The Unwanted International Trade Hub

Land is one of the defining traits of a nation. Throughout history, nations and empires have often fought tooth and nail to cling on to territory, whether it be due to strategic positions, valuable resources, or sometimes just out of the sheer principal of defending what is to them their historical land. Untold millions have perished to defend scraps of forest and dirt, and millions more perished to try to gain ground from others. Nations also often try to keep their lands peaceful. Some do this with military crackdowns and atrocities like slavery, but others often try to gain the loyalty of those who live in it.

All in all, the idea of a country willingly parting with a large piece of valuable territory whose citizens do not want to leave is almost unthinkable, yet that is exactly what happened in 1965. This is the story of Singapore, the nation who was forced into independence against her will.

In 1963, Singapore faced a tough road ahead. The island was blessed with one of the world’s best strategic locations and could leverage some economic and political muscle from their formal colonial masters the British, but had precious little going for it otherwise. It was tiny, 4 million people squeezed into less than 700 kilometers squared (which for reference is tinier than the city of Berlin). It had a small army, civil unrest was rampant albeit contained, it had no natural resources to speak off minus a somewhat stable tin-mining industry, there was genuine concern that it as a nation would collapse before managing to make anything of itself.

Therefore, its then Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, proposed a solution, a merger with the territories of Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak to form Malaysia. This would have several benefits. Malaya had plentiful resources, a large population and army, but did not have much in the way of ports. By combining the two they could make the most of their strengths while alleviating weaknesses. It would also alleviate concerns of a Communist takeover of either nation. This was agreed to by leaders of the respective territories, and Malaysia came into being on the 16th of September, 1963.

However, cracks begun to form. Malaysia had a long-standing policy of prioritizing Malays at the expense of other racial groups. This caused it to clash heavily with the majority Chinese Singapore. The Malaysian ruling parties attempted to instill similar policies in Singapore, but this instead caused discord within the island, which already suffered from terrible racial tensions, including riots.

Nor were things peachy in the economic front. Malaysian authorities had instilled harsh restrictions against Singaporeans attempting to do business in Malaysia, as well as heavier tax burdens despite prior agreements for a free market and equal taxes in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. In retaliation, Singapore cancelled loans meant to aid the underdeveloped Sabah and Sarawak, leading to an economic slump that affected them for decades to come.

These, alongside other existing tensions, longstanding arguments and fears by both sides that the other was attempting a hostile takeover, lead to Tunku Abdul Rahman, then Chief Minister of Malaysia to request Parliament vote on a resolution to have Singapore expelled from the Federation, who viewed it as a cheaper, easier and thus preferable alternative to attempting to suppress the PAP. This was met with dismay from the PAP, ruling party of Singapore, who viewed this as a death knell for their still unstable, developing land. This was not desired by the population either, for despite the racial tensions the average citizen had been sold on the protection and economic benefits of a merger and the loss of that was also met with shock by the populace. Despite multiple requests to reconsider, Tunku Abdul Rahman was adamant and the vote was cast for expulsion.

On 9th August 1965, Singapore was officially kicked out of Malaysia. A tearful Lee Kuan Yew broadcasted a message to the Singapore public on their new reality, and a agreement was signed to maintain Singapore-Malaysian trade, diplomatic and mutual defense ties. And thus starts the story of Singapore the first nation in modern history to be forced into independence against her will.