Leon Comber

Singapore Correspondent Leon Comber

Singapore Correspondent is a collection of eye-witness dispatches, sent from Singapore to London, of five years of Singapore's colourful political past. They cover a period of living turbulently and sometimes dangerously too. This was a time in the mid-1950s and early-1960s when Singapore was emerging from British colonial rule and moving forward to self-government and independence. Many of the early struggles of the People's Action Party (PAP) are described, as the focus is on the political struggle taking place in which the PAP played a major part. Many important events which have long been forgotten are brought to life by the writer, who lived through them in Singapore (and wished it well), though he was viewing Singapore through "outside eyes", and did not have any political affiliation. In this sense, they are fresh, and not written with any political slant, and they can be read by anyone who enjoys a good story, and sometimes a wry smile too. But at the same time they are part of Singapore's contemporary history and should not be forgotten among all the more politically slanted accounts that are now appearing. These dispatches prove that political history need not be dull, and indeed it can sometimes be entertaining and lively if Singaporeans want to learn something about the beginnings of the present-day Republic of Singapore.