He succeeded where David Marshall failed.
Between 1957 and 1958, this man
led two delegations to London to negotiate for self government.
In March 1957, Lim Yew Hock led another all-party delegation to London for constitutional talks.This time, an agreement was reached.
The problem of control over internal security, which was unresolved at the 1957 Merdeka Talks, was solved by appointing a representative from the Federation of Malaya on the council. This member would have a casting vote.
The head of state would be a local Yang di-Pertuan Negara instead of a British governor. The Commissioner of Police would be responsible only to the elected government.
Singapore would also have its own citizenship laws, where citizenship is extended to aliens who have lived in Singapore for 10 years or who took the oath of loyalty to Singapore. However, the British reserved the right to suspend the Constitution if necessary.
Signing of the report of the Singapore Constitutional Conference at Lancaster House. Photo by Keystone Press Agency Ltd
Lim Yew Hock’s tough stand against the communists had apparently given the British more confidence in granting Singapore self-government.
In April 1958, Lim Yew Hock led a third all-party mission to London. An agreement which provided Singapore with full powers of internal self-government was signed on May 28.
Copyright © 1998 Singapore Press Holdings. All Rights Reserved.
