Singapore achieved independence through its merger with and subsequent separation from Malaysia between 1963-1965. Singapore merged with Malaya and other British territories in 1963 to form Malaysia due to economic and security concerns. However, political and economic differences between the Singapore and Malaysian governments led to tensions and two racially-charged riots in Singapore. This prompted Singapore's separation from Malaysia in 1965, allowing it to become a fully independent nation.

1. How did Singapore achieve independence ?

2. Federation of Malaya A federation is a group of states united with one central government. However, each state has its own state government to deal with local matters. The Federation of Malaya included the 11 states in the Malay Peninsula. Malaya gained its independence from the British on 31 August 1957.

3. Reasons for Merger Singapore’s reasons For more trade and jobs For Independence Britain’s reasons Colonial policy Lack of confidence in an independent Singapore Malaya’s reasons For security

4. Singapore: For trade and jobs The PAP felt that Singapore would find it difficult to survive as an independent state. This was due to her lack of natural resources and problems like declining entrepot trade and growing unemployment. To worsen matters, the Malayan government had introduced trade tariffs on goods between the two countries.

5. Singapore: For trade and jobs The PAP believed that the best solution was to stimulate the economy by starting new industries and generating more trade. With the merger, Singapore hoped for a Common Market to be set up to support Singapore’s new industries. Goods could be bought and sold freely within the Common Market. This could then promote rapid economic growth through the increase in trade. and expansion of industries. This would then solve the problem of unemployment through the creation of jobs.

6. Singapore: For independence The government saw that Singapore’s best bet for freedom would be through merger. The British were reluctant to grant independence partly because they feared that the communists would take over Singapore after the granting of independence. If Singapore was to merge with a strong anti-communist Malaya, then Britain would allow Singapore to gain independence.

7. Britain: Colonial policy A traditional British policy towards its colonies and protectorates is known as the policy of closer association. This involves amalgamating scattered units within a geographical range into a unitary bloc so as to improve the administrative efficiency, economic development and security.

8. Britain: Colonial policy The case of Malaya before it was given self-governance in 1948, and eventually independence in 1957, it was originally made up of 4 Federated Malaya States (Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak and Selangor) and 3 Straits Settlements (Malacca, Penang, Singapore). However, to be given self-government and independence by the British, the 9 Malay States, with Malacca and Penang, had to become one single unit known as the Federation of Malaya.

9. Britain: Colonial policy Singapore was left out of the earlier Federation and remained a British colony for a variety of reasons – but the main reason normally cited was because of the Chinese majority in the island. However, the British had long discussed the concept of a “greater Malaysia” as one solution to their long-term aim of bringing their colonies in the region together in a federation before they were given independence.

10. Britain: Lack of confidence in an independent Singapore The British were initially reluctant to give Singapore independence because they feared that Singapore would fall to the communists. Hence, the PAP government had hoped that merger with a strong anti-communist Malaya would persuade the British into giving Singapore its independence.

11. Malaya: For security Before 1961, Malaya was not interested in the idea as the large numbers of Chinese in Singapore would upset the racial balance in the federation. However, by early 1961, Malayan Prime Minster Tunku Abdul Rahman changed his mind when he observed the political developments in Singapore.

12. Malaya: For security The split in the PAP between the moderates and the radicals caused Tunku to be fearful of a communist takeover. He was afraid that the communists would establish a government in Singapore and use Singapore as a base to spread Communism to Malaya, eventually causing his Malayan government to fall. On 27 May 1961, the Tunku proposed merger between Malaya and Singapore, as well as the creation of a new federation including other British colonies like Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak. He felt that the inclusion of these colonies would overcome the fear of possible Chinese dominance in the new federation.

13. Reactions of SEA countries towards proposal of merger

14. Singapore While the pro-communists were against merger, the non-Communists in the PAP welcomed the Tunku’s proposal. Lee Kuan Yew made it clear that without merger, Singapore’s economic position would worsen. On 1 Sep 1962, a referendum was conducted to choose which type of merger the people of Singapore wanted.

15. Singapore On Referendum Day, 71% of the population voted for Option A.

16. Brunei The Sultan of Brunei did not support the merger and chose to stay out of it..

17. Sabah and Sarawak The Cobbald Commission was appointed to find out if the people in Sabah and Sarawak were in favour of joining Malaysia. Although there was some resistance, the Commission published its report in August 1962 stating that only one third of the people were not in favour of the merger.

18. Indonesia President Sukarno of Indonesia felt that Sabah and Sarawak should be part of Indonesia. In Jan 1963, Indonesia announced it was launching a policy of Konfrontasi (Confrontation) against the formation of Malaysia. Until Sep 1963, the Confrontation mainly took the form of harsh words. Later, armed raids by Indonesian agents were carried out in Sabah and Sarawak. These agents attempted to disrupt life in Singapore by setting off bombs in public.

19. The Philippines The Philippines objected to the formation of Malaysia. It claimed that Sabah belonged to them.

20. Formation of Malaysia

21. Disagreements over the terms Malaysia wanted: Singapore wanted: Details of the Common Market to be worked out after the signing of the Malaysia Agreement Inclusion of Common Market terms in the Malaysia Agreement A $50 million grant from Singapore for the development of Sabah and Sarawak To provide a loan of $150 million for the development of the two territories instead of giving a grant To collect revenue in Singapore and then give Singapore what is needed to run the state To collect its own revenue and then send an agreed sum of money each year to Kuala Lumpur as taxes

22. Formation of Malaysia Since both sides were unable to work out the terms, a round of talks was arranged in London for the two sides to reach an agreement. The Singapore delegation to the London talks was led by Lee Kuan Yew. The Malayan delegation was led by Deputy Prime Minster Tun Razak. The Tunku had instructed his DPM to break off talks if a solution was not found – there was a strong possibility that Singapore would be left out of Malaysia if the talks failed.

23. The final agreement Agreed terms The Common Market would be established in stages Singapore would provide $150 million loan for the development of Sarawak and Sabah Singapore would collect its own revenue and pay Kuala Lumpur an agreed sum of money as taxes .

24. Formation of Malaysia According to the Agreement, Malaysia would be formed on 31 August 1963. However, because Indonesia and the Philippines strongly opposed the formation of Malaysia, a United Nations mission was sent to Sabah and Sarawak to find out whether the people were in favour of joining Malaysia. On 14 Sep, the UN mission reported that the majority of the two territories were in favour of joining Malaysia. Hence, on 16 September 1963, the new nation of Malaysia came into existence.

25. General terms of agreement Singapore could hold elections to elect its own state government. Singapore would have control over education and labour in Singapore. Singapore would leave control of the armed forces, police and dealings with foreign governments to the Central Government in Kuala Lumpur .

26. Reasons for separation and Challenges to Singapore’s peace and prosperity

27. Reasons for Separation Political Differences in political views Impact of the 1963 State election Impact of the 1964 Federal election Racial politics (anti-PAP campaign) Malaysian Malaysia campaign Economic Common Market The Bank of China

28. Political: Differences in political views Malaysia Singapore Political parties were formed along racial lines. (E.g, The Alliance Party) The main aim of each party was to look after the interests of its own community Political parties were multi-racial in nature. They did not aim to promote the interests of one community over another. Special rights were given to the Malays to help them improve their standard of living. No special rights were given to Malays. The Singapore government believed that every citizen, regardless of race, should have the same opportunity to succeed. Central government in KL expected Singapore to follow its lead. Singapore hoped that Malaysian Government would move towards a mult-racial approach.

29. Political: Impact of the 1963 State Election The Alliance Party in KL supported the Singapore Alliance’s bid to win more seats in Singapore Legislative Assembly. Eventually, the Singapore Alliance did not win any seats whereas the PAP won 37 out of 51 seats contested. UMNO was not pleased and vowed to reorganize the Singapore alliance with the aim of winning the next election in Singapore. This led to a strained relationship between Alliance and PAP.

30. Political: Impact of the 1964 Federal Election PAP took part in the Federal election to establish itself as a Malaysian political party. This further strained its relationship with the Central Government. At the election rallies, the PAP stated that its aim was to build a Malaysia that was not along racial lines and where everyone should be given equal opportunities. The PAP also stated that the best way to close the gap between the rich and the poor was to provide everybody with the necessary skills and opportunities to succeed. However, PAP won only one seat against the Alliance’s 89 seats in Parliament.

31. Political: The Anti-PAP Campaign After the Alliance’s victory in the Federal election, UMNO felt that it was time to win back the Malay vote in Singapore. It criticized the PAP for not looking after the interests of the Malays in Singapore. Malay newspaper Utusan Melayu also joined in and made an issue of the PAP resettlement project in which the Malays were involved. PAP stressed that it would try its best to help the Malays in education, employment and housing. The racial tension led to 2 racial riots in Singapore.

32. Political: Malaysian Malaysia Campaign The Alliance Party in Singapore challenged the PAP by declaring that it was preparing for the 1967 Singapore State election with the aim of forming a new government in Singapore. PAP then brought together four other opposition parties to form the Malaysian Solidarity Convention (MSC). The MSC aimed to create a Malaysia were everyone was treated equally regardless of race, language or religion. The UMNO leaders were furious at the campaign and called for the arrest of Lee Kuan Yew.

33. Economic: Common Market The Central Government treated Singapore like an economic rival and was not keen to set up the Common Market. It also raised Singapore’s revenue contribution from 40% to 60%. Singapore was unhappy with such an unfair proposal since it came at a time when Singapore was collecting less revenue as a result of the Indonesian trade embargo.

34. Economic: The Bank of China The Tunku wanted the Bank of China to close as he saw it as a channel through which money for communist revolutionary activities in the area was delivered. PAP leaders did not want to close it down as Chinese businessmen would be significantly affected.

35. Challenges to Singapore’s peace and prosperity Internal threats July riots September riots External threats Konfrontasi

36. Internal threats 2 racial riots broke out in Singapore in 1964. Besides the loss of lives, the riots caused a rift in racial harmony and threatened the security of the country. However, there were instances of goodwill among many Chinese and Malays who protected each other during the riots.

37. Internal: July Riots 25,000 Malays gathered at the Padang to celebrate Prophet Muhammed’s birthday Race riots spaked off by a straggling group that attacked a policeman who asked them to rejoin the procession Island-wide curfew was imposed from 9.30pm to 6am. 23 killed and 454 injured. After the riots, goodwill committees were set up to help restore harmony between the various races by addressing the fears and concerns of the residents.

38. Internal: September Riots A Malay trishaw rider was found dead in Geylang Serai and his attackers were allegedly Chinese. 13 killed and 106 injured

39. External threats: Konfrontasi Indonesia imposed a trade embargo on Malaysia. This caused a drop in Singapore’s trade and led to some unemployment. By March 1965, 29 bombs had been set off in Singapore by Indonesian terrorists. The most serious incident occurred at MacDonald House when 3 were killed and 33 injured. The bombings damaged property and disrupted life in Singapore. To help the police and army defend Singapore from such attacks, a voluntary Vigilante Corps was set up in April 1964. These volunteers patrolled neighbourhoods.

40. INDEPENDENCE! The Tunku was afraid of racial clashes occurring should the differences between the Alliance and the PAP remain unresolved. He realized that the disagreements between the two parties could never be settled. This was why he felt it was best for Singapore to leave Malaysia. On 7 August 1965, the leaders of Malaysia and Singapore signed the separation agreement. On 9 August 1965, Singapore broke away from Malaysia and became a fully independent country.