Singapore Congress

The Singapore Congress (SC) (Chinese: 新加坡国民大会党) was a defunct political party in Singapore that operated from 9 May 1960 to 29 January 1962.

In January 1959, Felice Leon-Soh was expelled from the Liberal Socialist Party (LSP), for having supporting Ong Eng Guan of the People's Action Party (PAP) as the city council mayor.^[1][2] To her support, the Mountbatten branch of LSP broke away from its parent party to form the Katong United Residents' Association (KURA).^[3] KURA then contested the Joo Chiat and Mountbatten wards in the 1959 general election, but with mediocre results.^[4]

In June 1959, KURA was reformed as a non-political association known as the Singapore United Asiatic Residents' Association (SUARA), so that its membership outreach could be open to Singapore citizens outside of Katong.^[5] A year later, the political arm of KURA was reformed as the Singapore Congress (SC).^[6] Leon-Soh was elected as its chairman in a conference attended by nearly 1,000 party delegates from 51 branches.^[7] In its mission statement, SC wanted to campaign for multi-lingual education, more trade schools, inter-religious missionary activities, hospitals and more dispensaries for the poor, more public incorporation, and share co-ownership by workers.^[7]

In the 1961 by-elections, SC tried to contest Hong Lim on 29 April, but was disqualified after Leon-Soh was found to have submitted her husband's name in place of hers, during nomination proceeedings. SC then contested Anson in a five-corner fight on 15 July without success; it was won by David Marshall of the Workers' Party, who received the backing of PAP's left-wing members.^[8]

In January 1962, SC merged back with LSP, which was by then headed by Wee Soo Bee, as it determined that it wanted to propagate its mission of "liberal socialism under one banner".^[9] Leon-Soh was subsequently elected as the secretary-general of the LSP in February.^[9]

SC contested as KURA in the 1959 general election.