T. T. Rajah

Thampore Thamby Rajah (28 December 1919 – 13 March 1996), better known as T. T. Rajah, was a Singaporean politician and lawyer who served as Secretary-General of the People's Action Party for a short period of time in 1957 before joining the Barisan Sosialis in 1961.[1]

T. T. Rajah
Rajah in 1973
Secretary-General of the People's Action Party
In office
13 August 1957 – 3 September 1957
Preceded byLee Kuan Yew
Succeeded byLee Kuan Yew
Personal details
Born
Thampore Thamby Rajah

28 December 1919
British Ceylon
Died13 March 1996(1996-03-13) (aged 76)
Singapore
NationalitySingaporean
Political partyBarisan Sosialis (from 1961)
Other political
affiliations		People's Action Party (until 1957)
ChildrenV. K. Rajah

Early life

Rajah was born in British Ceylon on 28 December 1919.[2] Prior to his arrival in Singapore, he lived in British Malaya for more than 20 years, gaining Singapore citizenship on 1 November 1957.[3]

Career

Politics

Rajah became a member of the People's Action Party's (PAP) 4th Central Executive Committee (CEC) following the party conference on 4 August 1957.[4]

Shocked at losing half the seats in the CEC, several rank-and-file members of the PAP led by Lee Kuan Yew refused to take office. Rajah's appeals for Lee to remain in his post failed. On 13 August 1957, Rajah became the secretary-general, saying "they [he and his allies] had no choice but to hold positions".[4][5] Alarmed by the leftist takeover, the Lim Yew Hock government arrested Rajah's leftist allies on 22 August 1957 but spared him.[6]

Rajah resigned as the secretary-general "on health grounds" on 3 September 1957, having been in his post for only 21 days. He left the party on 11 October 1957 citing differences with Lee and accusing the latter of running a "one-man show".[7][8]

In 1961, he joined the Barisan Sosialis founded by breakaway leftist members of the PAP, becoming its legal advisor.[9]

In 1974, Rajah was arrested under the Internal Security Act with the Government alleging that he was part of the Malayan National Liberation Front, a Malayan Communist Party organisation.[10][11] Rajah was released 18 months later on condition that he would not have any professional contact with political prisoners.[12] In response to a government statement that he had disassociated himself from 'communist activities', Rajah replied that he had "not recanted and there's nothing to recant".[9]

Law practice

In 1953, Rajah was called to the Singapore Bar.[3]

In 1973, Rajah was suspended from practice for two years after handling private summons for several political prisoners which resulted in disclipinary actions by the Law Society.[13]

In 1976, Rajah founded the legal firm, Tann Wee Tiong & T. T. Rajah, (now known as Rajah & Tann) with Tann Wee Tiong.[14][15]

Personal life

Rajah has a son, V. K. Rajah,[1] who became a Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court and then Attorney-General of Singapore.[16][17]

Rajah died from a heart attack at 5:30am on 13 March 1996 while warded at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital, leaving behind his wife and two sons.[18][19] His funeral was attended by former Barisan Sosialis leader Lee Siew Choh, while wreaths were sent by the Chinese ambassador and family of the late Malaysian Communist Party leader Eu Chooi Yip.[1]

References
  1. "Ex-Barisan Sosialis leader T. T. Rajah's funeral today", The Straits Times, 15 March 1996.
  2. "Malaysia slaps ban on lawyer T.T. Rajah". The Straits Times. 22 March 1968. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  3. "Ex-PAP leader: I may take this to court". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  4. Pang, Cheng Lian (1969). "The People's Action Party, 1954–1963". Journal of Southeast Asian History. 10 (1): 145. ISSN 0217-7811. JSTOR 20067735.
  5. Yap, Lim & Leong 2010, p. 99.
  6. Yap, Lim & Leong 2010, p. 111.
  7. "Rajah quits as leader of PAP". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  8. "Rajah quits 'one-man show' PAP". The Straits Times. 11 October 1957. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  9. "Ex-Barisan Sosialis leader T. T. Rajah dies". The Straits Times. 14 March 1996.
  10. "Cadre system to beat political phantoms". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  11. "APOLOGY". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  12. Report of the International Mission of Jurists to Singapore 5-9th July 1987 to investigate the arrest and detention of 22 persons in May and June 1987 (PDF) (Report). International Commission of Jurists. October 1987. p. 4.
  13. "LAWYER T T RAJAH, 52, WAS SUSPENDED FROM PRACTICE FOR TWO …". www.nas.gov.sg. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  14. "The GRR 100". Global Restructuring Review. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  15. "Global Restructuring Review – GRR 100 2019". globalrestructuringreview.com. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  16. "V K Rajah". asiatatler.com. Edipresse Media Asia Limited. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  17. "Attorney-General V K Rajah to step down next January". ChannelNewsAsia. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  18. "Ex-Barisan Sosialis leader T. T. Rajah dies". The Straits Times. 14 March 1996.
  19. "Former opposition advisor TT Rajah dies". The New Paper. 13 March 1996.

Works cited
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.