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JUMPING IN WITH BOTH FEET
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SIX
II. HATCHING THE PLOT
The plot had been hatched in a couple of rooms in Empress Place, where the Ministry of
Interior and Defence had been squatting. After the separation of Singapore from Malaysia
Dr. Goh Keng Swee, the Singapore Minister of Finance under Malaysia, had promptly
offered his services as the Minister of Defence to the Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew.
Dr. Goh had been a Volunteer NCO Stretcher Bearer during WWII and behind his back,
was frequently referred to as ‘The Corporal’ in his capacity of Minister, the reference being
to Napoleon’s sobriquet on account of his strategic vision. As Singapore’s inheritance of
military assets comprised two battalion’s worth of Volunteer Infantry, a Volunteer Artillery
company and a motley collection of Armoured Car troopers, Volunteer Signallers, medics,
transport elements and camp followers, plus two full-time regular Infantry battalions depleted
by the exodus of Malaysian personnel (who had been absorbed when they came under the
Federal Government), it was decided to incorporate the Police Force and the Vigilante Corps
under the Ministry. Therefore, it was named the Ministry of Interior and Defence (which
lives on to this day as the prefix “MID” of MINDEF registered vehicles). Besides, the most
urgent security threats Singapore faced in those days were politically motivated riots, the
primary purview of the Police Riot Squad. There was also some vague notion of a Police
Field Force like that of Malaysia.
Captain Albert Tan and the promise of a happy, fulfilling and rewarding career.