Description
About the Author

The history of communism in Malaya (including Singapore) almost coincided with the rise and fall of communism worldwide, best epitomized in Europe by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Operating through the Malayan Communist Party, communism posed an existential threat to Malaya. While the communist threat in peninsular Malaya was manifested dramatically in armed struggle with guerrillas in the jungle, in Singapore it was primarily in the form of united front subversive activities, interspersed with episodes of violence and assassinations.

This new book examines the MCP's quest for political power in Singapore in the midst of a raging Cold War between communism and the free world, with particular focus on events in the 1950s and 1960s. From its close collaboration with the two leading communist great powers (USSR and China) to its united front strategy of infiltrating student, trade union and political organizations, the MCP's activities are related here in a clear and engaging manner.
Bilveer Singh, a Singapore citizen, is an associate professor at the Department of Political Science, National University of Singapore. He is concurrently an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Centre of Excellence for National Security, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University and the President, Political Science Association, Singapore. He received his MA and PhD in International Relations from the Australian National University.

He has been lecturing on issues relating to Singapore's politics and foreign policy for more than 35 years. He researches and publishes on Comparative Politics and International Relations and some of his works include: Quest for Political Power: Communist Subversion and Militancy in Singapore, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2015; Politics and Governance in Singapore: An Introduction, Second Edition, Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education Asia, 2012; Politics and Governance in Singapore: An Introduction, Singapore: McGraw-Hill Education, 2007.

History

Quest for Political Power