Group+2+-+1948+Elections

=__1948 Elections__=

By: Lin Peishan (16), Lin Qingxun (17), Low An Yee (18), Alyssa Low (19), Lum Qian Wei (20)

Summary: After the end of World War II, the British recognised the locals' desire for self-government after being let down by the British and treated harshly by the Japanese. In an effort to introduce self-government slowly, the British reinstated the LC (Legislative Council) that was established in 1867 and opened a limited number seats for elected legislators, with __colony-appointed officials remaining in control__. This exposed Singapore to elections for the first time - but only some citizens were given voting privileges. The PP, or (Singapore) Progressive Party was the dominant political party at that time. These elections marked the start of the path to self-government; however, the little self-government granted at this point in time was very limited.

__**a. A timeline of key events**__
In 1948, the British took the first step towards democracy for Singapore. They allowed six non-official members in the Legislative Council to be elected by the people. Since there were to be six elected seats in the Legislative Council, an election had to be held.

The **Legislative Council of Singapore** was partially opened for public voting in 1948.
 * 1945 – 5 September – The British return to Singapore after the end of World War II and begin a military administration of the Straits Settlements.
 * 1946 – 1 April – The Straits Settlements is dissolved and Singapore becomes a separate crown colony.
 * 1947 – May – Severe food shortage leads to record-low rice ration, causing malnutrition, disease and outbreak of crime and violence.
 * 1947 – A large number of strikes occur causing stoppages in public transport, public services and the harbour.
 * 1948 – Rubber plantations and tin mines in Malaya are destroyed by communists, and the British declares the state of Emergency over Singapore and Malaya.
 * 1948 – 20 March – Singapore's first limited election is held, with 6 seats in the Legislative Council. The Singapore Progressive Party wins 3 seats.

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.

__**b. Who were the main political parties and people involved? Provide a brief biographical write-up about them.**__
The (Singapore) Progressive Party was the only contesting party. It was founded by Tan Chye Cheng, John Laycock, Nazir Ahmad Mallal, on August 25, 1947, who had all been educated at the University of London. It was the first Singaporean political party, and took 3 of 6 seats in the Legislative Assembly in the 1948 elections. The (S)PP:


 * Was **heavily backed by and made up of English-speaking and English educated upper-class professionals.**


 * **Advocated slow, gradual change and agreed with British policy to let Singapore assume full self-government slowly, which angered many locals, who wanted quick, radical change.** They had mistakenly assumed that the locals did not want self-government.


 * Worked closely with the British government and wanted a __steady__ constitutional reform via widening pool of elected members and __eventually__ forming a cabinet. (Read the underlined parts as 'slow' =.=) They were not interested in pressing the British government. They hoped for Singapore to gain full self-government in 1963, and then progress to independence via a merger with Malaya. However, the party did not set a target date for independence.


 * Their **pro-British stance and English-educated background especially angered Chinese-educated locals**, though they also fought for equal treatment of equal treatment of local and European civil servants. T hey also drafted and passed the law for CPF, and set up the Singapore Improvement Trust, the predecessor to HDB.


 * **Pro-colonial, conservative policies** caused the party to lose favour with locals; seen by locals as content to leave Singapore under British rule


 * Failed to win 1955 elections; dissolved May 10, 1956 and merged with Democratic Party to form Liberal Socialist Party

People in the party who ran in the 1948 elections include: John Laycock, Lim Chuan Geok, Tan Chye Ching, Nazir Bin Abdul Mallal and Arumugan Ponnu Rajah.


 * Biography of John Laycock:** John Laycock, full name Christopher John Laycock, was a British lawyer who not only founded the SPP, but also founded one of Singapore's earliest law firms, //Laycock and Ong//. He grew up in Manchester, England, and was influential in the early development of rock-climbing. Following the deaths of his two best friends, he left England for Singapore and never went rock-climbing again. In Singapore, he founded the Race Course Golf Club, the first truly multi-racial golf club, for Asians who wanted to play golf but could not join the exclusively-European Royal Singapore Golf Club. He was also a municipal councillor in Singapore in the 1930s.

In 1951, John Laycock recruited a practising lawyer in his law firm, Lee Kuan Yew, to be his and SPP's election agent. This was Lee Kuan Yew's first experience in politics, and it provided him many insights into Singapore politics.

Nothing else can be found about this dude.

Aside from the SPP, several independent candidates (i.e., candidates unaffiliated with any party) also ran, and the independent candidates took 3 of the 6 seats. These candidates include:
 * **Mohamed Javad Namazie**
 * **M. K. Chidambram**
 * **Charles Jeseph Pemberton Paglar**: He was a surgeon, member of the Legislative Council, philanthropist, sports patron, and a prominent Eurasian leader. During the Japanese Occupation, he was coerced to serve as the president of the Japanese-sponsored Eurasian Welfare Association - a connection which led to his indictment for treason by the British after the war. Paglar was not convicted as the case was withdrawn. He was President of the Singapore Recreation Club from 1946 until his demise in 1954. He was known for his generosity and gave his time, energy, and money in support of many charitable and sporting organisations. Paglar was instrumental in the formation of the Yio Chu Kang Youth Club and the Katong Boys Club where youths could spend their time purposefully. He also built a Tamil school for children at Wing Loong Road, and contributed to a mosque for the Malay villages in Ponggol. Another instance of his philanthropic spirit was his donation to the construction of the Singapore Badminton Hall. Not only did he give twice, but he also rallied others to contribute as well.
 * **S. C. Goho**, an Indian expatriate.
 * **Richard Lim C. H**
 * **Valiya Purayil Abdullah**
 * **Mirza Bin Abul Majid**
 * **Sardon Bin Haji Zubir**
 * **Cheng Hock Chye**
 * **Pilai Malathi**

__**c. What were the major issues in the election?**__

 * Major issues:**
 * First election - a (small) step towards democracy and self-government
 * Only people who were born in Singapore could vote and it was not compulsory to vote. Thus, only a small amount of people turned up to vote. -> unfair representation
 * Only 1 contesting political party -> lack of opposing views
 * Many locals felt great animosity and resentment towards the British government because of the Fall of Singapore, and wanted change and self-government -> the one contesting political party did not have the support of many locals due to its pro-British stance
 * Only 6 seats could be elected, and upper posts were still held by British officials - very limited self-government

__**d. What were the results of the elections?**__
VOTES

Total valid votes: 23,751 (94.7%) Total rejected votes: 1,321 (5.3%) Source: []
 * Party || Obtained || Obtainable || % of total || % of valid ||
 * [[image:http://www.singapore-elections.com/images/pp0.jpg caption="Progressive Party" link="http://www.singapore-elections.com/political-parties/pp.html"]] || 11,754 || 22,607 || 49.5 || 52.0 ||
 * [[image:http://www.singapore-elections.com/images/ind.jpg caption="Independents" link="http://www.singapore-elections.com/political-parties/independent.html"]] || 11,997 || 23,751 || 50.5 || 50.5 ||

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL GENERAL ELECTION 1948 SEATS

(83.3%) || 3 (60.0%) || 3  (50.0%) || (100.0%) || 3  (30.0%) || 3  (50.0%) || []
 * Party || Candidates || Won || New ||
 * [[image:http://www.singapore-elections.com/images/pp0.jpg caption="Progressive Party" link="http://www.singapore-elections.com/political-parties/pp.html"]] || 5
 * [[image:http://www.singapore-elections.com/images/ind.jpg caption="Independents" link="http://www.singapore-elections.com/political-parties/independent.html"]] || 10
 * TOTAL || 15 || 6 || 6 ||

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL BY-ELECTION 1948 The reason for Singapore's first by-election, held shortly after a GE earlier in the same year, was due to the death of independent Legislative Councillor S. C. Goho, who passed away in Calcutta. PP nominated a previously unsuccessful independent candidate in the GE, who was contested by two other new independents, one of them who turned up in a last-minute surprise. Nomination day: 3 September 1948 [Fri]

Polling day: 16 October 1948 [Sat] Registered voters: 4,279

Total voter turnout: 3,121 (72.9%)

http://www.singapore-elections.com/leco-1948-be/


 * Significance of results:**

//The purpose of the election held on 20 March 1948 was to elect six members to the Legislative Council.//

There were now //elected// local voices were in the government, meaning the people had some choice in who represented them for the first time, and the structure of government in Singapore had somewhat evolved. This was one small but necessary step closer to self-government and democracy; however, this representation was not a fair one. The response was small, as only those born in Singapore were allowed to vote, which was a small percentage of people. Also, voting was not compulsory so many did not vote. This created an unfair representation of locals' views. Only 22,334 out of the population of 940 000 were allowed to vote - two percent. Total voter turnout was 14,126 (63.2%). Moreover, half of the elected candidates were actually opposing what the locals really wanted.

The British were also still mainly in control as the the elected candidates were **non-official**. This meant the little self-government granted was really very, very small.

More info:

http://libguides.nl.sg/content.php?pid=158879&sid=1371861