The ruling federal government of Malaysia, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), contested the elections as part of the Singapore Alliance Party (SAP) in an attempt to oust the PAP, straining relations between the two parties. The Alliance lost all seven seats which it held prior to the elections. Their participation in the elections prompted the PAP to contest seats outside Singapore and in Peninsular Malaysia in the next federal election held in 1964, further adding to more tensions between the UMNO federal government and the PAP state government.
A total of 210 candidates contested the elections, making it the largest slate of candidates to contest ever in Singapore's history for more than six decades until 2025.[1] The ruling PAP fielded 51 candidates, its breakaway parties BS and the United People's Party (UPP) fielded 46 candidates each, and the Alliance, the Singapore branch of the Malaysian federal ruling coalition, fielded 42 candidates. This also marked the last time that any other party than the PAP would field candidates in more than half the total parliamentary seats. With two breakaway factions of the PAP fielding nearly full slate of candidates, this was the most hard fought election in Singapore's history and particularly for the ruling PAP.
This was the most recent general election in which the PAP received less than half of the popular vote, at only 47%, and the last parliamentary election to date where MPs (29 out of 51) were elected by a plurality due to the first-past-the-post voting system. It was also the last general election in which an incumbent minister was defeated until 2011 and the last general election in which all seats were contested until 2015. As Singapore would gain independence in 1965, the elections were the only ones held when Singapore was a state of Malaysia. After independence, the elected members of the Legislative Assembly subsequently become members of the inaugural Parliament of Singapore.
Background
Although the People's Action Party (PAP) had won 43 seats in the 1959 elections, they lost four seats in 1961 (two were from the by-election defeats, and two defected to the new United People's Party (UPP)). A further 13 legislators were expelled from PAP for voting against the government in a no-confidence motion on 20 July 1961; the dissidents subsequently formed a new party, the Barisan Sosialis (BS), alleging PAP as a communist front. The combination of by-election defeats, defections and expulsions reduced the PAP by 17 seats down to 26, leaving PAP with a one-seat majority.
On 3 July 1962, while the integration referendum debate was in procession, the PAP lost its majority following the resignation of legislator Ho Puay Choo (who later joined BS on 11 August). Five days later, UPP legislator S. V. Lingam returned to PAP fold, giving it back its one-seat majority. However, the PAP lost its majority again five days later after health minister Ahmad Ibrahim died from liver cancer. BS initially planned to field its iconic leader, Lim Chin Siong, in the vacated seat, but the Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew opted against a by-election, and instead called a fresh election.
On 31 August 1963, Singapore was declared fully independent from the United Kingdom (full internal self-government was granted in 1959) with PAP declared as trustees until the merger with Malaysia could be complete. On 3 September, Lee Kuan Yew dissolved the Legislative Assembly in accordance with procedure, the Proclamation of Malaysia was ratified on 16 September, and elections are to be held on 21 September. As part of the Malaysia Agreement, the head of government in Singapore were permitted to retain the title of "Prime Minister" despite there already being a prime minister of Malaysia, as Singapore were given more autonomy in some areas than the other states of Malaysia.
The elections, held in the midst of Singapore's merger with Malaysia, are remembered as the PAP's hardest-fought as the party faced intensive challenges from three other parties that fielded nearly full slates. BS collated with Parti Rakyat, and fielded candidates in all but two seats, while UPP had an unusually large number of candidates. Earlier that year on 2 February, as part of an anti-communist security operation, the PAP government with support of the Malaysian federal government and the British government had launched Operation Coldstore to detain several BS leaders, including Lim Chin Siong, which severely hampered BS.
On the final night of campaigning, PAP officials issued a sudden warning: if BS were to win the election and defeat the PAP, the federal government in Kuala Lumpur might deploy troops to Singapore and invoke emergency powers, bypassing the incoming BS-led government, allegedly due to its perceived pro-communist stance. This last-minute tactic, seen by many as fearmongering, left BS with no opportunity to respond. Nevertheless, it appeared to sway public sentiment and may have contributed significantly to the PAP's victory the following day.
In terms of votes, Cairnhill candidate Lim Kim San had the best scoring result of 66.46%; however, 29 out of the 51 constituencies had elected by plurality as a result of first-past-the-post voting. Delta's MP-elect Chan Choy Siong had the narrowest winning margin of 0.46%. A total of 92 candidates lost their election deposits, with the lowest being 0.72%, held by Moulmein's independent candidate Soo Tho Siu Hee.
The PAP won a landslide victory, securing 37 seats and retaining its two-thirds majority in the Legislative Assembly. This result had been uncertain in the lead-up to the vote, and while the PAP emerged as the clear winner, its overall vote share was only 46.93 percent, the lowest in its history. Several key factors contributed to this outcome despite strong competition from BS.[3]
One major reason was the PAP's last-minute warning that if BS formed the government, the federal government in Kuala Lumpur could respond by sending troops into Singapore and enforcing emergency powers. Many voters were also concerned that BS' opposition to merger with Malaya would jeopardise Singapore's entry into Malaysia. Support for merger was strong among the public, and BS' alignment with Indonesia and the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) raised further alarm, especially as Indonesia had declared a Konfrontasi and begun provocative military activity in Borneo.[3]
The English-educated middle class, worried about the rise of communism, voted tactically for the PAP after the left-wing split that created BS. The PAP also gained credit for its achievements in government since 1959. These included the construction of 26,000 flats by the Housing and Development Board (HDB), a reduction in unemployment and expanded investment in public services. Many voters saw continued PAP rule as essential for stability and progress.[3]
Although the opposition won a combined 14 seats, both BS and UPP failed to win most of the seats they contested, due to the split of the anti-PAP vote. Furthermore, 16 incumbent candidates were defeated in this election, most notably cabinet ministers K. M. Byrne and Tan Kia Gan (in the seats of Crawford and Paya Lebar, respectively), the first such instance where a cabinet minister had been defeated in their constituencies. This would not happen again until the 2011 elections, 48 years and 11 elections later, where cabinet ministers Lim Hwee Hua and George Yeo were defeated in their constituency of Aljunied.
The Singapore Alliance Party also lost all seven seats it had held before dissolution. Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and UMNO were shocked and surprised at the wipeout of the Singapore Alliance in the election - the ruling Alliance federal government expected to have the strong support of the Singapore Malay vote just like in Peninsular Malaysia, but the PAP swept all of UMNO's Malay constituency seats such as Kampong Kembangan, Geylang Serai and Southern Islands. Tunku attributed this change of attitude to “traitors” within Singapore UMNO. Tunku stated on 27 September 1963, that he would personally direct the affairs of UMNO in Singapore and would play “an important part” in UMNO’s campaign in future elections. This further fuelled mistrust between the PAP state government and the Malaysian federal government.[4] Secretary-General of UMNO, Syed Jaafar Albar, reacted more strongly to the defeat, publicly vowing to “fix” Lee Kuan Yew using “both words and fists” when he showed up in the Malaysian parliament.[4] Other extremists made equally heated speeches during other meetings and floated allegations that the PAP had intimated the Malays to vote against UMNO, even burning an effigy of Lee at a Singapore meeting to show their displeasure.[4] The Singapore Alliance became dormant in 1965,[5] and the Singapore People's Alliance, one of its membership parties, was dissolved on 16 May 1965, shortly before Singapore's independence from Malaysia on 9 August 1965.[6][7]
In the aftermath of the election, the PAP government passed a constitutional amendment stipulating that legislators who resign or are expelled from the parties they were elected under would lose their seats, in order to discourage future defections. As a result, by-elections were subsequently held in Hong Lim in 1965, seven constituencies in 1966 and five constituencies in 1967. Those victories resulted PAP in achieving a parliament monopoly that would last for the next 15 years until the first elected opposition MP in 1981. The changes during the 1963–1968 parliamentary term remain the biggest turnover of MPs in post-independence Singapore.
↑ Lau, Albert (1998). A Moment of Anguish: Singapore in Malaysia and the Politics of Disengagement. Singapore: Times Academic Press. ISBN981-210-1349.
1 2 3 Sonny Yap; Richard Lim; Leong Weng Kam (2010). Men in White: The Untold Story of Singapore's Ruling Political Party. Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings.
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