10 - Publishing and Politics

Summary

Eager to usher in a new day for Malayan politics, Raja became a zealous evangelist for the radical left-wing party. As part of his mission, he travelled to Kuala Lumpur to spread news of the party to his friends and contacts in the Malayan capital.

Yap Chin Kwee, then a journalist in the Kuala Lumpur-based newspaper The Straits Times, recalled Raja's efforts before the PAP was formed: “Raja was trying to impress on us the path to selfgovernment and that we could kick the British out. He talked about a new anti-colonial movement in Singapore fighting for independence, about how the winds of change were coming.”

Raja hit a sensitive nerve in Yap, who would become Tunku's political secretary from 1961 to 1970. Being close to the Malay political elite, Yap was suspicious of the PAP's intentions and their implications for the entrenched parties in Malaya. Yap concluded: “He was trying to get support for the coming of Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Keng Swee and to establish a beachhead for the PAP in the Federation.” He would monitor closely Raja's initiatives in Kuala Lumpur over the years. Yap observed disapprovingly: “Before and after PAP was formed, Raja did the groundwork for the PAP in the Federation.”

To Raja, however, there was nothing sinister about his message; he was being consistent. He genuinely believed in the union of both territories and in the constructive role that the PAP could play to make this happen, together with the established political parties in the Federation which sought independence for Malaya.

Yap thought Raja lacked a sensitive feel for Malayan politics. “First, he was an Indian,” said Yap, “and, second, he didn'tunderstand the Malays”. Yap's subsequent remarks revealed another, more visceral, reason for his antipathy. He said: “Raja wanted to talk down to us. You think we want to take it? The Malays did not like this sort of attitude.”

The attitude that Yap was referring to was Raja's intellectual and debating style which revelled in robust argument. His erudite allusions and polysyllabic flourishes might have earned him plaudits as a newspaper columnist, but, among some circles in KL, his too cleverby- half attitude smacked of condescension. To feed their political animus further, what Raja was preaching — socialism and equality — was considered hostile to their entrenched interests.