Terms of Merger
- Signed July 1963, effective 16 September 1963
- Foreign Affairs, Defence and Internal Security controlled by the central government in Kular Lumpar, but SG controlled its own Finance, Labour and Education
- Singapore had their own executive government, legislative assembly and civil service
- Managed own taxation and public spending, only gave 40% of income to central govt
- Similar to partial self-governance
- Common market progressively implemented over 12 years
- Takes very long
- Signs of fragmentation
Konfrontasi
- Indonesia mad at Malaya and Singapore merger
- Attacks via bombings
- Old McDonald House
Disagreements
Economic Matters
Common Market
- Took 12 years
- Very long time
Revenue Contribution
- 1964, KL increased up to 60% collection of revenue of SG
- Needed money to pay for defence against Konfrontasi
- Indonesia angry at merger
- Malaysia possible threat in the region
Political
Composition of Political Parties
- Alliance Party formed
- United Malays Nationalist Organisation (UMNO)
- Malayan Chinese Association (MCA)
- Malayan Indian Congress (MIC)
- All sought to represent the different interests of their communities
- PAP believed in representing communities regardless of race
1963 Singapore State Elections
- 5 days after the Formation of Malaysia
- Central govt wanted the Singapore Alliance to have more seats in SG Legislative Assembly
- Failed to win any seats despite Tunku personally coming down
- PAP won 37/50
- Defeated upset UMNO who wanted to retain control in Geylang Serai, Kampong Kembangan and Southern Islands, all which had Malay majority -> ALL VOTED FOR PAP INSTEAD
- Alliance leaders vowed to defeat PAP the next election
- Affected relationship between the PAP and Alliance
- Further strained when PAP decided to take part in 1964 Federal election
1964 Federal Election
- PAP decided to take part in 1964 Federal Election
- Goal: Help build Malaysia that would not think along racial lines
- Upset Alliance leaders:
- PAP promised not to take part, but PAP said it was only natural given the Alliance party’s involvement in SG elections
- PAP criticise the way Malaya was governed by the Alliance
- Outcome:
- PAP 1 seat
- Alliance 89 seats
- Total 104 seats
- Malaysians saw PAP as the Chinese Singapore Party
- PAP drew large crowds at rallies
- Made the Alliance concerned
Urban Redevelopment Plan
- PAP govt decided to redevelop Crawford, Kampong Glam & Rochor
- 2.5k families had to be resettled
- 200 were Malay families
- Utusan Melayu (Malay Press) misrepresented events
- Claimed 3k Malay residents affected
- Part of the UMNO’s efforts to win back Malay vote in SG by criticising the PAP for not looking after the interests of the Malays
- Published a lot of misleading articles
Quote
”The PAP government was accused of oppressing the Singapore Malays and treating them as second-class citizens but at that meeting, no one raised any serious complaints. That meeting proved that Singapore Malays had no complaints against the PAP government.” - Ottoman Wok
- Met 900 Malay Representatives on 19 July 1964
- Pledged to help Malays
Internal Conflicts
1964 Racial Riots
- 21 July 1964
- 25000 Malays gather at the Padang to celebrate Prophet Mohammed’s Birthday
- Tensions between Chinese and Malay
- Island wide curfew from 9,30pm to 6am
- 23 dead, 454 injured
- Only lifted for short periods of time for people to buy food
- Completely lifted on 2 August 1964
- Goodwill committees set up after riots
- Made up of community leaders of various social groups
- Aimed to help restore harmony between races
- Both Lee Kuan Yew and Tun Razak (Malaysian DPM) toured the island to urge people not to be influenced by those attempting to cause disunity amongst races
- Seemed to calm things down
- Second riot however occurred on 2 September 1964
- Curfew also imposed
- By the time it was lifted 13 dead 106 injured
Aftermath
- Person who threw bottle was not identified
- Traced to Malay UMNO activists led by the UMNO secretary-general Ja’afar Albar
- Prior to riots, Ja’afar Albar had started a campaign accusing PAP of depriving malays of rights
Significance
- Peace and harmony in SG can be easily broken
- Curfew prevented things from getting completely out of hand
- Good amount of people who protected their neighbours of diff races
External Conflicts
Konfrontasi
- Embargo from Indonesia
- Let to unemployment
- Trade with other countries still continued
- However Indonesian agents set off bombs in Singapore
- 29 bombs by 1965
- Most serious: MacDonald House bombing killing 3 people and injuring 33 others
- Voluntary Vigilante Corps set up in April 1964 to help police and army defend SG
- 10000 people signed up
- Used CC as bases to patrol neighbourhoods
- Only ended in August 1966 after the new Indonesian government took over
Events Leading to the End
- PAP and Alliance promised to not raise anything racial in nature
- Alliance announced plans in October 1964 to contest in 1967 SG state election
- PAP response:
- Malaysian Solidarity Convention (MSC)
- Campaign for a Malaysian Malaysia where everybody would be treated equally regardless of race or religion
- Upset Alliance leaders as it seemed to question special rights of Malays
- Called for LKY’s arrest