4 - Seeds of Separation

Summary

The Malaya-Singapore merger of September 1963 was attempted out of necessity by those who had different, if not, conflicting agendas. The fact that it foundered hardly two years later speaks volumes about the incompatibility of their interests. The seeds of separation were sown almost right from the days when the protagonists of the Federation of Malaysia, or pro-merger enthusiasts, set out to achieve their “common goals”.

Tunku Abdul Rahman's Malaysia proposal, of course, was a signal of significant shift in Malaya's Singapore policy, but it also constituted the basis of their conflict relations. While his cooperative stance enabled the full realization of the Malaysia plan, it too had brought about the proliferation of old conflicts, the eruption of new ones, and ultimately the creation of intramural crisis situations. The bargaining process that ensued and the diplomatic communication that developed before and after merger, apart from establishing Malaya's and Singapore's priority goals in the region, evinces the different contextual features which governed their relationship.

THE SETTING

The unification of Malaya and Singapore was apparently a pre-condition laid down by the British for the establishment of Malaysia, and as such, it was no easy matter for Tunku Abdul Rahman who had set his sight on just the Borneo territories to come to terms with it. In case of non-compliance, Malaya might not have its way.

The Malayan Premier had consistently argued against merger in the past. However, after May 1961, it became clear that Kuala Lumpur's response was increasingly becoming disproportionate to Singapore's actions, in terms of its willingness to accommodate the semi-independent territory and what went with it. Since Tunku Abdul Rahman was faced with a fait accompli, as noted above, the atmosphere surrounding Malaya's approach to the merger issue must therefore be seen as a contributory factor for the eruption of several intramural crises themselves. Firstly, both sides, while simultaneously acting as merger-savers and path-takers, were driven into various bargaining frameworks under increasing pressure of time. Secondly, the promise of union, with all its attendant benefits, induced many non-accommodative tendencies in Singapore, in particular, and as events spiralled out of control, the conflicting parties became caught in not just ordinary verbal bargaining, but also a contest of wills.