SINGAPORE: Singapore's separation from Malaysia in August 1965 was the result of a "bloodless coup" orchestrated by then Finance Minister Goh Keng Swee and then Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, over just 25 days.
A new book, The Albatross File: Inside Separation, shows how an off-the-cuff remark by Dr Goh on July 15, 1965, set off a chain of moves that led to the proclamation, at 10am on Aug 9, that "Singapore shall be forever a sovereign democratic and independent nation".
The book, edited by Susan Sim and published by The Straits Times Press and the National Archives of Singapore, drew on papers that Dr Goh kept in a file he code-named "Albatross", alongside extensive oral history interviews with Singapore's founding leaders.
Albatross, which contained cabinet papers, memorandums and Dr Goh's handwritten notes of his discussions with Malaysian leaders in the months before separation, had until now largely been kept classified. A subset of the documents were exhibited in 2015 to commemorate the Republic's 50th year of independence.
Dr Goh had considered Malaysia an "albatross round our necks" because the promise of shared prosperity and partnership through merger had quickly given way to fraught debates over race and clashing ideas about the country's future.
These tensions hardened following two major communal riots in 1964, which exposed how fragile the new federation was, The Straits Times reported.
The book was launched by Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Dec 7, alongside a new permanent exhibition at the National Library Building. Here are four of its key revelations:
Following the 1964 race riots, then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew concluded that extremist elements in Malaysia could use communal politics in Singapore, and that the island needed a new arrangement with Kuala Lumpur.
Discussions involving Lee, Dr Goh, Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Razak swung between cooperation and constitutional change, but persistent disputes over internal security, tax revenues, parliamentary seats and the PAP's role in federal politics prevented agreement.
British concerns, shaped by Konfrontasi, also complicated any attempt at rearrangement within Malaysia.
By mid-1965, British diplomatic cables warned London that Lee might be arrested, prompting British officials to signal that such a move would have serious repercussions for Malaysia.
By July, the Tunku felt that separation was the only workable solution.
The turning point came with Dr Goh's unscripted remark to Tun Razak on July 15, when he said the best course was to "call it quits" and let both sides go their separate ways.
Asked what he meant, Dr Goh replied: "Well, we leave Malaysia, become an independent state, and you'll be relieved of all these troubles, and we would have also been relieved of troubles from you.
All these tensions that built up, communal tensions, will all be over.
We're on our own, you're on your own." Tun Razak asked Dr Goh to confirm Mr Lee's position, and by July 20 both sides agreed to move swiftly and secretly towards an Aug 9 deadline.
Law Minister E.W. Barker prepared the legal documents, including the Agreement to Separate and the Proclamation of Independence.
One key revelation is that Dr Goh never proposed a looser federation or confederation, even though Lee had earlier considered such an option.
In his memoirs, Lee later wrote that he discovered only in 1994 that Dr Goh "never pressed Razak for a looser rearrangement as I had asked him to", and had instead gone "along with their (the Malaysians') desire to have us hived off".
Dr Goh said he had "had enough of Malaysia" and felt the project had become "an exercise in futility".
Negotiations were conducted mainly by Dr Goh and Tun Razak, who had known each other since their days in the Malayan Forum in London.
Barker, who knew the Malaysian attorney-general, worked closely with both sides to ensure secrecy.
The ministers signed the documents in the early hours of Aug 7.
Later that day, Lee made a final attempt to ask the Tunku to consider a confederation, but the Tunku replied: "No, I'm past that… You go your own way, we go our own way. We can be friends again."
On the morning of Aug 9, 1965, Singapore's independence was proclaimed over radio.
Lee said: "We did something quite remarkable – a constitutional coup right under the noses of the British, the Australians and New Zealanders who were defending Malaysia with their blood and treasure.
"I did not want to do it. The Tunku forced us into a position where we either acquiesced in his policies, or we took a stand. We took a stand." - NST
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