Section 4: Reasons for Separation

Question 1

what are the three aspects that caused the separation of SG and Malaya?

Answer 1

1. political
2. racial
3. economical

Question 2

POLITICAL REASONS

Answer 2

• 1963 state elections
• 1964 federal elections (start of racial tension)
• contrasting ideologies -> political rivalry

UMNO and PAP’s participation in each other’s elections

Question 3

context

1963 STATE ELECTIONS > POLITICAL REASONS

Answer 3

there were already existing political tensions (or sore points) between SG’s PAP government and Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Question 4

what happened

1963 STATE ELECTIONS > POLITICAL REASONS

Answer 4

In 1963 the Singapore Alliance Party was established, a political party made up of the SG branch of UMNO-MCA-MIC (headed by Tunku Abdul Rahman).
They participated in the SG state elections in an attempt to win seats in the Singapore Legislative Assembly

Question 5

what did it contribute to?

1963 STATE ELECTIONS > POLITICAL REASONS

Answer 5

This further contributed to the political tensions between the PAP and Tunku Abdul Rahman as they had already come to a spoken agreement that neither was to participate in each other’s elections. This strained relationships between the two governments and will eventually be one of the factors leading to the separation of SG and Malaysia.

Question 6

what are the results of the singapore state elections?

1963 STATE ELECTIONS > POLITICAL REASONS

Answer 6

The Singapore Alliance Party did not win a single seat in the Singapore State Elections.
* This was so even in areas that were mostly made up of Malay residents (Eg: Geylang Serai, Kampong Kembangan, Southern Islands).
* This showed that the citizens in Singapore were still comfortable with the PAP leadership and trusted that the PAP were better leaders for Singapore than the Singapore Alliance.
* The PAP won 37/51 seats in the same election

Question 7

effect of 1963 state election

1963 STATE ELECTIONS > POLITICAL REASONS

Answer 7

• UMNO did not take their loss very well as this was a show that they were unpopular amongst Singaporean voters.
• They vowed to defeat PAP in the next Singapore State elections.
• This also marked the start of a significant political rivalry between the PAP and UMNO that can later be attributed to the separation of Malaysia and Singapore.

Question 8

what happened

1964 FEDERAL ELECTIONS > POLITICAL REASONS

Answer 8

• The PAP participated in the 1964 federal elections in response to the Singapore Alliance Party’s participation in the 1963 Singapore State elections.
• Lee Kuan Yew justified that as Malaysians, they had the right to contest in the federal elections.
• Large masses gathered to watch PAP’s political campaigns
• LKY questioned the way the Alliance Party governed Malaysia in its campaign and promised to build Malaysia by not governing along racial lines

Question 9

results

1964 FEDERAL ELECTIONS > POLITICAL REASONS

Answer 9

The PAP won 1 seat in the end in Bangsar (won by Devan Nair).

Question 10

effects

1964 FEDERAL ELECTIONS > POLITICAL REASONS

Answer 10

UMNO was very upset with the PAP for their participation in the Federal elections, as this was seen as a direct threat to their leadership.
* Further strained relationships between the two governments.

Question 11

start of racial tension

1964 FEDERAL ELECTIONS > POLITICAL REASONS

Answer 11

An anti-PAP campaign was started by the Singapore Alliance Party using Malay media (brief overview)
* Rumors about the PAP were spread.
* The PAP was accused of neglecting the rights and wellbeing of the Malays.

This resulted in racial differences and disputes being another reason for the separation between Malaysia and Singapore

Question 12

contrasting ideologies

POLITICAL REASONS

Answer 12

the difference in political ideology (multiculturalism VS communalism) resulted in a clash between PAP and the federal government of what Malaysia should be.

Singapore
* Multicultural and sought to represent interests of all communities
* regardless of race, all should be given an equal opportunity to succeed
* Believed that the best way to enable Malays to gain better employment opportunities was by providing free education

Federal government of Malaya
* Alliance party was made up of 3 communal parties (race-based): United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Malayan Chinese Association (MCA), Malayan Indian Congress (MIC)
* sought to look after the interests of their respective ethnic communities
* Special privileges in employment, business and education were given to the Malays with the aim of improving their economic and social position (reserved jobs for them in government)

Question 13

anti-PAP campaign incited by UMNO

RACIAL REASONS

Answer 13

In an attempt to win back the Malay vote in Singapore (which was lost during the 1963 state election), UMNO leaders accused PAP of neglecting Malay interests in Singapore. this is after the 1964 state elections.

Question 14

racial reasons

Answer 14

1. anti-PAP campaign
2. malays turning on chinese
3. establishment of MSC

Question 15

evidence

ANTI-PAP CAMPAIGN > RACIAL REASONS

Answer 15

Resettlement project
* 200 Malay families were asked to move out of their house because their area needed development (the infrastructure there was really bad)
* However, Utusan Melayu (malay media) reported “3000 Malay families were forcefully evicted from their homes”

published the false report suggested that PAP was anti-Malay
* Claimed that the PAP placed greater emphasis on Chinese education at the expense of Malay education
* alleged that the PAP treated the Malays as second-class citizens

Secretary-General of UMNO made a fiery anti-PAP speech, raising tension to boiling point

Question 16

attempt to ease tensions

ANTI-PAP CAMPAIGN > RACIAL REASONS

Answer 16

In attempt to ease tensions, LKY and Othman (minister of social affairs) met 100 non-political Malay organizations on 19 July 1964 to assure the 900 representatives that Singapore government would do its utmost to help the Malays and reiterated that all Singaporeans had equal rights regardless of race
* Utusan Melayu continued to public articles about the unfair treatment of the PAP government towards the Malay communities

Question 17

malays turning on chinese = effects of provocation

RACIAL REASONS

Answer 17

Malays turned against the Chinese, believing that PAP has not treated them equally, and only prioritized the rights of the Chinese, causing racial riots.

Question 18

riots

MALAYS TURNING ON CHINESE > RACIAL REASONS

Answer 18

July 21 racial riots
* A Chinese policeman asked a small group of Malay Muslim whether they had a permit to go on with the procession which was Prophet Muhammad’s birthday
* 20,000 Muslims were celebrating
* Angered the Malays and clashes broke out
* Resulted in racial riots: 23 dead, 454 injured

September 2 racial riots
* Mysterious killing of a 57 year old Malay trishaw rider
* Prompted Malays take retaliatory action against the Chinese (they suspected the Chinese were the ones who did it)
* Resulted in more racial riots: 13 dead, 106 injured

Question 19

effects of riots

POLITICAL GROUP RIVALRY > RACIAL REASONS

Answer 19

• The alliance party and the PAP agreed not to raise any matters that would hurt racial harmony and challenge each other in elections for the next two years
• agreement did not last long when in October 1964, the SAP announced that the party would be reorganized with the intention of contesting and wining the next election in Singapore, serving a direct political challenge for the PAP

Question 20

establishment of MSC

RACIAL REASONS

Answer 20

In response to the agreement being broken, the PAP formed the Malaysian Solidarity Convention
* gathered four other Malaysian opposition parties
* campaigned for a Malaysian Malaysia, where all would be treated equally regardless of their race or religion

Question 21

effect

ESTABLISHMENT OF MSC -> RACIAL REASONS

Answer 21

This upset the Alliance leaders and deepened their mistrust of the PAP government
* Threatened the special rights enjoyed by the Malays
* Seen as a challenge towards Tunku’s political position, an attempt of LKY trying to seize more power for himself, resulting in more tensions such that supporters of the UMNO even called for LKY’s arrest. Tunku refused to arrest LKY, deeming his arrest as unconstitutional and undemocratic
* Many Malays accused the PAP of being pro-communist and anti-Malay.

The MSC was also part of the factors that contributed to the eventual failure of the merger between Singapore and Malaya.

Question 22

common market

ECONOMIC REASONS

Answer 22

there was a delay in setting up the common market, despite agreement in the merger negotiations
* tariffs continued to be imposed on Singaporen made goods to protect Malaya’s industries
* Singapore was unable to increase her sales in Malaysia.

Question 23

economic reasons

SEPARATION OF MERGER

Answer 23

1. common market delay
2. introduction of new taxes
3. increase in contribution

Question 24

introduction of revenue tax

ECONOMIC REASONS

Answer 24

**Malaysian Finance Minister Tan Siew Sin announced the Malaysian budget **
* required Singapore to contribute 40% towards the yield of new taxes even though its population was just 17% of the total population
* new taxes came in form of a turnover tax, a payroll tax and taxes on diesel and sugar

Question 25

effect

INTRODUCTION OF REVENUE TAX -> ECONOMIC REASON

Answer 25

uproar in singapore
* the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) released a statement in Singapore describing the budget as “ridiculous” stating that proposed taxes would affect the wages of workers
* organized a rally to protest (despite the warning from the federal government not to do so)

the heavy tax was not proportionate to singapore’s population and contribution.

Question 26

increase in contribution

ECONOMIC REASON

Answer 26

federal government to increase Singapore’s contribution to 60% from the original 40%
* Reasoned the rising expenditure on defense due to Konfrontasi
* Singapore was unwilling to pay more contribution as they thought it was unfair and believed the original contribution was sufficient

accused PAP of using “mob passions” against the taxes to incite populace to violent action and bring down the federal government.
even decided to close the Bank of China in Singapore (affected Singapore’s trade with China).

Question 27

conclusion

Answer 27

In the end, Tunku realized that the many disagreements and strained relations could not be settled. Due to the irreconcilable differences between SG and the central federal government, merger was doomed to fail. He felt that it was best for Singapore to leave Malaysia. PAP agreed to the decision, and they separated on 9 August 1965.