for this day because holding the Operation "before the Chinese New Year celebrations ... would dampen any adverse reaction." Operation Coldstore Operation Coldstore commenced at 0215 hours on 2 February 1963. The police and Special Branch officers gathered in Johor before heading out to Singapore at 0315 hours to round up suspected communist sympathisers. A total of 113 people were arrested. Those detained included "31 in the political sphere ... 40 trade union leaders, 18 from the education sphere, 11 from cultural circles, 7 members of rural committees of hawkers, nine people only identified as members of the MCP and 14 others." Among those arrested from the political sphere were 24 members from the Barisan Sosialis. The arrests were defended by invoking the PSSO with claims that the arrestees had "the long-term aim of the Malayan Communist Party to infiltrate and take over left-wing political parties, workers' associations and trade unions in the colony in order to foment violent unrest.” A representative from the People's Action Party, S. Rajaratnam, justified the operation by stating that "action was taken not because they are Communists but because the danger of subversion and violence by communist in aid of these alien interventions." The Internal Security Council report stated that those arrested were "hard core organisers and their collaborators of the Communist conspiracy in Singapore believed that the armed struggle remains a weapon to be employed whenever the opportunity arises." Selected list of detainees: 113 people, including: Aftermath Official representations Official accounts represent Operation Coldstore as a tough but necessary action to safeguard the internal security of Singapore as well as those of Singapore's neighbouring countries. At a press conference on 4 February 1963, Lee Kuan Yew claimed that the "open front communist organisations were ready to mount violent agitation to coincide with events outside Singapore" which could also "endangered the security of Malaysia." He also stated that "if left alone without outside factors, Singapore would never have contemplated such sweeping actions." However, Lee's comments were not well received by the British and the Malayan governments as it shifted the responsibility for arrests on them while denying Lee's active involvement in the events leading up to the operation. Protest movements The execution of Operation Coldstore was followed by a series of protests and demonstrations. On 22 April 1963, four Barisan Sosialis leaders, along with Lee Siew Choh, demonstrated against Operation Coldstore at the Prime