Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: Who was the first prime minister of Singapore?
In 1956, members of the Legislative Assembly held constitutional talks with the Colonial Office in London. The talks broke down as Marshall did not agree to the British Government's proposal for the casting vote on a proposed Defence Council to be held by the British High Commissioner to Singapore, who would only exercise it in an emergency. Marshall resigned as Chief Minister in June 1956, and was replaced by Lim Yew Hock. The following year, Lim led another delegation to the UK for further talks on self-government. This time, agreement was reached on the composition of an Internal Security Council. Other constitutional arrangements were swiftly settled in 1958, and on 1 August the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the State of Singapore Act 1958, granting the colony full internal self-government. Under Singapore's new constitution which came into force on 3 June 1959, the Governor was replaced by the Yang di-Pertuan Negara (Head of State), who had power to appoint as Prime Minister the person most likely to command the authority of the Legislative Assembly, and other Ministers of the Cabinet on the Prime Minister's advice. The Constitution also created the post of the British High Commissioner, who was entitled to receive the agenda of each Cabinet meeting and to see all Cabinet papers. In the 1959 general elections, the People's Action Party (PAP) swept to power with 43 out of the 51 seats in the Assembly, and Lee Kuan Yew became the first Prime Minister of Singapore. Nine other Ministers were appointed to the Cabinet.
Stamford Raffles founded colonial Singapore in 1819 as a trading post of the British East India Company. After the company's collapse in 1858, the islands were ceded to the British Raj as a crown colony. During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan. It gained independence from the UK in 1963 by federating with other former British territories to form Malaysia, but separated two years later over ideological differences, becoming a sovereign nation in 1965. After early years of turbulence and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its workforce.
The People's Power Party (PPP) is a political party in Singapore. The party was first registered on 15 May 2015, and was founded on 16 July 2015. The current leader was Goh Meng Seng.
Trinidad and Tobago gained its independence from the United Kingdom on 31 August 1962. Elizabeth II remained head of state as Queen of Trinidad and Tobago. Eric Williams, a noted Caribbean historian, widely regarded as "The Father of The Nation", was the first Prime Minister; he served from 1956 to 1959, before independence as Chief Minister, from 1959 to 1962, before independence as Premier, from 1962 to 1976, after independence as Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, then from 1976 to his death in 1981 as Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Rudranath Capildeo was the first Leader of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago post-independence; he served from 1962 to 1967. Solomon Hochoy was the first Governor-General and he served from 1962 to 1972.
The Prime Minister of Australia is Scott Morrison, leader of the Cabinet and head of government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful political office in Australia. Despite being at the apex of executive government in the country, the office is not mentioned in the Constitution of Australia specifically and exists through an unwritten political convention. Barring exceptional circumstances, the prime minister is always the leader of the political party or coalition with majority support in the House of Representatives. The only case where a senator was appointed prime minister was that of John Gorton, who subsequently resigned his Senate position and was elected as a member of the House of Representatives (Senator George Pearce was acting prime minister for seven months in 1916 while Billy Hughes was overseas).
To date, 62 people have served this position. The current Prime Minister is Shinzō Abe, who re-took office on December 26, 2012. He is the first former Prime Minister to return to office since 1948, and the 5th longest serving Prime Minister to date.
As the Prime Minister Chao Boun Oum had submitted the resignation of his government on February, 13th, 1950, the 3rd Royal Government, chaired by Phoui Sananikone (ຜຸຍ ຊນະນິກອນ) was invested on 27th of the same month – just two months before the effective transfers of powers, on April, 13th, Buddhist year 2492's last day – with Kou Voravong as Minister of the Interior. Being himself behind the creation of the National police force in 1949 and consequently very attentive to its development, Kou Voravong imposed on its direction, colonel Jean Deuve, a man of experiment, who he could fully trust, for having fought side-by-side four years ago against the Japanese and the Lao Issara troops.
The Prime Minister of Malaysia () is the head of government and the highest political office in Malaysia. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong appoints Prime Minister as a Member of Parliament (MP) who, in his opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of a majority of MPs. The Prime Minister chairs the Cabinet of Malaysia, the de facto executive branch of government. On 18 October 2018, 7th Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, announced a two-term limit (10 years Max) to all Cabinet Profolio.
Singapore's foreign policy is aimed at maintaining security in Southeast Asia and surrounding territories. An underlying principle is political and economic stability in the region. It has diplomatic relations with more than 180 sovereign states. Singapore hosted the first ever 2018 North Korea–United States summit.
Desmond Lim Bak Chuan (; born 1968) is a Singaporean politician. He is the current leader of the political party Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) and current President of DL's Caring Community. During the Singaporean by-election, 2013, which he ultimately lost, Lim held the first online rally in Singapore.
The office of the President of the People's Democratic Republic traces its lineage back to Prince Souphanouvong, the first President of the People's Democratic Republic, a member of the deposed royal family, who became President when the former Kingdom of Laos was overthrow by the Pathet Lao in 1975, at the end of the Laotian Civil War.
In total, nine people served twenty-four terms as the Heads of States of the Provisional Government between September 1919 and August 1948, when the last Chairman of the State Council Syngman Rhee became the first President of South Korea.
The current Leader of the House is Grace Fu who has assumed this office on 1 October 2015. She is assisted by Deputy Leader Desmond Lee.In parliamentary systems of government on the Westminster model, the Leader of the Opposition is the MP who is the leader of the largest opposition party able and prepared to assume office if the Government resigns. This political party often forms a Shadow Cabinet, the members of which serve as opposition spokespersons on key areas of government. Singapore law does not provide for an official Leader of the Opposition, though the leader of the largest opposition party in Parliament is usually given the title of unofficial Leader of the Opposition. This is taken into consideration by the Speaker when seats in Parliament are allocated, and during a debate the MP so designated is often given the privilege of being one of the first non-Government MPs to speak.
Syngman Rhee (, ; Lunisolar calendar , 1875 – July 19, 1965) was a South Korean politician, the first and the last Head of State of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and President of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. His three-term presidency of South Korea (August 1948 to April 1960) was strongly affected by Cold War tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Barely two years after beginning his second spell as Prime Minister, Wilson announced his surprise resignation on 16 March 1976, and unofficially endorsed Callaghan as his successor. Callaghan was the favourite to win the leadership election; although he was the oldest candidate, he was also the most experienced and least divisive. Popularity with all parts of the Labour movement saw him through the ballot of Labour MPs to win the leadership vote. On 5 April 1976, at the age of 64 years and 9 days, Callaghan became Prime Minister—the oldest person to become Prime Minister at time of appointment since Winston Churchill.
A United Trades and Labor Council meeting with the purpose of creating an elections committee was convened on 12 December 1890, and held on 7 January 1891. The elections committee was formed, marking the inception of what is today known as the Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch). Originally known as the United Labor Party of South Australia, the party enjoyed immediate success, electing parliamentarians just four months later, and immediately held the balance of power with 10 of 54 seats resulting from the 1893 election, allowing radical liberal Charles Kingston to defeat the conservative John Downer government. Kingston served as Premier of South Australia for a then-record of six and a half years, usually implementing legislation with Labor support. Thomas Price formed the state's first Labor minority government and the world's first stable Labor Party government at the 1905 election with the support of several non-Labor MPs to form the Price-Peake administration, which was re-elected at the 1906 double dissolution election, with Labor falling just two seats short of a majority. So successful, John Verran led Labor to form the state's first of many majority governments at the 1910 election, just two weeks after the 1910 federal election where their federal counterparts formed Australia's first elected majority in either house in the Parliament of Australia, the world's first Labor Party majority government at a national level, and after the 1904 Chris Watson minority government the world's second Labor Party government at a national level. The Australian Labor Party at both a federal and state/colony level pre-dates, among others, both the British Labour Party and the New Zealand Labour Party in party formation, government, and policy implementation. In less than two decades the party in South Australia went from inception to majority government, and would continue to this day as one of the two major parties in the bicameral Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division) created in 1974, and its predecessors.
Singapore is the United Kingdom's largest trading partner in Southeast Asia, with two thirds of UK exports to this region flowing into Singapore. UK exports of goods only to Singapore in 2010 were valued at £3.29billion, a 15% increase from 2009 while imports of goods from Singapore in 2010 were valued at £3.99billion, an 18% increase from 2009. The top exports of UK goods to Singapore are power generating machinery, beverages and general industrial machinery while the top exported goods from Singapore were organic chemical, power generating machinery and office machines. As of 2009, Singapore was the UK’s 11th largest market for services exports. 
There are few import tariffs from Singapore who supports the World Trade Organization process fully. Singapore was the first ASEAN country to commence negotiations with the EU for a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
The area occupied by Kent Ridge was formerly known as Pasir Panjang Ridge, and was originally a lowland evergreen rainforest. The natural vegetation of the area mainly consists of groves of Tembusu, Acacias and Dillenias. When the first settlers arrived in Singapore in the early 19th century, they grew crops such as rubber, pepper, gambier and pineapple on the ridge. During World War II, it was used as a fortress by the British in the defence of Singapore. Many of the plantations were destroyed or abandoned during the Japanese Occupation (1942–1945), allowing the crops to grow wild.
The Prime Minister of Jamaica is Jamaica's head of government, currently Andrew Holness. Holness, as leader of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), was sworn in as Prime Minister on 3 March 2016, succeeding People's National Party (PNP) leader Portia Simpson-Miller. This was a result of the JLP's victory in Jamaica's 25 February 2016 general election.
Wilson went on to become Prime Minister in the 1964 election, holding the position from 1964 to 1970 and from 1974 to 1976. Despite being a former Bevanite, Wilson largely followed Gaitskellite economic policies, and the former Gaitskellite Callaghan followed Wilson as Prime Minister from 1976 to 1979 and Party Leader from 1976 to 1980.
In 1912, the Republic of China was established and Sun Yat-sen was inaugurated in Nanjing as the first Provisional President. But power in Beijing already had passed to Yuan Shikai, who had effective control of the Beiyang Army, the most powerful military force in China at the time. To prevent civil war and possible foreign intervention from undermining the infant republic, leaders agreed to Army's demand that China be united under a Beijing government. On March 10, in Beijing, Shikai was sworn in as the second Provisional President of the Republic of China.
Many Ceylonese were also involved in the independence movements in Malaya and Singapore. In Singapore, there are many current and past ministers who are of Ceylonese Tamil in origin and Tamil is a national language. Sinnathamby Rajaratnam was the former foreign minister and deputy prime minister of Singapore and regarded as one of the founding fathers of Singapore. His death in 2006 was marked with a state funeral by the government of Singapore. The Singapore flag was flown at half mast at all public buildings and former Prime Minister and friend Lee Kuan Yew cried when giving his eulogy.
Under the Constitution of Singapore, executive power is vested in the President. However, the Constitution also vests "general direction and control of the government" in the Cabinet. The President is almost always bound to act on the advice of the Cabinet or any minister acting under Cabinet authority. Thus, in practice, most of the actual work of governing is done by the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The office of Prime Minister dates back to 1959 and was appointed at first by the Governor of Singapore then the Yang di-Pertuan Negara (vice-regal head of state), when Singapore achieved self-governance as the State of Singapore within the British Empire. The title of Prime Minister remained unchanged after the merger with the Federation of Malaya, Sarawak and North Borneo, while Singapore was a state in the Federation of Malaysia from 1963 to 1965, and after independence in 1965.
The office of Deputy Prime Minister dates back to 1959 and was appointed at first by the Governor of Singapore then the Yang di-Pertuan Negara (vice-regal head of state), when Singapore achieved self-governance as the State of Singapore within the British Empire. The title of Deputy Prime Minister remained unchanged after the merger with the Federation of Malaya, Sarawak and North Borneo, while Singapore was a state in the Federation of Malaysia from 1963 to 1965, and after independence in 1965.
Lee Hsien Loong (; Tamil: லீ சியன் லூங்; born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician serving as the third and current Prime Minister of Singapore since 2004. He took over the leadership of the People's Action Party (PAP) when former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong stepped down from the position to become the new Senior Minister. Lee then led his party to victory in the 2006, 2011 and 2015 general elections. He began his current term on 15 January 2016 following the opening of Singapore's 13th Parliament. Lee is the eldest son of Singapore's first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew.