Secondary 2 History-Singapore Merging With Malaya

Singapore Merging with

Malaya

Reasons why Singapore wants to merge with Malaya

• Singapore wants to join the Federation of Malaya because of economy and politic.

• A federation is a group of states lead by a central government

• The federation of Malaya has 11 states in the Malay Pennisular after achieving independence on the 31st of August 1957.

Economy reasons

• Singapore is a small country and lack of natural resources. This made it hard to survive independently. There is also a decreasing amount of entrepot trade and an increasing amount of unemployed people

• The Malayan government also reduced the money collected from trade on the goods traded between Singapore and Malaya

• Since Malaya was rich in natural resources, Singapore wants to merge so that the amount of natural resources will increase.

• Merging with Malaya also increase space to build markets to trade

• A common market could be built so that goods could be freely traded with Malaya without any tax

• This caused more money to be saved because no money is needed for revenue. The common market would also increase trade, expand industries and give more job opportunity for the locals

Political reasons

• The British lack confidence to grant independence to Singapore as they are afraid that communist activities may cause Singapore to fall under the communist

• The PAP hope to increase anti-communist by merging with Malaya. This could help overpower the communist activity in Singapore

• The PAP also did promise that they would help Singapore achieve independence if they win the election. As an honest political party, they want to merge with Malaya to achieve independence

Response to merge with Malaya

• Before 1961, Malaya don’t want to merge with Singapore because it would cause racial unbalance as the Chinese would be more than the Malays

• The Tunku also is scared that the Chinese would increase to Malaya and would disrupt security in the Federation of Malaya

• However, after 1961, Ong Eng Guan, a pro-Communist leader was being expelled from the PAP. HE was contested as an independent in the Hong Lim by-election

• HE managed to defeat the PAP candidate and won the by-election by a large surplus

• The by-election results made the Tunku worry that the split within the PAP would weaken the restriction and let the PAP fall under the pro-communist

• When the PAP fall under the communist, Singapore may become a communist country.

• The Tunku solved the problem of racial unbalanced by introducing Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei people to Singapore. He presented his method in his speech on the 27th of May 1961

Internal opposition to merge

• The PAP lost to the by-election because the pro-communist member in the PAP don’t want to merge

• 13 PAP members were expelled because they failed to challenge Lee Kuan Yew’s leadership after a few months later.

• The expelled members formed the Barisan Sosialis. Their chairman is Lee Siew Choh and their seceratary-general is Lim Chin Siong

• On the 3rd of September in 1961, the Barisan Sosialis campaigned to object the government’s plan for merging with Malaya. They orgainzed labor strikes and students demonstration

• The PAP had carried out a year of campaign to win back the people’s support for merging. They also tell them the benefits of merging

• The PAP also conducted a vote on the 1st of September 1962 about what type of merge does the locals want

External opposition to merge

• The Cobbold Commission was led by Lord Cobbold, including 3 British representatives and 2 Malay representatives which are from Sabah and Sarawak.

• The Malay and British government set up the commission in January 1962 to find whether the Sabah and the Sarawak want Singapore merge with Malaya

• More than two third of the people want Singapore to merge with Malaya

• The Indonesians and the Philippines don’t want Singapore to merge with Malaya, instead, the Indonesians want Sabah and Sarawak to merge with it, the Philippines claimed that they own Sabah.

• Due to the competition, Sabah and Sarawak broke off their ties with Malaysia in 1963

• A policy of Kronfrontasi, confrontation in English, was launched by Indonesia. It aims to cause social disorder to show their opposition for Singapore to merge with Malaya

• The Tunku allowed a United Nations Commission in Sabah and Sarawak to see whether the people want Singapore to merge with Malaya in order to solve the opposition

• In September 1963, more than 70% of the population wants Singapore to merge with Malaya

• Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak were included in the Federation of Malaya to form Malaysia on the 16th of September 1963

• Brunei cannot agree on the economic issue so it was excluded.

Singapore’s demand

• Singapore will provide $150000000 for the development of Sabah and Sarawak

• Singapore would collect its own revenue and agree on the sum of money to be paid as taxes to Kuala Lumpur’s central government

• The agreement also includes the terms for the Common Market.

Malaya’s demand

• Malaya demand that Singapore will give $50000000 for the development of Sabah and Sarawak

• The Central Government will collect revenue in Singapore and provide things Singapore need to run the state

• The Common market will be discussed after the merging.

Final Agreement

• The Common Market will be formed stage by stage

• Singapore will provide $150000000 to develop Sabah and Sarawak

• Singapore will collect its own revenue and agree on the sum of money to be paid as tax to the Kuala Lumpur central government

• Singapore had its own state of government and is allowed to hold elections to elect its own state government

• Singapore is able to control over labor and education

• The Central government will control the armed force, police and foreign affairs