1372: Lim Yew Hock

the reason why I remember Lim Yew Hock is that he “gave away” Christmas Island to Australia in 1957; if not, we could probably travel to Christmas Island without a passport and one of the hearsay reason that Christmas Island was given away is to fund the construction of Merdeka Bridge ($9.5M) – that’s what my papa said.  One can still find the olden types of Singapore flats on the Christmas Island too.

now after doing a little research, extracted the explanation from a blogger profkingsfield2004 which sounds valid..

The definition of “belong to Singapore” must be clarified because many of my parents’ generation thought it so, again blame it on the politicans. From the released British Record Office documents, Christimas Island was “administered from Singapore”. It was transfered to Australia because the largest phosphate company on the island was an Australian company made appeals to the Australian Government. The company wanted the protection of a country “far larger than Indonesia” (Read the present political tension that off and on occur between Indonesia and Australia) and for this reason Australia was a suitable candidate.

Singapore at that time was a colony of the British and if Singapore were to take up the challenge, then it would not have been possible because it was a colony. The obvious responsibility would have fallen on the british Government but if you will remeber the British Stirling suffered a major devaluation in the 1950s. This prompted the British to find creative ways to still hvae a presenc ein the Far East, yet at the same time need not be burdened with a hevay budget.

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Lim Yew Hock (Chinese: 林有福; pinyin: Lín Yǒufú; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lîm Iú-hok; 15 October 1914 – 30 November 1984), later renamed Haji Omar Lim Yew Hock, was Singapore’s second Chief Minister from 1956 to 1959. He is known for suppressing the communist movements and leading the all-party delegation that won internal self-government for Singapore.

In 1956, the first Chief Minister David Marshall resigned after failing to gain full independence from British rule. Lim, then Minister for Labour and Welfare, became the Chief Minister and headed a new coalition government.

He began to suppress the anti-colonial activists and communists. He banished two Chung Cheng High School teachers and dissolved the Chinese Middle School Students’ Union.

When the Chinese Middle School riots broke out in October 1956, Lim decided to take aggressive steps to stop the violence. With the support of the British Governor and Commissioner of Police, troops with tear gas and helicopters were brought in to end the riots. Many key pro-communist union leaders in the People’s Action Party (PAP), including Lim Chin Siong, were detained under the Public Security Act.

With his strong measures against the unrests, the British gained more confidence in the local government’s handling of internal security. Lim led an all-party delegation to negiotate with the British in a series of Merdeka talks in the 1956 to 1958, and successfully won Singapore a new constitution granting internal self rule.

He dissolved the Labour Front and formed the Singapore People’s Alliance. However, his tough measures also ultimately led to his political downfall. It alienated a large portion of the Chinese-speaking electorate and this enabled the PAP to win the 1959 general election and form a new government of Singapore. The other reason for his political downfall was that Christmas Island was administered by Singapore at that time. However, it was transferred to Australia in 1957, and that incident made Lim Yew Hock unpopular.

However, he retained his seat in the Legislative Assembly by winning at Cairnhill instead of re-running at Havelock, beating incumbent David Marshall, the seat which he held on till 1963.

In 1964 Lim was appointed Malaysian High Commissioner to Australia, based in Canberra. In June 1966, he went missing from Canberra. A massive police search was unsuccessful in locating him. His wife and daughters went on national television to plead for his safe return, and the then Malysian Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, made a personal appeal from Kuala Lumpur and sent Malaysia’s chief of protocol, Enche Abdul Rahman Jallal, to Sydney to help in the search. It was discovered that Lim had flown from Canberra to Sydney under the name “Hawk”. It was also revealed that he had an ongoing association with a 19-year-old Kings Cross stripper, Sandra Nelson. Initially she too could not be located, but later said she had had no idea where Lim had been. Then, just as mysteriously as he had disappeared, Lim turned up after being missing for ten days. A passing stranger had discovered him ill, wandering on a Sydney street, and took him in. Apparently the stranger was not aware of Lim’s identity for nine days, and had not even made the connection from the nationwide media coverage of his disappearance. The stranger drove him to Canberra to return him to the High Commission. The stranger’s identity was never revealed.^[1]

In later years Lim became a Muslim and adopted the name of Haji Omar Lim Yew Hock. He died in Saudi Arabia on 30 November 1984 and was buried in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lim_Yew_Hock

http://ourstory.asia1.com.sg/independence/ref/lyh1.html

http://timesofmylife.wordpress.com/2007/11/14/merdeka-bridge-%E7%8B%AC%E7%AB%8B%E6%A1%A5/

http://infopediatalk.nl.sg/architecture-and-landscape/SIP_493_2005-01-19/

Merdeka Bridge, bridge, crosses the mouth of the Rochor and Kallang Rivers aka Kallang Basin. Merdeka (in Malay) means freedom and the bridge in mid-1950s era, symbolised the peoples’ pursuit and spirit for independence. The bridge was constructed over the Kallang Basin to link two stretches of the new Nicoll Highway. Designed by R.J. Hollis-Bee, and built by the Public Works Department at a cost of $9,500.000, Merdeka Bridge and the Nicoll Highway road on which the bridge spans, was declared open by then Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock on 17 August 1956.