On 21 November 1954, fourteen leaders led by Lee Kuan Yew, inaugurated the People’s Action Party (PAP) at the Victoria Memorial Hall. It was the largest meeting held since the declaration of the Malayan Emergency in 1948 and was attended by 1,500 delegates. The PAP adopted a militant anti-colonial line that demanded immediate national independence through constitutional means. To attain this, it urged all anti-colonial forces to cooperate in the nationalist struggle.
