Happy 61 birthday to the PAP!

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:



On this day, 21 Nov 61 years ago, the PAP was founded...#withyou #foryou #forSingapore. #PAP61.

The founding members of the party comprised political activists from the three main ethnic communities of Singapore and included personalities such as Lee Kuan Yew, Toh Chin Chye, Goh Keng Swee, C. V. Devan Nair, S. Rajaratnam, Abdul Samad Ismail and Fong Swee Suan. They were mostly lawyers, journalists and trade unionists by profession. The inaugural meeting of the PAP was held at the Victoria Memorial Hall, which was attended by some 1,500 people. Among them were union supporters and key political leaders of the day such as Tunku Abdul Rahman, leader of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), and Dato Sir Tan Cheng Lock, leader of the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA).

The first key office-holders included a group of English-speaking young men who had been educated overseas. These were Lee Kuan Yew, who was the party's first secretary-general, Toh Chin Chye, the party's first chairman and S Rajaratnam, who later held key ministerial posts in the Government.

In the early days, although the PAP worked with communists with anti-colonialism as their mutual platform, the PAP made it clear it had a different set of political values. Lim Chin Siong, along with his Chinese High senior, Fong Swee Suan, was introduced to Lee Kuan Yew. The PAP's goal was to achieve merger with Malaya, but the pro-communists wanted a united Singapore-Malaya under the communist banner.

In 1956, Lim and Lee represented the PAP at the London Constitutional Talks led by David Marshall, which ended in failure: the British declined to grant Singapore internal self-government. Marshall, disappointed with the constitutional talks, stepped down as Chief Minister, and was replaced by Lim Yew Hock.

After two more rounds of Constitutional Talks in 1957 and 1958, a General Election for a fully elected government was held on 30 May 1959. That year, the PAP won the election and formed Singapore's first fully elected government under the new Constitution. The Cabinet of self-government was sworn in on 5 June with Lee Kuan Yew as Prime Minister, Dr Toh Chin Chye, the Deputy Prime Minister, Goh Keng Swee, the Minister for Finance and Ong Pang Boon, Minister for Home Affairs.

Although foreign relations and matters of defence were still in the hands of the British at that time, it was a step closer to its mission of seeking independence through merger with Malaya.

Then in 1961 came the Big Split. Lim Chin Siong and a few others turned against the PAP and the government over the issue of the day: Independence through merger.

Once comrades-in-arms, Lim Chin Siong broke away from Lee Kuan Yew and left the PAP to become the leader of the opposition party Barisan Socialis (Socialist Front).

During its formative years, the main objectives of the PAP as laid out in the party’s 1954 manifesto were to seek for the independence of Singapore through merger with the Federation of Malaya, to set up a democratic-socialist government, to create a multi-ethnic society, and to establish a fair and just society. The party’s strong stand against corruption is reflected in its logo – the lightning symbol in red encircled by a blue ring against a white background. The red lightning represents action, the blue ring stands for the unity of all races, while the white background symbolises purity and integrity. The party uniform of white-on-white also signifies the purity and the incorruptibility of its members.

The first election that the PAP contested was the 1955 Legislative Assembly general election where it won three out of the four seats it contested. Lee Kuan Yew was one of the party’s victors after he captured the Tanjong Pagar ward with a 5,121-vote majority. In the 1959 Legislative Assembly general election, the PAP won the mandate to form the government after it enjoyed a landslide victory by capturing 43 out of 51 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Lee, who was then the secretary-general of the PAP, subsequently became the first prime minister of Singapore.


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