that the PAP parasites could continue to help themselves to millions of dollars in what they call salary while our workers have to struggle with great stress and uncertainty.
laulee already sold his soul/country durin the nipponese invasion of singapoor
he blast into a courtroom with his 7 bodyguards @ belinda ang court hearin without bein charged while ms ang can charged a few fellos for wearin a kangoroo t-shirts..last but not least leekuanyew would crushed 200,000 students just to save himself and some foreign talent aliens
what else is leekuanyew not capable of? beside commandeerin an sia 747 jumbo into his private air ambulance within 72 hours and flies for FREE?
[i]We have to be objective to separate facts from fiction-telling[/i]
and now leekuanyew asked/command you all to learn mandarin speakin and invest in china
is this a fiction as well?
so who is tellin the truth here?
limsiasuayed AGAIN?
Communism is dead and crushed, for all that it’s worth, I’m pleased that it did.
Without a stable foundation, democracy cannot be sustainable in the long term.
1)What success?
Success means better than others as far a country is concerned.It is true singapore has grown.
To meet that end who ever devised the plan done it in a way that is not truly ethical.
2)Foreigners offering cheap labour are flooding the place to boost the economic numbers so that the PAP parasites could continue to help themselves to millions of dollars in what they call salary while our workers have to struggle with great stress and uncertainty.?
Human resource singapore was good before lee khan yew took the charge.but he feared good talented people will take over,so another game plotted.Now singapore really lack talent and they struggle to meet the end by bringing foriegner.It is difficult to digest but truth is why this country is here is really effort of foriegner here in 1940 and 1950s who used there brain and latter they where made to run.
I think david marshall turned many times over in his grave liao.
Reply to #36
Singapore was the first country in the region to enter into a severe recession following the financial/economic crisis of 2008 that has its origin in the US. Yes, Singapore has grown to fatten the bank accounts and assets of Lee Kuan Yew and his family, his relatives, cronies and hangers-on.
The numerous GLCs and TLCs operate as a place for plum jobs for these societal parasites while the vast majority of our workers, uncertain of job security and tenure of labour, are left high and dry at the mercy of mainly foreign MNCs that are here to maximize their profits at the expense of our hapless workers.
Foreigners came in the 1940s and 1950s when Singapore was a British Crown Colony from where the colonialists exploited the resources of Malaya to sustain their empire.
The colonialists did not bother with the social, educational, cultural, economic and other needs of those who came to a place called Singapore island that was not a country then.
By the way, Lee Kuan Yew has recently said Singapore is not a country. And one of his echo boys K Shanmugam, the minister for Law in emperor Lee’s court, for his part said Singapore is not a nation. So, what are we now?
If only Lee Kuan Yew had suggested “instigating riots and disorder” to crush opposition during the Jap occupation of Spore instead of working for them……LOL
So when it comes to the crunch, it is either take flight or work for the enemy.
And inside Spore’s biggest Bully is a coward.
Not my type of inspiration for nation building.
Also explains why we are not a nation after 50 years.
Odd, they went to crush the singapore communist only to invite the tens of thousands if not already in the hundreds of thousands Northern communist into our country. Does this mean the communist win finally?
//jiangbao
Yeah, that’s the irony.
I guess LKY is not concern with communism. He is only concern whether he is the one calling the shots.
Thank goodness, that will be ending soon.
If you follow the sequence of events according to this doctor, you will realise that it is a common pattern exhibited by LKY.
He always pretend to be on your side initially.
Then slowly without you realising he milks you. or eat you up.
Also, it is foolish to expose your identity when you are critical to his policies.
It is a ploy set up by him so that the exposed personnel can be shot down or locked up using ISD easily.
Don’t believe him about open-ness. He never was.
It is better to be like Victor Hugo shooting at Napoleon the third from England and only return when the dictator crashed.
@41
lol, so true, now we have 1/6 of the population that is now communist here lol.
In defense of POP corn, lets not kid ourselves the communists were behind many of the strikes in the fifties and sixties and that was before the cultural revolution, and thats according to Chin Peng’s own words not the PAP
Locke
I just saw this on YouTube. Wow. Thanks to the internet and the faithful followers of history for the truth of the skeletons in someone’s closet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpJi_1f3uKw
Come one guys – dun bluff yourself. As one author say, Politics is about struggle for power. That’s it.
No one regardless wheher opposition or ruling party is a saint!
Please…
Cans Of Worms Being Opened……….!
Wanna open up more cans of worms….? than go to below link…….
http://www.singazine.com/
Someone’s ‘ Legacy ‘ is going down the drain after building it up for 40+ yrs …. just glad it happen. Continue the good work old man…. just love it….
I will see to it that all the brutal and inhuman torture that was meted out to Singaporeans under ISA detention is made known to all future generations.
I call on everyone to join in and expose Lee Kuan Yew as the political coward that he always has been.
Hey Popcorn,
I was born in the late 50s.. And I was frequently hospitalized for asthma attacks. I remembered my Dad carrying me to SGH for Emergency Treatment (Love you Dad forever). I remembered being warded at the children ward and the nurse telling my Mum to contribute whatever she can afford, detergent, bread etc to help the hospital which was NOT charging us a cent. This was when we were under British rule.
I remembered S.I.T homes which now still exist and prized in Bukit Merah, Tiong Bahru and Whompoa etc. This too, a British initiative.
I remembered Singaporeans, though living a simple life but feeling contented and thus happy acknowledging that their Fathers had made the right bet on the British Government.
Fast forward, how do we feel now about being independent? You seek the answer in your heart (I do not need hear your reply).