Lim Yew Hock authorised the arrests of 300 activists and 10 organisations were banned including the Chinese Middle School Union. In October 1956 James was arrested together with Lim Chin Siong, Fong Swee Suan, Sidney Woodhull and Devan Nair.
“… the Singapore Factory and Shop Workers Union (SFSWU) and the Singapore Bus Workers Union, under the common principle of preserving human rights, supported the Chinese school students in a sympathy strike against the closure of Chinese High School and Chung Cheng High School, which ended in riots.”1
1 ‘The Left-Wing Trade Unions in Singapore 1945 – 1970 (2008) : Michael Fernandez and Loh Kah Seng