SINGAPORE From Crown Colony to Independent Nation

1. Post-War Political Changes. in Singapore 2 1. Post-War Political Changes in Singapore 2. Post-War Political Changes in Malaysia 3. Malaysia 4. The Road to Merger 5. Negotiations and Points of Agreement 6. External Pressures 7. Formation of Malaysia 8. Trouble in Malaysia 9. Separation 10. Facing the Future

SINGAPORE SINGAPORE SINGAPORE SINGAPORE 1. Post-War Political Changes in Singapore British Reluctance to Grant Independence Communist Threat Defence of British Interest Economy A Non-Communal Party SINGAPORE SINGAPORE SINGAPORE SINGAPORE

1954 ANTI-NATIONAL SERVICE RIOT COMMUNIST THREAT

COMMUNIST THREAT 1955 HOCK LEE BUS RIOTS 1955 : 275 strikes in all One strike that turned violent was the Hock Lee Bus strike COMMUNIST THREAT

1955 HOCK LEE BUS RIOTS COMMUNIST THREAT

1956 SINGAPORE CHINESE MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS’ UNION RIOTS COMMUNIST THREAT

The Singapore Naval Base British Interests

2. POST-WAR POLITICAL CHANGES IN Malaysia The Malayan Union Scheme The Federation of Malaya Communal Based Political Parties

THE MALAYAN UNION Why a Malayan Union? Before WWII : British divided Malaya into the Federated and Unfederated Malay States, and the Straits Settlements Different degrees of British control MU a British initiative in Apr 1946 Remove the different degrees of control Create a united Malaya out of 9 states, Penang and Malacca Singapore was not included Creating a new united Malaya also meant transferring powers of Sultans to a new central authority, the British Governor

THE MALAYAN UNION Why a Malayan Union? Scheme also granted Malayan citizenship to a large number of non-Malays Previously, they were not given citizenship rights Allow Britain to recognise their contributions to the Malayan economy and their support during the war years

THE MALAYAN UNION Features of the MU 9 + 1 + 1 = Malayan Union Singapore was excluded. Why so special? Governor of Union has full powers, including veto Governor-General over Malaya, S’pore and Borneo Sultans - become Advisors; sit on Council of Rulers State Councils Executive and Legislative Councils Citizenship open to all races ie to large numbers of non-Malays who were not given citizenship rights previously Equal rights

THE MALAYAN UNION Implications of the Plan British Government took over the government Sultans would become figure-heads without any authority Citizenship would end the preferential status of the Malays

THE MALAYAN UNION Malay Opposition to the MU Criticisms over Citizenship non-Malays would enjoy the same rights as Malays Right to vote for an independent Malaya Position of Sultans weakened/threatened Special position of Malays in Malaya would be threatened if the Sultans’ powers were transferred to the British Governor Fear of Losing Malay Rights and privileges British high-handedness Threat to Malay traditional rights, status and position in Malaya

GUESS WHO? I was now in my early 20s and started what was to become a lifelong involvement in politics. I got together with my classmates and quietly we began agitating against the Malayan Union proposal. We were not allowed to be involved in political activity, so most of our work took place at night. Immediately after the war, the blackout of the town was still in effect, and we moved around in the middle of the night putting up posters with political messages. Our objectives were still very limited; all we were trying to do was to put an end to the Malayan Union and return to protectorate status. We were very young and had a lot to learn about organization, about campaigning and about how to rally people for public meetings. We had to devise ways of overcoming repression and a shortage of funds.

THE MALAYAN UNION Formation of UMNO Led to abolishment of the MU Formed in 1946 to oppose the MU scheme Led to abolishment of the MU

Establishment of the Federation of Malaya What event started in 1948 ? Establishment of the Federation of Malaya Feb 1948 British promised to prepare Malaya for self-govt and eventual independence Formation of UMNO

Dato Onn bin Jaafar

First President of UMNO Dato Onn’s Proposals common citizenship for Chinese and Indians UMNO membership for non-Malays Dato Onn bin Jaafar First President of UMNO

THE FEDERATION To obtain the support of the people, the British replaced the MU with the Federation of Malaya Agreement Restored some of the Sultans powers Introduced stricter conditions on citizenship, making it more difficult for non-Malays to qualify for Malayan citizenship Leaders of non-Malay communities were unhappy with the new terms of citizenship But unsuccessful in getting the British to change their plan UMNO’s success in getting the British to replace the MU strengthened its political position

P OLITICAL PARTIES

Communal-based political parties Malays look upon UMNO as the main political party to protect their rights and interests Dato Onn bin Jaafar tried to admit non-Malays as UMNO members The party did not support him Showed that UMNO was a communal party

Communal-based political parties Other races formed their own political parties along racial lines Malayan Chinese Association Malayan Indian Congress 1955 – these 3 parties came together to form the Alliance Party to contest the 1955 Malayan General Election

Tan Cheng Lock

Formed on 27 Feb 1949 Tan Cheng Lock - 1st President Aims : to protect Chinese rights and economic and political interests in Malaya to unite the Chinese against the communists to work with the govt and win its confidence that the Chinese were loyal to Malaya

the malayan indian congress Formed in 1946 Aim to protect the rights and interests of the Indians in Malaya

First Federal Elections 1955 UMNO-MCA-MIC Alliance Party 27 Jul 1955 - First Malayan National Elections AP won 51 out of 52 seats When Malaya achieved independence in 1957, Tunku Abdul Rahman (who replaced Dato Onn bin Jaafar) became Prime Minister of the Federation of Malaya

Merdeka 1957

INDEPENDENCE 1957 Federation of Malaya Agreement whereby Malaya would become an independent nation signed in KL on 5 Aug 1957 31 Aug 1957 - Malaya was proclaimed independent at a ceremony held in the Merdeka Stadium in KL

Merdeka Day

Monument of Independence

PRIME MINISTER Tengku Abdul Rahman

Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Ruler of Negri Sembilan Installed as the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong 2 Sep 1957 Malaya became a member of the Commonwealth Malaya became a member of the United Nations Organization on 17 Sep 1957

Communal-based political parties UMNO was the most important partner of the AP Before the 1959 GE, MCA leaders had demanded a greater number of seats in the Malayan Parliament Tunku threatened to contest the GE without MCA MCA dropped their demands

Communal-based political parties British policies in the post-war period led to a change in the political development in Malaya MU united the Malays into one strong political voice Made them aware of the differences between Malays and non-Malays

By 1959, Malaya and Singapore had different approaches to politics Malaya became independent in 1957 Singapore had self-government in 1959 The differences in approach to politics would be a source of future disagreements between both countries This was especially so when merger was considered by both sides

Merger with Malaya was one of the goals of Singapore’s earlier leaders, David Marshall and Lim Yew Hock When PAP contested the 1959 GE, merger was also one of its goals PAP even introduced policies to give Singapore a Malayan outlook Malay as national language Malay Singaporean, Yusof Ishak, as Head of State

Tunku did not welcome merger Regarded Singapore as a Chinese colony because of its large Chinese population Merger would pit 3.6m Chinese against 3.4m Malays This would reduce Malay political power and position in Malaysia Tunku also uneasy with the strong communist influence in Singapore Malaya strongly anti-communist because of Emergency

Some Chinese in Singapore still loyal to the PRC However, the Tunku was to change his mind on merger in 1961

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