Post-war Singapore

Post-war Singapore refers to a period in the history of Singapore from 1945, when the Empire of Japan surrendered to the Allies at the end of World War II, until 1955, when Singapore gained partial internal self-governance.

Return of British rule

After Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 15, 1945, there was a state of anomie in Singapore, as the British had not arrived to take control, while the Japanese occupiers had a considerably weakened hold over the populace. Incidents of looting and revenge-killing were widespread.

When British troops returned to Singapore in September 1945, thousands of Singaporeans lined the streets to cheer them. Singapore was ruled by a British Military Administration (BMA) between September 1945 and March 1946, during which it also served as the headquarters of the British governor general for Southeast Asia. However much of the infrastructure had been destroyed, including electricity and water supply systems, telephone services, as well as the harbour facilities at the Port of Singapore. There was also a shortage of food including rice, and this led to malnutrition, disease and rampant crimes and violence. Unemployment, high food prices, and workers' discontent culminated into a series of strikes in 1947 causing massive stoppages in public transport and other services. By late 1947, the economy began to recover, facilitated by the growing demand for tin and rubber around the world. But it would take several more years before the economy returned to pre-war levels. cite web
title = Singapore - Aftermath of War
url = http://countrystudies.us/singapore/9.htm
publisher = U.S. Library of Congress
accessdate = 2006-06-18 ]

The failure of the British to defend Singapore had destroyed their credibility as infallible rulers in the eyes of Singaporeans. The decades after the war saw a political awakening amongst the local populace and the rise of nationalist and anti-colonial sentiments, including a cry for "Merdeka", roughly translated to "independence" in the Malay language. The British, on their part, were prepared to embark on a program of gradually increasing self-governance for Singapore and Malaya.

On 1 April 1946, the Straits Settlements was dissolved and Singapore became a Crown Colony with a civil administration headed by a Governor and separated from peninsular Malaya. In July 1947, separate Executive and Legislative Councils were established and provisions were made to allow for the election of six members of the Legislative Council the next year. cite web
title = Towards Self-government
url = http://www.sg/explore/history_towards.htm
publisher = Ministry of Information,Communications and the Arts, Singapore
accessdate = 2006-06-18 ]

First Legislative Council (1948-1951)

The first Singaporean elections, held in March 1948 to select members of the Legislative Council, were rather limited. The right to vote was restricted to adult British subjects, of which only 23,000 or about 10 percent of those eligible registered to vote, In addition, only six of the twenty-five seats on the Legislative Council were to be elected; the rest were chosen either by the Governor or by the chambers of commerce. Three of the elected seats were won by a newly-formed Singapore Progressive Party (SPP), a conservative party whose leaders were businessmen and professoinals and were disinclined to press for immediate self-rule. The other three seats were won by independents.

Three months after the elections, an armed insurgency by communist groups in Malaya — the Malayan Emergency — broke out, and the British imposed harsh measures to control left-wing groups in both Singapore and Malaya; the controversial Internal Security Act, which allowed indefinite detention without trial for persons suspected of being "threats to security", was introduced at this time. Since the left-wing groups were the strongest critics of the colonial system, progress on self-government stalled for several years. The colonial government also tried to prevent contacts between Singaporean Chinese and China, which had just fallen under the rule of the Communist Party of China. Tan Kah Kee, a local businessman and philanthropist, was denied re-entry into Singapore after he made a trip to China.

econd Legislative Council (1951-1955)

A second Legislative Council election was held in 1951 with the number of elected seats increased to nine. This election was again dominated by the SPP which won six seats. This slowly contributed to the formation of a distinct government of Singapore, although colonial administration was still dominant. In 1953, with the communists in Malaya suppressed and the worst of the Emergency over, the government appointed a commission, headed by Sir George Rendel, to study the possibility of self-government for Singapore. The commission proposed a limited form of self-government. The Legislative Assembly with twenty-five out of thirty-two seats chosen by popular election would replace the Legislative Council, from which a Chief Minister as head of government and Council of Ministers as a cabinet would be picked under a parliamentary system. The British would retain control over areas such as internal security and foreign affairs, as well as veto power over legislation.

The government agreed with the recommendations, and Legislative Assembly elections were scheduled for April 2, 1955. The election was a lively and closely-fought affair, with several newly-formed political parties joining the fray. In contrast to previous elections, voters were automatically registered, expanding the electorate to around 300,000. The SPP was soundly defeated in the election, winning only four seats. The newly-formed, left-leaning Labour Front was the largest winner with ten seats and was able to form a coalition government with the UMNO-MCA Alliance, which won three seats. Another new party, the leftist People's Action Party (PAP), won three seats.

References

*Bose, Romen, "THE END OF THE WAR: The Liberation of Singapore and the aftermath of the Second World War", Marshall Cavendish, Singapore, 2005

1. Food shortagea. Causesi. Sunken ships blocked the harbor, thus shipments could not arrive.ii. The rice-producing countries did not have any extra food to sell.b. Solutioni. The British cleared away all the sunken ships from the harbor.ii. They rationed foodiii. People’s restaurants were set up to provide the people with low-priced food.c. Consequencesi. Malnutritionii. Widespread of diseasesiii. Crime levels increased.