Why a looser federation failed

Our guest reveals pioneer leaders’ differing views on Singapore’s Aug 9, 1965 split from Malaysia.

Synopsis: The Straits Times’ chief columnist Sumiko Tan speaks to Janadas Devan, senior adviser at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information, on how the The Albatross File: Inside Separation sheds fresh light on the decisions that led to Singapore’s independence.

Edited by Susan Sim, the 488-page volume is co-published by Straits Times Press and the National Archives of Singapore, and was launched by Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Dec 7 alongside an exhibition at the National Library.

Mr Janadas, who coordinated the book, explains that Singapore’s 1963 merger with Malaysia was fraught from the outset, with the 1964 race riots further straining ties. Finance Minister Dr Goh Keng Swee kept a private file he code-named “Albatross”, a reference to the bird in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s famous 1798 poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, symbolising the burden of the troubled merger.

Documents inside the file range from an early Cabinet memo by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to the final Separation Agreement, and includes Dr Goh’s handwritten notes of his meetings with Malaysian leaders.

Mr Janadas highlights how merger with Malaysia was a fundamental aim of Mr Lee’s People’s Action Party. It is something young Singaporeans today might find hard to understand, he acknowledges.

But the merger was problematic, and proposals for a looser federation eventually collapsed, derailed by unclear terms and British anxieties as Indonesia’s Confrontation was then raging.

Dr Goh led the talks for Singapore, navigating sensitive issues and political tensions. Within the Singapore leadership, views differed on whether Singapore should — or could — make it alone. Dr Goh pushed for going separate ways as the best option, while ministers Toh Chin Chye and S. Rajaratnam opposed separation once they learnt of it. Mr Lee was deeply torn, but ultimately authorised the move. Within a few years, Singapore's leaders concluded that Separation was the best outcome for Singapore.

Mr Janadas also reflects on his father, Mr Devan Nair, who was the only PAP MP voted into the Malaysian Parliament at the time. When the two sides separated, his father decided to stay on in Malaysia, only returning to Singapore in 1969.

Highlights (click/tap above):

5:11 The political climate of the 1960s

7:59 Why young Singaporeans may struggle to understand why the PAP pushed for merger with Malaysia

9:32 Early trouble after merger in 1963; Umno lost 3 seats it contested in Singapore GE to PAP’s Malay candidates

13:13 Was a looser federation ever an option?

17:23 The role of the British as Singapore and Malaysia leaders tried to work through their disagreements

18:35 What did Lee Kuan Yew mean by making life intolerable for the Malaysian leadership?

27:35 Diverging views: Lee always wanted a looser federation but Dr Goh felt separation was the answer

32:45 How Mrs Lee says that the closest her husband came to a nervous breakdown was August 9th, 1965

39:03 Janadas on how his father, Devan Nair, refused to accept Separation at first, before being convinced by Lee to eventually return

44:32 Do Singaporeans today underestimate how fragile the nation’s early years were?

Buy the book: The Albatross File: Inside Separation (Standard/Collector’s Editions) https://www.stbooks.sg/products/the-albatross-file-inside-separation-collectors-edition

Book tickets to the exhibition opening Dec 8 at the National Library Building: https://thealbatrossfile.nlb.gov.sg

Host: Sumiko Tan (sumiko@sph.com.sg)

Read Sumiko’s articles: https://str.sg/Jbhe 

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Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Executive producer: Ernest Luis

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