S. K. Reddi (1909 or 1910 – 1982) was a lawyer and politician who served briefly as the chair of the Labour Party in Singapore and was involved in an early attempt to form the Sarawak United Peoples' Party in Sarawak.
Arriving in Malaya in the 1920s, Reddi received his education there before leaving for the United Kingdom, where he trained as a lawyer. He then travelled across Europe, where he became involved in politics. He came to Singapore in 1947 as the Registrar of the Representative for the Government of India, remaining in this post for half a decade before stepping down to practice law.
In Singapore, Reddi also became involved with the Labour Party, which was highly-factionalised and suffered immensely from infighting. After the party's General Council's vote to expel chairman Lim Yew Hock, the party entered a severe crisis and Reddi was appointed first acting chair and then Lim's official successor in late 1952. Though he attempted to stabilise the situation and re-organise the party, he eventually resigned from the post in mid-1953, accusing P. M. Williams of dominating party affairs behind-the-scenes and finding the party's position to be "hopeless", stating that it had "ceased to exist in everything but name."
Reddi moved to Sarawak in the mid-1950s and established his own legal practice in Kuching, going on to become a prominent figure in the legal scene there. He remained politically active and gathered with Ong Kee Hui and Stephen Yong Kuet Tze in 1956 to form a multi-racial party. This failed, though Ong and Yong would eventually succeed in establishing the Sarawak United Peoples' Party.
Early life and education Reddi was born around 1910. He was the son of civil servant A. S. Reddi and grew up with a brother, S. G. Reddi, who studied as an electrical engineer. He and his family moved to British Malaya when his father became a Tamil interpreter for the government of the Straits Settlements, eventually rising to the post of Assistant Controller of Labour in Malacca. He received his education at the St. Xavier's Institution in Penang, where he was president of the Literary Union. Reddi and his brother left for Europe in January 1930 to pursue further studies; he planned to study law.
In 1931, Reddi was admitted to The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple in London, through which he was called to the Bar. From 1932 to 1936, he "travelled extensively" across Germany and Switzerland, attending student conferences which served as his political awakening. Reddi attended speeches by British political figures Herbert Morrison, Joseph Kenworthy, 10th Baron Strabolgi and George Lansbury in this period, which contributed to this, though he also claimed to have never "[come] under the influence of any one man." He became involved with V. K. Krishna Menon's India League in England.
Singapore Legal practice Reddi came to Singapore in 1947 as the Registrar at the office of the Representative for the Government of India in Singapore, working there for about five years before resigning from the office at the end of January 1952 with the intention of practising as a lawyer. He was temporarily succeeded there by V. S. Pillay. He then went to work as a barrister at Braga & de Souza, the legal practice of A. J. Braga and Fred de Souza. He was admitted to the Singapore Bar by Chief Justice Charles Murray-Aynsley on 11 August. He continued to practise law into mid-1955.
Unions He then became the legal adviser and negotiating officer to the Naval Base Labour Union, representing 10,000 workers at the Singapore Naval Base in Sembawang. At the end of the year, the union threatened to strike if the Admiralty did not negotiate with them at a proper industrial court. This would have, reportedly, made it the first time a dispute between a "Crown employer" in the Far East and its employees was referred to an industrial court. The strike threat was in spite of strikes then being outlawed under the Emergency Regulations. The Admiralty agreed to have the case referred to an industrial court, and the union decided to call off the strike for a week after two "heated" debates involving the union's leaders and representatives, as well as Reddi.
As arrangements had yet to be made for the case to be heard in an industrial court, the workers went on strike on 29 December. Reddi met with Colonial Secretary W. L. Blythe the next day, hoping to settle the matter. However, no official statement was issued following the meeting, and Reddi did not comment on its outcome. As such, it was then reported that the government might intervene in the strike. Reddi revealed in early January that he had decided to bring the issue to the Governor of Singapore, John Nicoll, and that, after negotiations with Nicoll, the Executive Committee was considering accepting a compromise regarding the dispute. This strike ended on 7 January with Nicoll agreeing to send the dispute to an industrial court.
Later that month, he became the negotiator and spokesman for the Mental Hospital Uniformed Staff Union, which represented attendants at the Woodbridge Hospital who went on strike at the end of the month. He attempted to settle the dispute after Chew Seng, the secretary of the Singapore Trades Union Congress, failed to, though he was also unable to resolve it then. The strike was called off early in February, and he continued to participate in negotiations between the union and the government.
Labour Party
Reddi joined the Labour Party (SLP), formed in 1948 to advocate for workers' rights by unionists, in particular M. A. Majid, P. M. Williams and M. P. D. Nair. It was the second political party active in Singapore at the time, after the Progressive Party (PP). The party was highly factionalised and suffered from frequent infighting. In July 1952, it was announced that Reddi was considering standing as a candidate in the upcoming City Council election. The SLP then had five candidates on the council: E. V. Davies, V. K. Nair, Lee Choon Eng, S. M. A. H. Chisty and P. R. Williams. Of these, Davies and Chisty in the North and Rochore Wards, respectively, had been elected on terms set to expire in December and were looking to run for re-election. Reddi was to apply to run on the SLP ticket as a candidate in the West Ward. Francis Thomas, the founding chair, was also reportedly considering applying for the same seat. However, only one SLP member ended up applying for the West Ward, George Parambil, and the party ultimately did not field a candidate for the ward. Neither Thomas nor Reddi contested the election.
The list of candidates selected by the General Council to contest the City Council election was revealed at a general meeting on 9 August. The list was opposed by a "dissentient" group of the SLP, 2,000 members strong, who disagreed with the selection of SLP general secretary P. M. Williams over union leader S. Jaganathan to contest in the South Ward, of SLP treasurer A. R. Lazarous over Davies in the North Ward and of SLP secretary D. Stevens over Chisty in the Rochore Ward. This group felt that the General Council had been "prejudiced" in choosing to field Lazarous, Williams and Stevens and threatened a "mass resignation", calling for an emergency meeting on the matter. Davies contributed to this by alleging that the General Council was a 'clique' which dominated party affairs.
A nine-member committee to represent 2,275 members of the SLP who disputed the selection was established. It submitted a memorandum to SLP president Lim Yew Hock on 20 August, stating that it "[could not] recognise the present Council as a valid body, nor can we accept decisions when it has so openly flouted the constitution, which it was elected to safeguard and honour". The committee gave Lim two weeks to organise a general meeting to "straighten out matters". Lim agreed to hold a meeting on 31 October, while the General Council worked to expel Lim as chair, declaring the meeting Lim called "unauthorised and unconstitutional." The Council was successful in this, and this led to another major split from the party, in addition to reportedly "[convincing] the public of the utter hideousness" of the SLP.
Chairman With Lim's expulsion on 27 October, the General Council elected Reddi to act as the chair of the SLP in his place. He was then still considered a "recent arrival" in local politics and James Wickenden of The Straits Times reported that "no-one was more surprised than Reddi" at this appointment. The committee proclaimed their support for Lim instead, stating that the General Council had proved "beyond doubts that they do not enjoy the confidence of the members of the Party or the Singapore public", and as such they would "take no notice of any decisions taken by the council." On taking office, Reddi opined that the SLP lacked "intelligent and educated leadership". To remedy this, he proposed hosting informal readings of the works of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom at his house, though this was met with little interest beyond an endorsement from P. M. Williams. He noted that the party was "dominated by Indians" and hoped more Europeans and Eurasians would join to help give it a "sense of responsibility".
Reddi maintained the validity of Williams's nomination and refused to recognise Lim's authority over the party, and to adopt a "wait and see" approach with regard to Lim, though he claimed to be willing to negotiate with both Lim and the committee. Wickenden felt that it was unlikely that Reddi would be able to resolve the crisis without a general vote on the matter, though he felt that it was possible that Reddi could demonstrate the "value" of "working on party lines" and that Lim's reaction had been too extreme. He opined that appointing Reddi was a "serious step" in resolving the issue as he appeared to demonstrate the necessary "stability and common-sense", and noted that Reddi's background made him "suitable" for the position.
The council confirmed Reddi as acting chair at a meeting on 8 November. He then defended the council against allegations that it was "defunct", instead stating it was "much alive". He served Williams's official proposer as a candidate on nomination day. At the SLP's first rally of the season, held at Farrer Park on 10 November, he stated that the council would "put up a united front" to save the party from "political bankruptcy", and that the council "[would] not subdue itself to threads from any group of members." He then proclaimed that only the council could guide the party and that it would continue to advocate for self-governance. In response to comments by Lim, Reddi stated that Lim's decision to hold a general meeting over nominated candidates was irregular and claimed that Williams had "more confidence" in SLP members than Jaganathan, who was contesting in the South Ward against both Williams and the PP's S. M. Vasagar as an independent. Reddi was then accused of "seeking power" in accepting the post of acting chairman, which he denied.