Operation Coldstore
Name of detainee Position Political party/organisation
Lim Chin Siong Secretary-General Barisan Sosialis
Sandrasegaran Woodhull Vice-Chairman Barisan Sosialis
Fong Swee Suan Secretary-General Executive Committee Member Singapore Association of Trade Unions Barisan Sosialis
James Puthucheary Legal Advisor Barisan Sosialis
Dominic Puthucheary Committee Member Committee Member Vice-president Singapore Association of Trade Unions Barisan Sosialis Singapore General Employees ' Union
Poh Soo Kai Assistant Secretary General Barisan Sosialis
Lim Hock Siew Committee Member Barisan Sosialis
A. Wahab Shah Chairman Party Rakyat
Tan Teck Wah President Vice-President Singapore General Employees ' Union Singapore Association of Trade Unions
Said Zahari Editor Utusan Melayu
Lim Shee Ping Committee Member Barisan Sosialis
Tan Yam Seng Committee Member Barisan Sosialis
Operation Coldstore
Operation Coldstore commenced at 0215 hours on 2 February 1963 . The police and Special Branch officers gathered in Johor before heading out to Singapore at 0315 hours to round up suspected communist sympathisers . [ 1 ] A total of 113 people were arrested . [ 9 ] Those detained included `` 31 in the political sphere ... 40 trade union leaders , 18 from the education sphere , 11 from cultural circles , 7 members of rural committees of hawkers , nine people only identified as members of the MCP and 14 others . `` [ 5 ] Among those arrested from the political sphere were 24 members from the Barisan Sosialis . [ 1 ] The arrests were defended by invoking the PSSO with claims that the arrestees had `` the long-term aim of the Malayan Communist Party to infiltrate and take over left-wing political parties , workers ' associations and trade unions in the colony in order to foment violent unrest. ” [ 1 ] A representative from the People 's Action Party , S. Rajaratnam , justified the operation by stating that `` action was taken not because they are Communists but because the danger of subversion and violence by communist in aid of these alien interventions . `` [ 5 ] The Internal Security Council report stated that those arrested were `` hard core organisers and their collaborators of the Communist conspiracy in Singapore believed that the armed struggle remains a weapon to be employed whenever the opportunity arises . `` [ 1 ] [ 10 ] Selected list of detainees : 113 people , including :
Operation Coldstore, sometimes spelled Operation Cold Store, was the code name for a covert security operation carried out in Singapore on 2 February 1963 which led to the arrest of 113 people, who were detained without trial under the Preservation of Public Service Security Ordinance (PSSO). In official accounts, the operation was a security operation aimed at crippling the Communist open front organisation, which threatened Singapore's internal security. The operation was authorised by the Internal Security Council which was composed of representatives from the British, Singapore and Malayan Federal governments.