T. T. Rajah
{{Use Singapore English|date=July 2023}}
{{Short description|Singaporean politician and lawyer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = T. T. Rajah
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| honorific-suffix =
| image = T. T. Rajah in 1973.jpg
| image_size = 200
| image_upright =
| smallimage =
| alt =
| caption = Rajah in 1973
| order =
| office3 = 2nd Secretary-General of the People's Action Party
| term_start3 = 13 August 1957
| term_end3 = 3 September 1957
| predecessor3 = Lee Kuan Yew
| successor3 = Lee Kuan Yew
| birth_name = Thampore Thamby Rajah
| birth_date = 28 December 1919
| birth_place = British Ceylon
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1996|3|13|1919|12|28}}
| death_place = Singapore
| death_cause =
| citizenship =
| nationality = Singaporean
| party = Barisan Sosialis (from 1961)
| otherparty = People's Action Party (until 1957)
| alma_mater =
| children = V. K. 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.{{citation|title=Ex-Barisan Sosialis leader T. T. Rajah's funeral today|date=15 March 1996|newspaper=The Straits Times}}.
Early life
Rajah was born in British Ceylon on 28 December 1919.{{cite news |title=Malaysia slaps ban on lawyer T.T. Rajah |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19680322-1.2.3 |access-date=20 December 2021 |work=The Straits Times |date=22 March 1968}} Prior to his arrival in Singapore, he lived in British Malaya for more than 20 years, gaining Singapore citizenship on 1 November 1957.{{Cite web|title=Ex-PAP leader: I may take this to court|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19581210-1.2.5|access-date=2021-12-09|website=eresources.nlb.gov.sg|language=en-SG}}
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.{{Cite journal|last=Pang|first=Cheng Lian|date=1969|title=The People's Action Party, 1954–1963|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20067735|journal=Journal of Southeast Asian History|volume=10|issue=1|pages=145|jstor=20067735 |issn=0217-7811}}
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".{{sfn|Yap|Lim|Leong|2010|p=99}} Alarmed by the leftist takeover, the Lim Yew Hock government arrested Rajah's leftist allies on 22 August 1957 but spared him.{{sfn|Yap|Lim|Leong|2010|p=111}}
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".{{Cite web|title=Rajah quits as leader of PAP|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19570904-1.2.12|access-date=2021-12-09|website=eresources.nlb.gov.sg|language=en-SG}}{{cite news |title=Rajah quits 'one-man show' PAP |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19571011-1.2.9 |access-date=20 December 2021 |work=The Straits Times |date=11 October 1957}}
In 1961, he joined the Barisan Sosialis founded by breakaway leftist members of the PAP, becoming its legal advisor.{{Cite news|date=14 March 1996|title=Ex-Barisan Sosialis leader T. T. Rajah dies|work=The Straits Times}}
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.{{Cite web |title=Cadre system to beat political phantoms |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singmonitor19840508-1.2.5.10 |access-date=2021-12-09 |website=eresources.nlb.gov.sg |language=en-SG}}{{Cite web |title=APOLOGY |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singmonitor19840510-2.2.5.11 |access-date=2021-12-09 |website=eresources.nlb.gov.sg |language=en-SG}} Rajah was released 18 months later on condition that he would not have any professional contact with political prisoners.{{Cite report |url=https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/1987/06/Singapore-detention-fact-finding-report-1987-eng.pdf |title=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 |date= |publisher=International Commission of Jurists |publication-date=October 1987 |page=4}} 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".
=Law practice=
In 1953, Rajah was called to the Singapore Bar.
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.{{Cite web|title=LAWYER T T RAJAH, 52, WAS SUSPENDED FROM PRACTICE FOR TWO …|url=https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/b49de2ed-1162-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad|access-date=2021-12-09|website=www.nas.gov.sg}}
In 1976, Rajah founded the legal firm, Tann Wee Tiong & T. T. Rajah, (now known as Rajah & Tann) with Tann Wee Tiong.{{cite web|title=The GRR 100|url=https://globalrestructuringreview.com/editorial/1169116/rajah-tann|website=Global Restructuring Review|accessdate=28 September 2018}}{{Cite web|title=Global Restructuring Review – GRR 100 2019|url=https://globalrestructuringreview.com/survey/grr-100/2019/organization-profile/rajah-tann|access-date=26 November 2021|website=globalrestructuringreview.com|language=en}}
Personal life
Rajah has a son, V. K. Rajah, who became a Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court and then Attorney-General of Singapore.{{cite web|title=V K Rajah|url=http://sg.asiatatler.com/tatler-list/300list/v-k-rajah|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208105115/http://sg.asiatatler.com/tatler-list/300list/v-k-rajah|archive-date=8 December 2015|access-date=2 December 2015|website=asiatatler.com|publisher=Edipresse Media Asia Limited}}{{cite web|title=Attorney-General V K Rajah to step down next January|url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/attorney-general-v-k-rajah-to-step-down-next-january/3317870.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312061443/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/attorney-general-v-k-rajah-to-step-down-next-january/3317870.html|archive-date=12 March 2017|access-date=11 March 2017|publisher=ChannelNewsAsia}}
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.{{Cite news|date=14 March 1996|title=Ex-Barisan Sosialis leader T. T. Rajah dies|work=The Straits Times}}{{cite news |title=Former opposition advisor TT Rajah dies |work=The New Paper |date=13 March 1996}} 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.
References
{{Reflist}}
Works cited
- {{cite book |last1=Yap |first1=Sonny |last2=Lim |first2=Richard |last3=Leong |first3=Weng K. |author-link = | year = 2010 | title = Men in White: The Untold Story of Singapore's Ruling Political Party | publisher = Straits Times Press | isbn = 9789814266512 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Bb2SQQAACAAJ }}
Category:People's Action Party politicians
Category:20th-century Singaporean lawyers
Category:British Malaya lawyers
Category:Barisan Sosialis politicians
Category:Singaporean prisoners and detainees
Category:Singaporean people of Tamil descent