The British intelligence community in Singapore, 1946-1959: Local security, regional coordination and the Cold War in the Far East Alexander Nicholas Shaw Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of PhD The University of Leeds, School of History January 2019 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. The right of Alexander Nicholas Shaw to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by Alexander Nicholas Shaw in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Acknowledgements I would like to thank all those who have supported me during this project. Firstly, to my funders, the White Rose College of the Arts and Humanities and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Caryn Douglas and Clare Meadley have always been most encouraging and have never stinted in supplying sausage rolls. At Leeds, I am grateful to my supervisors Simon Ball, Adam Cathcart and, prior to his retirement, Martin Thornton. Emma Chippendale and Joanna Phillips have been invaluable guides in navigating the waters of PhD admin. In Durham, I am indebted to Francis Gotto from Palace Green Library and the Oriental Museum’s Craig Barclay and Rachel Barclay. I never expected to end up curating an exhibition of Asian art when I started researching British intelligence, but Rachel and Craig made that happen. My thoughts about the Malayan Emergency evolved during to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. For providing funding for these trips, I wish to thank Claire Sutherland and the Global Challenges Research Fund. In KL, I would like to thank Aziz Rashid, A. K. Kamari and the staff of the Royal Malaysian Police Museum for our stimulating discussions. In Singapore, I am grateful to Patricia Welch, Tim Clark, the Southeast Asian Ceramic Society, the China Society and the UK High Commissioner, Scott Wightman, for arranging and facilitating my lecture tour. I am equally grateful to Susan Sim for arranging and accompanying my visit to the Internal Security Department Heritage Centre. Singapore’s ISD (not to be confused with the British Colonial Office ISD – as the acronym is hereafter used for) is the successor to Special Branch, and their closed-access museum displays a wealth of artefacts mentioned in this thesis. It was a great privilege to visit, and I extend my gratitude to all the ISD staff whom I met. I am particularly grateful to ISD for giving me a copy of Lee Kuan Yew’s The Battle for Merger which is a fascinating historical source showing how the selective disclosure of intelligence can be used to determine public opinion. This would have been a far less pleasurable experience without the support of my parents and friends (particularly Scott Ramsay). Finally, my wonderful cat, Josie, has provided a welcome distraction from the world of espionage. Over the past years she has learned far more about SIFE than any cat should care to know. i Abstract Singapore was the stronghold of British intelligence in the Far East during the Cold War. The small city-colony played host to a diverse range of British intelligence organisations including regional outposts of MI5 and the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), specialist technical intelligence centres, open source reporting centres and the police Special Branch. These intelligence outfits operated across three levels: the local, the regional and the national. This thesis investigates the British intelligence milieu in Singapore, focusing upon its organisation and status; its working culture and operations; and its impact or influence. In so doing, the thesis interrogates to what extent we can speak of a definable British intelligence ‘community’ in Singapore during the early Cold War. It concludes that there were instead two distinct communities: a local intelligence community, and a regional-national one. Nevertheless, there were two core similarities. Security intelligence was at the forefront of both communities as the most appropriate response to the nature of the Cold War both within Singapore and the Southeast Asian region. Secondly, both intelligence communities played a significant role not just in shaping official perceptions but as avenues for covert policy implementation. At the regional level, intelligence activities enabled Britain to fight the Cold War through clandestine measures, fulfilling the key policy goal of providing containment without (extensive) commitments. Locally, security intelligence was a major driving force in the engagement between the Singapore government, communist ‘terrorists’ and anti- colonial nationalists. This thesis is not just about British intelligence in the Cold War. It also provides original insight into Singapore’s transition to self- government between 1946 and 1959 by focusing on the crucial role played by Special Branch. Intelligence services were vital in ensuring that Singapore was rendered ‘safe’ for decolonisation, and their activities indicate continuity between colonial and post-colonial government in Singapore. ii Alexander Nicholas Shaw Contents List of tables and figures iv Note on terminology iv List of abbreviations v 1. Introduction. A ‘unique window’? 1 Part 1. From post-war to Cold War, 1946-1950 2. Creating a post-war intelligence machine 54 3. The onset of a Cold War in Asia 93 4. Singapore security and communist violence 125 Part 2. The expanding Cold War, 1950-1955 5. Cold War concerns and intelligence innovations 163 6. Singapore security and communist subversion 209 Part 3. Roads to decolonisation, 1955-1959 7. British influence, intelligence and Singapore politics 247 8. Conclusion. A ‘slough of despond’? 278 Bibliography 292 iii Alexander Nicholas Shaw List of tables and figures Table 1.1. Governors of Singapore, 1946-59 8 Table 1.2. Singapore population in 1947 9 Table 2.1. Heads of SIFE, 1946-59 71 Table 2.2. JIC(FE) chairmen, 1946-59 84 Table 4.1. Directors of Singapore Special Branch, 1948-59 132 Table 4.2. Admiralty system for intelligence grading 137 Table 5.1. Chinese diaspora as percentage of total population, 1952 172 Table 5.2. Local reactions to RIO propaganda in Indonesia, 1954 192 Table 7.1. Colonial police officers attending MI5 training courses, 1954-57 256 Figure 1.1. An ‘intelligence cycle’ for Cold War Singapore 25 Figure 2.1. Organisation of military intelligence in the Far East, 1948 71 Figure 4.1. Outline MCP organisation in Singapore, 1950 146 Figure 5.1. Territorial organisation of the JID in September 1953 171 Note on terminology In this thesis, the dollar symbol ($) is used to refer to the Malayan Dollar (1939-53) and its successor, the Malaya and British Borneo Dollar (1953-67). For consistency, ‘Southeast Asia’ is used instead of ‘South East Asia’ or ‘South-East Asia’ except in direct quotations where the original form is preserved. iv Alexander Nicholas Shaw List of abbreviations British intelligence C Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) DMI Director of Military Intelligence, War Office DSO Defence Security Officer, MI5 FECB Far Eastern Combined Bureau GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters GSI General Staff Intelligence, Singapore GSO(I) General Staff Officer (Intelligence) H/SIFE Head of Security Intelligence Far East IRD Information Research Department, Foreign Office ISD Intelligence and Security Department, Colonial Office JAPIB(FE) Joint Air Photographic Intelligence Board, Far East JAPIC(FE) Joint Air Photographic Intelligence Centre, Far East JARIC(FE) Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre, Far East JIB Joint Intelligence Bureau JIC Joint Intelligence Committee JIC(FE) Joint Intelligence Committee, Far East JID Joint Intelligence Division, SIFE and MI6 JIS(FE) Joint Intelligence Staff, Far East LIC Local Intelligence Committee (various) MI2 Directorate of Military Intelligence, Middle and Far East section MI5 Security Service v Alexander Nicholas Shaw MSS Malayan Security Service RIO Regional Information Office, Foreign Office SIC Singapore Intelligence Committee SIFE Security Intelligence Far East SILC Services Intelligence Liaison Committee, Singapore SIME Security Intelligence Middle East SIS Secret Intelligence Service (or MI6) SIS(FE) Secret Intelligence Service (Far East) or the Far East Controllerate SLO Security Liaison Officer, MI5 Non-British intelligence ASIO Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Australia) CIA Central Intelligence Agency (United States) JIB(M) Joint Intelligence Bureau, Melbourne (Australia) BIS Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (Republic of China) NEFIS Netherlands East Indies Forces Intelligence Service (Dutch Indonesia) SDECE Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage (France) Other ABL Singapore People’s Anti-British League BDCC(FE) British Defence Coordination Committee, Far East CCP Chinese Communist Party vi Alexander Nicholas Shaw CID Criminal Investigation Department FARELF Far East Land Forces, British Army FEAF Far East Air Force, RAF FES Far East Station, Royal Navy FORD Foreign Office Research Department GLU General Labour Union, Singapore MCP Malayan Communist Party PMFTU Pan Malayan Federation of Trade Unions PAP People’s Action Party PRC People’s Republic of China RAF Royal Air Force SCMSSU Singapore Chinese Middle School Students Union SEATO South-East Asian Treaty Organisation SF&SWU Singapore Factory