1st Legislative Assembly of Singapore

1st Legislative Assembly of Singapore
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10 1 1 4 3 2 1 3 7 Composition at the start of the 1st Legislative Assembly of Singapore    LF (10)    DP (2)    MU (1)    PP (4)    MCA (1)   Independent (3)    PAP (3)    UMNO (1)   Appointed (7)
Overview
Legislative body	Legislative Assembly of Singapore
Meeting place	Old Parliament House, Singapore
Term	22 April 1955 (1955-04-22) – 31 March 1959 (1959-03-31)
Election	22 April 1955
Government	Labour Front (until 1958) Singapore People's Alliance (from 1958) United Malays National Organisation Malayan Chinese Association Malay Union (until 1957)
Opposition	People's Action Party Progressive Party (until 1956) Democratic Party (until 1956) Liberal Socialist Party (from 1956) Citizens' Party (from 1959)
Legislative Assembly of Singapore
Members	32
Speaker	Sir George Oehlers
Chief Secretary	William Goode
Chief Minister	David Marshall
Party control	LF–UMNO–MCA-MU minority (until 1958) SPA–UMNO–MCA minority (from 1958)
Sessions
1st 22 April 1955 (1955-04-22) – 7 June 1956 (1956-06-07) 2nd 29 August 1956 (1956-08-29) – 8 January 1958 (1958-01-08) 3rd 9 April 1958 (1958-04-09) – 19 March 1959 (1959-03-19)

The 1st Legislative Assembly of Singapore was a meeting of the Legislative Assembly of Singapore from 22 April 1955 ^[1] until 31 March 1959. ^[2]

Officeholders

• Speaker : Sir George Oehlers
  • Deputy Speaker: Richard Lim Chuan Hoe (LF, later MCA)
• Chief Secretary:
  • William Goode (IND) until 9 December 1957
  • Edgeworth David (IND) from 29 January 1958
• Chief Minister:
  • David Marshall (LF) until 7 June 1956
  • Lim Yew Hock (LF, later SPA) from 7 June 1956
• Attorney General:
  • John Davies (IND) until 5 September 1955
  • Charles Harris Butterfield (IND) from 6 September 1955 until 1 July 1957
  • Ernest Pattison Shanks, (IND) from 2 July 1957
• Financial Secretary:
  • Thomas Hart (IND)
• Leader of the Opposition: Lee Kuan Yew (PAP)

Composition

Party		Members
		At election [3]	At dissolution
	Labour Front	10	0
	Progressive Party	4	0
	People's Action Party	3	4
	Democratic Party	2	0
	Malayan Chinese Association	1	1
	United Malays National Organisation	1	2
	Malay Union	1	0
	Singapore People's Alliance	0	11
	Liberal Socialist Party	0	3
	Citizens' Party	0	1
	Independent	3	2
Ex-officio members		3	3
Nominated members		4	4
Vacant seats		0	1
Total		32	31
Government majority		-5	-3

Members

Elected members

Constituency	Member	Party
Bukit Panjang	Goh Tong Liang		Progressive Party
Bukit Timah	Lim Chin Siong		People's Action Party
Cairnhill	David Marshall		Labour Front
Changi	Lim Cher Kheng		Democratic Party
Farrer Park	Anthony Rebeiro Lazarous		Labour Front
Geylang	Mak Pak Shee		Labour Front
Havelock	Lim Yew Hock		Labour Front
Kampong Kapor	Seah Peng Chuan		Labour Front
Katong	Armand Joseph Braga		Labour Front
Pasir Panjang	Wong Foo Nam		Malayan Chinese Association
Paya Lebar	Lim Koon Teck		Progressive Party
Punggol–Tampines	Goh Chew Chua		People's Action Party
Queenstown	Lee Choon Eng		Labour Front
Rochore	Tan Theng Chiang		Labour Front
Sembawang	Ahmad Ibrahim		Independent
Seletar	Madai Puthan Damodaran Nair		Independent
Serangoon	Lim Choon Mong		Progressive Party
Southern Islands	Mohamed Sidik bin Abdul Hamid		Malay Union
Stamford	Jumabhoy Mohamed Jumabhoy		Labour Front
Tanglin	John Ede		Progressive Party
Tanjong Pagar	Lee Kuan Yew		People's Action Party
Telok Ayer	Rajabali Jumabhoy		Independent
Tiong Bahru	William Tan Ah Lek		Democratic Party
Ulu Bedok	Abdul Hamid Jumat		United Malays National Organisation
Whampoa	Chew Swee Kee		Labour Front

Ex-officio members

Ex-officio member	Position
William Goode	Chief Secretary, Singapore
John Davies	Attorney-General of Singapore
Thomas Hart	Financial Secretary

Nominated members

Member	Party
Francis Thomas		Labour Front
Richard Chuan Hoe Lim		Labour Front
George Alexander Phimister Sutherland		Independent
Ong Piah Teng		Independent

Changes in members

By-elections

Constituency	Incumbent					Date of by-election	Winner
	Name	Party		Date seat vacated	Cause of vacancy		Name	Party
Tanjong Pagar	Lee Kuan Yew		PAP	27 April 1957	Resignation [4]	29 June 1957	Lee Kuan Yew		PAP
Cairnhill	David Marshall		Independent	29 April 1957	Resignation [5]	29 June 1957	Soh Ghee Soon		LSP

Appointments

Constituency	Member	Political party		Date appointed
Nominated	J. M. Mason		Independent	8 July 1958 [6]
Nominated	Sir Ewen Fergusson		Independent	12 January 1959 [7]

Vacant seats

Constituency	Member	Party		Date seat vacated	Cause of vacancy
Nominated	Ong Piah Teng		Independent	1 January 1958	Death [8]
Nominated	George Alexander Phimister Sutherland		Independent	13 June 1958	Resignation [9]
Nominated	J. M. Mason		Independent	15 December 1958	Resignation [10]
Whampoa	Chew Swee Kee		SPA	3 March 1959	Resignation [11]

Changes in party affiliation

Member	Constituency	Date	Former party		New party		Reason
John Anthony Moore Ede	Tanglin	5 February 1956		PP		LSP	Progressive Party and Democratic Party merged. [12]
Goh Tong Liang	Bukit Panjang	5 February 1956		PP		LSP	Progressive Party and Democratic Party merged. [12]
		3 December 1958		LSP		SPA	Joined Singapore People's Alliance. [13]
Lim Cher Kheng	Changi	5 February 1956		DP		LSP	Progressive Party and Democratic Party merged. [12]
		6 June 1956		LSP		Independent	Resigned. [14]
Lim Choon Mong	Serangoon	5 February 1956		PP		LSP	Progressive Party and Democratic Party merged. [12]
		3 December 1958		LSP		SPA	Joined Singapore People's Alliance. [13]
Lim Koon Teck	Paya Lebar	5 February 1956		PP		LSP	Progressive Party and Democratic Party merged. [12]
		3 December 1958		LSP		SPA	Joined Singapore People's Alliance. [13]
William Tan Ah Lek	Tiong Bahru	5 February 1956		DP		LSP	Progressive Party and Democratic Party merged. [12]
Rajabali Jumabhoy	Telok Ayer	6 February 1956		Independent		LSP	Joined Liberal Socialist Party. [15]
Seah Peng Chuan	Kampong Kapor	7 June 1956		LF		Independent	Resigned. [16]
		25 February 1959		Independent		CP	Formed Citizens' Party. [17]
Lee Choon Eng	Queenstown	12 June 1956		LF		Independent	Resigned. [18]
		12 December 1958		Independent		SPA	Joined Singapore People's Alliance. [19]
Anthony Rebeiro Lazarous	Farrer Park	12 June 1956		LF		Independent	Resigned. [18]
David Marshall	Cairnhill	17 April 1957		LF		Independent	Resigned. [20]
Mohamed Sidik bin Abdul Hamid	Southern Islands	21 May 1957		MU		UMNO	Resigned. [21]
Ahmad Ibrahim	Sembawang	20 October 1957		Independent		PAP	Elected in PAP leadership. [22]
Armand Joseph Braga	Katong	10 November 1958		LF		SPA	Joined Singapore People's Alliance. [23]
Chew Swee Kee	Whampoa	10 November 1958		LF		SPA	Joined Singapore People's Alliance. [23]
Jumabhoy Mohamed Jumabhoy	Stamford	10 November 1958		LF		SPA	Joined Singapore People's Alliance. [24]
Lim Yew Hock	Havelock	10 November 1958		LF		SPA	Formed Singapore People's Alliance. [24]
Mak Pak Shee	Geylang	10 November 1958		LF		SPA	Joined Singapore People's Alliance. [23]
Madai Puthan Damodaran Nair	Seletar	10 November 1958		Independent		SPA	Joined Singapore People's Alliance. [24]
Soh Ghee Soon	Cairnhill	15 November 1958		LSP		Independent	Resigned. [25]
		3 December 1958		Independent		SPA	Joined Singapore People's Alliance. [13]
Tan Theng Chiang	Rochore	Late 1958		LF		SPA	Joined Singapore People's Alliance. [26]
Richard Chuan Hoe Lim	Nominated	23 January 1959		LF		MCA	Joined Malayan Chinese Association. [27]

Post-dissolution changes in party affiliation

Member	Constituency	Date	Former party		New party		Reason
John Anthony Moore Ede	Tanglin	17 April 1959		LSP		Independent	Resigned. [28]
Lee Choon Eng	Queenstown	24 April 1959		SPA		Independent	Resigned. [29]
Mak Pak Shee	Geylang	24 April 1959		SPA		Independent	Resigned. [29]

References

1. "LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY GENERAL ELECTION 1955". Singapore Elections. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
2. "LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY GENERAL ELECTION 1959". Singapore Elections. Archived from the original on 29 November 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
3. "LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY GENERAL ELECTION 1952 SEATS". Singapore Elections.
4. "LEE v MARSHALL AT POLLS". The Straits Times. 27 April 1957. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
5. "Marshall Resigns". The Straits Times. 1 May 1957. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
6. "MASON TO SERVE IN ASSEMBLY". Singapore Standard. 9 July 1958.
7. "Sir Ewen Replaces Mr. Mason". Singapore Standard. 13 January 1958.
8. "Mr. Ong's Funeral Today". Sunday Standard. 5 January 1958.
9. "SUTHERLAND RESIGNS SEAT". Singapore Standard. 25 June 1958.
10. "MASON RESIGNS HIS ASSEMBLY SEAT". The Straits Times. 16 December 1958. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
11. "Chew to resign from the SPA". The Straits Times. 8 March 1959. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
12. "TWO PARTIES WILL MARRY' THIS MORNING". The Straits Times. 5 February 1956. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
13. "S.P.A. ADOPTING AN OPEN DOOR POLICY". The Straits Times. 4 December 1958. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
14. "Lim Is Fed Up, Quits Lib-Socs". Singapore Standard. 7 June 1956.
15. "PARTY SEASON: MR. J (Ind) JOINS IN". The Straits Times. 7 February 1956. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
16. "SEAH QUITS THE FRONT". The Straits Times. 8 June 1956. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
17. "Citizens' Party". Singapore Elections. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
18. "Radical Democratic Party In Offing". Indian Daily Mail. 12 June 1956.
19. "House debates company and income tax rise". Straits Budget. 24 December 1958.
20. "MARSHALL; FRONT ACCEPTS HIS RESIGNATION". The Straits Times. 18 April 1957. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
21. "Assemblyman Sidik joins the UMNO". The Straits Times. 22 May 1957. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
22. "THE LEE TEAM RUNS PAP AGAIN". The Straits Times. 21 October 1957. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
23. "Mr. Chew: I am in People's Alliance". The Straits Times. 13 November 1958. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
24. "Mr. LIM LEADS NEW PARTY". The Straits Times. 11 November 1958. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
25. "ANOTHER TWO LIBSOC BRANCHES TO JOIN LIM". The Straits Times. 16 November 1958. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
26. "Five for Tun Lim's old ground". The Straits Times. 9 May 1959.
27. "Mr Lim (deputy speaker) OF SINGAPORE joins the MCA". Singapore Standard. 24 January 1959.
28. "Lib-Soc shock: 103 quit party". The Straits Times. 18 April 1959.
29. "194 TO CONTEST COLONY GENERAL ELECTIONS". Straits Budget. 29 April 1959.