Progressive Party (Singapore)
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Progressive Party
Parti Progresif |
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|---|---|
| Chinese name | 进步党 |
| President | John Laycock(1947-1956) |
| Chairperson | Nazir Ahmad Mallal(1947-1956) |
| Secretary-General | Tan Chye Cheng(1947-1956) |
| Founder | Tan Chye Cheng |
| Founded | 25 August 1947 |
| Dissolved | 10 May 1956 |
| Merged into | Liberal Socialist Party |
| Succeeded by | Liberal Socialist Party |
| Ideology | Conservatism |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Colours | Purple |
The Singapore Progressive Party (abbrev: PP; simplified Chinese: 进步党; traditional Chinese: 進步黨; pinyin: Jìnbù Dǎng; Wade–Giles: Chin4 pu4 tang3; Malay: Parti Progresif), or just, the Progressive Party is a now defunct political party that was formed on 25 August, 1947. It won the Legislative Assembly general elections in 1948 by winning half of the contested seats in the Legislative Assembly, 3 out of 6. At that time, the self-government power of the Legislative Assembly was still rather limited.
The party was founded by three lawyers, namely Tan Chye Cheng, John Laycock and Nazir Ahmad Mallal. All three were educated at the University of London and were three of the six first ever elected legislative councillors in Singapore. The party was Singapore's first political party.
The Progressive Party was heavily backed by and made up of English-speaking upper class professionals. Its campaign ideology was to advocate progressive and gradual reforms, rather than sudden, quick, radical ones, which fell in line with British policy at the time, to slowly let Singapore gain full self-government. This approach was criticised vehemently by David Saul Marshall, leader of the Labour Front who instead wanted rapid reform. The locals (especially the Chinese), and the communists also blasted the Progressive Party, claiming that they were Hanjian (a Mandarin term for Chinese 'traitors')
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