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Speech by Mr Goh Chok Tong, Secretary-General of The

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Speech by Mr Goh Chok Tong, Secretary-General of The SPEECH BY MR GOH CHOK TONG, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE PAP CENTRAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, AT THE PAP ORDINARY CONFERENCE ON SUNDAY, 7 NOVEMBER 2004, AT THE KALLANG THEATRE The PAP, at 50, is older than many cadres in this room. Some of you were not even born when the Party was launched. I myself was only a young spectator in the early years of the Party’s growth. But I followed its development. I had an uncle who was 4 years older and he was from the Chinese stream. He was politicised. I followed him around to rallies. At this half-century milestone of the PAP, I want to highlight some key events which shaped the Party and then draw lessons for the future. 2 Looking back, I see 5 distinct phases in the PAP’s evolution over the last 50 years. They are: • Phase 1: 1951-1959: Formation of the Party and its Early Success. • Phase 2: 1959-1965: The Battle for Merger and Independence. • Phase 3: 1965-1980: Building a Nation. • Phase 4: 1981-1991: Containing the Opposition. • Phase 5: 1991-2004: Forging A New Bond with the People. Phase 1: Formation of the Party and its Early Success 3 We all know that the PAP was launched on 21 November 1954 at the Victoria Memorial Hall. But I believe not many are aware that the Party was conceived in the basement dining room of Comrade Lee Kuan Yew’s Oxley Road house. There, a group of trade unionists, teachers, lawyers and journalists met in the early part of 1954 to decide whether to form a new left-wing political party. 4 They asked themselves 3 basic questions: (1) Was it the right time to launch a left-wing political party? A left-wing party might not survive as - except for the Malayan Communist Party - the others had either been liquidated by the British Colonial Government or had liquidated themselves. (2) If they did not, what were the political choices for Singapore? As Comrade S Rajaratnam put it: it was a choice between the Progressive Party and their feeble leaders [and] the clowns of the Labour Party ...” on one side and the underground militant Malayan Communist Party on the other (PAP souvenir publication, Our First Ten Years). (3) What were the consequences if they did not form the PAP? The new Rendel Constitution for self-government had just been published in February 1954. On most issues, the British Governor would have to accept the advice of the Council of Ministers - the majority of whom were elected. But the British Government would still retain control over the key areas of External Affairs, Defence and Internal Affairs. The founders of the PAP regarded this as a pro-colonial Constitution. They feared that inaction would have allowed the British to consolidate their political position in the Federation of Malaya and Singapore and strengthen the local right-wing pro-colonial elements. 5 The men who met at Comrade Lee Kuan Yew’s Oxley Road house decided to launch the PAP to achieve an independent, democratic socialist Singapore. 6 I was then studying in Pasir Panjang Primary School. We sang God Save the King. But the King died, and his daughter, Elizabeth II, succeeded him. We then sang God Save the Queen. I remember vividly the visit by the Duchess of Kent and her son in 1952. It was such an honour for Singapore to receive a visit by the royal family. Flundreds of students practised for hours in the hot sun to put up a mass display for her at the Padang. I was one of them. 7 In 1954, the main goal of the PAP was to end colonialism. Everything else was secondary. The men thought that if they got rid of colonialism, Singapore and Malaya would become one. This was evident in the party’s pre-formation press statement (published on Sunday 25 October 1954) which stated categorically, "We welcome only those who are inspired by an uncompromising faith in Malayan freedom ...”. The PAP then expected Singapore to be independent as part of Malaya. 8 So with great enthusiasm and confidence, the PAP was formally inaugurated on 21 November 1954. The convenors included Lee Kuan Yew, Toh Chin Chye, S Rajaratnam, Devan Nair and Samad Ismail. (Samad Ismail was twice detained for a total of almost 4 years by the British Colonial Government and later Malaysian Government as a communist.) Nearly 1,500 people attended the meeting. The Straits Times described the gathering as the “biggest political rally since 1948”. 2 9 When the Legislative Assembly elections came around in 1955, the PAP decided to contest to expose the shortcomings of the pro-colonial Rendel Constitution. It fielded 4 candidates - Lee Kuan Yew, Lim Chin Siong, Goh Chew Chua and Devan Nair. 10 I remember the excitement in the air. I attended my first political rally with my uncle in Bukit Timah to listen to Lim Chin Siong. Lim Chin Siong resonated with the Chinese crowd with his fiery Hokkien speeches. He was only 22 years old. He won Bukit Timah with a convincing margin. Goh Chew Chua won in Punggol- Tampines too. But Lee Kuan Yew polled the highest number of votes among all candidates. He also won Tanjong Pagar by the widest margin among all constituencies. Devan Nair lost in Farrer Park. 11 With the 1955 GE, Singapore entered a new age of mass politics. In the first Legislative Council elections in 1948, the number of registered voters was 23,000. In the second elections in 1951, it was 48,000. In 1955, Singapore citizens were automatically registered as voters. Overnight, the electorate increased by nearly seven-fold to 300,000. 12 The PAP began to organize itself as a mass party. But what kind of mass party? Should it use revolutionary and violent means to seize power? Or should it win power democratically and through non-violent means? This was not an idle intellectual question. 13 There were two opposing forces in the Party: the democratic and socialist elements who believed in the constitutional approach on one side, and the communist elements whom the PAP leaders labelled as “adventurist and extremist on the other. The communists were trying to use the PAP to capture power. 14 In addition, the democratic socialists had to fight the forces of colonialism and the local-right wing elements. The right-wing branded the PAP as pro­ communist. 15 The Party had to make clear that it was not a front for the communists. Otherwise, the leaders risked being detained by the government. So Secretary- General Lee Kuan Yew affirmed in May 1955 that the PAP was formed to fight for “an independent, democratic, non-communist Malaya." 16 However, this did not satisfy the right-wing elements. They continued to brand the PAP as pro-communist. Thus when the Hock Lee Bus strike broke out in riots later in the same month, they tried to pin the blame on the PAP. But the PAP categorically denounced the violence. 3 17 I was only 14 then. My uncle and I walked from our house in Pasir Panjang to the Hock Lee Bus depot in Alexandra Road. It was a 4-kilometre walk. At the bus depot, I could feel the tension in the air. There was a block of uncompleted SIT (Singapore Improvement Trust, the predecessor of HDB) flats. I saw many people standing on the various floors to get a vantage view. At that time, the government had also mishandled a delicate situation over the Chinese Middle Schools. Many of Chinese school students were there to support the bus strikers. My uncle and I left after a while because it was a long walk home. Fortunately. When I woke up the next day, I read in the newspapers that riots had broken out after we left at the depot. A battle had raged between the police and 2000 students, strikers and hooligans in the streets and lasted till 3 am in the morning. Two policemen, one student and an American newsman were killed. 18 The Hock Lee Bus riots alerted the PAP leadership to the dangers of the communist elements within and outside the Party. As S Rajaratnam wrote in Our First 10 Years: “The Hock Lee Affair made the PAP supporters aware of the potential threat to the Party from Communist elements who, by reckless actions, were trying to trap the Party into abandoning its constitutionalist, non-violent stand and condoning adventurist tactics". 19 Despite this awareness, the Party was nearly captured by the communists two years later. In those days, the PAP posted admission passes to the annual Party Conference to members. Many of them gave trade union premises as their addresses. The communists got hold of these passes and packed the Singapore Badminton Hall with pro-communist non-members. They captured 6 out of the 12 CEC seats. 20 Party Chairman, Dr Toh Chin Chye, Secretary-General Lee Kuan Yew and the other 4 non-communist CEC members refused to take office in the CEC. They did not want to give cover to the 6 who were pro-communists. 21 Tan Chong Kin, a clerk and the Branch Chairman of Farrer Park, became the Chairman. T T Rajah, a lawyer, became the Secretary-General of the 4th CEC. Having captured the PAP, the communists were emboldened. They went on to try and capture the Trades Union Congress. This was a big mistake because the TUC was then controlled by the Labour Front Government. So the Government purged the communists and arrested 5 of the 6 pro-communist CEC members in the PAP.
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