Lim Chin Siong, the man who was nearly our PM - Part 5

Lim Chin Siong - A Political Life

"He soon found school life there restrictive and persuaded his father to use his influence to transfer him to the Chinese High School, then, as now, the premier Chinese medium high school in Singapore. He was now sixteen years old, and like many young men of his generation, much more mature than his years. Here, he would meet and interact with well-read, knowledgeable, confident, assertive students, many of whom had been radicalised by the war years, so different from the laid-back country bumpkins he knew back in Pontian."

- Tan Jing Quee

"Lim Chin Siong would soon make his mark as an active student leader, espouse radical causes, and become firm friends with Fong Swee Suan, his classmate in Chinese High School."

- Tan Jing Quee

"In 1953, when he was barely 20 years old, he joined the Changi Branch of the Bus Workers and correspondence. Soon, he became a well-known figure in the trade unions, with a flair for public speaking and a strong sense of commitment to the cause of labour."

- Tan Jing Quee

"He was elected Secretary of a small union bearing the grandiose name of the Singapore Factory and Shop Workers Union (SFSWU) with a membership of barely 300 members. There is some ambiguity as to whether he founded the union, although Chin Siong would later say that he joined an existing union and was elected secretary. But there was no doubt that within a brief period of just a year, the membership of SFSWU had expanded rapidly to more than 30, 000, making it one of the most powerful trade unions in Singapore at that time."

- Tan Jing Quee

"Chin Siong would be prominent enough to attract the attention of Lee Kuan Yew and his colleagues when they were looking around for grassroots leaders to form a new political party."

- Tan Jing Quee

"The newly established PAP decided to contest the elections on 2 April 1955 in four constituencies 'to expose the inadequacies of the Constitution and to secure a forum to propagate its objectives'."

- Tan Jing Quee

"James Puthucheary, who was in charge of PAP publicity for the elections, recalled the first rally held in a remote Chinese village.
'Toh Chin Chye spoke first, in English! No response from the crowd. Ong Eng Guan was next, in Hokkien, but not very good. The crowd was restless. Then, Lim Chin Siong stood up. He was brillaint, and the crowd was spell-bound'........."

- Tan Jing Quee

"Arthur S.W.Lim, the well-known eye surgeon, recounted another experience of the youthful charisma and the powerful impact of Chin Siong's oratory of the period.
'There were 40, 000 people, each mesmerised by Lim Chin Siong's oratory. "The British say you cannot stand on your own two feet", he jeered, "Show them how you can stand!" And 40, 000 people leapt up - shining with sweat, fists in the air - shouting, Merdeka'..."

- Tan Jing Quee

"Chin Siong was elected to his seat in the Bukit Timah constituency and entered the Legislative Assembly at the youthful age of 22."

- Tan Jing Quee

"David Marshall had first met Lim Chin Siong after the 1955 Elections through Lee Kuan Yew, who was PAP Secretary General and leader of the PAP group of Assemblymen. Melanie Chew quotes Marshall's personal account of that encounter in her book, Leaders of Singapore:
'Chin Siong was introduced to me by Lee Kuan Yew. Kuan Yew came to visit me in my little office underneath the stairs, one desk, and one naked light. And he said, "Meet the future Prime Minister of Singapore". I looked at Lim Chin Siong and laughed. He said, "Don't laugh! He's the finest Chinese orator in Singapore and he will be our next Prime MInister of Singapore.'...."

- Tan Jing Quee

".....on 8 July 1956, Lim Chin Siong was elected to the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the PAP as Assistant Secretary General with the largest number of votes, ahead of Lee Kuan Yew and Toh Chin Chye."

- Tan Jing Quee

"The October repression effectively excluded Lim Chin Siong from participation in the PAP deliberations regarding the new round of consitutional talks in London to be led by Lim Yew Hock. Only Lee Kuan Yew would represent the PAP. Chin Siong's absence from the talks would conveniently remove the thorny British problem........"

- Tan Jing Quee

"The October repression therefore cleared the stage, leaving the two principal beneficiaries, Lim Yew Hock and Lee Kuan Yew, to determine the shape of the next phase of Singapore's constitutional advance."

- Tan Jing Quee

"Lee Kuan Yew played the perfect foil, with his incisive parliamentary thrusts, which the Chief Minister and his cohort of ministers failed miserably to meet.......The popularity of Lim Yew Hock sank with each new repression or scandal, just as Lee Kuan Yew's star continued to rise with each successive parliamentary debate."

- Tan Jing Quee

"Thus, the true beneficiary of the repression launched by Lim Yew Hock government was Lee Kuan Yew."

- Tan Jing Quee



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

Tan Jing Quee is a lawyer with a strong interest in the post-war political history of Singapore and Malaysia. He was detained in October 1963 after Operation Coldstore and the PAP's electoral victory. After his release, he went to study law in London where he spent considerable time with Lim Chin Siong after the latter's release. He was detained again in 1977 for a briefer period.