Merger

Road to self-governence

• A combination of 2 things
• Why?
  • opportunities e.g. trade, profit
  • not cuz girl cute

Merger of Singapore and Malaysia §

Timeline §

1945: end of Japanese occupation 1955: partial internal self-govt David Marshall 1956: cm: Lim yew hock 1959: full internal govt Lee Kuan Yew 1962: referendum 1963: merger yay

Why? §

• Sg no resources, Malaya Rich
• Sg poor trade down population up
• tariffs
• Malaya bigger market for sg business
• Did not want communists to take over
• no independence if communist
  • Malaya has already dealt with communist threat
  • Communism will be kept at bay if they merge
• Declining entreport trade
• no jobs
• Political Independence

Issue of Tarrifs §

• Malaysia introduced tarrifs in 1950s on Singapore goods
• stuff made in SG in Malaysia more expensive
• Singapore retaliated with soap tax

Malaya don’t want Merger §

• Skewered to Malay -> Skewered to Chinese
• Scared Chinese are sympathetic to the communists
• Chinese reluctant to accept a Malay Sultan as Head of State, or Malay as national language or Islam as state religion
• Tunku unhappy

Race	Before Merger	After Merger
Chinese	2.3M	3.6M
Malay	3.1M	3.6M

Hong Lim By-Election §

• April 1961
• Originally controlled by PAP Ong Eng Guan
• Ong Eng Guan fell out of favour due to his actions not being aligned with the party’s directions
  • Tried to openly challenge the PAP
  • Got suspended and expelled, reigned seat
• Ong Eng Guan ran as independent candidate in by-election
  • Won with 73.3% of the vote
• Showed the increasing divide withing PAP
• Tunku scared radical communist left takeover

Anson By-Election §

• Pap guy died
• David Marshal of WP won
• Shows weakening of PAP power

Malaya kinda accept merger §

• Wait what if Tunku annexed the Sarawak and North Borneo regions?

Race	Before Merger	After Merger with SG	After Merger with SG, North Borneo and Sarawak
Chinese	2.3M	3.6M	3.7M
Malay	3.1M	3.6M	4.0M

• Malay in majority again!
• Tunku happy
• Coupled with fears of PAP loosing and communist takeover

Agreement §

• Singapore has special status
• Have its own Head of State
• Would collect its own revenue and pay Kuala Lumpur an agreed-upon sum
• Singapore citizens will become “federal nationals” instead of “federal citizens”
• Have its own elections to choose its own state government
• SG citizens will only be able to vote in elections in SG
• SG has control over education, labour and civil service
• Federal govt control defence, internal security and dealing with foreign govts

Barisan Socialist Opposition §

• Expelled PAP left-wing politicians
• Felt that merger made Singaporeans second class citizens
• Singapore only had 15 seats in Federal Government while North Borneo and Sarawak had 16 and 24 each in exchange for control over education and labor
• Singaporeans under represented; 2nd class status
• Knew that merger would mean eradication of the left wing =======
• Singaporeans not actually citizens
• Citizenship can be discriminating factor
• Under-representation of seats, 15 only

PAP Battle for Merger §

• Radio talks called The Battle for Merger
• Exhibitions to highlight benefits of merger

Referendum §

Options §

Option	Description
A	I support merger giving Singapore autonomy in labour, education and other agreed matters as set out in Command Paper No. 33 of 1961, with Singapore citizens automatically becoming citizens of Malaysia.
B	I support complete and unconditional merger for Singapore as a state on an equal basis with the other eleven states in accordance with the Constitutional documents of the Federation of Malaya.
C	I support Singapore entering Malaysia on terms no less favourable than those given to the Borneo territories.

• PAP preferred option A
• Due to there being technically “I do not want merger” option, Barisan Socialists urged people to cast blank votes

Results:

Option A	Option B	Option C	Blank Votes	Rejected/Uncertain Papers
70.8%	1.7%	1.4%	25.7%	0.4%

Option A wins yay