Tunku Abdul Rahman

The British

Lee Kuan Yew and S Rajaratnam (Raja)

Narrator: Once Upon a time not too long ago, in a land not far away...

a country named Singapore, then a British colony, was fighting for its independence

LKY: *addressing crowd* I am Lee Kuan Yew, head of the PAP, a political party in Singapore.

I say we should fight for independence from the British, for decolonisation!        

Narrator: Meanwhile, the British had other thoughts..

Brit 1: (in accent)I'd say, Singapore will never make it alone.

What shall we do?

Brit 2:  We, sir, should give them a fighting chance. 

Maybe they can't survive on their own, but maybe with someone else..... what do you call it? *taps forehead*

Brit 1: A merger.

We'll merge all our Southeast Asian colonies into one gigantic, unified federation!

Singapore shall never have to be alone. *snaps fingers* Problem solved

Brit 2:

By golly! That's what we're to do!

Narrator: Back in Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, along with his friend S Rajaratnam, were having similar thoughts

LKY: I think the best option for freedom is a merger with Malaya.

They have resources vital for our growth- it will benefit our economy, it will free us from the British, it- I absolutely believe in this idea!

        

S Rajaratnam (Raja): I agree with you Kuan Yew, but have you asked Rahman about it? Have you come up with any plans?

Tunku: *interupting the conversation* I, Tunku Abdul Rahman, the prime minister of Malaya, should have some say in this conversation here Raja

Raja: Of course.

We were just talking about a merger, between Malaya and Singapore.

Tunku:

That should be fine... wait, no!

LKY & Raja:

What???

Tunku: *rather angrily*

Firstly, Singapore has about one million Chinese.. this will cause racial unbalance in Malaya, too many Chinese dominating the Malays.

And Secondly, Singapore has too many pro-communists! It's not safe for Malaya! 

*walks off* 

Narrator:

Lee Kuan Yew and S Rajaratnam had to find a way to get the Tunku to agree with them on the merger.

LKY:

We have to expel the communists, that's what we have to do!

Narrator:

And he did just that.

Additionally, he gave speeches to the local people to garner their support for the merger too.

LKY: *addressing crowd*I tell you, merger is important.

Malaya is important to Singapore. It is the hinterland which produces the rubber and tin that keeps our economy going. It is the base that made Singapore the capital city. Without this economic base, Singapore would not be able to survive. Without merger, without a reunification of out governments and an integratoin of out two economies, our economic position will slowly and steadily get worse. Your livelihood will get worse.

THE MERGERIN PHOTOS

http://www.international.kent.gov.uk/userfiles/Image/Role_of_film.jpg

Sources:

‘Creating “Greater Malaysia” ‘

NLB call number SING 959.505TAN Tai YongInstitute of Southeast Asian Studies

The merger in photos:

‘Malayan Prime Minister, Tunku Adbul Rahman, addressing the the Foreign Correspondents Association of South-East Asia, where he broached the “possibility of bringing the territories of Singapore, North Borneo (present Sabah), Brunei, Sarawak, and the Federation of Malaya closer together in political and economic co-operation.” ’

The merger in photos:

‘Delegates from the Federation [of Malaya], North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore coming together for the first meeting of the Malaysia Solidarity Consultative Committee in Singapore (August 1961)’

The merger in photos:

‘Lee Kuan Yew addressing a press conference on Singapore-Malaya merger. On his left is S. Rajaratnam.’

The merger in photos:

‘Donald Stephens speaking at the opening ceremony of the Malaysia Solidarity Consultative Committee. On his left is Yusof bin Ishak (the man on our currency!), the second Yang de-Pertuan Negara of Singapore’

The merger in photos:

‘Chairman of the Malaysia Commission of Enquiry, Lord Cobbold arriving in Singapore before leaving for the Borneo Terrorities (February 1962)’

The merger in photos:

‘Chief delegates from Sarawak, North Borneo, Brunei, Singapore and Malaya signing the Memorandum for Malaysia in Singapore, in February 1952.’

The merger in photos:

‘Lord Cobbold and other members of the Commission of Enquiry at the Singapore Airport after flying in from Kuching.’

The merger in photos:

‘Delegates from North Borneo and Sarawak arriving in Singapore to see Tunku Abdul Rahman off for London Talks.’

The merger in photos:

‘Tunku Abdul Rahman and Lee Kuan Yew being welcomed at the airport on their return from talks in London (August 1962)’

The merger in photos:

‘Lee Kuan Yew speaking at a rally on the merger referendum (August 1962)’

The merger in photos:

‘Lee Siew Choh addressing a Barisan Sosialis rally on the Singapore-Malaya merger.’

The merger in photos:

‘Lee Kuan Yew explaining options to voters during the National Referendum on the Singapore-Malaya merger.’

The merger in photos:

‘Lee Siew Choh and David Marshall at a radio Singapore forum on the merger between Malaya and Singapore.’

The merger in photos:

‘Lee Kuan Yew and [the late] Goh Keng Swee in a radio debate with members of opposition parties on Singapore-Malaya merger.’

The merger in photos:

Lee Siew Choh and Lim Chin Siong of the Barisan Sosialis arrive at the Singapore Badminton Hall for the referendum results (September 1962)

The merger in photos:

Lee Kuan Yew on a “Thank You” tour of his constituency after victory at the National referendum polls.

The merger in photos:

Lord Selkirk, Commissioner-General for South-east Asia, in Singapore (February 1963)

The merger in photos:

The Malaysian flag being raised on 16 September 1963 at the proclamation ceremony in front of City Hall in Singapore.

The merger in photos:Summing up

As we can see, the British were very much involved in this matter of merger Negotiations with London

were common and frequent, and also an important aspect.

‘… [the merger] was the outcome of a series of decisions taken by British policy-makers and local political leaders from 1960 to 1963’

‘--- the idea of integrating all the British dependencies in Southeast Asia into a super-federation had been talked about in British official circles since the late 1940s… known as the “Grand design”.’

Something to ponder about…

Why was it that the merger did not seem to be very successful, with so many disagreements between Malaya and Singapore?

Why did Singapore separate so soon?