When many Singaporeans reminisce the good old days of Lee Kuan Yew’s reign, we conflate the start, process, and result of building this country.

Yet the past is significant, insofar as it helps us understand the foundation upon which our country’s present values and vision are grounded. For those less adept in our political history—like me—think of it this way: deliberate self-reflection about who you were can help you understand who you are and influence who you want to be, making you a better person in general.

So allow me to briefly highlight the significance of the University Socialist Club (USC) in Singapore’s history.

If Yale-NUS students were alive in the 50s and 60s, they would have fit right in with USC. The USC was “a left-wing student group” whose activism played an important role in “bringing about independence from Britain” and shaping Singapore into a post-colonial nation.

Formed in 1953 in the University of Malaya (later renamed National University of Singapore) by a group of medical and arts students, the club was meant to stimulate political discussion and activism. They took in members with “alternative political views”, as long as they were anti-colonialism. Notable members of USC included our late president, S R Nathan, and Professor Tommy Koh, to name a few.

One year after their formation, the USC produced a newspaper called Fajar—an excessively anti-colonial read. Surprise, surprise, the British eventually rounded up Fajar’s editorial board and charged them with sedition for an article titled “Aggression in Asia”.

At the time, Lee Kuan Yew was the USC’s honorary legal counsel and served as the junior lawyer assisting Queen’s Counsel D. N. Pritt (pictured in the header image) for the trial, which saw the editorial board acquitted.

Why was this victory particularly impactful?

Firstly, the trial happened when nationalist narratives deeply influenced different segments of society within Malaya. As a result, it called attention to those who contributed to the defence fund for the club: left-leaning individuals and organisations such as academics and scholars, and the Chinese students and workers.

Secondly, the win gave USC the opportunity to spread ideas of socialism in Singapore, even outside campus. In doing so, however, the club’s structure changed: those who held considerably centrist views departed the club, leaving only the left-wing socialists.

Finally, the club’s acquittal cast Lee Kuan Yew into the spotlight. Not only did it pave the way for his eventual political career, but it also marked the beginning of the tight relationship between the USC and the PAP that Lee Kuan Yew launched shortly after.

In 1961, Lee Kuan Yew’s government’s merger plan took place. Several members and alumni of USC, who were decidedly more left-wing, split from PAP and formed opposition party, Barisan Socialis.

Following the PAP’s rise to power, the USC was deemed pro-communist under Operation Coldstore. Hence, numerous USC alumni were arrested and sentenced to prison without trial.

The party’s relationship with USC changed. The club was told to register itself under the Societies Act (284). It maintained its prominent status as a defender of student rights and freedom of speech from government intervention.

Eventually, USC was deregistered in 1971 due to PAP’s growing social control.