Rise of the Reds

When outspokenly anti-Communist Lim Yew Hock took over as Singapore's chief minister nearly two years ago, many of the colony's more responsible citizens thought the worst was over. Chief Minister Lim moved firmly to break up Communist infiltration of Singapore's Chinese middle schools, responded to a wave of Red-inspired riots by jailing a hot-eyed Communist agitator named Lim Chin Siong.

But though Lim Chin Siong is still lodged behind the towering grey walls of Changi prison, his colleagues on the outside are still working untiringly to build up popular support for his People's Action Party. "Singapore," said a Western diplomat recently, "may wake up one morning soon to find itself with the first democratically elected Communist government in history."

Despite Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock's best efforts, the People's Action Party last month managed to win 13 out of 32 seats in Singapore's first municipal elections, while Lim Yew Hock's Labor Front Party could salvage only four. This victory enabled the P.A.P. to install a Malacca-born, Australian-educated Chinese named Ong Eng Guan as mayor. P.A.P. Boss Lee Kuan Yew continues to insist loudly that his party is non-"Communist. But Mayor Ong is less committal. Asked if he thought Singapore was threatened by Communism, Ong replied: "I can't answer that because the committee would not like me to."

As Singapore city goes, so goes the colony, since an estimated 75% or more of the colony's 1,500,000 inhabitants live within the city's limits. Elections for the colony's Legislative Assembly are only seven months off. Last week the chairman of Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock's Labor Front Party declared defiantly that his campaign will be fought on an out-and-out anti-Communist platform. What did he think of his chances of success? "Bleak," said the Labor Front Party chairman.

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