Lim Yew Hock
Lim Yew Hock was a Singaporean and Malaysian politician and diplomat who served as Chief Minister of Singapore from 1956 to 1959. He was the Member of Parliament for Cairnhill between 1959 and 1963, and had earlier served as a member of the Legislative Council of Singapore and later the Legislative Assembly of Singapore from 1948 to 1959. Between 1959 and 1963, Lim was the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. Following Singapore's separation from Malaysia in 1965, Lim became less involved in Singaporean politics and moved to Malaya.
Educated at Raffles Institution, Lim began his career as a clerk before entering politics after World War II. He joined the Progressive Party in 1947. In 1949, alongside David Marshall, he co-founded the Labour Front. The implementation of the Rendel Constitution in 1955, spurred by growing demands for self-governance, led to the first Legislative Assembly election. The LF emerged victorious, with Marshall becoming Chief Minister. Lim was appointed Minister for Labour and Welfare and served as Deputy Chief Minister during Marshall's tenure.
After the failure of the 1956 Merdeka Talks in London to achieve self-governance, Marshall resigned, and Lim succeeded him as Chief Minister. Determined to gain the trust of the British authorities, Lim took a strong stance against communist and leftist movements, including crackdowns on students and teachers from Chinese-medium schools accused of communist sympathies. He led an all-party delegation to London and secured an agreement for a new constitution that granted Singapore internal self-government in 1959. However, his actions alienated the Chinese-educated population and eroded support for his administration, boosting the popularity of the opposition People's Action Party led by Lee Kuan Yew.
In the 1959 Singaporean general election, Lim's newly formed Singapore People's Alliance was defeated by the PAP, prompting his resignation as Chief Minister. He remained in the Assembly until 1963 but played a diminished role in politics. Afterward, he was appointed High Commissioner of Malaysia to Australia by Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. Lim's legacy is marked by both political significance and mystery. While he played a pivotal role in securing self-governance for Singapore, his political career ended abruptly following his disappearance from public view in 1966 during his diplomatic posting to Australia. He later resurfaced as a Muslim convert living quietly in Saudi Arabia, where he died in 1984.
Life
Early years
Lim Yew Hock was born to Kinmen Hokkiens in Singapore of the Straits Settlements on 15 October 1914. He was a part of the third generation of overseas Chinese in Singapore, and son of Lim Teck Locke. Lim was the eldest son in his family and has a brother and two sisters. He attended English language schools; the Pearl's Hill School and Outram School from a young age. He obtained excellent results and received a four-year scholarship. He was admitted to the prestigious Raffles Institution and completed his secondary education in 1931.Lim had planned to study law in the United Kingdom upon graduation, and was ready to sit for Cambridge entrance examinations. However, his father's sudden death made it impossible. He was only 37 years old when he died, so the assets he left behind was put under supervision of Lim's uncle, while Lim was being mistreated. As the Great Depression greatly impacted Singapore's economy, he had to earn a living by provision of "private tuition" during his post- secondary education years to support his family, made up of his mother and younger siblings.
Soon, he was employed as a junior clerk of the Imperial Chemical Industries in 1934, he transferred to Cold Storage as a junior clerk, which enabled him to earn a stable income. He was promoted as stenographer because of his outstanding performance in shorthand. During World War II, Japan launched the Pacific War in December 1941, leading to the fall of Singapore in February 1942. Lim lived on selling charcoal, until the end of Japanese occupation and Singapore's revert to British rule in 1945, when he returned to Cold Storage as private secretary.
Early political career
Lim became involved in trade union activities right after the war. He resigned from Cold Storage and worked as full-time Secretary-General of the Singapore Clerical and Administrative Workers' Union. In March 1947, he became the first Singaporean to receive the British Council scholarship, to study local trade unions in Britain.With his trade union background, Lim joined the newly formed Singaporean Progressive Party led by Tan Chye Cheng to start off his political career. In fact, there was a major change in politics of post-war Singapore. On the one hand, there were increasing calls for independence, and on the other hand, the Straits Settlements was dissolved in 1946 by the British Government, while the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements was restructured in 1948 as the Legislative Council of Singapore. In March 1948, Singapore held its first Legislative Council election to elect its six out of the 22 Councillors; Three out of five PP candidates won in the election. Lim did not participate in the election, but was appointed as an unofficial member in April, representing the trade union in the council.
Lim left the PP in July 1949 and joined the Singaporean Labour Party, whom Lim shared a similar political stand with. Later in June 1950, he was elected LP's Chairman, and was chosen to serve as Chairman of the SCAWU in July of the same year. Under support of the union, he contested in the Keppel constituency during the Legislative Council election held in April 1951, and was elected as a Councillor. In this election, the number of elected seats increased from six to nine; The PP won six, LP won two, while the remaining seat was won by an independent candidate. In May 1951, Lim founded the Singapore Trades Union Congress and appointed himself as chairman. In the same year, he was funded by the United States Information Agency to study the labour movement in the America. However, LP's internal struggle among the different factions was growing weaker. The faction led by party's Secretary-General Peter M. Williams successfully coerced Lim to step down as chairman. He eventually left the party.
Labour Front
Soon after leaving the party, Lim was appointed as a member of the Rendel Commission, chaired by British diplomat Sir George Rendel, which was formed in July 1953 by Singapore's colonial government to provide advice on constitutional development in Singapore. The Commission subsequently submitted a report in February 1954 for major changes in constitutional law of Singapore, heading towards self-rule. At the same time, Lim formed the Labour Front with Francis Thomas and well-known barrister David Marshall, with Marshall as president.In February 1955, a new constitution, the Rendel Constitution, was implemented. Singapore would create its first Legislative Assembly with majority of the seats popularly elected, to replace the existing Council. 25 out of 32 seats would be elected by the general populace, four seats would be allocated to Governor-appointed unofficial members, three seats taken by ex officio members, respectively the Chief Secretary, Attorney-General and Financial Secretary, while the remaining seat would be for the unofficial Speaker of the Assembly nominated by the Governor. Moreover, the post of the Chief Minister was added, which would be assumed by the leader of the majority party in the Assembly, sharing the responsibility with the Chief Secretary. The Chief Secretary continued to take control over areas such as external affairs, internal security, defence, broadcasting and public relations, whereas the power of policy-making for the people's welfare lied in the hands of the Chief Minister.
The existing Executive Council was replaced by the newly formed Council of Ministers, chaired by the Governor, composed of the three ex officio members and the remaining six unofficial members, inclusive of the Chief Minister and five other members from the Assembly. Although the Governor presided over the Council of Ministers, the Chief Minister could lead discussions, whereas the other Council members who was also Assemblymen would also take up different ministerial posts, similar to the Westminster and parliamentary system.
File:Old Parliament House, Singapore, Jan 06.JPG|thumb|left|300px|Lim won in the Legislative Assembly election of 1955, representing Havelock constituency, and was appointed Minister for Labour and Welfare. The photograph shows the former Legislative Assembly House of Singapore
In April 1955, in the subsequent Legislative Assembly election, the Marshall-led LF won in the election with 10 seats. The remaining seats were taken by the PP, Singapore Alliance, People's Action Party, Democratic Party and three independent candidates. After the election, Marshall became Singapore's first Chief Minister, but as the LF did not obtain absolute majority, he formed a coalition government with the Singapore Alliance, and appointed two pro-LF unofficial nominated members into the Assembly under the help of Governor Sir John Nicoll. Lim was elected as Havelock constituency's Assemblyman. He was the only popularly elected Legislative Councillor who transited over to the Legislative Assembly.
After the election, Lim was appointed as Minister for Labour and Welfare under Marshall's government, and he resigned from his chairmanship with the STUC. Then, workers were on strikes one after another, often escalating into civil unrest incidents, so Lim, as Labour and Welfare Minister, had to meditate and assist in subsiding such strikes. He had handled the April–May 1955 Hock Lee bus strikes, May–July 1955 Singapore Harbour Board Staff Association strikes, and also strikes from hotels, City Council of Singapore, Singapore Traction Company, etc. The Hock Lee bus strikes turned into a riot in May 1955, killing four and injuring many, including two police officers who died.
Soon after, Marshall led an all-party delegation with Governor Sir Robert Black to London, UK in March 1956, to negotiate with the British for self-rule in Singapore. However, talks failed by May 1956, and in his return to Singapore, Marshall resigned as Chief Minister on 6 June. On 8 June 1956, Marshall's deputy, Lim, who was also Minister for Labour and Welfare, took over and became Singapore's second Chief Minister.
Lim's Council of Minister was similar to that of Marshall's. Besides continuing to serve as Labour and Welfare Minister, while the other members include his deputy Abdul Hamid bin Haji Jumat, J. M. Jumabhoy, Francis Thomas, Chew Swee Kee, and A. J. Braga. Marshall, former Chief Minister, later left the LF and founded the Worker's Party. In March 1958, Lim was chosen as LF's president.