\n<\/p>\n
It is now clear from these documents that the Malaysian Solidarity Convention (MSC) wasn\u2019t just a matter of principle for a Malaysian Malaysia but a strategy to gain an upper hand in the fight for political ground.<\/p>\n
In a note to the Singapore Cabinet on Feb 15, 1965, Mr Lee wrote: \u201cWe cannot allow ourselves to be lulled into silence by the expectation that there may be re-arrangements which make counterattacks on them unnecessary, or worse, unwise , as this may affect our getting an advantage in the rearrangement \u2026 We have to also consider going up to organise meetings in Malacca, Seremban, Kuala Lumpur and Penang, where the battle can be taken to their home ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
The formation of the MSC was a major cause of the widening rift between the two sides leading ultimately to the Tunku deciding on nothing less than a complete break with Singapore.<\/p>\n
Did the PAP overplay its hand? How could it not know the consequences of taking the battle to the mainland, in open opposition to KL?<\/p>\n
PAP leaders knew they were fighting fire with fire but the alternative was worse \u2013 total submission to communal violence.<\/p>\n
They came to the conclusion that the racial riots in Singapore in July 1964, which left 23 persons dead and more than 400 injured, were started by Malay extremists in UMNO.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In his memoirs, The Singapore Story, Lee wrote: \u201cWe had to find a counter to this system of intimidation through race riots, with Chinese being killed and maimed wherever they dared to resist Malay domination. We decided that one effective defence would be to link the opposition in all towns in the Federation in one network, so that a riot in one major city triggered off riots in others to a point where the police and army would be unable to cope, and all hell would be let loose \u2026 any communal intimidation by Kuala Lumpur would risk tearing Malaysia apart.\u201d<\/p>\n
It seems unimaginable now that what Mr Lee described might have taken place \u2013 deadly riots breaking out in every town \u2013 and that he was contemplating a course of action that might lead to more bloodshed.<\/p>\n
These were dangerous times and it showed how resolute PAP leaders were in refusing to be intimidated and submit to the threat of violence.<\/p>\n
If they were not, multiracialism might not have survived to become a defining feature of modern Singapore.<\/p>\n
It is another intriguing \u201dif\u201d in the Singapore story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n