Last week, I noted that the contents of the Albatross file cast doubts on the popular narrative that Singapore was abruptly “kicked out” of Malaysia on August 9, 1965.
The documents show that separation was not a unilateral expulsion but the outcome of months of secret, bilateral planning by senior leaders on both sides. The idea originated within Singapore’s own leadership in 1964, when figures such as then Minister of Finance Goh Keng Swee (who opened the file) judged that it was politically untenable for Singapore to remain in Malaysia.
