‘Rich human dimension’: How the Albatross File sheds further light on Singapore’s separation from Malaysia

POSSIBILITY OF LOOSER FEDERATION

As tensions grew, many people in Singapore regretted their support for the merger, said Mr Janadas.

According to Dr Goh’s oral history, this was when Mr Lee and the PAP decided to increase political pressure and “organise politically, up and down the Peninsula, and across Sabah and Sarawak”.

“Mr Lee, in his oral histories, says (Kuala Lumpur) could’ve arranged for an accident … there were always huge, big lorries carrying timber, and then you arrange for the timber to be released, and your car is smashed, right? That’s it,” Mr Janadas recounted.

Tun Razak first suggested “hiving off” Singapore around Dec 15, 1964.

By then, Mr Lee, in his oral history, had already concluded that “we just could not carry on”.

In March 1965, Dr Goh then wrote the most substantial paper on possible terms for a looser federation. But this constitutional rearrangement never came to fruition.

“We published the political part of that paper, but the more detailed thing, which was a big thing – we did not publish but we summarised it,” noted Mr Janadas.

“There is some doubt as to how many people looked at it, but the Malaysians knew about it.”