by Mavis Puthucheary
Today, 25 August 2022, is the centenary of James’ birth. As I look back on his life, I am reminded of the time when he was released from prison following the PAP election victory of May 1959, and the wave of euphoria across Singapore that change was coming, a time of great expectation. In a sense this was a period of foundational history, a template to guide and shape the new democratic state. That the situation was to develop very differently from the early promise and expectations has been a matter of concern not only for me but for many others.
As James’s wife, I was a ‘witness’ to many of the events of this period. I have not written on the subject until now, but my reading of the literature published in recent years, persuades me there is need of a new, more balanced narrative based on a re-assessment of that early promising beginning, of which James was a part. These studies are to a large extent based on information contained in documents at the National Archives, London, information that offers us the opportunity to explore new ways of better understanding the past.
History is more that the telling of a partial narrative. It is an attempt to understand and explain the past so as to plan for the future. In this sense historical writing is exploratory and subject to revision as new information comes to light.
My main purpose in writing on this period is aimed not at defending James as such though I do feel an obligation as his wife to correct if I can some of the slurs directed at him and his circles. With the help of documents in the National Archives, London, I hope to put the record straight by analysing some of the steps taken by Mr. Lee Kuan Yew that contributed to the development of an authoritarian style of government. The actions of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew are not judged but put to scrutiny on the basis that there is now more information available.
Most of all I hope to explain what I consider to be a key question: How did Lee Kuan Yew and the PAP amass so much power in those early years that the other institutions and structures of the State became subordinate to the government?
I plan to start my writing with a short description of the Cold War era when tensions were high and international politics severely divided between the right and the left. This was also the period when South-East Asia was in great flux as countries in the region sought political independence from their colonial masters. It was a period of decolonization, of nation building and of intense jockeying among the major powers for influence in the region. In a sense Singapore was a victim of the Cold War.
How did the Cold War and British Imperial interests together with local political rivalries combine to make it possible for the PAP to rid itself of its political rivals and consolidate state power and control within the party?
This is the story I hope to tell.