“We have learned one important thing during the last decade, that only those that matter, who have the strength and courage of their convictions to stick up and stand up for what they believe in for their people, for their country, regardless of what happens to themselves.”
~ Lee Kuan Yew 1961
1922
James Joseph Puthucheary was born on the 25th August 1922 in the village of Alwaye outside Cochin in the Indian state of Kerala. His parents were P.C Joseph and Elizabeth xx.
1926
At the age of 4, he travelled with his mother to joint his father in Malaya. His father had gone ahead to prepare for the arrival of the family. They settled in the town of Muar in the state of Johore. In Tun Dr. Ismail book he writes that “Joseph...
1933
Impacted by the Wall Street crash and the Great Depression, Devan Nair relates how his family came to Muar to stay with P.C Joseph and his family. In his memoirs, Devan Nair recounted the following story: "My father found himself jobless. We had to leave the black wooden bungalow [in...
1941
Later the family moved to Johor Bahru where James attended the prestigious Bukit Zaharah English School and Johore English College. James excelled academically. His notable achievements included receiving the prize of English from Lady Ibrahim in November 1941. Credit : Singapore Press Holdings Credit : Singapore Press Holdings His friends...
1943
In 1943, James was inspired by Subash Chandra Bose to join the Indian National Army in their mission to liberate India from colonial rule. Under the INA, he served in Burma and was on the losing side at the Battle of Imphal. https://youtu.be/nifNQAYRvhA
1945
"In Rangoon, I did not surrender. I went into the countryside. I lived there for sometime. Then I met a man called Amritlal Seth, he was the man who really made the INA an important factor in Indian political life. So we gave him all the information we had. Mr....
1946
"My friend Captain Lakshmi said I should go to India, and I went to India with some letters for Bhulabhai Desai who was leading the Congress defence (Red Fort Trials) of Colonel Prem Sahgal, Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon, and Major General Shah Nawaz Khan......And I think Gurbaksh Singh and I were taken in...
Once in Calcutta, James enrolled in the Bengal Technical Institute at Jadavpur, Calcutta (now known as Jadavpur University) in 1946. "I started my university education in India. But I was not meant to be an engineer. And so I left my engineering studies after a few months. The Muslim League...
1948
James returned to Malaya at the request of his father. "My father got fed up and he asked me to come back.....It is in India that I recognised that I was not an Indian. I had been de-culturalised almost completely.... And so when my father asked me to come back......I...
James enrolled in Raffles College in 1948. Picnic And Activities at the Beach Student Life Rugger XV As later noted in the Special Branch report, James was a keen rugby player during his time at Raffles College.
1949
"When I went to the university, it was a completely placid place where the English-educated, future civil servants and teachers, would never say boo to a goose."
That year I, without anybody's prompting, ...I stood for secretary of the [student] union and I won it. James became a member of the Executive Committee of Raffles College Union. Later that year Raffles College was upgraded to University of Malaya. On 22 November 1949, James is appointed as the...
James was issued his citizenship papers for the Federation of Malaya.
1950
Dr. David Tan Chee Khoon, Mr. Aminuddin bin Baki and Mr James Puthucheary sponsored the establishment of "the Malayan Students Party within the University. Objects of the party will be to foster Malayan consciousness and civic responsibility among students, and to contribute to the development of the Malayan culture and...
1951
Lim Chan Yong, Joseph Tan and a group of them. And Lim Chan Yong squealed like a stuck pig. And Joseph Tan also squealed like a stuck pig. Then about five days later, they arrested all, the whole group. And the English-speaking revolutionaries got wiped out to a man. And...
1952
James was released from detention along with Abdullah Majid and Loh Wah Lean and rejoined the University of Malaya to repeat his third year. ~ The Straits Times When James was released from Outram Remand Center, he stayed in Corridon's house for a few days until he found proper accommodation....
1953
The Socialist Club was formed under the University of Malaya. James urged the Sidney Caine, the Vice Chancellor of the university to allow the students to form university political clubs. He stressed the importance of some venue or institution through which students could ventilate and exchange their political views. In...
1954
Between 5 and 6am on the 28th May 1954, the Fajar 8 were picked up by police. James was among the 7 that were arrested at the University Hostel in Dunearn Road. They were charged with sedition in the afternoon the same day. Bail of $1,000 each was provided by...
During the trial the prosecution called Ong Pang Boon, later a PAP MP and Minsiter of Education as well as Ngiam Tong Dow as their witnesses. On the third day of trial Judge FA Chua threw out the case and acquitted the members of the Fajar 8 of all charges....
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...
Lim Chin Siong was elected Secretary General of the Singapore Factory and Shop Workers Union (SFSWU) and James appointed secretary of the SFSWU in June 1955. James worked as a trade unionist and adviser to other trade union leaders. Several university activitists gave up promising careers to become trade union...
"I saw the Factory and Shop Workers Union grow like an amoeba, or a child who is starting from one single cell. By multiplication of cells it became the little child that is born." "[The Factory and Shop Workers Union was} created by the very left wing People's Action Party...
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...
1956
Lim Yew Hock authorised the arrests of 300 activists and 10 organisations were banned including the Chinese Middle School Union. In October 1956 James was arrested together with Lim Chin Siong, Fong Swee Suan, Sidney Woodhull and Devan Nair. "... the Singapore Factory and Shop Workers Union (SFSWU) and the...
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
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...
1959
James' book "Ownership and Control in the Malayan Economy" written while he was a political detainee was been accepted for publication by Donald Moore Ltd. In the book he is critical of the dependence on foreign capital for industrial development and emphasises the importance of an industrial plan in which...
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...
James married Mavis Colleen Scharenguivel under special licence on the 8th June 1959. James and Mavis always celebrated their wedding anniversary on the 3rd June. This was the day that James was allowed out from the camp and went to stay with Mavis at Clifton. He returned to the camp...
I was riding quite high as Lee Kuan Yew's friend and admirer. And [Goh] Keng Swee was my very close friend and we were co-operating together at the Ministry of Finance. I had very little contact with Chin Siong and Fong. I had much more contact with Woodhull with whom...
1960
Operation Cold Store, ostensibly to cull the Communist Open front, may have had more to do with the struggle to consolidate power for the P.A.P and Lee Kuan Yew.
James was not involved directly in the trade union dispute. He worked closely with Goh Keng Swee in the preparation of Singapore’s First development plan. The left sought to consolidate its power base within the trade union movement. The PAP responded by creating what Tim Harper called “a phony war”....
1961
The Industrial Promotions Board was soon to be replaced by the Economic Development Board and James was touted to be the Chairman-designate (Straits Times 12 july 1959). But by this time differences between them over the role of private capital in economic development soon led to James’ marginalisation. Although James...
Woodhull, Chin Siong and Fong came along in Woodhull's car and asked me to go with them to Selkirk's place. After some discussion I agreed to go with them. I became a kind of pseudo-spokesman for the group because I had left the group. By the middle of 1961 the...
The main objectives of the Barisan Sosialis included eradicating colonialism, establishing a united independent and democratic Malayan nation comprising the Federation of Malaya and Singapore and introducing an economic system to promote prosperity and stability in society. ~ Wikipedia "Chin Siong and his group could not have existed in the...
In August 1961 James resigned from all appointments and resumed his studies at the Faculty of Law, at the University of Singapore. James stated in his press conference held at his offices in the Fullerton Building that one the causes of his discontent was that there was no democracy within...
1963
I firmly believe that [James Puthucheary] was a true Nationalist, totally committed to an independent Malaya which includes Singapore and not a communist or a terrorist.Teo Soh Lung, 2018 On this day and in the weeks that followed, more than 133 people were arrested and detained without trial. the Internal...
The idea to have Juarez born in Kuala Lumpur was because Special Branch in Kuala Lumpur said they would accommodate visits by James to see Mavis in the hospital. So James told Mavis to come up to Kuala Lumpur to have the baby. The Straits Time 10th May 1963
In late November, he was released on condition he would no longer take part in political activities. While in jail, James was conferred the degree of law in absentia. At the convocation, the crowd gave him a standing ovation when his name was called. He had been deported to Malaya...
1964
1975
1977
Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputra – and its subsidiary investment PNB arm – was established to promote the ownership of share capital by the Bumiputera community in the Malaysian corporate sector in accordance with the New Economic Policy (NEP). This was to be the major thrust in affirmative confirmation under an ethnocratic economic nationalism...
1981
In fact it is well known that the Umno leaders were only convinced of the possibility of this take over [the Dawn Raid] by the arguments of JJ Puthucheary in his pioneering book entitled "Ownership and Control in the Malayan Economy (1960)". Malaysiakini 27 April 2007 On the morning of...
1990
2000
James passed away in his house after battling the effect of a debilitating stroke in 1995. By G.G Pillai
The profound thanks from James' family to the Convenors for organising this event. Tributes To James
2004