Object size: 54.0 x 39.0 x 1.0 cm
This is a set of 25 issues of Zhen Xian Bao, a weekly newsletter published by the Barisan Sosialis in Chinese including its inaugural issue of 15 November 1961. Functioning as a vehicle of political propaganda, the publication addressed contentious topics such as the party’s opposition to merger with Malaysia, socialist developments regionally and globally, labour and industrial relations, and the effects of policy changes in Chinese education.The Barisan Sosialis (Socialist Front) was formed in 1961 after a major split within the People’s Action Party, when 13 assemblymen were expelled following ideological conflicts over the terms of merger with Malaysia and abstaining from a vote of confidence in the government. Positioning itself as a left-wing, anti-colonial opposition party, it garnered strong support from trade unions and Chinese-educated communities and became the PAP’s principal political rival in the early 1960s.