Barisan Sosialis, a now defunct political party, was formed in 1961 by left-wing members of the People's Action Party (PAP), who were expelled from the Party. It became the main opposition party in self-governing Singapore. However, following Singapore's independence ...

The Labour Front (LF), now a defunct political party, was an offshoot of the Singapore Labour Party. It was formed in 1955 to contest the watershed election for the Legislative Assembly that year. Although the party emerged victorious in the election, the Labour ...

The Singapore Progressive Party (SPP) was a nationalistic party formed on 25 August 1947 to contest in the Legislative Council election in 1948. The conservative SPP stood for gradual change and was willing to work with the British to introduce steady constitutional ...

The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) is a political party founded by Chiam See Tong in 1980. The party is currently led by chairman Paul Tambyah and secretary-general Chee Soon Juan.

The Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) is a coalition of political parties in Singapore, officially registered on 28 June 2001. At the time of its formation, the alliance comprised the Singapore People’s Party (SPP), National Solidarity Party (NSP), Singapore ...

The Workers’ Party (WP) was formed on 3 November 1957 by David Saul Marshall, with the inauguration held at the Hokkien Association Hall on Telok Ayer Street. The founding executive committee of the party comprised 20 trade unionists and 10 non-unionists. The party’s ...

The Singapore Labour Party (SLP) was inaugurated on 1 September 1948. It was fronted largely by English-speaking Indians who underwent the British education system, were exposed to publications on British politics and involved in labour unions. The SLP met with ...

Chia Thye Poh (b. 1941–) is a former member of parliament and political detainee. He was arrested and detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in October 1966, and was not charged or tried until his conditional release in May 1989. The government attributed ...

Sinnathamby Rajaratnam (b. 25 February 1915, Jaffna, Sri Lanka–d. 22 February 2006, Singapore), better known as S. Rajaratnam, was a former journalist, co-founder of the People's Action Party (PAP), first minister for foreign affairs in post-independence Singapore, ...

Lee Siew Choh (Dr) (b. 1 November 1917, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya–d. 18 July 2002, Singapore), a Cantonese, was a former Barisan Sosialis leader and the first non-constituency member of Parliament (NCMP). He was a vocal opposition leader who once gave a seven-and-a-half ...

Fong Chong Pik (b. 1926, China–d. 6 February 2004, Hat Yai, Thailand), also known as Fang Chuang Pi, was a political activist and member of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), otherwise known as the Malayan Communist Party (MCP). He was the CPM’s representative, ...

The Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), also known as the Malayan Communist Party, was a political party active in Singapore, the Federation of Malaya and later Malaysia. It was founded in 1930 and dissolved in 1989.

Chiam See Tong (b. 12 March 1935, Singapore–) is a veteran figure in Singapore’s political landscape. He is one of Singapore’s longest standing and most iconic opposition figures, serving as a member of parliament (MP) for the Potong Pasir constituency from 1984 ...

Shunmugam Jayakumar (b. 12 August 1939, Singapore–), better known as S. Jayakumar, is a former Singapore politician and diplomat. Trained as a lawyer, Jayakumar entered politics in 1980 as a People’s Action Party (PAP) candidate and held several key ministerial ...

On 2 April 1949, the Municipal Commission election was held to elect 18 of the 27 members of the Municipal Commission. This election was the result of the enactment of the Municipal Elections Ordinance in 1948. The 1949 Municipal Commission election was a political ...

Othman Wok (b. 8 October 1924, Singapore–d. 17 April 2017, Singapore) is a former politician who took on the social affairs (1963–77) and culture (1965–68) ministerial portfolios, as well as served as a People’s Action Party (PAP) member of parliament (MP) for ...

Haji Omar Lim Yew Hock (b. 15 October 1914, Singapore–d. 30 November 1984, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) was the chief minister of Singapore from 1956 to 1959, succeeding David Marshall. Lim was noted for his work as a trade unionist before entering politics under the ...

Lim Chin Siong (b. 28 February 1933, Singapore–d. 5 February 1996, Singapore) was an influential trade union leader and a prominent left-wing political figure in Singapore. As a founding member of the People’s Action Party (PAP), Lim was elected as the assemblyman ...

Chua Sian Chin (b. 26 November 1933, Malacca–d. 26 February 2014, Singapore) was a former cabinet member and one of Singapore’s pioneer generation of leaders. A lawyer by training, Chua entered politics in 1968 after he was elected a People’s Action Party (PAP) ...

Ong Pang Boon (b. 28 March 1929, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya–) was a politician and a prominent member of the People’s Action Party (PAP). He was appointed the minister for home affairs in the first cabinet of Singapore following the party’s victory in the 1959 Legislative ...