People power in Singapore: A revival of the left

Singapore enjoyed a thriving labour movement and vibrant leftist politics from the 1950s-60s, which led and won the nation’s anti-colonial struggle. The people’s dream was for an independent and socialist Singapore, but they were betrayed by the People’s Action Party (PAP), led by Lee Kuan Yew, who arrested and jailed hundreds of trade unionists, socialist party leaders, journalists, students and other ordinary workers who were associated with the left. 

Leftist politics took a huge hit , but it didn’t disappear. In the decades that followed, leftist thinkers, politics and movements resurfaced in different spaces, but faced extreme repression each time, with the PAP determined to snuff it out from public life. For a while, they seemed to have succeeded, but today, a new generation of leftists are emerging in Singapore, determined to learn lessons from our history, from other movements around the world, and to rebuild people power. 

This workshop will look at this story of survival against all odds.