Barisan Sosialis

Since its formation, the PAP was divided into the Lee Kuan Yew camp and the left-wing camp led by Lim Chin Siong. The common ground of anti-colonialism and independence of Singapore was the basis for the co-operation between the two camps. Differences in their mass bases also encouraged such co-operation. During the early years, the left-wing camp mainly commanded support from the Chinese masses, rural people and trade unions, while support for Lee Kuan Yew's camp was mainly found in the English-educated community.[2] With the support of the working class, the PAP won the third-most seats in the 1955 election and formed the main opposition. In 1959, with the support of the trade unions, the PAP won the election and formed the Government under Lee Kuan Yew.[3] However, the two camps were ideologically and politically different in nature. During its formative years, the left-wing members already showed their dissatisfaction with the policies carried out by Lee Kuan Yew and his failure to fulfill his promises to help secure the release of the left-wing political detainees. Finally, the contentious issue of merger with Malaysia triggered the split within the PAP.[4]

On 27 May 1961, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of the Federation of Malaya, suggested the creation of a new Malaysia state consisting of the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei. The reactions towards merger within the PAP were divided. The merger with Malaysia was supported by the Lee Kuan Yew camp as a means of assuring Singapore's future security and prosperity, while opposed by the left-wing camp as the merger was seen as an attempt to "wipe out the left-wing forces in Singapore" (Interview with Dr Lee Siew Choh).[5]

The rupture within the PAP was widened by the Hong Lim and Anson by-elections in 1961. Displeased with the PAP government's refusal to abolish the Internal Security Council(ISC), refusal to back down the merger plan and refusal to release the remaining political detainees, the PAP left-wingers abandoned support for their own candidates in favour of Ong Eng Guan (in Hong Lim) and David Marshall (in Anson), which led to the PAP's defeat in the two by-elections.

After the Anson by-election, the left-wing camp planned to oust Lee Kuan Yew from the party but they worried that their actions would cause the British to hold up plans for Singapore's independence. As a result, the left-wingers had a meeting with Lord Selkirk, the British Commissioner-General at Eden Hall, which was later known as the "Eden Hall Tea Party". At the meeting, the left got assurance from Selkirk that Britain was committed to independence and would not intervene militarily to maintain control after the overthrow of Lee Kuan Yew's government.[6][7]

On 20 July 1961, Lee Kuan Yew called an emergency meeting of the Legislative Assembly to vote on a motion of confidence in the Government. Twenty-six assemblymen voted for the government and twenty-four, including thirteen of PAP left-wingers, either abstained or voted against the motion of confidence.[2] The thirteen PAP left-wingers who abstained from voting were then expelled from the PAP. The expelled members, including Lim Chin Siong, Sidney Woodhull and Fong Swee Suan, then proceeded to form an opposition party, the Barisan Sosialis. After the split, 35 branch committees out of 51 and 19 of 23 paid organising secretaries of the PAP went over to the Barisan.[5][8]

The Barisan was officially inaugurated on 17 September 1962, with Lim Chin Siong as its secretary-general and Dr Lee Siew Choh as chairman. Its founding slogan was ‘genuinely full internal self-government’ through merger with Malaya[6] and it shared the same aim with the PAP-‘the creation of an independent, democratic, non-communist, socialist Malaya’.[8] The main objectives of the new party were presented in following four statements:[9]

1. To eradicate colonialism and set up a united national independent state comprising the Federation of Malaya and Singapore
2. To establish a democratic Government of Malaya based on universal adult suffrage of all those who are born in or owe their allegiance to Malaya
3. To bring into being an economic system that will endure a prosperous, stable and just society
4. To mobilise all sections of the people for the building of a Malayan nation

While the Barisan oppose the merger with Malaya, the party campaigned vigorously against the PAP government's merger terms with the Federation of Malaya. According to the merger terms agreed by the PAP government, Singapore would retain its autonomy in education and labour at the expense of the rights of Singapore citizens and seats in the new Federal Parliament. The Barisan demanded that Singapore citizens should automatically become Malayan citizens with proportional representation in the Federal Parliament.[4] At the end, the PAP government advocated that a referendum should be held to test popular support for the merger. The Referendum Bill on the merger incorporated proposals and amendments from the Barisan, David Marshall, Ong Eng Guan and SPA-UMNO.[9] Three offered options A, B, C respectively proposed by the PAP, David Marshall and the SPA-UMNO. However, the Barisan appealed to voters to cast blank votes on the referendum stating that no option correctly expressed Barisan's thoughts and the three options would "sell out Singapore".[5] This move had been anticipated by the PAP government; a clause had been inserted within the Referendum Ordinance stating that voters who cast blank votes were unable to make a decision themselves and they must necessarily follow the majority. That is, the blank votes would be automatically counted together with whichever of the options that won the majority. The Referendum on Merger was held on 1 September 1962, and the results were:[9]

• Option (A): 397,626 votes (71%)
• Option (B): 9,422 votes (1.7%)
• Option (C): 7,911 votes (1.4%)
• Blank votes: 144,077 votes (25%)

Option A won the majority, with the Barisan defeated.

From the perspective of the PAP government, the Barisan was a communist-controlled organisation which Lee Kuan Yew labelled as a "main open front communist organization"[10] The ISC stated that the Barisan activists were indeed communist-inspired and the Barisan was controlled by the Communists to sabotage the formation of Malaysia.[5]

Although admitting that they adopted Communist tactics for the anti-colonial cause because, at the time, such tactics would gather mass support, Lim Chin Siong refuted the Communist label attached to him and the Barisan. He claimed:

"Let me make it clear, once and for all, that I am not a Communist, or a Communist front-man, or, for that matter, anybody’s front-man."[5]

"I was an MBA League member, but that doesn’t mean that I was a communist...MBA is far from MCP...Study the Manifesto of the PA; it was more anti-colonial and more communist in doctrine...Of course during that time, the largest surviving party in Malaya was MCP and PAP was relatively new, so it was inevitable the thinking was influenced by communism." (Interview with Lim Chin Siong)[5]

It may have been possible that the Barisan was merely inspired by successful Communist movements elsewhere to end colonialism and to mobilise the masses, and there is uncertainty about whether the Barisan was Communist controlled or not.

"It is not clear whether the Barisan is merely a front for the Communist Party and its executive in Singapore, the Town Committee, or whether it is a party which is willing to accept Communist support, though the ultimate objective did not call for the creation of a Communist political system nor the establishment of a beachhead for the Chinese People’s Republic."[11]

• Infopedia: Barisan Sosialis
• HistorySG: Barisan Sosialis is formed