RELIVE 1961 WITH THE BATTLE FOR MERGER BOOK REPRINT

Singapore owes what it is today in part to the events of 1961. It was a watershed year: Singapore was heading towards a merger with the-then Federation of Malaya.

But before the merger could become reality, then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had many battles to fight. Most pressing of them all was the communist threat.

One of the tools he used in the fight was radio. Three times a week, Mr Lee would take to the air waves to deliver his radio talks. From 13 Sep 1961 to 9 Oct 1961, he delivered a total of 36 talks in English, Mandarin and Malay.

These talks were published in the 1962 book titled The Battle for Merger.

Speaking at the launch of the book re-print on 9 Oct, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said: "In 2015, we celebrate Singapore's 50th anniversary. This is a significant milestone, especially when we consider our precarious and tumultuous beginnings.

"Our hard-fought attempt to gain independence by merging with (then) Malaya was in fact a battle for the future of Singapore."

"That is why, despite the vast changes that have taken place in the world and in Singapore over the 50 years, this crucial turning point in our history continues to be relevant to us today," added Mr Teo, who is the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs.

The reprint is faithful to the original and no parts of the transcripts, appendices or images have been changed. What is new is a message from Mr Lee and an essay by Associate Professor Albert Lau from the National University of Singapore's Department of History. The book also contains a DVD of the actual broadcasts made by Mr Lee.

In his prologue to the re-print, Mr Lee wrote: "In exposing the communists, I chose to reveal facts that were not previously known and show their behind-the-scenes machinations."

The re-print is accompanied by an exhibition where visitors can hear excerpts of the radio talks and see original documents from that period. Postcards featuring key incidents of communist violence in Singapore are also available at the exhibition; they come with QR codes which visitors can scan for more information.

The exhibition, organised by the Ministry of Communications and Information and the Ministry of Home Affairs, is open to the public from 9 Oct to 30 Nov at the National Library. The exhibition will then travel to the other public libraries till March 2015.

Sixty-five-year-old Lim Yong Chuan remembers that period well. "I was living in the Katong area at the time, and I would see workers demonstrating. People from the communist party would also come to the village to try to influence us.

"My father and my grandparent decided to come to Singapore from China because they did not feel safe under communist rule. So my family was never for the communists."

He added: "Had the communists won, we would not be sitting here today. Even then, we could see that the communists could not have delivered what we have in Singapore now."

The re-print of The Battle for Merger will be sold in major bookstores at $32.50 and will also be available at public libraries.