The Legislative Council of the Colony of Singapore was the legislative council of

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, bor ...

that assisted the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

in making laws in the colony. It officially came into existence in 1946, when the Straits Settlements (Repeal) Act 1946 abolished the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Com ...

, and made Singapore a

Crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Council ...

that would need its own legislative council. Based on existing systems already in place when the council operated under the Straits Settlements, it was partially opened for public voting in 1948, before being replaced by the Legislative Assembly in 1953.

History

Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements (1867–1942)

The Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements was formed on 1 April 1867 when the

was made a

Crown Colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Council ...

that answered directly to the

Secretary of State for the Colonies The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the British Cabinet minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various colonial dependencies. History The position was first created in 1768 to deal with the increas ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, instead of the

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

government based in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, tit ...

granted a Colonial Constitution on 4 February, which allocated much power to the governor. He was assisted by an Executive Council and Legislative Council, the latter of which was entrusted with law-making in the colony, although the governor had a casting vote and the power of assent and

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...

on all bills. The Legislative Council was composed of members in the Executive Council, the chief justice, and non-official members nominated by the governor. These nominated members were intended to better represent the local people, including in its ranks

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

n members. Mostly wealthy Asian business and professional leaders, they were not necessarily a fair representation of the locals, however. Starting with four members, it started to grow through the years, with Singaporean members increasingly dominating the council to the displeasure of the politicians from

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has bee ...

and

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...

. Despite this control by British subjects of European race, the local Asian population was usually

apathetic Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interes ...

about such control. There have been a few exceptions.

Tan Cheng Lock Tan Cheng Lock KBE JP () (5 April 1883 – 13 December 1960) was a Malaysian Peranakan businessman and a key public figure who devoted his life to fighting for the rights and the social welfare of the Chinese community in Malaya. Tan w ...

, a member of the Executive Council who had previously opposed several policies made by the Legislative Council – such as the

Aliens Ordinance of 1933 Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

which restricted immigration – as anti-Chinese, called for direct popular representation through popular votes, and to increase the number of non-official members to form a majority in the Legislative Council. Initiatives like these were unsuccessful, however, as there was little support from wider society who were widely apathetic to local politics, with the Chinese population paying more attention towards growing their commercial and professional interests, and in the events occurring back in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, fueled largely by the rise in Chinese

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

sentiments.

Legislative Council of the Colony of Singapore (1946–1955)

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Straits Settlements (Repeal) Act, 1946 dissolved the Straits Settlements, with Singapore becoming a Crown Colony on its own while

and

joined the

Malayan Union The Malayan Union was a union of the Malay states and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. It was the successor to British Malaya and was conceived to unify the Malay Peninsula under a single government to simplify administration. ...

. The effects of the war led to major changes in attitudes towards the British colonial government, particularly with the drop in confidence in their ability to govern and protect Singapore, and a resulting desire to have greater say and participation in local affairs. With mounting local pressure, a new Colonial Constitution was passed, with the Singapore Colony Order-in-Council of 1946 to 1948 providing for public voting to take place for the first time with the first general election of 1948. Elected members of the Legislative Council were restricted to only six non-official members, however, and voting was only open to adult British subjects who have been residents in Singapore for at least a year before the elections. The rest of the thirteen non-officials included four nominated members by the governor and three by the

chambers of commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

. Nine official members complete the council. The governor continued to exercise significant power, included the right to veto bills by the council.

List of sessions

References

External links

The road to Singaporean independence
{{Authority control British rule in Singapore Politics of Singapore

1946 establishments in British Malaya