1959 Singaporean general election

General elections were held in Singapore on 30 May 1959. They were held under the new constitution and the first in which all 51 seats in the Legislative Assembly were elected. This was the first election victory for the People's Action Party (PAP), as they won a landslide victory with 43 seats, and the party has since remained in power after the elections.

1959 Singaporean general election

30 May 1959
All 51 seats to the Legislative Assembly 26 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	527,919 (90.1%)
Leader Lee Kuan Yew Lim Yew Hock Tan Ek Khoo Party PAP SPA LSP Leader's seat Tanjong Pagar SMC Cairnhill SMC River Valley SMC (lost) Seats won 43 4 0 Seat change 40 New New Popular vote 281,891 107,755 42,805 Percentage 54.1% 20.7% 8.2% Swing 45.4% New New
Winner by constituency
Chief Minister before election Lim Yew Hock SPA Prime Minister after election Lee Kuan Yew PAP

Background

Political developments

David Marshall, the politician who led the ruling Labour Front after winning the previous general election in 1955, was vocally anti-British and anti-colonialist, and the British found it difficult to come to an agreement or a compromise about a plan for self-government; Marshall resigned from the party a year later, pledging that he would either achieve self-government or to resign. In his place, Lim Yew Hock pursued an aggressive anti-communist campaign and manage to convince the British to make a definite plan for self-government.

By the time of the 1959 elections the Labour Front was in turmoil; Lim's strategy against the communists alienated a large part of the Chinese Singaporean electorate, which was the demographic targeted most during the anti-communist campaign. Lim's campaign also saw allegations of civil rights violations as many activists were detained without trial with the justification of internal security and tear gas were used against demonstrating students during the 1956 Chinese middle schools riots which were both anti-colonialist and anti-communist alike.

Constitutional reform

The Constitution of Singapore was revised accordingly in 1958, replacing the Rendel Constitution with one that granted Singapore self-government and the ability for its own population to fully elect its Legislative Assembly. Previously under the Rendel Constitution, drawn up in 1955 by a commission led by George William Rendel, the Legislative Assembly and its leaders could not fully be determined by the population; the British government appointed seven of the 32 members, with the remaining 25 seats elected by the public, albeit with limited suffrage. This itself was an improvement from the pre-1955 Legislative Council, electing nine members to the council.

This election was the first election after its full internal self-government granted by the British authorities; Singapore was now a recognised state, but was yet to gain full independence since the British still have external affairs such as the military and foreign relations. Due to the removal of suffrage restrictions, voting was implemented to be compulsory for the first time, and had done so in every election since 1959.

Parties

Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock formed Singapore People's Alliance on 10 November 1958, which consist of previously-elected Labour Front assembly members who were defected from Labour Front. SPA also invited members of Liberal Socialists and Workers' Party. SPA was formed to present a fresh image to voters in the lead up for the 1959 election, and ran on secure full employment and fair working conditions for workers, and achieving independence of Singapore through a merger with Malaya.

The tenure of Lim Yew Hock as Chief Minister, who succeeded Labour Front's David Marshall after his resignation in 1957, saw scant improvement to living conditions and unpopular tough measures on protesting unions. Lim's government also saw corruption during his tenure, and until the term expiry for Labour Front, all ten elected MPs had resigned from the party due to credibility. These resignations saw the formation of three parties; in 1957, David Marshall founded the Workers' Party (one of the successful opposition parties of Singapore); in 1958, the Singapore People's Alliance (founded by Lim) and in 1959, the Citizens' Party.

SPA attempted to fight the record of the PAP administration in the City Council of Singapore with charges of corruptly appointing its supporters to fill up posts in the City Council, as well as raising concerns over the tenders of some Council contracts. The SPA even went as far as setting up a Commission of Inquiry in April 1959 to investigate whether there had been “irregularities or improprieties” in the working of the City Council. The inquiry, however, failed to reveal anything suspicious against the City Council and the hearings were adjourned indefinitely.[1][2]

A new Party, Liberal Socialist Party (LSP) was formed by a merger of the Progressive Party and the Democratic Party. The Progressive Party which had won the 1948 and 1951 elections (but lost to Labour Front in the 1955 elections) had already fallen out of favour as it was perceived by much of the electorate by working for reform too slowly.

The Alliance was a coalition comprising the Singapore branch of three political parties from Malaya, namely the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) and the Malayan Indian Congress (MIC), which they ran on raising the standards of living as well as to strengthen economic ties between Singapore and Malaya. As their parent parties were the ruling coalition in Malaya under Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Alliance promised voters that it could work for an early merger if voted into power as they knew “exactly” what their Malayan counterparts wanted.

The Malay Union which ran together with UMNO and MCA in the 1955 election, had been expelled from their alliance for putting up a candidate in the 1957 Cairnhill by-election.

The current opposition party, People's Action Party, announced to contest 51 seats in the election; they released their election manifesto entitled The Tasks Ahead, and outlined the party’s five-year plan to address acute problems faced by Singapore. It called for a series of policies and programmes such as the provision of low-cost housing, the strengthening of education, as well as the development of industries thus improving employment opportunities for the local population. These were in addition to the goal of attaining independence for Singapore through a merger with the Federation of Malaya.

The PAP campaigned against corruption under the Lim Yew Hock government, and all party members and candidates wore a distinctive outfit of white shirts and pants (which is still the uniform of PAP candidates as of today) to represent "cleanliness" in government. SPA attempted to portray the PAP as a party being controlled by the communists, and such claims were repeated by Liberal Socialists and UMNO. Lee Kuan Yew brushed off the claims, describing them as “silly”, “blabbering” and “lies”.[1]

Timeline

31 March	Dissolution of 1st Legislative Assembly
25 April	Nomination Day
30 May	Polling Day
5 June	Inauguration of the Cabinet with Lee Kuan Yew as inaugural Prime Minister
1 July	Opening of 2nd Legislative Assembly

Changes to electoral boundaries

The 51 seats of the Legislative Assembly were elected from single-member constituencies, with an increase of 26 seats in this election. The changes among the constituencies were:[3]

Constituency Name	Changes
Aljunied	Carved out of Paya Lebar
Anson	Carved out of Tanjong Pagar
Bras Basah	Carved out of Stamford
Bukit Merah	Absorbed part of Queenstown & Tiong Bahru
Chua Chu Kang	Carved out of Bukit Panjang
Crawford	Carved out of Rochore
Delta	Carved out of Havelock
Geylang East	Carved out of Geylang
Geylang Serai	Carved out of Ulu Bedok
Geylang West	Carved out of Geylang
Hong Lim	Carved out of Telok Ayer
Jalan Besar	Carved out of Kampong Kapor
Jalan Kayu	Carved out of Seletar
Joo Chiat	Carved out of Katong
Jurong	Carved out of Bukit Timah
Kallang	Absorbed part of Kampong Kapor & Whampoa
Kampong Glam	Carved out of Rochore
Kampong Kembangan	Carved out of Ulu Bedok
Kreta Ayer	Carved out of Telok Ayer
Moulmein	Carved out of Farrer Park
Mountbatten	Carved out of Katong
Nee Soon	Absorbed part of Seletar & Sembawang
Punggol	Carved out of Punggol–Tampines
River Valley	Absorbed part of Cairnhill & Tanglin
Sepoy Lines	Carved out of Tiong Bahru
Serangoon Gardens	Absorbed part of Serangoon & Seletar
Siglap	Absorbed part of Changi & Katong
Tampines	Carved out of Punggol–Tampines
Telok Blangah	Carved out of Pasir Panjang
Thomson	Absorbed part of Serangoon & Seletar
Toa Payoh	Carved out of Whampoa
Ulu Pandan	Carved out of Tanglin
Upper Serangoon	Absorbed part of Serangoon & Paya Lebar

Campaign

Many of the campaign issues surrounded the topic of government corruption and independence of Singapore, as well as political issues such as the communist insurgency led by the Malayan Communist Party (MCP), which had been causing the Malayan Emergency. The desire for independence and self-government epitomised by the Malay term Merdeka (which translates to Independence or Free), had started to become immediate. This was reflected when the cry of "We want Merdeka now!" was taken up by those demanding immediate independence.

Prior to the polling day, the press had predicted that the presence of multi-cornered fights would only split the anti-PAP vote, raising chances of a PAP victory.[4]

Chew Swee Kee affair

The Chew Swee Kee affair was also a notable issue raised in the May 1959 elections. In February 1959, PAP charged the incumbent SPA government with receiving political funds from the United States government.

Investigations by a Commission of Inquiry later revealed that Chew Swee Kee, who was then Education Minister, had converted the alleged funds for his own use.[5] The claim has it that Chew accepted around $700,000 to $800,000 from an unrevealed donor[6] in New York City as a "political gift".[7] Chew promptly stepped down from his post[6] on 4 March 1959. The incident is credited for causing the SPA's downfall.[6]

The revelation had a devastating effect on the image of SPA as the party was seen to be serving a Western power, betraying Singapore’s anti-colonial movement.

Results

The result was a landslide win for the PAP, with the SPA lost 35 of the 39 contested constituencies and only four members represented the new Assembly. The Labour Front saw a negative swing of about 27% and failed to win any seats. The right-wing coalition party, the Liberal Socialist Party (which formed by a merger of the Democratic Party and Progressive Party) saw a disastrous performance with all of the 32 candidates were defeated, among them 20 candidates who lost their election deposits.

The election, which saw implementations of compulsory voting and the removal of suffrage restrictions, saw a huge increase in voter turnout, with 92.9% of the voters (or 527,919 of the 586,098 registered voters), as compared to 52.7% from the previous election.

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	People's Action Party	281,891	54.08	43	+40
	Singapore People's Alliance	107,755	20.67	4	New
	Liberal Socialist Party	42,805	8.21	0	–6
	United Malays National Organisation	27,448	5.27	3	+2
	Malayan Chinese Association	5,593	1.07	0	–1
	Workers' Party	4,127	0.79	0	New
	Labour Front	3,414	0.65	0	–10
	Citizens' Party	3,210	0.62	0	New
	Malay Union	2,819	0.54	0	–1
	Malayan Indian Congress	2,092	0.40	0	New
	Partai Rakyat	2,006	0.38	0	New
	Katong United Residents' Association	1,759	0.34	0	New
	Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party	1,011	0.19	0	New
	Independents	35,341	6.78	1	–2
Total		521,271	100.00	51	+26
Valid votes		521,271	98.74
Invalid/blank votes		6,648	1.26
Total votes		527,919	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		586,098	90.07
Source: Singapore Elections

By constituency

Constituency	Electorate	Turnout	%	Party!		Candidate	Votes	%
Aljunied	13,255	11,713	88.37		People's Action Party	S. V. Lingam	5,701	49.40
					Liberal Socialist Party	E. H. Holloway	5,004	43.36
					Partai Rakyat	Tang Yoong Chiaw	835	7.24
Anson	9,921	8,608	86.77		People's Action Party	Baharudin bin Mohamed Ariff	5,167	60.75
					Singapore People's Alliance	Goh Kong Beng	1,875	22.04
					Liberal Socialist Party	Tan Cheng Chuan	1,231	14.47
					Independent	Wong Swee Kee	117	1.38
					Independent	P. Krishanan	116	1.36
Bras Basah	11,193	9,622	85.96		People's Action Party	Hoe Puay Choo	6,014	63.25
					Liberal Socialist Party	Foo Ho Fang	1,993	20.96
					Singapore People's Alliance	Goh Hin Shong	1,501	15.79
Bukit Merah	11,286	10,146	89.90		People's Action Party	Sellappa Ramaswamy	5,922	59.09
					Singapore People's Alliance	Teo Cheng Hye	3,026	30.20
					Independent	Lee Choon Eng	1,073	10.71
Bukit Panjang	11,984	10,647	88.84		People's Action Party	Lee Khoon Choy	6,156	58.31
					Liberal Socialist Party	Tan Leong Teck	2,494	23.62
					Singapore People's Alliance	Lim Siak Guan	1,382	13.09
					Malayan Indian Congress	T. K. Alexander	526	4.98
Bukit Timah	11,285	10,190	90.30		People's Action Party	Yaacob bin Mohamed	6,174	61.14
					Liberal Socialist Party	Pek Cheng Chuan	2,460	24.36
					Independent	Lee Yew Seng	1,464	14.50
Cairnhill	12,239	11,045	90.24		Singapore People's Alliance	Lim Yew Hock	5,275	48.22
					Workers' Party	David Marshall	2,920	26.69
					People's Action Party	Md. Oh Su Chen	2,262	20.68
					Liberal Socialist Party	Tan Keng Siong	483	4.41
Changi	11,199	9,995	89.25		People's Action Party	Teo Hock Guan	3,480	35.10
					United Malays National Organisation	A. B. Rahman H. M. Said	2,818	28.43
					Independent	Lim Cher Kheng	2,225	22.45
					Liberal Socialist Party	Wee Tin Teck	1,024	10.33
					Malay Union	Fatimah Nor Bt. G. S.	366	3.69
Chua Chu Kang	6,889	6,334	91.94		People's Action Party	Ong Chang Sam	3,536	56.29
					Independent	Neo Koon Hin	1,563	24.88
					Singapore People's Alliance	Goh Tong Liang	1,183	18.83
Crawford	12,031	10,807	89.83		People's Action Party	Kenneth Michael Byrne	7,120	66.57
					Singapore People's Alliance	Teng Ling Siong	2,487	23.25
					Liberal Socialist Party	Chua Seng Kian	897	8.39
					Independent	Sim John	191	1.79
Delta	14,954	13,563	90.70		People's Action Party	Chan Choy Siong	9,301	69.45
					Malayan Chinese Association	Chia Chee Buang	1,212	9.05
					Liberal Socialist Party	Lim Ah Lee	2,308	17.23
					Singapore People's Alliance	Munusamy Nadarajah	571	4.27
Farrer Park	10,293	9,291	90.27		Independent	Arumugam Ponnu Rajah	4,077	44.52
					People's Action Party	Tan Teck Ngiap	3,832	41.85
					Independent	Soo-Tho Sin Hee	789	8.62
					Independent	Chan Kooi Chew	311	3.40
Geylang East	15,562	13,964	89.73		People's Action Party	Mohamed Ismail bin Abdul Rahim	7,153	51.95
					Singapore People's Alliance	Ng Cheng Chwee	5,775	41.94
					Independent	Mak Pak Shee	842	6.11
Geylang Serai	14,447	12,694	87.87		United Malays National Organisation	Abdul Hamid bin Haji Jumat	7,940	63.09
					People's Action Party	Roshan bin Hassan	3,832	30.45
					Pan-Malayan Islamic Party	Syed Ahmad Dahlan	460	3.66
					Partai Rakyat	Harun bin Mohamed Amin	353	2.80
Geylang West	15,570	13,550	87.03		People's Action Party	Yong Nyuk Lin	8,923	67.60
					Singapore People's Alliance	Kwek Sam Hock	4,276	32.40
Havelock	15,909	14,650	92.09		People's Action Party	Lau Peter	9,227	63.60
					Independent	Ng See Thong	3,562	24.55
					Singapore People's Alliance	Tan Theng Chiang	963	6.64
					Malayan Chinese Association	K. S. Loke	433	2.98
					Liberal Socialist Party	Tan Ah Pak	323	2.23
Hong Lim	12,667	11,604	91.61		People's Action Party	Ong Eng Guan	8,834	77.02
					Malayan Chinese Association	Loh Ngian Lim	1,192	10.39
					Liberal Socialist Party	Tan Hong Chye	856	7.46
					Singapore People's Alliance	Sim Wee Teck	588	5.13
Jalan Besar	13,877	12,297	88.61		People's Action Party	Chan Chee Seng	7,600	62.48
					Singapore People's Alliance	Wong Yew Hon	2,573	21.15
					Liberal Socialist Party	Lo Ka Fat	1,488	12.23
					Labour Front	See Eng Kiat	503	4.14
Jalan Kayu	8,690	7,844	90.26		People's Action Party	Tan Cheng Tong	4,837	62.28
					Singapore People's Alliance	M. P. D. Nair	2,929	37.72
Joo Chiat	15,257	13,674	89.62		Singapore People's Alliance	C. H. Koh	6,136	45.87
					People's Action Party	Fong Kim Heng	5,301	39.63
					Liberal Socialist Party	Gay Wan Guay	1,215	9.08
					Katong United Residents' Association	Low Teck Cheng	405	3.03
					Independent	Henry Chong	320	2.39
Jurong	7,176	6,476	90.25		People's Action Party	Chor Yeok Eng	4,502	70.67
					Singapore People's Alliance	Wong Tuck Leong	1,325	20.80
					Liberal Socialist Party	Chia Yeck Poh	375	5.89
					Malay Union	Aman B. H. Subri	168	2.64
Kallang	12,939	11,984	92.62		People's Action Party	Buang bin Omar Junid	5,690	48.18
					Singapore People's Alliance	Tan Hai Tong	4,967	42.05
					Citizens' Party	Seah Peng Chuan	1,154	7.18
Kampong Glam	10,934	9,792	89.56		People's Action Party	S. Rajaratnam	6,324	65.27
					Singapore People's Alliance	Mahmood Latiff	1,747	18.03
					Liberal Socialist Party	Ong Eng Lian	1,377	14.21
					Independent	Wu Shiaw	241	2.49
Kampong Kapor	12,736	11,455	89.94		People's Action Party	G. Kandasamy	6,059	54.27
					Singapore People's Alliance	Chia Ban Wei	3,632	32.53
					Independent	Jaganathan S	711	6.37
					Independent	Choo Yeok Koon	432	3.87
					Citizens' Party	Yen Jen San	330	2.96
Kampong Kembangan	13,007	11,552	88.81		United Malays National Organisation	Mohd. Ali b. Alwi	4,443	38.86
					People's Action Party	Othman bin Wok	4,199	36.73
					Singapore People's Alliance	Mohd. b. Hj. Yacob	2,028	17.74
					Pan-Malayan Islamic Party	H. M. Yahiya	317	2.77
					Partai Rakyat	A. Latiff b. Ibrahim	231	2.02
					Malay Union	Jaffar b. Abdul Ghani	215	1.88
Kreta Ayer	14,173	12,995	91.69		People's Action Party	Goh Keng Swee	9,313	73.35
					Liberal Socialist Party	Pang Man Ming	3,384	26.65
Moulmein	10,095	9,251	91.64		People's Action Party	Lin You Eng	4,324	47.25
					Singapore People's Alliance	Yap Jin Yau	3,955	43.22
					Liberal Socialist Party	Tan Peng Khoo	872	9.53
Mountbatten	10,212	9,055	88.67		Singapore People's Alliance	Chua Seng Kim	3,031	33.71
					People's Action Party	Tay Kum Sun	2,143	23.84
					Malayan Chinese Association	Wong Foo Nam	1,903	21.17
					Katong United Residents' Association	Felice Leon Soh	1,354	15.06
					Liberal Socialist Party	Wee Soo Bee	559	6.22
Nee Soon	8,694	7,764	89.30		People's Action Party	Sheng Nam Chin	5,622	73.30
					Singapore People's Alliance	Yap Chin Poh	1,476	19.24
					Liberal Socialist Party	Yong Nyuk Khoon	572	7.46
Pasir Panjang	6,631	5,957	89.84		People's Action Party	Tee Kim Leng	2,123	36.00
					Independent	H. J. C. Kulasingha	1,884	31.95
					United Malays National Organisation	Sukaimi bin Ibrahim	1,704	28.90
					Independent	S. T. V. Lingam	186	3.15
Paya Lebar	12,089	10,842	89.68		People's Action Party	Tan Kia Gan	6,531	60.81
					Independent	Ong Chye Hock	4,209	39.19
Punggol	9,893	8,905	90.01		People's Action Party	Ng Teng Kian	4,072	46.39
					Singapore People's Alliance	Tan Jin Hong	3,655	41.64
					Liberal Socialist Party	Quah Heck Peck	554	6.31
					Independent	Tay Keng Hock	497	5.66
Queenstown	10,634	9,941	93.48		People's Action Party	Lee Siew Choh	5,301	53.81
					Singapore People's Alliance	Chee Phui Hung	3,732	37.88
					Independent	Lee Kim Chuan	818	8.31
River Valley	10,594	9,534	89.99		People's Action Party	Lim Cheng Lock	3,430	36.55
					Singapore People's Alliance	Soh Ghee Soon	3,425	36.50
					Liberal Socialist Party	E. K. Tan	2,529	26.95
Rochore	12,436	11,287	80.76		People's Action Party	Toh Chin Chye	7,995	71.76
					Singapore People's Alliance	K. C. Thomas	2,212	19.85
					Liberal Socialist Party	Tan Soo Wan	934	8.39
Sembawang	8,859	7,948	89.72		People's Action Party	Ahmad bin Ibrahim	4,316	54.69
					Malayan Indian Congress	V. Jayaram	1,566	19.84
					Singapore People's Alliance	Chew Seng	1,084	13.74
					Liberal Socialist Party	Lau Sai Seng	926	11.73
Sepoy Lines	10,347	9,259	89.48		People's Action Party	Wee Toon Boon	5,352	58.35
					Singapore People's Alliance	Goh Su Chiang	3,820	41.65
Serangoon Gardens	8,631	7,934	91.92		People's Action Party	Leong Keng Seng	3,843	48.93
					Singapore People's Alliance	Wee Eric Sian Beng	2,764	35.19
					Malayan Chinese Association	Liao Ping	853	10.86
					Labour Front	Victor Louis Fernandez	330	4.20
					Liberal Socialist Party	Lilian Tan	64	0.82
Siglap	14,693	12,892	87.74		People's Action Party	Sahorah bte Ahmat	4,407	34.34
					Independent	Koh Tee Kin	3,408	26.56
					Liberal Socialist Party	John Snodgrass	1,511	11.78
					United Malays National Organisation	Mohd. Sidik bin Hj. Abd. Hamid	1,418	11.05
					Independent	Abdullah Masood	1,267	9.87
					Partai Rakyat	Pang Toon Tin	587	4.57
					Pan-Malayan Islamic Party	A. Wanjor	234	1.83
Southern Islands	5,325	4,879	91.62		United Malays National Organisation	Ahmad Jabri B. M. Akib	2,598	53.73
					People's Action Party	Kum Teng Hock	1,225	25.34
					Liberal Socialist Party	Ismail Haji Hussain	1,012	20.93
Stamford	12,392	11,039	89.08		People's Action Party	Fung Yin Ching	5,372	49.18
					Singapore People's Alliance	J. M. Jumabhoy	3,810	34.88
					Workers' Party	Ang Meng Gee	925	8.47
					Liberal Socialist Party	Hooi Beng Guan	679	6.22
					Independent	Wong Chee Lim	136	1.25
Tampines	11,468	10,334	90.11		People's Action Party	Goh Chew Chua	7,461	73.27
					Singapore People's Alliance	Ong Phi Hok	2,041	20.04
					Independent	Lim Choo Ten	681	6.69
Tanglin	9,127	7,934	86.93		Singapore People's Alliance	Thio Chan Bee	2,698	34.41
					United Malays National Organisation	Ahmad b. Hj. Taff	2,386	30.44
					People's Action Party	Ibrahim bin Othman	2,360	30.11
					Liberal Socialist Party	Chan Ah Wing	395	5.04
Tanjong Pagar	11,939	10,870	91.05		People's Action Party	Lee Kuan Yew	7,617	71.04
					Liberal Socialist Party	C. Subramanyam	3,105	28.96
Telok Ayer	13,998	12,586	89.91		People's Action Party	Ong Pang Boon	8,372	67.38
					Singapore People's Alliance	Tan Kian Kee	2,106	16.95
					Independent	Tay Soo Yong	1,660	13.36
					Citizens' Party	Soh Teck Chee	287	2.31
Telok Blangah	13,202	11,651	88.25		People's Action Party	John Mammen	5,803	50.41
					United Malays National Organisation	Osman Gani	4,141	35.97
					Citizens' Party	Wee Kim Hock	1,230	10.69
					Independent	V. Mariappan	337	2.93
Thomson	10,067	9,210	91.49		People's Action Party	S.T. Bani	4,978	54.63
					Labour Front	Francis Thomas	2,581	28.33
					Singapore People's Alliance	Yap Chin Choon	1,553	17.04
Tiong Bahru	12,151	10,981	90.37		People's Action Party	Lee Teck Him	5,175	47.66
					Singapore People's Alliance	Lin Wo Ling	2,182	20.09
					Independent	William Tan	1,730	15.93
					Liberal Socialist Party	Lee Bah Chee	996	9.17
					Independent	Lim Huan Seng	494	4.55
					Workers' Party	Chua Chin Kiat	282	2.60
Toa Payoh	12,551	11,442	91.16		People's Action Party	Wong Soon Fong	8,693	77.66
					Singapore People's Alliance	Lee Poh Chee	2,500	22.34
Ulu Pandan	11,017	9,831	89.23		People's Action Party	Mohd. Ariff bin Suradi	4,420	45.44
					Singapore People's Alliance	Leslie Rayner	3,100	31.87
					Independent	S. Khalaff	1,083	11.13
					Independent	Low Boon Kiat	361	3.71
					Independent	Anthony Ponnusamy	296	3.04
					Liberal Socialist Party	M. Karthigesu	284	2.92
					Independent	Chua Kim Toh	183	1.89
Upper Serangoon	11,279	10,101	89.56		People's Action Party	Chan Sun Wing	4,497	45.06
					Singapore People's Alliance	Lim Choon Mong	4,372	43.81
					Liberal Socialist Party	Sin Cho Lang	901	9.03
					Citizens' Party	Tan Choon Teng	209	2.10
Source: ELD, Singapore Elections

Aftermath

The PAP was able to form a new government which could now adopt domestic policy without oversight from the colonial administration. The United Kingdom still however controlled the military forces, foreign affairs and had a joint responsibility in internal security under agreement. However, historians saw 1959 as the year Singapore achieved self-governance as a result of the new government, even though the Constitution had been amended in 1958.

On the afternoon of 5 June, Lee Kuan Yew was sworn in as the first Prime Minister at City Hall by Yang di Pertuan Negara William Goode along with members of his cabinet.

Before taking over, Lee pardoned several PAP members, who had been arrested under the Emergency Regulation in 1956 and 1957, including left-wing leader Lim Chin Siong. During the election campaign, Lee had called for pardon as part of his election platform, causing an increase of morale of many trade union members.

After their release, Lim and his affiliates would later challenge Lee's leadership in the PAP, leading to the expulsion of most of the left-wing members from the PAP in 1961. The expelled members would then form the Barisan Sosialis, and posed a strong challenge against the PAP on the next election in 1963; although being crippled by Operation Coldstore, they came closer to removing the PAP from power than any other party to date.

By-elections

Two by-elections, both held in 1961, occurred during the term in Parliament. Former PAP minister Ong Eng Guan was re-elected in Hong Lim running as an independent after leaving the PAP, whilst David Marshall was elected in Anson after the death of PAP MP Baharuddin Mohammed Ariff.

References

1. "1959 Legislative Assembly general election". National Library Board. September 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
2. "LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY GENERAL ELECTION 1959". singapore-elections.com.
3. Legislative Assembly General Election 1959 Singapore Elections
4. "The Day of Decision". Straits Times. 30 May 1959. p. 6.
5. Quah, Jon S.T. (2011). Curbing Corruption in Asian Countries: An Impossible Dream?. Emerald. p. 218. ISBN 9780857248206.
6. Lee 2008, p. 153.
7. Fernandez, George J. (1992). Successful Singapore: A Tiny Nation's Saga from Founder to Accomplisher. SSMB. p. 191. ISBN 9789971981815.

Bibliography

• Lee, Edwin (2008). Singapore: The Unexpected Nation. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 9789812307965.

External links

• General Elections 1959 Singapore Elections