The Legislative Assembly of Singapore was the legislature

Legislature

A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

 of the government of Singapore

Government of Singapore

The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to mean the Executive branch of government, which is made up of the President and the Cabinet of Singapore. Although the President acts in his personal discretion in the exercise of certain functions as a check...

 from 1955 to 1965 and the predecessor of the Parliament of Singapore

Parliament of Singapore

The Parliament of the Republic of Singapore and the President jointly make up the legislature of Singapore. Parliament is unicameral and is made up of Members of Parliament who are elected, as well as Non-constituency Members of Parliament and Nominated Members of Parliament who are appointed...

. The Rendel Constitution

Constitution of Singapore

The Constitution of Singapore is the supreme law of Singapore and it is a codified constitution.The constitution cannot be amended without the support of more than two-thirds of the members of parliament on the second and third readings . The president may seek opinion on constitutional issues...

, proposed in 1953, sought to give the local population more self-governance

Self-governance

Self-governance is an abstract concept that refers to several scales of organization.It may refer to personal conduct or family units but more commonly refers to larger scale activities, i.e., professions, industry bodies, religions and political units , up to and including autonomous regions and...

 as the Merdeka

Merdeka

Merdeka is a word in the Indonesian and Malay language meaning Independent or freedom. It is derived from the Sanskrit Maharddhika meaning "rich, prosperous and powerful". In the Malay archipelago, this term had acquired the meaning of a freed slave...

 independence

Independence

Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....

 movement grew. This Constitution took effect upon the conclusion of the general election of 1955, creating a new Legislative Assembly to replace the Legislative Council of Singapore

Legislative Council of Singapore

The Legislative Council of Singapore was a Legislative Council in Singapore that assisted the Governor in making laws in Singapore. It officially came into existence in 1946, when the Repeal Act abolished the Straits Settlements, and Singapore became a Crown Colony on its own that would need its...

. In contrast to the Legislative Council, the majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly in 1955 were allotted by election

Election

An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...

 rather than appointment by the colonial administration. 25 seats were elected and 7 were appointed. The colonial administration still reserved significant power, such as that of veto

Veto

A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...

 and control of certain aspects of government.

Ensuing activism for self-governance by David Marshall

David Saul Marshall

David Saul Marshall was the leader of the Singapore Labour Front and became the first Chief Minister of Singapore in 1955....

 and Lim Yew Hock

Lim Yew Hock

Lim Yew Hock , later renamed Haji Omar Lim Yew Hock, was Singapore’s second Chief Minister from 1956 to 1959. He is known for suppressing the communist movements and leading the all-party delegation that won internal self-government for Singapore....

 led to a further amendment of the Constitution of Singapore in 1958, which proposed a fully elected body of 51 seats. This proposal took effect upon the conclusion of the 1959 general election

Singapore general election, 1959

The 1959 Singapore legislative assembly general election was a general election held in Singapore on 30 May 1959 to choose the members of the Legislative Assembly of Singapore...

. Upon the independence of Singapore

Self-governance of Singapore

The self-governance of Singapore was carried out in several stages. After the British joined Singapore once more and started, without much success, dealing with post war problems, Singapore already was not happy with the British as their leaders. Since Singapore's founding in 1819, Singapore had...

in 1965, the Legislative Assembly was renamed the Parliament of Singapore.