Hock Lee Bus Riots of May 1955 - Know your history

[eatshitndie]

every independent mind know that lky made used of unions and communists to rise to the power, not that he ride the tiger.

a lot of the old generation know that lky is traitor during japanese occupation.

there were accounts of traitors covering their heads with cloth so they could freely point out those who would have to climb the jap lorry. not surprised if he was one of these cowards who point their fellow men to death. imagine the countless allied lives who were lost because of his traitorous work on allied wire transcripts deep in the heart of the kempeitai office. for the nastiest and most unforgiving japs to screen and recruit this guy into their secretive lair, it must had been a lovey dovey lovefest.

 

[eatshitndie]

Yes, your version is more cynical.

In one of Alex Josey's books (can't recall), Old Man was on a ship to Cambridge for his studies, and there was water rationing, so every passenger could only use his quota of 1 pail of water for washing and drinking. To circumvent that quota restriction, the slimy bastard woke up very early before anyone else, and use up other people's quotas. See what kind of a leader we have?

in the army, we would have blanket-partied this non-team selfish player until he was broken.

 

[scroobal]

Everyone one of these books will provide all the details of the riot including the christian name of the detective corporal and the make and model of his car but they will never identify that it was the PAP, that leadership never distanced themselves or denounced their members doing this in the open.

We now have 2 generations that honestly think that the PAP and old man was fighting the people that were rioting. I have asked this question before - Is the Labour Front or the PAP behind the Hock Lee Bus Riots ? They all will answer the Labour Front.

Not many people are away that while Old man described his cloak and dagger clandestine meetings with the Plen, not many are aware that Plen's sister was elected assembly women with the PAP. Why all the drama and bullshit - the sister could have relayed the messages without the soap opera.

There is a book "The Open United Front" by Lee Ting Hui.This covers the period 1955-1966. Another one by him is "The Communist organisation in Singapore:its techniques on manpower mobilisation and management 1948-66". I havent read them but they could be informative. Avail at the NLB.

 

[scroobal]

Yes, to be kind, we can call the old man pragmatic and to be frank an outright opportunist without a trace of ideology in his bones.

nah. not that innocent. .

 

[kingrant]

In the book Comet in the Sky, as well as somebody also said it here in this thread, apparently the riots escalated from a simple dispute taken to its natural conclusion. Even Chin Siong was quoted as off guard. So to attribute it to LKY, as much as I wld love to see him implicated for posterity, is to flatter him too much with his ability to influence the unions and students, both Chin Siong's fortress.

Everyone one of these books will provide all the details of the riot including the christian name of the detective corporal and the make and model of his car but they will never identify that it was the PAP, that leadership never distanced themselves or denounced their members doing this in the open.

We now have 2 generations that honestly think that the PAP and old man was fighting the people that were rioting. I have asked this question before - Is the Labour Front or the PAP behind the Hock Lee Bus Riots ? They all will answer the Labour Front.

Not many people are away that while Old man described his cloak and dagger clandestine meetings with the Plen, not many are aware that Plen's sister was elected assembly women with the PAP. Why all the drama and bullshit - the sister could have relayed the messages without the soap opera.

 

[kingrant]

Ok maybe not innocent, but he was surely a greenhorn compared to Chin Siong and Fong then, both much younger than he and long at the game.

LKY was himself selfish, opportunistic, egotistic, cunning, unconscionable, amorally pragmatic. Won't blink an eye to sell his mother.

nah. not that innocent.

 

[kingrant]

My sense of it is if Chin Siong was not playing a lead role, then it surely couldnt have been Lee. The latter had no influence over those guys.

What Old Fart could have done was to forewarn the striking parties where the legal pitfalls were, where the lines could be drawn without being illegal, the OB markers visavis British labour laws, and even pointed to them where they might go to provoke a conflagration and then let emotions run.

In the book Comet in the Sky, as well as somebody also said it here in this thread, apparently the riots escalated from a simple dispute taken to its natural conclusion. Even Chin Siong was quoted as off guard. So to attribute it to LKY, as much as I wld love to see him implicated for posterity, is to flatter him too much with his ability to influence the unions and students, both Chin Siong's fortress.

 

[scroobal]

This will give you an idea by providing the context.

These were the main players
1) Progressive Party - supported by english educated, pernakan, the civil service. They moderates and close to the British and respected law and order
2) Democratic Party - sponsored and run by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Supported by Towkays, business people, those in commerce, trade and the various clans. Right and moderate in nature.
3) Labour Front - champion of workers and led by David Marshal who hated those who exploited the common man. This was a prime left party. Marshal however hated the communist to the core. The atrocities they did during the emergency was etched in his mind.

If you look at the three parties, they had virtually covered Singaporeexcept for one group. When the PAP emerged, it needed to build a voter base and went for the Chinese middle schools whose students were young and impressionable. It began stirring the pot relentlessly. From the moment the PAP was formed, they were agitating against the Labour Front and causing endless trouble and riots. All the while PAP CEC and old man said nothing even though the communist did have the majority nor the numbers in PAP.

When old man and his supporters write history and that includes the Toa Payoh brothel, they will write factually about the riots, the union led mayhem etc but forget to add that it was led by the PAP and the old man. For instance, the legal advisor of the Singapore Bus Workers Union was old man at the time of the rioting. His PAP mate, Fong Swee Suan was the head of the union.

Is LKY a left or right wing politician now?

 

[eatshitndie]

Yes, to be kind, we can call the old man pragmatic and to be frank an outright opportunist without a trace of ideology in his bones.

can't deny him his resilience, survival instinct, cunning and forethought - all the hallmarks of a promising dictator.

 

[scroobal]

Everyone's parents were the same. My mum and dad never trusted the old man and my dad kept repeating that leopard cannot change its spot. Younger generation had no clue.

My mother, now 80, wasn't an academic but in 1950s, she had the grandstand to see everything. She worked in the rubber factories then. Rubber slabs after being produced from latex had to be cut into strips. Over the years, she would tell me bits now and then. She would curse "Lay Kong Yew hum kar charn" for "playing the trade unions", that 'curly haired orange peel face kid'.

 

[scroobal]

People of that era knew what was going on.

I studied at Barisan Socialist Kindergarten, and recites "Long Live Chairman Mao" regularly.

There was once this stage play with adult actors, where they portray LKY as the "traitor dog" etc...

The next couple of weeks, one by one of our Kampong neighbours that were involved disappeared without trace. If my little memory serves me correctly.

Those were the days of the power struggle.

 

[scroobal]

Agree on that. A master no less.

can't deny him his resilience, survival instinct, cunning and forethought - all the hallmarks of a promising dictator.

 

[eatshitndie]

Ok maybe not innocent, but he was surely a greenhorn compared to Chin Siong and Fong then, both much younger than he and long at the game.

LKY was himself selfish, opportunistic, egotistic, cunning, unconscionable, amorally pragmatic. Won't blink an eye to sell his mother.

he has the right to survive and thrive, but there's always a limit. he would have gained more respect for posterity if he voluntarily prepares himself for his next life. unfortunately, it seems he's gonna take (down) all with him to his next adventure. what a waste.

 

[scroobal]

Its the revisionist recreating history. The riots was not a simple matter. After the first skimishes and picketing, it went to arbitration which all parties ageed to abideby the decision. A decision favourable to Fong Swee Suan's union was made. A few days later, the workers aligned to his union refused to wear the uniform and the next round began. The intention was not to resolve anything but to create mayhem and take control of the country. Old man also describes the riots as something spontaneous in his memoirs and that the communist were inexperienced and could not control the crowd - absolute rubbish. Its a confession of 2 groups of rapists painting the story about a village maiden who accidently got raped so the whole village can sleep peacefully and co-exist.

The trouble with the communist and their fellow travelors is their desire to look good and appear as champions and therefore cannot write it in a manner where it is accurate without looking as anarchist. They are between a rock and hardplace. They will implicate themselves if they tell what old man did or did not do.

In the book Comet in the Sky, as well as somebody also said it here in this thread, apparently the riots escalated from a simple dispute taken to its natural conclusion. Even Chin Siong was quoted as off guard. So to attribute it to LKY, as much as I wld love to see him implicated for posterity, is to flatter him too much with his ability to influence the unions and students, both Chin Siong's fortress.

 

[kingrant]

Agreed that it cld not be denied he didnt know anything, that he was an angel while the storm around him swirled. At best, he left things to foment, as that was to his advantage; at worst, he was legal advisor and actively "stirring the pot" with LCS/FSS. Crafty Old Fox of course would leave no paper trail, no incriminating evidence, no personal witness account who can shout from the trees now ( the best person who could blow him out of the waters -LCS- is already dead etc).

When the PAP emerged, it needed to build a voter base and went for the Chinese middle schools whose students were young and impressionable. It began stirring the pot relentlessly. From the moment the PAP was formed, they were agitating against the Labour Front and causing endless trouble and riots. All the while PAP CEC and old man said nothing even though the communist did have the majority nor the numbers in PAP.

When old man and his supporters write history and that includes the Toa Payoh brothel, they will write factually about the riots, the union led mayhem etc but forget to add that it was led by the PAP and the old man. For instance, the legal advisor of the Singapore Bus Workers Union was old man at the time of the rioting. His PAP mate, Fong Swee Suan was the head of the union.

 

[kingrant]

Love yr analogy. Indeed possible. But if nobody else knew, how come you know?

Don't tell me you were an old dog too? Hock Lee side or strikers'?

Its a confession of 2 groups of rapists painting the story about a village maiden who accidently got raped so the whole village can sleep peacefully and co-exist.

 

[kingrant]

As I have said, Old Man would leave no paper trail so that his role is left to conjectures by sceptics like us.

Like our parents, our generation have never doubted his footprints in creating chaos and then exploiting it to gain power.

This will give you an idea by providing the context.

These were the main players
1) Progressive Party - supported by english educated, pernakan, the civil service. They moderates and close to the British and respected law and order
2) Democratic Party - sponsored and run by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Supported by Towkays, business people, those in commerce, trade and the various clans. Right and moderate in nature.
3) Labour Front - champion of workers and led by David Marshal who hated those who exploited the common man. This was a prime left party. Marshal however hated the communist to the core. The atrocities they did during the emergency was etched in his mind.

If you look at the three parties, they had virtually covered Singaporeexcept for one group. When the PAP emerged, it needed to build a voter base and went for the Chinese middle schools whose students were young and impressionable. It began stirring the pot relentlessly. From the moment the PAP was formed, they were agitating against the Labour Front and causing endless trouble and riots. All the while PAP CEC and old man said nothing even though the communist did have the majority nor the numbers in PAP.

When old man and his supporters write history and that includes the Toa Payoh brothel, they will write factually about the riots, the union led mayhem etc but forget to add that it was led by the PAP and the old man. For instance, the legal advisor of the Singapore Bus Workers Union was old man at the time of the rioting. His PAP mate, Fong Swee Suan was the head of the union.

 

[Highfalutin]

I had always wondered why the Japanese were so easily sold on the idea of investing in Singapore in the post independent years. Old boys network?

 

[kingrant]

Quite chim eh, yr post, hints of a conspiracy theory. Care to elaborate with juicy details?

I had always wondered why the Japanese were so easily sold on the idea of investing in Singapore in the post independent years. Old boys network?

 

[Highfalutin]

Quite chim eh, yr post, hints of a conspiracy theory. Care to elaborate with juicy details?

Well, if you had read enough of post WWII Japan, many senior Japanese military officers as well as militarists were never prosecuted for war crimes and had in fact became powerful politicians and heads of industry and commerce. Juicy details would have to come from willing researchers.