Operation Coldstore
Encyclopedia
Operation Coldstore was a security operation
Sting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather...

 launched in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 on 2 February 1963 in which at least 111 anti-government left-wing activists were arrested and detained, including key members of the opposition political party Barisan Sosialis
Barisan Sosialis
The Barisan Sosialis is a former Singaporean left-wing political party formed in 1961, by left-wing members of the People's Action Party and led by Dr Lee Siew Choh and Lim Chin Siong.-Formation:...

. Others arrested included newspaper editors, trade unionists and university students. The operation, authorised by the Internal Security Council which comprised representatives from the British Colonial, Malaysian Federal and Singapore governments, was touted as an anti-Communist sting.

Background

At that time, Singapore was a self-governing state under British rule; but was preparing for a merger with the Federation of Malaya
Federation of Malaya
The Federation of Malaya is the name given to a federation of 11 states that existed from 31 January 1948 until 16 September 1963. The Federation became independent on 31 August 1957...

 to form the Federation of Malaysia in September 1963. The pro-communists, led by Lim Chin Siong
Lim Chin Siong
Lim Chin Siong was an influential leftwing politician and trade union leader in Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s.-Early life:Born in Telok Ayer Street, Lim studied first in Johor, before entering Singapore’s Catholic High School and Chinese High School in 1949 and 1950 respectively...

 strongly opposed this merger and were challenging 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...

 headed by Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH is a Singaporean statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, governing for three decades...

 of the People's Action Party
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party is the leading political party in Singapore. It has been the city-state's ruling political party since 1959....

 (PAP) in their endeavour to establish a socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

 state.

Lim's faction broke away from the PAP in 1961 to form the Barisan Sosialis
Barisan Sosialis
The Barisan Sosialis is a former Singaporean left-wing political party formed in 1961, by left-wing members of the People's Action Party and led by Dr Lee Siew Choh and Lim Chin Siong.-Formation:...

. The Singapore Trade Union Congress, the dominant trade union at the time, was also split into two factions; the left-wings formed the Singapore Association of Trade Unions (SATU), while the pro-PAP faction formed the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC).

Operation

Malaya had a strong anti-communist policy. During the Malayan Emergency
Malayan Emergency
The Malayan Emergency was a guerrilla war fought between Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan National Liberation Army , the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party, from 1948 to 1960....

, Malaya managed to contain communist influence. However, the communists had substantial influence in Singapore. Fearing a communist resurgency, the Malayan Prime Minister Tengku Abdul Rahman
Tengku Abdul Rahman
Tengku Abdul Rahman may refer to:*Tuanku Abdul Rahman, first Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the Malaysian king and the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan...

 insisted that Singapore round up all pro-communists before the merger occurred. Despite Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH is a Singaporean statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, governing for three decades...

's initial objection, the British and the Malayans cast the decisive ballots at the Internal Security Council to launch the operation.

Those arrested were detained under the Prevention of Public Security Order (PPSO). They were alleged to be involved in subversive
Subversion (politics)
Subversion refers to an attempt to transform the established social order, its structures of power, authority, and hierarchy; examples of such structures include the State. In this context, a "subversive" is sometimes called a "traitor" with respect to the government in-power. A subversive is...

 activities aiming to establish a "Communist Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

" in Singapore. The arrestees include
  • Lim Chin Siong
    Lim Chin Siong
    Lim Chin Siong was an influential leftwing politician and trade union leader in Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s.-Early life:Born in Telok Ayer Street, Lim studied first in Johor, before entering Singapore’s Catholic High School and Chinese High School in 1949 and 1950 respectively...

    , secretary-general, Barisan Sosialis
    Barisan Sosialis
    The Barisan Sosialis is a former Singaporean left-wing political party formed in 1961, by left-wing members of the People's Action Party and led by Dr Lee Siew Choh and Lim Chin Siong.-Formation:...

  • S Woodhull, vice-chairman, Barisan Sosialis
  • Fong Swee Suan, secretary-general SATU and executive committee member, Barisan Sosialis
  • James Puthucheary,
  • Dominic Puthucheary, committee member SATU and Barisan Sosialis; vice-president Singapore General Employees' Union
  • Said Zahari
    Said Zahari
    Said Zahari was a one time editor-in-chief of the Malay-language newspaper Utusan Melayu and an advocate of unbiased press freedom. Although he currently resides in Malaysia with his family, he has insisted on retaining his Singapore citizenship....

    , former editor of Utusan Melayu
  • Tan Teck Wah, president Singapore General Employees' Union; vice-president, SATU
  • A Wahab Shah, chairman, Party Rakyat
  • Lim Hock Siew
  • Poh Soo Kai

Aftermath

The Operation dealt a heavy blow to the Barisan Sosialis, just months before the 1963 general elections
Singapore general election, 1963
The Singapore legislative assembly general election of 1963 was an election that took place in Singapore on 21 September 1963 following five days after the merger with Malaysia and therefore as an autonomous state of Malaysia...

.

SATU was deregistered after its leaders were arrested, and the NTUC became the main trade union in Singapore ever since. NTUC remains closely associated with the PAP, with many of its union leaders being PAP's members of parliament.

Were Barisan Sosialis and Lim Chin Siong communists?

However, with new archives opened up in London, evidence linking Lim Chin Siong and Barisan Sosialis to be communist seems vague at best. In other words, there was no direct evidence linking Lim Chin Siong and Barisan Sosialis to communist ideas.

Furthermore, according to Mathew Jones' article, Operation Coldstore was more a barter deal as Tengku Abdul Rahman stated that he would not take in Singapore if the Borneo Territories were not given up by the British and if there was no detention of the radical leftists in Singapore.

See also

  • Internal Security Act
    Internal Security Act
    The term Internal Security Act is often given to a piece of legislation laying down regulations that enable the executive government of a jurisdiction to preserve the internal security of the nation...

  • Malaysian Internal Security Act
    Internal Security Act (Malaysia)
    The Internal Security Act 1960 is a preventive detention law in force in Malaysia. The legislation was enacted after Malaysia gained independence from Britain in 1957. The ISA allows for detention without trial or criminal charges under limited, legally defined circumstances...

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