|
University Socialist Club
The University Socialist Club (abbrev: USC) was a left-wing student group active from 1953 to 1971 that played an important role in the politics of colonial Malaya and post-colonial Malaysia and Singapore. Members of the club played a significant role in bringing independence from the British Empire and in debates over the shape of the post-colonial nation. The club was instrumental in the formation and early success of the People's Action Party (PAP) and later, the Barisan Sosialis Party. Prominent members of the Club included Wang Gungwu, S.R. Nathan, Poh Soo Kai, Sydney Woodhull, Lim Hock Siew, and Tommy Koh and M. K. Rajakumar. Background As the end of World War II fostered national independence movements across the world, increasingly nationalistic sentiments in British colonies threatened the British pre-war empire. Decolonization was foreseen both by the local nationalists and the British rulers. At the same time, the burgeoning Cold War was also driving cultural and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Left-wing Politics
Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political%20ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in society whom its adherents perceive as disadvantaged relative to others as well as a belief that there are unjustified inequalities that need to be reduced or abolished. Left-wing politics are also associated with popular or state control of major political and economic institutions. According to emeritus professor of economics Barry Clark, left-wing supporters "claim that human development flourishes when individuals engage in cooperative, mutually respectful relations that can thrive only when excessive differences in status, power, and wealth are eliminated." Within the left–right political spectrum, ''Left'' and ''right-wing politics, Right'' were coined during the French Revolution, referring to the seat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, of the world population at the time, and by 1920, it covered , of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its constitutional, legal, linguistic, and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it was described as "the empire on which the sun never sets", as the Sun was always shining on at least one of its territories. During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barisan Sosialis
Barisan Sosialis ( eng, Socialist Front) was a political party in Singapore. It was formed on 29 July 1961 and officially registered on 13 August 1961 by left-wing members of the People's Action Party (PAP) who had been expelled from the PAP. The prominent founding members of the Barisan were Lee Siew Choh and Lim Chin Siong. It became the biggest opposition party in Singapore in the 1960s and the 1980s. The main objectives of the Barisan 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. The party was merged into the Worker's Party in 1988. Background Since its formation, the PAP was divided into the Lee Kuan Yew camp and the left-wing camp led by Lim Chin Siong. The common ground of anti-colonialism and independence of Singapore was the basis for the co-operation between the two camps. Differenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wang Gungwu
Wang Gungwu, (; born 9 October 1930) is a Chinese-Singaporean historian, sinologist, and writer. He is a historian of China and Southeast Asia. He has studied and written about the Chinese diaspora, but he has objected to the use of the word ''diaspora'' to describe the migration of Chinese from China because both it mistakenly implies that all overseas Chinese are the same and has been used to perpetuate fears of a " Chinese threat", under the control of the Chinese government. An expert on the Chinese tianxia ("all under heaven") concept, he was the first to suggest its application to the contemporary world as an American Tianxia. Background Wang was born in Surabaya, Indonesia to ethnic Chinese parents from Taizhou, Jiangsu and grew up in Ipoh, Malaysia. He completed his secondary education in Anderson School, an English medium school in Ipoh. Wang studied history in the University of Malaya, where he received his bachelor's and master's degrees. He was a founding member of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poh Soo Kai
Poh Soo Kai (; born 1930) was a Singaporean medical doctor, politician, political prisoner. He was a founding member of the University Socialist Club and the People's Action Party (PAP). Biography Poh was born in Singapore in 1930. He is the maternal grandson of prominent businessman Tan Kah Kee. His family fled Singapore before the Japanese invasion and landed in Mumbai, he studied at a Catholic mission school for four years. Poh and his family returned to Singapore after the Japanese surrender in 1945, continued his studies at Raffles Institution and entered the University of Malaya in 1950. He was a founding member of the Socialist Club in 1953 and became its second President from August that year till the following year. Poh was one of the eight members of the Fajar editorial board charged with sedition in 1954. He graduated three years later with a degree in Medicine. Poh became acquainted with Lee Kuan Yew, who was the honorary legal advisor to Fajar, during his time in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sydney Woodhull
Sandrasegaran "Sidney" Woodhull (1932 – 26 November 2003) was a Singaporean lawyer, former politician and political prisoner. He was a founding member of the University of Malaya's University Socialist Club, and the Singapore's political parties, People's Action Party and the Barisan Sosialis. Biography Born in British Ceylon in 1932, Sandrasegaran Woodhull, sometimes referred as "Sandra", "Sydney" or "Sidney" in the press, entered the University of Malaya in 1951 as a Sultan Ibrahim scholar from Johor. He was a founding member of the University Socialist Club in 1953, serving as Financial Secretary in the first Central Working Committee. He was also involved in the Fajar controversy because of his contribution to the Fajar magazine and occasional attendance at group meetings although he was not the member of the Fajar editorial board. Woodhull eventually became a prominent union advisor and leader of the Singapore Naval Base Labour Union. Together with other trade unionists, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lim Hock Siew
Lim Hock Siew (; 21 February 1931 – 4 June 2012) was a Singaporean politician, political prisoner and medical doctor. Education Lim attended the Rangoon Road School and then the Raffles Institution. Then he studied medicine at the University of Malaya. At university, he was a committed founder-member of the University Socialist Club (USC) and a leader of the university's student union. Career Political career In 1953, he met Lee Kuan Yew, then a young lawyer helping to defend eight USC students charged for sedition by the British. They won the case and the USC rallied behind Lee Kuan Yew and his associates when they formed the People's Action Party (PAP) in 1954. Lim was a member of the PAP from its inception until 1961, and as its member campaigned in the 1955 and 1959 Singapore general elections. On 26 July 1961, thirteen left-wing PAP assemblymen who had abstained in a crucial vote of confidence for the government held five days earlier were expelled from the PAP. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tommy Koh
Tommy Koh Thong Bee (; born 12 November 1937) is a Singaporean diplomat, lawyer, professor and author who served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1968 and 1971. Early life and education Koh was born in Singapore on 12 November 1937. His father was originally from Tong'an, Fujian and his mother was from Shanghai. He attended from Serangoon Secondary School and Raffles Institution before graduating from the University of Malaya in Singapore (now the National University of Singapore) with a Bachelor of Laws with first class honours degree. He subsequently went on to complete a Master of Laws degree at Harvard University, where he was classmate with Ngiam Tong Dow, and a Graduate Diploma in criminology at the University of Cambridge. He was conferred a full professorship in 1977. Koh was awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Yale University and Monash University. He has also received awards from Columbia University, Stanford Univer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denis Pritt
Denis Nowell Pritt, QC (22 September 1887 – 23 May 1972) was a British barrister and left-wing Labour Party politician. Born in Harlesden, Middlesex, he was educated at Winchester College and the University of London. A member of the Labour Party from 1918, he was a defender of the Soviet Union. In 1932, as part of G. D. H. Cole's New Fabian Research Bureau's expert commission of enquiry, he visited the Soviet Union, and, according to Margaret Cole, "the eminent KC swallowed it ''all''". Pritt was expelled from the Labour Party in March 1940 following his support of the Soviet invasion of Finland. Pritt was characterised by George Orwell as "perhaps the most effective pro-Soviet publicist in this country". Early life Pritt was born 22 September 1887 in London, the son of a metal merchant.Colin Holmes, "Denis Nowell Pritt," in A. Thomas Lane (ed.), ''Biographical Dictionary of European Labor Leaders: Volume 2: M-Z.'' Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995; pp. 779-780. He wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party between 1954 and 1992. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tanjong Pagar from 1955 until his death in 2015. Lee is widely recognised as the nation's founding father. Lee was born in Colony of Singapore, Singapore during British colonial rule. After graduating from Raffles Institution, he won a scholarship to Raffles College (now the National University of Singapore). During the Japanese occupation of Singapore, Japanese occupation, Lee escaped being the victim of a Sook Ching, purge, subsequently starting his own businesses while working as an administration service officer for the Japanese propaganda office. After World War II ended, Lee briefly attended the London School of Economics before transferring t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Coldstore
Operation Coldstore was the code name for a covert security operation executed in Singapore on 2 February 1963 which led to the arrest of 113 people, who were detained without trial pursuant to the Preservation of Public Service Security Ordinance (PSSO). In official accounts, the operation was a security operation "aimed at crippling the Communist open front organisation," which threatened Singapore's internal security. The operation was authorised by the Internal Security Council which was composed of representatives from the British government, Singaporean government, and the Malayan Federal government. Background and contexts Post-war conditions and the rise of left-wing movements The post-war conditions in Singapore were harsh for the working class as they had to grapple with poor working conditions which were exploitative and discriminatory. In the same period, British decolonisation of Singapore resulted in the installation of a new constitution in 1955 which encoura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
