41 / 409
MERGER AND SEPARATION
25
TWO
Anthony Head, the British High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur, up to the very last moment
to prevent movement on the ground.
3
The separation was announced as a
fait accompli
on the
morning of the effective day itself, 9
th
August, 1965.
Nevertheless, there were those who felt that the Tunku had been soft, that a provocateur had
been allowed to get away scot-free and that a prize had been lost. Syed Ja’afar Hassan Albar
resigned from his current post as UMNO Secretary General in protest. Some in the security
services would have recommended alternative solutions, had it not been for the complication
of the massive presence of the British forces in Singapore. The situation was tense and many
people in Malaysia and Singapore were surprised that the Singapore Government had been let
off so lightly.
But it was a done deal. On the face of it, an orderly resolution of a potentially explosive
situation had been achieved. A Bill was passed in the Federal Parliament on Monday, 9
th
August, 1965, authenticating the decision to excise Singapore from Malaysia and abolishing
the sovereignty of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the powers of the Federal Parliament over
Singapore.
4
Article V “bound both parties to enter into a treaty on external defence and mutual
assistance which would provide for the creation of a Joint Defence Council; for Singapore
to afford reasonable and adequate assistance and contributing units of its own armed forces
for external defence; for Malaysia to continue to maintain and use for external defence, its
bases in Singapore; and for each party to undertake not to enter into any treaty or agreement
with a foreign country which may be detrimental to the independence or defence of the
territory of the other.”
5
There were also provisions for the continuation of existing terms
on the supply of water from Johor State to Singapore and the return to Singapore of all
territories under its sovereign administration prior to merger.
6
By 20
th
September, 41 nations
had directly recognised Singapore’s independence and Singapore’s application to the General
Assembly of the United Nations, jointly sponsored by Malaysia, Jordan and the Ivory Coast
was unanimously accepted and recommended by the UN Security Council. On 21
st
September,
Singapore was unanimously admitted to the Assembly.
7
In retrospect expulsion from Malaysia was probably the best thing that could have happened
to Singapore. Without being intended as such, the merger had established conclusively the
Singaporean way of life was culturally incompatible with Malaysian bumiputera policy.
Endnotes
1. Lau 2003, p. 11
2. Ibid., 241.
3. Ibid., 263.
4. Singapore Year Book 1965, p. 11
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid., 12.
7. Ibid., 16.