Background
At that time, Singapore was a self-governing state under British rule; but was preparing for a merger with the Federation of Malaya to form the Federation of Malaysia in September 1963. The pro-communists, led by Lim Chin Siong strongly opposed this merger and were challenging the government of Singapore headed by Lee Kuan Yew of the People's Action Party (PAP) in their endeavour to establish a socialist state.
Lim's faction broke away from the PAP in 1961 to form the Barisan Sosialis. The Singapore Trade Union Congress, the dominant trade union at the time, was also split into two factions; the left-wings formed the Singapore Association of Trade Unions (SATU), while the pro-PAP faction formed the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC).
Read more about this topic: Operation Coldstore
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