Progressive Party (Singapore)

The Singapore Progressive Party (abbrev: PP), or just, the Progressive Party is a now defunct political party that was formed on 25 August 1947. It won the Legislative Assembly general elections in 1948 by winning half of the contested seats in the Legislative Assembly, 3 out of 6. At that time, the self-government power of the Legislative Assembly was still rather limited.

Progressive Party
Chinese namesimplified Chinese: 进步党; traditional Chinese: 進步黨; pinyin: Jìnbù Dǎng; Wade–Giles: Chin4 pu4 tang3
Malay nameParti Progresif ڤرتي ڤروݢريسيف
Tamil nameமுற்போக்குக் கட்சி Muṟpōkkuk kaṭci
PresidentJohn Laycock(1947-1956)
ChairpersonNazir Ahmad Mallal(1947-1956)
Secretary-GeneralTan Chye Cheng(1947-1956)
FounderTan Chye Cheng
Founded25 August 1947 (1947-08-25)
Dissolved10 May 1956 (1956-05-10)
Merged intoLiberal Socialist Party
Succeeded byLiberal Socialist Party
IdeologyConservatism
Political positionRight-wing
ColoursPurple

History

The party was founded by three lawyers, namely Tan Chye Cheng, John Laycock and Nazir Ahmad Mallal. All three were educated at the University of London and were three of the six first ever elected legislative councillors in Singapore. The party was Singapore's first political party.

Party ideology

The Progressive Party was heavily backed by and made up of English-speaking upper class professionals. Its campaign ideology was to advocate progressive and gradual reforms, rather than sudden, quick, radical ones, which fell in line with British policy at the time, to slowly let Singapore gain full self-government. This approach was criticised vehemently by David Saul Marshall, leader of the Labour Front who instead wanted rapid reform.

Legislative Council

In the Legislative Council, the PP worked closely with the British Government. The PP fought for equal treatment with both local and European civil servants, but this did not please the Chinese-educated locals, who were very unhappy with the PP's Pro-British stance.

CPF

Unknown to many people, the PP was credited for drafting a law for the setting up of a Central Provident Fund, and it was approved by the British government in 1954, this CPF scheme provides financial security for workers in their retirement or for workers who were unable to work, this scheme came into effect in 1955, when David Marshall took office, and even after so many years, the CPF scheme despite having a few revisions and changes, remains in Singapore.

References
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