March 1957 : The Establishment Of The Internal Security Council

To obtain full self-government in the London talk attended by Lim Yew Hock and Lee Kuan Yew, Lim Yew Hock agreed to the establishment of an Internal Security Council (“ISC”) under what was de facto British control, with the conservative Malayan government having the decisive vote. When the left, opposing Lee Kuan Yew’s agreement of the ISC, attempted to take control of the PAP’s executive committee in August 1957, it was struck by a second round of arrests.

Unhappy with the terms of the ISC the left wing in the PAP tried to oust the moderates in the party. At the PAP’s Third Annual Conference in August 1957 the voting ended in a tie between the moderates and the
left. Lee Kuan Yew and Toh Chin Chye stood down from the PAP leadership forcing the left to assume all the key posts.

  1. ‘The Left-Wing Trade Unions in Singapore 1945 – 1970 (2008) : Michael Fernandez and Loh Kah Seng