Sept 3, 1962 The Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, wept with joy as he spoke of "the clear and decisive verdict" of the people of Singapore for merger and Malaysia, and "the awful moment of truth" for Communists. Date: Monday, Sept 3, 1962 The time: A quarter past eleven in the morning The place: The Singapore Badminton Hall in Guillemard Road The occasion: Just after the announcement of the Government's smashing victory over the Barisan Sosialis-led call to cast blank votes in the referendum today. Below are some extracts from the Prime Minister's speech, which was broadcast from the Badminton Hall. "The verdict of the people is a terrifying thing for the politically dishonest. This decision is decisive. It is the seal of public and popular approval for merger and Malaysia. We are off to a good start. Faced with the clear verdict of the people, the Communists and pro-Communists would be wise to accept the will of the people expressed by free democratic vote. Not to have held the referendum would have been a tragic error, for we would have allowed the Communists to make people believe that the so-called masses were against merger." The walkout by the Opposition parties' counting agents: "They wanted a recount. We offered them a recount. They said they wanted a recount of the results constituency by constituency, which they knew was not provided for by the law. They were making up excuses to run away from the verdict of the people -- the mythical masses that were not behind them. Are the Communists on the way out? "I do not think we should interpret this as showing the Communists are on their way out. "What it shows decisively is that a lot of their talk is a lot of braggadocio, empty talk. "We also proved for the first time, for a long time that a non-Communist group, as determined as they (the Communists) are fanatical, can stand up and deliver blow for blow, move for move on the political chessboard and in a free and secret ballot show up their utter hollowness and their mythical masses."

How they voted Alternative A: 397, 626 Alternative B: 9,422 Alternative C: 7,911 Uncertain: 2,370 Rejected: 153 · The Alternatives

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