Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Aspirations of the people from 1945 to 1959 (Chinese-medium school…
Aspirations of the people from 1945 to 1959
Different Political groups
Singapore Progressive Party (SPP)
a multiracial party made up of mainly English- educated professionals and businessmen
wanted to achieve self-government for Singapore
It believed in working with the British colonial government to gradually introduce changes as they thought that most of the local people lacked interes
Sought to represent the English-speaking professionals and the middle-class, who was born in Singapore and did not see the need to win the support of the CHina-born immigrants (though they formed half the adult population in Singapore
Labour Front (LF)
Sought to protect workers' interests
Had its origins in SLP (Singapore Labour Party), but the SLP lacked a clear political aim, so members left the party and formed LF
Multiracial and included low-income and ENglish-educated members of trade unions
Anti-communist and believed in working with the British to attain self-government would give the opportunity to improve workers' rights and working conditions
People's Action Party (PAP)
multi-racial and comprised mainly of English-educated lawyers, journalists and trade unions
PAP was against British colonial rule in Singapore and wanted immediate independence for Singapore and hoped to achieve it by uniting Singapore with Malaya (Thereby ending colonial rule)
Believed that the constitutional changes introduced by the colonial government would provide them with the opportunity to influence how Singapore was governed
Sought to be elected into government by gaining the support of the masses, including the support of workers, trade unions and students in the Chinese-medium schools
Trade Unions
There were a number of trade unions set up to protect the rights of welfare workers in Singapore (after 1948)
Trade unions were concerned with improving workers' conditions, they felt that the British colonial government sided with the employers and did little to protect workers' interests
Many of them wanted immediate change to their working conditions and protested in the streets to secure their demands
The British colonial government was suspicious of the trade unions
They feared they were under communist influence and would stir up unrest in Singapore
Members of trade unions were often arrested, which further increased the distrust of the trade unions towards the British Colonial Government
Many members of trade unions did not want to work within the constitutional changes introduced by the British
Some trade unions were formed in the 1950s under the influence of the MCP
Singapore Factory and Shop Workers Union (SFSWU)
Singapore Bus Workers Union (SBWU)
Former Chinese middle school students like Lim Chin Siong and Fong Swee Suan became leaders of these unions
They were active in organising anti-colonial activities and were able to reach out to and influence the view of the masses through these trade unions
#
Voters
1955 elections
More people were given the right to vote due to the automatic registration of voters
The different political parties worked hard to excite people's interest in politics during the election campaign
rally speeches
house visits
distributed pamphlets
Chinese-medium school students
Mainly set up by Chinese philanhropits and received little support from the British colonial government
The Chinese middle school students had little opportunity to pursue a university education in Singapore and had to pursue their studies in China, However, the colonial government banned people who visited China from returning to Singapore (in an attempt to stop the spread of communist ideas), so once the Chinese middle school students went to China, they could not return to Singapore
The Chinese middle school students also had poor job prospects as the ruling class was the English-speaking class so the Chinese had difficulty getting jobs, other than going into a business of their own
Chinese Middle School students riot (1954)
The Chinese middle school students felt that they were unfairly treated by the British colonial government and questioned the willingness of the British to look after their interests
The registration for national service in 1954 reinforced the students' views that the British were not concerned about their interests
Many Chinese middle school students were old enough to qualify for National Service as the Japanese Occupation had disrupted their schooling. They did not want their studies to be further disrupted
Many thought that they would be sent into the Malayan jungle to fight the Emergency , some were unwilling to defend the colonial government
A peaceful demonstration was held on 13 May 1954 against National Service
Their petition for postponement was rejected
The British colonial government deployed the police to end the demonstration, 26 were injured
Student demonstrations still continued over the weeks and students only dispersed when their parents came to their school and persuaded them to leave
As a result of the riots, the British colonial government decided to postpone the registration for National Service
Singapore Chinese Middle School Students' Union (SCMSSU) was formed and some members within these groups sought to promote anti-colonial ideas