Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-8zxtt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-12T17:42:08.479Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

MANAGING PLURALITY: THE POLITICS OF THE PERIPHERY IN EARLY COLD WAR SINGAPORE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2010

Leong Yew
Leong Yew
Affiliation:
National University of Singapore E-mail LYEW@nus.edu.sg
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Mainstream histories of the Cold War have tended to reduce the events surrounding Southeast Asian decolonization and nationalism to the universal notions of ideological confrontation, bipolarity, and the global division between a capitalist and communist camp. This obscures how multiple entities – the former colonial powers, different classes and ethnic groups, and local elites of different ideological and political persuasion – come into contention as they negotiate for a place in postcolonial society. Thus this article examines the case of Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s and argues that these forms of contention provincialize experiences with nationalism, communalism, and communism and by so doing disconnect them from the dominant narratives of the Cold War. I examine various texts by British colonial officials, communist and non-communist political figures, and university students that show how British attempts at managing a decolonizing entity were offset by the local intelligentsia's ambivalence in coming to terms with nationalism and communism.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , July 2010 , pp. 159 - 177
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

“Aggression in Asia” 1954 “Aggression in Asia.” Fajar 7 (10 May 1954), p. 1.Google Scholar
Ahmad 1992 Ahmad, Aijaz. In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literatures. London: Verso, 1992.Google Scholar
Appy 2000 Appy, Christian G., ed. Cold War Constructions: The Political Culture of United States Imperialism, 1945–1966. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Ashcroft 2000 Ashcroft, Bill. Post-Colonial Transformation. London and New York: Routledge, 2000.Google Scholar
Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin 2005 Ashcroft, Bill, Griffiths, Gareth, and Tiffin, Helen. The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures. 2nd edn.London and New York: Routledge, 2005.Google Scholar
Baker 2005 Baker, Jim. The Eagle in the Lion City: America, Americans and Singapore. Singapore: Landmark Books, 2005.Google Scholar
Ball 1999 Ball, S. J. “Selkirk in Singapore.” Twentieth Century British History 10:2 (1999), pp. 162–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradford 1952 Bradford, Mary. “A Planter's Wife … and the Emergency.” The Straits Times Annual (1952), pp. 46–48.Google Scholar
Brooke-Wavell 1952 Brooke-Wavell, S. “Jungle Squad.” The Straits Times Annual (1952), pp. 115–17.Google Scholar
Campbell 1998 Campbell, David. Writing Security: United States Foreign Policy and the Politics of Identity. Revised edn.Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998.Google Scholar
“Can Siam Remain a Bastion” 1954 “Can Siam Remain a Bastion Against Reds in S.E. Asia?” The Straits Times (8 April 1954), p. 6.Google Scholar
Chakrabarty 2000 Chakrabarty, Dipesh. Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Cheah 1987 Cheah, Boon Kheng. Red Star over Malaya: Resistance and Social Conflict During and After the Japanese Occupation, 1941–1946. 2nd edn.Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1987.Google Scholar
Chua 1954 Chua, Sian Chin. “In the Name of Democracy.” Fajar 5 (10 March 1954), p. 3.Google Scholar
Clutterbuck 1973 Clutterbuck, Richard. Riot and Revolution in Singapore and Malaya 1945–1963. London: Faber and Faber, 1973.Google Scholar
Colonial Office 1953 Colonial Office. Great Britain. “The Cold War in South-East Asia.” Inward saving telegram (12 December 1953) CO1022/245.Google Scholar
Corber 1993 Corber, Robert J. In the Name of National Security: Hitchcock, Homophobia, and the Political Construction of Gender in Postwar America. Durham: Duke University Press, 1993.Google Scholar
“Council to Protest Against Students' Detention” 1951 “Council to Protest Against Students' Detention.” The Malayan Undergrad (9 May 1951), p. 1.Google Scholar
“Defence Shield” 1954 “Defence Shield for SE-A Backed to Beat off Red Threat.” The Singapore Standard (14 April 1954), p. 1.Google Scholar
Deery 2003 Deery, Phillip. “The Terminology of Terrorism: Malaya, 1948–52.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 34:2 (2003), pp. 231–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deery 2007 Deery, Phillip. “Malaya, 1948: Britain's Asian Cold War?” Journal of Cold War Studies 9:1 (2007), pp. 29–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
“‘Democracy’ Comes to Malaya” 1954 “‘Democracy’ Comes to Malaya.” Fajar 5 (10 March 1954), p. 1.Google Scholar
Department of Public Relations 1950 Department of Public Relations. Federation of Malaya. Background Information and Material for Speakers: The Emergency and Anti-Bandit Month. n.p., 1950.Google Scholar
Drysdale 1984 Drysdale, John. Singapore: Struggle for Success. Singapore: Times Books International, 1984.Google Scholar
Dulles 1956a Dulles, John Foster. Telegram from the Department of State to the Consulate General at Singapore, 1 March 1956. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957. Vol. 22. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1989.Google Scholar
Dulles 1956b Dulles, John Foster. “Detailed Suggestions of Possible British Action to Counter Subversion in Malaya.” Circular instruction from the Department of State to certain Diplomatic Missions and Consular Offices, 14 January 1956. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957. Vol. 22. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1989.Google Scholar
“Emergency and the University” 1951 “Emergency and the University.” The Malayan Undergrad (6 March 1951), p. 4.Google Scholar
Foreign Office 1950 Foreign Office. Great Britain (1950). Proposed Meeting between the Commissioner General, Singapore and Other High Commissioners and Governors in the Far East to Consider Ways of Conducting the Cold War in S.E. Asia (1950) FO 371/84482.Google Scholar
George 1994 George, Jim. Discourses of Global Politics: A Critical (Re)Introduction of International Relations. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1954.Google Scholar
Griffith 2001 Griffith, Robert. “The Cultural Turn in Cold War Studies.” Reviews in American History (March 2001), pp. 150–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hsu 1950/51 Hsu, Tse-kwang. “War. Inevitable?” The New Cauldron (Michaelmas/Hilary Terms) 7 (1950–1951).Google Scholar
Information Services 1957 Information Services. Federation of Malaya. The Danger and Where It Lies. Kuala Lumpur: n.p., 1957.Google Scholar
Iriye 1974 Iriye, Akira. The Cold War in Asia: A Historical Introduction. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1974.Google Scholar
Klein 2003 Klein, Christina. Cold War Orientalism: Asia in the Middlebrow Imagination, 1945–1961. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koh 1960 Koh, Tommy. “The Student's Role in the Asian Social Revolution.” Fajar 2 (April 1960), p. 2.Google Scholar
Krishna 1994 Krishna, Sankaran. “The Importance of Being Ironic: A Postcolonial View of Critical International Relations Theory.” Alternatives 18:3 (1994), pp. 385–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee 1998 Lee, Kuan Yew. The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew. Singapore: Times Editions, 1998.Google Scholar
Legislative Assembly 1957 Legislative Assembly. Singapore. “The Communist Threat in Singapore.” Sessional paper no. cmd. 33, 1957.Google Scholar
Lenin 1939 Lenin, V. I. Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism; a Popular Outline. New York: International Publishers, 1939.Google Scholar
“Lest We Forget” 1951/52 “Lest We Forget.” The New Cauldron (Hilary Term) (1951/1952), pp. 3–7.Google Scholar
MacDonald 1951 MacDonald, Malcolm. “Malaya Faces New Problems in a Changing Asia.” The Straits Times Annual (1951), p. 25.Google Scholar
“Malaya and the Cold War” 1954 “Malaya and the Cold War.” The Singapore Standard (1 September 1954), p. 6.Google Scholar
Miller 1952 Miller, Harry. “Resettling 500,000 Squatters.” The Straits Times Annual (1952), pp. 77–80.Google Scholar
Moore 1961a Moore, Philip. “Note of a Meeting Held at Eden Hall, at 4.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 18th July 1961.” Inward saving telegram from UK Commissioner, Singapore, to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, no. 272 (1 August 1961) CO 1030/1149.Google Scholar
Moore 1961b Moore, Philip. “Minute by Mr. Moore to Lord Selkirk.” Inward saving telegram from UK Commissioner, Singapore, to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, no. 270 (29 July 1961) CO 1030/1149.Google Scholar
Nadeswaran 1953 Nadeswaran. “Socialism – 2.” Fajar 4 (December 1953), pp. 5–6, 8.Google Scholar
“One More Step to the Rear” 1954 “One More Step to the Rear – Forward March!” Fajar 6 (10 April 1954), p. 1.Google Scholar
Operations Coordinating Board 1955 Operations Coordinating Board. “Summary on the Communist Threat to American Interests in Singapore and Malaya and Possible Countermeasures” (14 December 1955). Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957. Vol. 22. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1989.Google Scholar
“Our Greatest Loss” 1951 “Our Greatest Loss.” The Malayan Undergrad (11 November 1951), p. 1.Google Scholar
“Points of View” 1954 “Points of View.” Fajar 14 (30 December 1954), pp. 1–2.Google Scholar
Ramakrishna 2002 Ramakrishna, Kumar. Emergency Propaganda: The Winning of Malayan Hearts and Minds 1948–1958. Richmond: Curzon Press, 2002.Google Scholar
“Reds Invade Cambodia” 1954 “Reds Invade Cambodia: Dien Bien Phu Inner Defence is Penetrated.” The Singapore Standard (3 April 1954), p. 1.Google Scholar
Robertson 1956 Robertson, Walter S. “Imminent Political Crisis in Singapore: Recommendations.” Memorandum from the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs to the Secretary of State (30 March 1956). Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957. Vol. 22. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1989.Google Scholar
“Socialism – 1” 1953 “Socialism – 1: An Article for Discussion.” Fajar 3 (22 October 1953), p. 10.Google Scholar
Williams and Chrisman 1993 Williams, Patrick and Chrisman, Laura, eds. Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory: A Reader. Hemel Hampstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1993.Google Scholar
Wyatt 1960 Wyatt, Donald. “Communism or Communalism in South East Asia?” The Malayan Undergrad (January 1960), p. 6.Google Scholar
Yap, Lim, and Leong 2009 Yap, Sonny, Lim, Richard, and Kam, Leong Weng. Men in White: The Untold Story of Singapore's Ruling Political Party. Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings, 2009.Google Scholar
Yew 2009 Yew, Leong. “Relocating Socialism: Asia, Socialism, Communism, and the PAP Departure from the Socialist International in 1976.” In Dynamics of the Cold War in Asia: Identity, Ideology, and Culture, eds. Vu, Tuong and Wongsurawat, Wasana. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.Google Scholar
Young 1956 Young, Kenneth T. “Political Situation in Singapore.” Memorandum from the director of the Office of Philippine and Southeast Asian Affairs to the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs” (17 February 1956). Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957. Vol. 22. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1989.Google Scholar