The Singapore Alliance Party, or simply the Singapore Alliance, was a

political coalition This is a list of political groups by country. A political group also known as a political alliance, coalition or bloc, is cooperation by members of different political parties on a common agenda of some kind. This usually involves formal agreeme ...

formed on 2 June 1961 that contested several elections in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, notably the 1955 Elections of Singapore and the 1963 Elections of Singapore. It consisted of the local branch of the

United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation (Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its in ...

(UMNO), the

Malay Union The Malay Union ( ms, Kesatuan Melayu) was a political party in Singapore. History The party was established on 14 May 1926 as a religious and cultural organisations for the Malay community.Malayan Chinese Association The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA; zh, 马来西亚华人公会; ; ta, மலேசிய சீனர் சங்கம், initially known as the Malayan Chinese Association) is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that seeks to ...

and the

Malayan Indian Congress The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC; ta, மலேசிய இந்திய காங்கிரஸ், Malēciya Intiya Kāṅkiras; formerly known as Malayan Indian Congress) is a Malaysian political party. It is one of the founding membe ...

, and former

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

Lim Yew Hock Lim Yew Hock ( zh, c=林有福, p=Lín Yǒufú; 15 October 1914 – 30 November 1984) was a MalaysianSingapore People's Alliance The Singapore People's Alliance was a political coalition in Singapore founded in 1958, comprising the Labour Front and Liberal Socialist Party. It has never won any seats in the Parliament of Singapore. However, the party did win 4 seats to the ...

(SPA). This alliance was formalised on 24 June 1963 as the Singaporean component of the ruling Alliance Party in

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

. Its campaign policy during the 1963 elections was similar to what the UMNO used in federal elections in Malaysia, and alleged the ruling

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...

(PAP) mistreated the

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

s, one of the major races in Singapore. While the Singapore Alliance also supported merger within the Federation of

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and was

anti-Communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

, it sought to extend the same model of communal politics on the mainland to Singapore. Unlike the then-

left-leaning Left-wing politics describes the range of 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 soci ...

and

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

PAP, it was identified with the political right. Throughout its history, the Singapore Alliance has only held seven seats with the SPA holding four seats and the Singapore United Malay National Organization occupying three seats in Malay-dominated areas like

Geylang Serai Geylang is a planning area and township located on the eastern fringe of the Central Region of Singapore, bordering Hougang and Toa Payoh in the north, Marine Parade in the south, Bedok in the east, and Kallang in the west. Geylang is perha ...

, Kampong Kembangan, and the

Southern Islands The Southern Islands is a planning area consisting of a collection of islets located within the Central Region of Singapore, once home to the native Malay islanders and sea nomads before they were relocated to the mainland for urban redevelopm ...

. During the 1963 general election, the Alliance performed poorly and lost all its seats. Its participation in the 1963 election further heightened tensions between UMNO and the PAP as they had earlier agreed neither side would participate in each other's elections until Malaysia, which Singapore was then an autonomous state of, was more mature. After the 1963 elections, the Singapore Alliance was left in the political wilderness. While the coalition was briefly reformed and re-registered as the "Alliance Party Singapura" in 1966, it did contest any future elections in Singapore and gradually faded from the political scene. Most of its component parties eventually ceased to operate with the exception of

Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura The Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura ( abbreviation: PKMS; English: Singapore Malay National Organisation) is a political party in Singapore. History The origins of Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura (PKMS) were rooted in the Singap ...

, which subsequently joined the

Singapore Democratic Alliance The Singapore Democratic Alliance (abbreviation: SDA) is a political coalition between the National Solidarity Party (NSP) and Singapore Justice Party (SJP) in Singapore. History Prior to the founding in 2001, then-opposition Member of Parli ...

References

Further reading