It was July 1965.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman had decided at this point that Singapore had to leave Malaysia.
He wrote to then-deputy prime minister Tun Razak of his thoughts about removing Singapore from Malaysia.
“Ultimately, I fear we will have no choice but to cut out Singapore from Malaysia in order to save the rest of the body from gangrene.”
It was a thought that would turn into reality.
The merger between Malaysia and Singapore just two years back in 1963 would disintegrate a month later.
And not everyone wanted to see Malaysia split and Singapore – with its British bases – left on its own to survive. Even Mr Lee Kuan Yew had his own reservations about separation, hoping for a looser federation instead.
But despite the Tunku’s decision – with the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Dr Goh Keng Swee also proposing a separation – Singapore becoming an independent country would not have happened without the deepest secrecy.
Here’s what truly happened in the 40 days leading up to Separation as told by key characters, including Madam Kwa Geok Choo – the wife of Mr Lee, whose supporting role in the separation is not always spoken about.
Union woes
It had not been smooth-sailing since the formation of Malaysia, which saw the inclusion of Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak to Malaya in 1963.
Communal riots, race-based tensions, inflammatory political comments, and the seemingly growing allure of the PAP in the mainland led to much tension between the Tunku-led Alliance Party and PAP.
The rhetoric against PAP’s Lee had also been ratcheting up.
Amid these developments, PAP’s Mr Toh Chin Chye and Mr S Rajaratnam had been integral in getting the Malaysian Solidarity Convention (MSC) off the ground.
The MSC was a gathering of five political parties, namely PAP, the United Democratic Party and the People’s Progressive Party from Peninsula Malaysia, and Sarawak’s Machinda Party and the Sarawak United People’s Party.
They had come together on May 9, 1965, in an attempt to staunch the spread of communalism in Malaysia.
The Tunku wants us out
All these developments alarmed the Malaysian leadership, particularly the Tunku, leading to his letter to Tun Razak on Jul 1.
A series of negotiations between Dr Goh and Tun Razak in the following days followed, crystallising thoughts and setting things in motion that would see Singapore finally split from its Causeway neighbour.
Dr Goh was, in fact, done with the idea of making Malaysia work.
Hear it in his own words:
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Goh Keng Swee
But I’ve had enough of Malaysia. I just want to get out.
I could see no future in it, that the political cost was dreadful and the economic benefits, well, didn’t exist.
So it was [an] exercise in futility.
Credit: From the oral history interview of Goh Keng Swee (Accession No. 000046, Track No. 36), Oral History Centre, National Archives of Singapore
Mr Lee soon bought into the idea, and subsequently instructed Law Minister Eddie Barker to draft the amendment to the constitution making the secession of Singapore possible, and an Act giving Singapore independence under that amendment.
Mr Lee also got Mr Barker to draft a proclamation of independence.
