Lim Chin Siong, the man who was nearly our PM - Part 4

Lim Chin Siong and the 'Singapore story'

"On his election to the Legislative Assembly in 1955, and in the aftermath of the Hock Lee riots, Lim addressed the charge directly.
'Sir, I would like to say that I am an elected representative of the people. As such, I am not answerable for my actions to the colonial official, I am only answerable to the people. Secondly, as a member of the PAP, I stand for a free democratic Malaya through peaceful and non-violent method....'...."

- T.N. Harper

"Lim maintained this position throughout this period. On breaking with the PAP in 1961, he reiterated 'Let me make it clear once and for all that I am not a Communist or a Communist front-man or, for that matter, anybody's front-man'....."

- T.N. Harper

"Whether a person is a Communist or a Communist agent, only he knows and God knows. Between his conscience and God of course lies the Special Branch and it is up to them to show that these men whom they have arrested are Communists or Communist agents."

- Lee Kuan Yew

"For Lee Kuan Yew, Malaysia was a crucial aspiration for Singpaore's future security and prosperity; he also saw it as vital to his political survival." .................

"And it was in recognition of this that Lim Chin Siong and the left rejected the terms of Singapore's merger with Malaysia." ..................

"As Lim argued in an early speech in the Legislative Council in April 1955:
The people ask for fundamental democratic rights, they have only got the freedom of firecrackers after seven o'clock in the evening. The people ask for bread and they have been given stones instead..."

- T.N Harper

Above are abstracts from the book 'Comet in our sky', for the full story, get the book and find out for yourself.

T.N Harper is a fellow of Magdalene College and Lecturer in the Faculty of History, University of Cambridge. His principal interests are in South east Asian history and the history of the British Empire.