1955 elections
Who “won” the most number of seats in the 1955 elections?
The Labour Front government
Who led the first LF government
David marshal
Who lead the second LF government?
Lim Yew Hock
Who “won” the 1959 elections
The PAP
What were some of the external challenges SG faced post independence (1965-1975)?
1. Konfrontasi
2. Vietnam War
3. Communist terrorism
4. International terrorism
Which were the parties who ran for the 1955 elections?
Singapore progressive party, Labour front, People’s action party, Democratic Party, Alliance party, independent candidates
What challenges did the LF government face?
1. Internal squabbles
2. Strong opposition
3. British skepticism
What was the main communist riot/threat LYH had to deal with?
The SCMSSU
What were the 4 main differences in the 1959 elections?
1. Citizenship ordinance act
2. Voting was compulsory
3. More parties joined the race
4. First fully elected legislative assembly: 51 seats
How do you answer reliability questions?
Explain the source, what the source tells you, historical knowledge, what the historical knowledge says, link back to source
What made the 1955 elections possible?
Render constitution: passed by the British to give SG limited self gov to see if they can manage on their own
Why did the first LF government have internal squabbles?
Coalition: not majority seats, hence formed a coalition with another party to form majority. despite that, different parties have different ideals, hence internal squabbles arose
How did LYH deal with the SCMSSU?
He took harsh measures: he expelled students, closed down schools, and brought in police (mobilising British forces)
What was the majority of the voter pool like?
Working-middle class Chinese (most were given citizenship under the citizenship ordiance act)
How do you answer comparison questions?
Both sources are similar/different in telling me…
Source A tells me… from…(quote source). It shows me…(explain evidence).
Source B tells me… from…(quote source). It shows me…(explain evidence).
hence, both sources are similar/different in telling me…
Why did the labour front win?
They represented the majority of voters, being anti-colonial and non-capitalist.
How did David Marshall deal with the communist threat in rioting?
He decided to chose negotiations instead of the military like the british had suggested, deciding to handle the Hock Lee Bus riots with “less effective” means.
Why did he deal with the SCMSSU in such a “harsh” way?
He learnt from David Marshall’s failures: realised that he needed to show the British that he could squash the communist threat, gaining their trust, and getting full self governance
Why did the other parties lose out on seats? (Do not talk about PAP)
The PAP and SPA painted the other parties as capitalist and corrupt. However, even the SPA had one of their ministers charged with receiving foreign funds and using it for his personal use, making the whole party look like hypocrites. The other parties also faced internal squabbles, and were not very united. Additionally, the LF was seen as “anti-chinese” because of how LYH handled the SCMSSU riots.
Summarise the Vietnam war
The Vietnam war was a civil war between the communist and non communist vietnam. The americans got involved as they did not want the communists to win. The communist won. The Vietnam war is most well known for their guerilla warefare tactics.
Why was this election important?
It was the first time that there was mass scale participation from the people and political parties in singapore. The voters could chose the representatives that best represent them and their ideals. It also gave the local government control over education, health, housing, trade and industry…
What was the result of the first Merdeka talks and why?
Failed: the British did not believe that the government could handle the communist threat, as seen by how David marshal used gentler “less effective” ways to deal with the riots.
What was the result of the 2nd Merdeka talks and why?
Success: the biritsh could. See that the government was competent enough to handle to communists, but still retained control over external affairs and events
Why did the PAP win? (Talk about PAP, not other parties)
The people felt like the PAP represented them. They catered to the majority working class chinese and also used various languages and dialects. They campaigned for a corruption free singapore, with various social and economic policies that would benefit everyone.
What was the emu war? (Not in syllabus, had an extra square)
Basically, Australian farmers were beefing with the emus over the emus eating all their crops. Hence, they declared war on the emus. although many emus were killed, the emus still kinda won.