MERGER

AND SEPARATION
UNIT 5, LESSON 4

Why did Merger end up in Separa?on?

 Singapore towards self rule
and independence

What does being an independent

country mean?

How do we know when a country is
independent?

Is there a difference between being a
country and a na?on?
 To merge or not to merge?
•  Singapore was governed
as a separate Crown
Colony (separate from
Malaya) since 1946.
•  The first request for
Singapore to merge with
Malaya was by David
Marshall in 1955. This
was rejected by the
Malayan Government
•  The PAP had proposed
Merger in the 1959
elec?on.
 To merge or not to merge?
•  Merger was seen by the
PAP as one of the most
prac?cal ways to free
Singapore from Bri?sh rule
as with Merger, the union
of Singapore with Malaya
could be viewed as a
stronger, more viable unit
for independence
•  Ini?ally, Tunku Abdul
Rahman, the Prime Minister
of Malaya, was not keen on
Merger
•  Recall the different
arguments in favour of and
against Merger
 The Forma?on of Malaysia
Tunku Abdul Rahman
changed his mind
•  The Tunku first proposed
Merger with Singapore on
27 May 1961, a\er the
forma?on of Malaysia
 Reasons for merger
1.  To check communism in
Singapore
•  Worried that the communists
would use Singapore to spread
communism into Malaya as there
were communist- ins?gated
strikes in Singapore
e.g. Hock Lee Bus Riots
•  Feared that the moderates within
PAP were losing their hold over
the party and the country
e.g. PAP had lost the by-elec?on
in the Hong Lim cons?tuency in
April 1961 to Ong Eng Guan and
the Anson by-elec?on to
D.Marshall of the Workers’ Party
in 1961. Ong Eng Guan was expelled from PAP
before the by-elec?on
 Reasons for merger
2. The issue of racial composi>on was 3. Economic advantages
resolved •  Merger would make Malaysia a
wealthy country as Singapore was a
•  With the inclusion of Brunei, Sabah
prosperous trading centre and
and Sarawak which had a Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei had
predominantly Malay popula?on. natural resources
•  Singapore’s big Chinese popula?on •  Would enable the pooling of
would not ?lt the balance of the resources and co-opera?on of the
different territories for
ethnic ra?o in the new Malaysia development
 The response of the Singapore
Government
•  Supported the idea of Merger

•  Poli?cal
– independence quickened
– eradica?on of communists

•  Economic:
– could obtain raw materials for industries and
a bigger market for manufactured goods
– could form a Common Market with goods
being bought and sold freely without taxes
What is the message of this cartoon?
 The response of the Singapore
Government

•  So while most of the PAP

leaders welcomed the
proposal for Merger, the
pro-communist members
of the PAP were wary and
some were against the
idea of merger.
Why?
•  Fear that with merger, the
an?-communist central/
federal government would
probably arrest them
Dr Goh Keng Swee (then Finance
Minister of Singapore) on the le\
A cartoon published in a Chinese newspaper in Singapore
 SPLIT IN PAP
•  The pro-communists led by Lim
Chin Siong, a prominent Trade
Union leader, abempted to
capture the leadership of the
PAP so that they could reject
Merger
•  Resulted in a power struggle
within the PAP
•  The communists won the
support of some members of
PAP in the Legisla?ve Assembly
•  But this did not help them to
overthrow the leadership of
LKY

 SPLIT IN PAP
•  The communists failed to
gain control of the PAP and
the 13 Assemblymen were
expelled from the PAP
•  These ex-PAP members
formed a party called the
Barisan Sosialis (Socialist
Front) in Aug 1961
•  The Chairman was Lee Siew
Choh and Secretary-Gen was
Lim Chin Siong
•  The party campaigned
against Merger
Barisan Socialis Rallies
 Video on the referendum
Watch the following video on the referendum-Diary
of a Na?on Episode 22 Referendum

hbps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQvaiKOiDjg
 Lee Kuan Yew’s campaign for Merger
•  Lee Kuan Yew conducted a
series of 12 radio
broadcasts to appeal to
the people of Singapore
to vote for Merger
•  He explained the benefits
of merger in his
broadcasts to the people
of Singapore
 Lee Kuan Yew’s campaign for Merger
•  Merger Ac?vity 2
•  Bable for Merger :
Channelnewsasia
- Talks 1
hbps://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=bGMKiv8-
bzM&t=27s
 REFERENDUM
•  It was decided to hold a referendum to find out the
type of merger that people wanted.
•  The people of Singapore were given 3 op?ons:
Op>on A Op>on B Op>on C
Merger with reserve Merger as a State within the
Merger to be on terms no
powers, notably Federa?on.
less favourable than those
autonomy over labour Applica?on of present
given to Sabah, Sarawak
and educa?on. Federa?on labour and
and Brunei
Automa?c conversion of educa?on policies.
Singapore ci?zenship to Only persons born in Singapore
Malaysian ci?zenship. and some ci?zens by descent
15 seats in Central/ will automa?cally become
Federal Parliament. Malaysia ci?zens.
Reten?on of mul?- Parliamentary representa?on
lingualism. in propor?on to number of
ci?zens eligible under stricter
Federa?on ci?zenship laws.
Only English and Malay to be
used in State Legislature.
Other Reactions to Merger
proposal

 Other Reactions to proposal
Sabah and Sarawak
•  Ini?ally did not support Merger but agreed to it later
•  Would gain support and protec?on and obtain help to
improve internal state affairs

Brunei
•  problem of contribu?on of oil revenue to Kuala
Lumpur
•  posi?on of Sultan of Brunei vis-a-viz the other sultans
•  rejected Tunku Abdul Rahman’s proposal of Merger
 Other Reactions to proposal
Britain
•  Believed that Malaysia
would provide peace and
stability to the territories
merged
•  Bri?sh investments in
these territories would
be protected
•  Communism would be
kept in check in the
merged territories
•  Independence could be
granted to Singapore,
Sabah and Sarawak
 Other Reac?ons to proposal
The Philippines and Indonesia opposed the Merger
for different reasons.
The Philippines Indonesia
•  feared that a strong
•  claimed that Sabah
Malaysia would
was part of historical
threaten Indonesia
Sulu Sultanate
from Sumatra
•  So it should belong to •  Indonesia’s dominant
the Philippines and regional posi?on was
not be part of at stake
Malaysia •  perceived Malaysia as
a Bri?sh proxy
 Other Reactions to proposal
•  The Cobbold Commission
was set up to survey the
wishes of the people with
regard to the Merger
•  A United Na>ons Survey was
carried out and the finding
was that the majority of the
people in the territories to be
merged was in favour of
Merger
•  The Philippines accepted the
findings of the United
Na?ons
•  The government of
Indonesia, however, did not
accept the UN findings Lord Cobbold ; Chairman of the
Cobbold Commission
 Other reac?ons to the Proposal
•  The Indonesian government
became openly an?-Bri?sh
and an?-Malaysia
•  Period of “Konfrontasi” or
confronta?on
•  The Indonesian government
broke off diploma?c
rela?ons with Malaysia
•  Indonesia sent a small group
of soldiers (commandos)
who landed on Singapore
shores to secretly plant
bombs and commit acts of
sabotage in Singapore
Macdonald House Bombing
March 1965
 1963 Federa>on of Malaysia

Federal government •  2 houses in Parliament

(Kuala Lumpur) i) The Senate
ii) The House of Representa?ves
with representa?ves
from Malaya, Sarawak, Sabah
and Singapore



State government •  7 Malay states led by Sultans
•  Singapore led by Prime Minister
•  Penang, Malacca, Sabah and
Sarawak led by their own Chief
Ministers
 Group Discussion: Who benefibed
from the merger?
•  Which terms of the agreement were
proposed by which government?
•  Jus?fy your opinion.
•  Why was there a need to nego?ate the
terms and compromise?

 The Agreement
•  The Borneo Loan
Malaya wanted Singapore to
give M$50 million to help
develop Sabah and Sarawak
•  Singapore refused but
agreed to lend $150 m to
Sabah and Sarawak to be
repaid within 15 years
•  No interest would be
charged for the first $100m
•  50% of labour used in
development of Sabah and
•  Sarawak would come from
Singapore
 The Agreement
Cons>tu>onal MaSers

•  Singapore was en?tled to 24 seats in the Federal

Parliament (House of Representa?ves)
•  Singapore was given 15 seats instead as
Singapore wanted to have control over educa?on
and labour policies
•  Singapore to elect its own state government
•  Singapore would leave control of the armed
forces and police to Federal governemnt
•  Dealings with foreign governments was ceded to
the Federal Government in Kuala Lumpur
 The Agreement
COMMON MARKET

Goods to be sold and bought freely without taxes

FOR SINGAPORE FOR MALAYSIA

• Trade would increase •  reluctant
• Growth of industries •  fear that it could not
• More jobs compete with Singapore
industries
Common Market to be set up slowly
Singapore to contribute 40% of its revenue to KL
Pioneer Cer?ficates to be issued to businesses—no need to
pay taxes for 5-10 years
 The Agreement
Ci>zenship and Malay rights

1.  Singapore ci?zens would

remain Singapore ci?zens
but also become Malaysian
na?onals
2. No vo?ng rights in 1.The Malays in Singapore
Malaysian elec?ons and vice would not have special rights
versa 2. Malays given free
3.Par?es on both sides could educa?on up
not take part in elec?ons in to university
Singapore and the other states
in Malaysia
 MALAYA TO MALAYSIA
•  Fes?vi?es were held throughout the new union/
country to celebrate Malaysia Day

•  It was a special day for Singapore because Singapore
was no longer a colony of Britain

•  However, Singapore’s rela?onship with Malaysia was
to run into trouble
 Exit Card

• If you were to write a headline for this part of
Singapore’s history right now that captures the
most important aspect that should be
remembered, what would that headline be?

(*headlines should be short, to the point and
capture readers’ aben?on.)