The University Socialist Club and the Contest for Malaya

Loh, Kah Seng; Liao, Edgar; Lim, Cheng Tju; Seng, Guo-Quan

doi:10.2307/j.ctt46n1s0

Cited by 6 publications

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“…In addition, not only was "Mr Opposition" the Chairman of the Council, Dr M. K. Rajakumar, another renowned leftist intellectual who was seen to be anti-establishment at the time, was also a member of the Council representing the Guild of Graduates. Dr Rajakumar was a founding member of the infamous University of Malaya Socialist Club and was the editor of Fajar, a radical student newsletter produced by the club that was deemed seditious by the colonial authorities in Singapore in the late 1950s (Loh et al 2012). He also famously led the opposition through the Labour Party of Malaya and Barisan Sosialis in the 1960s.…”

Section: Pre-aukumentioning

confidence: 99%

The Universities and University Colleges Act in Malaysia: History, Contexts and Development

Wan¹

2019

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(AUKU) is the main legislation that governs public universities. It was enacted in 1971 and amended six times that had profound implications for the development of higher education, particularly on the governance and autonomy of public universities. However, the days of AUKU are numbered as the current Government in its election manifesto has slated for the act to be revoked and abolished. This paper examines the historical and chronological development of AUKU, more specifically the socio-politicaleconomic situation at the time of enactment and each subsequent amendment. In addition, the article also explores thematic issues related to AUKU, namely academic freedom and autonomy as well as the control of the State and Government on public universities.

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Section: Pre-aukumentioning

confidence: 99%

The Universities and University Colleges Act in Malaysia: History, Contexts and Development

Wan¹

2019

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Explaining Elections in Singapore: Dominant Party Resilience and Valence Politics

Oliver¹,

Ostwald²

2018

J. East Asian Stud.

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The People's Action Party (PAP) of Singapore is one of the world's longest ruling dominant parties, having won every general election since the country's independence in 1965. Why do Singaporeans consistently vote for the PAP, contrary to the expectations of democratization theories? We argue that valence considerations—specifically, perceptions of party credibility—are the main factor in the voting behavior of Singapore's electorate, and are critical to explaining the PAP's resilience. Furthermore, we argue that the primacy of valence politics arose in part by design, as the PAP has used its control of Singapore's high-capacity state to reshape society and thereby reshape voter preferences towards its comparative advantages. We use a multi-methods approach to substantiate this argument, including a comprehensive quantitative analysis of recent elections. Ultimately, our findings suggest that a focus on valence politics can increase the resilience of dominant parties, but that such a strategy also faces natural limits.

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Kah Seng Loh. Squatters into Citizens: The 1961 Bukit Ho Swee Fire and the Making of Modern Singapore. Singapore: NUS Press, 2013. 315 pp.

Chia

2015

TRaNS

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As a Singaporean born and raised in the country, I heard so much about the Bukit Ho Swee fire from my maternal grandmother, who used to stay in one of the urban kampongs in the Tanjong Pagar area, yet knew so little about this calamity and its place in Singapore's history. Squatters into Citizens is the first academic study of this "unprecedented inferno" that destroyed 2200 dwellings, left 15,694 people homeless, cost an estimated two million Singapore dollars in damages, and claimed four lives (pp. 148-151). However, this book is not merely an account of the fire and the subsequent rehousing program in the aftermath of the disaster. Rather, this study presents a "more complex and nuanced story" (p. 1) of the 1961 Bukit Ho Swee fire. It argues that the "inferno tipped the balance in a protracted struggle not between modernity and backwardness, but between two forms modernity" (p. 1)namely, that of the People's Action Party's (PAP) vision of modernity based on well-planned public housing estates versus the kampongs' progressive and semi-autonomous alternative form of modernity. This disastrous fire, as Loh Kah Seng suggests, altered the relationship between the state and Bukit Ho Swee dwellers, and resulted in the rehousing of so-called 'squatters' and slum-dwellers into Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats and the transformation of the urban margin. The book is divided into ten chapters and can be broadly divided into three sections. After the introductory chapter, the first section, which consists of chapters 2-5, discusses the origins and development of the urban kampong in general and Kampong Bukit Ho Swee in particular. The second section, which includes chapters 6-8, narrates the residents' experience of the unprecedented inferno, the PAP government's emergency response, and the building of Bukit Ho Swee housing estate. The final section, which consists of chapters 9 and 10, highlights the tensions of modernity in Bukit Ho Swee estate. In chapter 10, Loh suggests that the Bukit Ho Swee fire produced three myths, namely, (1) the official story that frames the inferno as a 'blessing in disguise', (2) a nostalgia for the harmonious and idyllic kampong life, and (3) rumours of government-inspired arson. Squatters into Citizens is an important contribution to the field of Singapore studies, and the historiography of postwar Singapore in particular. On one level, this book tells a people's history of Singapore (Lim 2013; Loh 2009; Warren 1986, 1993). Loh presents a compelling story of daily lives in 'squatter' communities, the dwellers' experience of the 1961 Bukit Ho Swee Fire, their housing

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The University Socialist Club and the Contest for Malaya

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

The Universities and University Colleges Act in Malaysia: History, Contexts and Development

The Universities and University Colleges Act in Malaysia: History, Contexts and Development

Explaining Elections in Singapore: Dominant Party Resilience and Valence Politics

Kah Seng Loh. Squatters into Citizens: The 1961 Bukit Ho Swee Fire and the Making of Modern Singapore. Singapore: NUS Press, 2013. 315 pp.

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