be able to move freely in the other states, unlike other citizens; and The federal government would control internal security matters, even though Singapore had given up the rights above. Lim and the Barisan stated that such a merger proposal was giving away the rights of Singaporeans to the Federation, instead of trying to preserve them. They were not against merger, but wanted Singapore to enter the federation as equals to other states, such as Penang. The Barisan demanded that general elections be held for a clear mandate on merger. Instead of general elections, however, the PAP committed themselves to a national referendum for merger. However, rather than a simple yes-no referendum, the PAP developed a referendum with all three choices agreeing to merger but in different forms (see the referendum ballot slip below). The PAP endorsed Option A in the referendum, and announced that the Barisan's option was B. However, Option B was deliberately misrepresented: in a radio forum, Goh Keng Swee announced that the Barisan proposal would make "nearly half of the present citizens" lose their voting rights. The PAP also ruled the radio airwaves - Lee Kuan Yew gave 12 talks on radio on "the battle for merger", putting his case across and attacking the Barisan for being "communists". However, when Lim demanded for the Barisan to be given equal airtime, they were denied. Frustrated at how the Barisan's proposal had been misrepresented, Lim called for his supporters to cast blank or spoilt votes during the referendum. However, the PAP was quick in amending the referendum rules at the last minute: it ensured that blank votes would be treated as 'undecided' and the ultimate decision for where they would count would be made by the Legislative Assembly, which they controlled. On Referendum Day, 1 September 1962, 71.1% of voters chose Option A, while 25.6% cast blank votes. Lim and the Barisan had lost the battle for merger. Operation Coldstore and second detention (1963–1969) For months before the referendum, the British, Tunku Abdul Rahman and Lee Kuan Yew had sought a justifiable reason to make a mass round of arrests, including Lim and many of his Barisan Sosialis members and supporters. However, key British figures felt there was none, and believed that the left was behaving constitutionally, and commanded wide popular legitimacy. Yet, the Tunku viewed the Barisan as a communist problem that had to be solved before