Progressive Party (Singapore)

History

The Progressive Party was founded by three lawyers, namely Tan Chye Cheng, John Laycock and Nazir Ahmad Mallal. All three were educated at the University of London and were three of the six first ever elected legislative councillors in Singapore. The party was Singapore's first political party. In its manifesto, PP had campaigned to localise the civil service, implement six years of free education for children, more free medical services, no increase in income tax, and establish a national agency for low cost housing.

In the 1955 Legislative Assembly general election, PP failed to retain power, versus the Labour Front (LF), capturing only four of the 22 seats that it contested, out of the 25 available seats. In 1956, PP merged with the Democratic Party (DP) to form the Liberal Socialist Party (LSP). However, LSP failed to capture sufficient seats and became a minority representation in the Municipal Council following the December 1957 council election. LSP also failed to win any seats in the 1959 Legislative Assembly general election, even though it fielded 32 candidates out of the 51 contested seats. Thereafter, it did not contest in further elections.

Party ideology

PP was made up of English-speaking upper class professionals, and heavily backed by the Straits Chinese British Association and the Singapore Association. It was localist but still relatively pro-British. Its campaign ideology was to advocate "progressive and gradual" reforms, rather than "sudden, quick, radical" ones, which fell in line with British policy at the time, to "slowly" let Singapore gain full self-government. This approach was criticised vehemently by David Marshall, leader of the LF who instead wanted rapid reforms.

Policies

In 1951, PP drafted a law for the setting up of a Central Provident Fund (CPF), which was approved by the British government in 1954. The CPF scheme provides financial security for workers in their retirement or for workers who were unable to work. It came into effect in 1955 when Marshall took office after winning the general election that year. Decades later, the CPF scheme still exists in modern-day Singapore with few revisions and changes.

It was also involved in reforming the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT), which predated the Housing Development Board (HDB). It supported the formation of the Public Service Commission (PSC) in 1951, the advancement of English as the sole first language of the legislature and the continued preservation of Singapore's free port status. It also supported granting citizenship to about 250,000 ethnic Chinese that was living in Singapore at that time. Some of the reforms that it advocated were represented in the Rendel Constitution in 1955.

Legislative Council

In the Legislative Council, PP worked closely with the British government. The PP nevertheless fought for equal treatment with both local and European civil servants, but this did not please the Chinese-educated locals enough, who were not happy with the party's pro-British stance.

Election results

Legislative Council

Legislative Council By-elections

Legislative Assembly

Municipal Council (1949–1950), City Council (1951–1953)

1. Only a fraction of all seats are directly-elected, the rest are nominated by commercial organisations and British authorities.
2. 25 of the 32 seats are directly-elected.
3. Including the return of one unopposed seat.

References

• Background of PP

References

1. Chia, Joshua Y.J.. "Singapore Progressive Party". National Library Board.
2. "Singapore Progressive Party if formed". National Library Board.
3. (26 August 1947). "New Singapore political party". The Singapore Free Press.
4. Turnbull, C.M.. (2009). "A history of modern Singapore, 1819-2005". NUS Press.
5. (3 April 1955). "Labour wins-Marshall will be Chief Minister". The Straits Times.
6. (1 February 1956). "Parties to merge on Sunday". The Straits Times.
7. Marshall, David. (1970). "Singapore’s struggle for nationhood 1945–1959". Journal of Southeast Asian Studies.
8. (16 January 1951). "Provident fund for all employees". The Singapore Free Press.
9. (1 July 1955). "It's law now-but still a riddle". [[The Straits Times]].
10. (2 April 1955). "The party manifestoes". The Straits Times.
11. (25 February 1954). "Cabinet of nine to rule new Singapore". The Straits Times.
12. Yeo, Kim Wah. (1973). "Political development in Singapore, 1945-55". Singapore University Press.