Legislative Council of the
Straits Settlements
|
---|
|
|
Type
| |
---|
|
Established
| 1 June 1867
; 156 years ago
(
1867-06-01
)
|
---|
Disbanded
| 15 February 1942
; 82 years ago
(
1942-02-15
)
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Legislative Council of Singapore
|
---|
The
Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements
was a
legislature
formed on 1 April 1867,
[1]
[2]
when the
Straits Settlements
was made a
Crown colony
.
[3]
This allowed laws to be made swiftly and efficiently, as it was directly responsible to the
Secretary of State for the Colonies
in
London
, instead of being placed under a legislative hierarchy and answering to the Calcutta government based in
India
.
Letters patent
granted a colonial
constitution
on 4 February, which allocated much power to the
governor
. The governor was assisted by an
executive council
and legislative council, the latter of which was entrusted with lawmaking in the colony, although the governor had a casting vote and the power of
assent
and
veto
on all legislations.
Organisation
[
edit
]
The Legislative Council was made of members in the Executive Council, the
Chief Justice
, and non-official members nominated by the Governor. These nominated members were intended to better represent the local people, including in its ranks
Asian
members. Consisting mostly of wealthy Asian business and professional leaders, they did not necessarily represent the collective will of the people, however. Beginning with just four members, it grew over the years, with
Singaporean
members increasingly dominating the council to the displeasure of politicians from
Malacca
and
Penang
.
Despite obvious control by British subjects of
European
descent
, there was little opposition towards the system from the local Asian population, mainly attributed to
apathy
. There were a few exceptions.
Tan Cheng Lock
, a member of the Executive Council who had previously opposed several decisions made by the Legislative Council (such as the Aliens Ordinance of 1933 which restricted immigration) as anti-Chinese, called for popular representation through
direct election
, and for the number of non-official members to be increased to a majority of the Legislative Council.
Initiatives like these were unsuccessful, as there was little support from a society widely apathetic to local politics, with the Chinese population paying more attention towards growing their commercial and professional interests and in events which were occurring in
China
, fuelled largely by the rise in
Chinese nationalist
sentiments.
Dissolution
[
edit
]
After the
World War II
, the Straits Settlements (Repeal) Act, 1946 dissolved the Straits Settlements, with Singapore becoming a Crown colony in its own right, while Penang and Malacca became part of the
Malayan Union
. With Singapore left on its own, the council became the legislature of its colonial government and was renamed the
Legislative Council of Singapore
.
References
[
edit
]