Search Results - Lim, Yew Hock 1914-1984

Lim Yew Hock

Lim Yew Hock (; 15 October 1914 – 30 November 1984) was a Singaporean-born Malaysian politician and diplomat who served as Chief Minister of Singapore between 1956 and 1959. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cairnhill between 1959 and 1963 and previously a Member of the Legislative Council and later Legislative Assembly between 1948 and 1963. He was ''de facto'' Leader of the Opposition between 1959 and 1963. He and his family elected to take up Malaysian citizenship after Singapore's independence from Malaysia.

In his early years, Lim worked as a clerk after he graduated from the Raffles Institution. Following the end of World War II, he joined the labour movement and later began his political career, joining the Progressive Party (PP) in 1947. In 1949, he became a member of the Labour Party. He founded the Labour Front (LF) with David Marshall. The Rendel Constitution was implemented in 1955 due to political instability and greater demands for independence in post-war Singapore. The LF won the Legislative Assembly election, with Marshall as Chief Minister. Lim was appointed Minister for Labour and Welfare, and served as his deputy during his term of office.

However, after talks with Government in London for self-rule authority failed, Marshall resigned as Chief Minister, and Lim took over. In order to gain trust from the British, Lim suppressed leftist movements. He led an all-party delegation to re-negotiate in talks for self-rule, eventually reaching an agreement with the British for a new constitution granting internal self-rule in 1959. However, Lim lost the support of the Chinese majority due to his oppression of pro-communists, especially the crackdown of teachers and students in Chinese schools for being left-wing. This led to the increase in support for the People's Action Party (PAP), then opposition, led by Lee Kuan Yew.

Lim's Singapore People's Alliance (SPA) was defeated by the PAP in the 1959 election, causing him to step down as Chief Minister, while Lee succeeded him as Prime Minister. After that, he was less involved in Singaporean politics and left the Assembly in 1963. He was appointed Malaysian High Commissioner in Australia by the then-Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. However, he dropped out of Malaysian politics entirely shortly after his disappearance in 1966 during his term of office. Lim converted to Islam and moved to Saudi Arabia in his late years. Provided by Wikipedia