1954
"One night Kenny Byrne, Goh Keng Swee and Rajaratnam invited me for dinner at Rajaratnam's house in Chancery Lane. Tony Schooling with whom I used to live sometimes, had introduced me to the group." "We had dinner and we got into a great argument. And we almost parted on unfriendly...
People's Action Party ("PAP") was formed. James "didn't really have very much to do with PAP when it was founded." At the launching of the PAP at public meeting at the Victoria Memorial Hall,Mr. Lee Kuan Yew summariser the Party's objects as: Battle For Merger pg 146
1955
Elections in Singapore were to provide the island with a degree of self government through a Council of Ministers that would be responsible to a predominantly elected Legislative Assembly. The Labour Party headed by David Marshall won the most number of seats and Marshall became Chief minister. Lee Kuan Yew...
In 1955, "they [the PAP members] formed a new constitution committee in which I was made the secretary of the committee. During this time, my importance in the party and in the union had improved. So by the time the [party] elections were held, I had become reasonably [well] known...
L-R: Fong Swee Suan, Jamit Singh, Devan Nair, James Puthucheary
On a number of occasions, James says that he changed his Marxist thinking in the aftermath of the Soviets crushing of Hungarian revolt. Letter to LKY Colonial Office: HT Bourdillon was for a short time Deputy UK Commissioner Singapore. He then left Singapore 1961 to return to CO. He could...
In a a handwritten note by J D Higham to the Governor of Singapore (FCO141/15298), he writes: "Lee Kuan Yew's personal position is difficult. He himself doubts whether he can even keep any real real control of or exert influence over the rank and file of the party. He is...
1956
For the first time at last in the history of Malaya, we see the Chinese, Malay and Indian communities uniting as one body and with one accord seeking freedom from ColonialismLee Kuan Yew, 1 January 1956 Credit : British Archives
There was this rally at the old airport. There was tremendous enthusiasm for Marshall largely supported by the left wing. I was there with Tony Schooling. We were watching this great meeting when suddenly the platform collapsed and everybody started running. David Marshall organised a petition and a public rally...
While Secretary of the Factory and Shop workers .... In 1958, while James was in detention in Changi, he took his theories a stage further, insisting that if racial conflict is not to develop, a start must be made to re-orientate Secondary Education in Singapore, with Malay as the national...
Lim Yew Hock[10] was ruthless and was keen to show the British that he could control any disruptive influences in Singapore. On 18 September 1956, Yew Hock used the Preservation of Public Security Ordinance (PPSO), which allowed him extraordinary police powers, to dissolve seven organisations and detain seven people, mainly from...
Police raided the SFSWU HQ at Middle Road and arrested the leaders under the Preservation of Public security Ordinance. On 8th November 1956, a detention order was issued by the Council of Ministers on the recommendation of Special Branch for 5 of the union leaders. Lim Chin Siong was kept...
1957
In April 1957 further constitutional talks took place in London. Lim Yew Hock agreed to the establishment of an Internal Security Council (ISC) which consisted of 3 representatives from Britain and Singapore and 1 representative from the Malayan government in exchange for Singapore becoming a fully internal self-governing state.
To obtain full self-government in the London talk attended by Lim Yew Hock and Lee Kuan Yew, Lim Yew Hock agreed to the establishment of an Internal Security Council ("ISC") under what was de facto British control, with the conservative Malayan government having the decisive vote. When the left, opposing...
At the Fourth Party Conference the Leftists captured 6 out of the 12 seats in the CEC. "In 1957 T.T Rajah under the incitement of Devan Nair, tried to take over the party against my wishes, against my open disagreement. My argument was purely simple. You cannot run a revolution...
I suggested that the hesitation was related to their concern about the possibility of suggestions being made that the Chief Minister was taking action [against the subversives] in order to help Lee Kuan Yew pull his chestnuts out of the fire, that is, to eliminate some of the opposition within...
Only days after the PAP committee election, Lim Yew Hock engaged in widespread arrests. On 22 August 1957, under Operation Apple 39 arrests and detentions took place. Of the 39 people, one was a case of mistaken identity and released. Of the remainining 38 detainees, 19 were leaders of the...
While James was in detention at the Changi Prison Camp, his lawyer at the time and friend Lee Kuan Yew requested that he put his political views on paper. In his letter, James set out his perspective and his own intellectual struggle against communism and his political beliefs as a...
We believe in a free, democratic, non-Communist and socialist Malaya, firmly based on the institution of political democracy provided for in the constitution of the new independent Federation. Finally we hope that the PAP gathers new unity and strength to help achieve these ends under the democratic socialist leadership of...
Lee Kuan Yew was retained as the detainees solicitor. Lee asked the Government at the Singapore Legislative Assembly meeting what right the Government had to prevent the detainees from seeing their lawyer who was also the PAP leader in the Assembly. Lee also claimed that the Government intercepted a letter...
1958
"For Easter, I was allowed out. I went to a holiday bungalow where my now wife, those days girlfriend brought her friends. James was taken there by Richard Corridon. I tried to persuade Corridon that Chin Siong was the leader of the whole group. Without Chin Siong no decisions can...
The Delegation renewed their objection to the exclusion from the first Assembly of persons detained in Singapore for subversive activities and stated that they could not agree to the inclusion in the Constitution of any provision of this kind.Paragraph 11 of the Telegram from the Secretary of State For The...
James quarrelled with Lim Chin Siong soon after he came to the detention camp. The row was over the revolution in Iraq. They heard over the radio that Nuri Pasha al-Said had been hanged from a lamp post. He was the Prime Minister and Head of Special Branch. James said,...
"When we went to jail, we were all in one group. And we had a library. All the books were in one room. So, the first night, Woodhull kept the light on and slept. So I said, 'Woodhull, the last time this happened, we had quarrels. I have a little...
The detention order for the six political detainees was extended in November 1958. Lim Chin Siong and the others asked to be transferred to St. John's Island. Only James remained at the Changi camp to continue his law studies.
1959
In May 1959 PAP, with the support of the left-wing movement, won a landslide victory in the election. Lee Kuan Yew pledged that he would not take office until the six leftwing leaders were released. On polling day, Mavis was visiting James at Changi Detention Centre, when Lee Kuan Yew...
On the 2nd June, Lee Kuan Yew came personally to the Changi Detention Camp to deliver the news that the 6 detainees will be released the next day. James and the other 5 detainees were released the next day amid considerable public fanfare. These leaders soon found that they were...
The statement titled “The Ends and Means of Socialism” was released on the 4th June 1959 and signed by Lim Chin Siong, Fong Swee Suan, Sidney Woodhull, Devan Nair and Chan Chiaw Thor. James did not sign this statement. Devan Nair had drafted this statement as a show of support...
Lim Chin Siong, Devan, Woodhull, Fong and James Puthucheary in the Legislative Assembly, 1959.