Singapore separation
On 9 August 1965 Singapore ceased to be a state of Malaysia, less than two years after joining, and this page sets out the documents, dates and actors involved, the constitutional and economic disputes that preceded it, the direct effects on federal politics, and the parts of the story that Malaysian and Singaporean accounts still tell differently.
what happened
Malaysia was formed on 16 September 1963 by joining the Federation of Malaya with Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore. Five days later Singapore held a state election in which the PAP won 37 of 51 seats, and the following year the PAP crossed to the peninsula, contesting nine seats in the 1964 federal election and winning one, Bangsar. Less than two years after formation, on 7 August 1965, the two governments signed an agreement at Kuala Lumpur providing that Singapore would cease to be a state of Malaysia on 9 August 1965 and become an independent and sovereign state, recognised as such by Malaysia. The agreement is short. It names itself the Independence of Singapore Agreement, sets the date, and requires Malaysia to proclaim the separation and to secure an Act of Parliament giving it effect.
That Act — the Constitution and Malaysia (Singapore Amendment) Act, 1965 — did the legal work. It stated that Parliament "may by this Act allow Singapore to leave Malaysia", that the Constitution of Malaysia would cease to have effect in Singapore, that Singapore's two Senators and fifteen Members of Parliament would cease to sit, and that a citizen of Singapore would cease to be a citizen of Malaysia. Other clauses kept things running: a defence treaty, continued economic co-operation, and mutual guarantees that the 1961 and 1962 Johore water agreements would be honoured. The Bill was moved by the Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, on a certificate of urgency and passed on 9 August 1965 without a dissenting vote. Singapore was admitted to the United Nations on 21 September 1965 and joined the Commonwealth that October.
Behind the documents was a dispute about what kind of country Malaysia would be, and a set of unfinished economic bargains. The common market that had been a condition of Singapore's entry was never created, and Singapore's net contribution to federal finances — about $13 million in 1964 by one contemporaneous assessment — was expected to rise. Currency and central banking were left unresolved even by separation: the two countries only issued separate currencies on 12 June 1967, and Malaysia ended the interchangeability of the two currencies at par on 8 May 1973. On the constitutional side, in May 1965 five parties including Singapore's PAP formed the Malaysian Solidarity Convention at Sri Temasek around the phrase "Malaysian Malaysia". Lee Kuan Yew put his side of it plainly on 30 May 1965: a Malaysia "in which all Malaysians regardless of race, language, religion, share equally in the opportunities of life", and the question "Are we Malaysians or are we Malays?" The Alliance side, in the Tunku's own words after separation, was that the differences between the Singapore state government and the federal government "had become so acrimonious that I decided that it was best that Singapore went its own way. Otherwise there was no hope for peace." The Alliance also set out its answer in print: a 1965 party pamphlet written by the Home Affairs Minister, Dr Ismail bin Dato Abdul Rahman, argued that the PAP's approach came from governing a Singapore where the Chinese were the majority, that it did not fit a Malaysia where the Alliance held that the imbalance between Malays and non-Malays still had to be corrected, and that pressing it would worsen communal tension. Article 153, which provides for the special position of the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak, was among the subjects in dispute. This page does not adjudicate between the two positions.
Separately, the year before, communal rioting broke out in Singapore on 21 July 1964, with further incidents over the following three days. The UK Government told the House of Lords on 29 July 1964 that total casualties were "21 dead and about 460 injured"; later accounts commonly give 23 dead and 454 injured. Explanations of what caused the rioting differed at the time and still differ: the official statement pointed to an incident during a procession marking the Prophet's birthday, while a peer in the same debate asked about possible Indonesian involvement, which the Minister could not confirm.
The separation itself was arranged quickly and in private. The Tunku, in London and unwell, wrote to Acting Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak on 1 July 1965 raising the possibility; Goh Keng Swee met Razak in Kuala Lumpur in mid-July, and on 20 July it was settled with Razak and Dr Ismail that the constitutional amendments would be made by 9 August and that E.W. Barker would prepare a draft. The Tunku approved the draft Bills at an emergency Cabinet meeting on 6 August and the agreement was signed the next day. Whether Singapore was expelled or left of its own accord remains genuinely disputed, and Malaysian and Singaporean accounts do not agree: Mushahid Ali, writing for Singapore's RSIS in 2015, reads the record as showing the Tunku initiated the move and Singapore was therefore forced out, while the same sequence of Goh's approaches is read by others as Singapore seeking to go. Lee Kuan Yew's own memoirs supply one participant's version of the June 1965 talks. Readers should treat the reasons as contested and the sequence of meetings as the evidence each side draws on.
the working
What the sources say
established
Malaysia was established on 16 September 1963 by "a federation of the existing states of the Federation of Malaya and the States of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore into one independent and sovereign nation".
Recital of the Agreement relating to the separation of Singapore from Malaysia · RSIS Commentary No. 178/2015
established
The Separation Agreement was signed at Kuala Lumpur on 7 August 1965 between the Government of Malaysia and the Government of Singapore, and registered with the United Nations by Singapore on 1 June 1966.
established
Article I of the Agreement provides: "This Agreement may be cited as the Independence of Singapore Agreement, 1965." Article II provides that "Singapore shall cease to be a State of Malaysia on the 9th day of August, 1965, (hereinafter referred to as 'Singapore Day') and shall become an independent and sovereign state separate from and independent of Malaysia and recognised as such by the Government of Malaysia".
established
Section 1 of the Act annexed to the Agreement gives its short title as the Constitution and Malaysia (Singapore Amendment) Act, 1965; section 2 states: "Parliament may by this Act allow Singapore to leave Malaysia and become an independent and sovereign state and nation separate from and independent of Malaysia"; and section 3 provides that Singapore "shall thereupon become an independent and sovereign state and nation separate from and independent of Malaysia... and accordingly the Constitution of Malaysia and the Malaysia Act shall thereupon cease to have effect in Singapore except as hereinafter provided."
established
Section 11 provides that "The two Senators and fifteen Members of Parliament from Singapore shall on Singapore Day cease to be members of the Senate and the House of Representatives respectively", and section 12 that "A citizen of Singapore shall on Singapore Day cease to be a citizen of Malaysia."
established
The Agreement was signed for Malaysia by Tunku Abdul Rahman (Prime Minister), Tun Abdul Razak (Deputy Prime Minister), Dato Dr Ismail bin Dato Abdul Rahman (Home Affairs), Tan Siew Sin (Finance) and Dato V.T. Sambanthan; and for Singapore by ten ministers: Lee Kuan Yew (Prime Minister), Toh Chin Chye (Deputy Prime Minister), Goh Keng Swee (Finance), E.W. Barker (Law), S. Rajaratnam (Culture), Othman Wok (Social Affairs), Ong Pang Boon (Education), Yong Nyuk Lin (Health), Lim Kim San (National Development) and Jek Yuen Thong (Labour).
established
The Agreement also required a proclamation by Malaysia (Annex A), a treaty on external defence and mutual assistance (Article V), continued economic co-operation (Article VI), and mutual guarantees that the 1961 and 1962 water agreements between Singapore and the State of Johore would continue to be honoured (Annex B, section 14).
established
A Singapore state general election was held on 21 September 1963, five days after Malaysia was formed, for the 51 seats of the Legislative Assembly; the PAP won 37 seats, the Barisan Sosialis 13, and the United People's Party one.
National Library Board Singapore · Singapore Elections archive
established
The PAP then contested the 1964 Malaysian federal general election on the peninsula, held on 25 April 1964, standing in nine seats and winning one, Bangsar, taken by C.V. Devan Nair.
established
Five parties — the PAP of Singapore, the United Democratic Party and People's Progressive Party from the peninsula, and the Sarawak United People's Party and Machinda Party — formed the Malaysian Solidarity Convention at Sri Temasek on 9 May 1965 and campaigned for a "Malaysian Malaysia".
National Library Board Singapore · Remembering · RSIS Commentary No. 178/2015
established
Lee Kuan Yew spoke in the federal Parliament on 27 May 1965, in English and Malay, on what the Singapore government's own retrospective account calls "the inadequacies of race-based politics".
established
Lee Kuan Yew, in his own words on 30 May 1965, described the concept as building "a Malaysian Malaysia, a Malaysia in which all Malaysians regardless of race, language, religion, share equally in the opportunities of life," and asked, "Are we Malaysians or are we Malays? Because I can't be a Malay. I can be a Malaysian."
established
Tunku Abdul Rahman, in his own words at a press conference after the Separation Act passed, said: "It was my idea that Singapore should leave the federation and be independent. The differences between the state government of Singapore and the central government of Malaysia had become so acrimonious that I decided that it was best that Singapore went its own way. Otherwise there was no hope for peace."
established
The Tunku is also recorded as concluding, while in London in mid-1965: "There would be no end to the bickering with Singapore except perhaps if Mr Lee Kuan Yew is made Prime Minister in the real sense of the word."
established
The Reid Commission recommended in 1957 that the quotas and preferences reserved for Malays be continued for 15 years and that "after 15 years there should be a review of the quotas and preferences" by the appropriate legislature. Article 153 of the Federal Constitution as enacted, which provides for the special position of the Malays and (from 1963) the natives of Sabah and Sarawak, contains no such time limit or review requirement.
Report of the Federation of Malaya Constitutional Commission 1957 (Colonial No. 330) · Federal Constitution
alleged
The special position of the Malays was one of the subjects in dispute between the two governments, and each side put its case publicly. On the PAP side, Lee Kuan Yew's speeches for a "Malaysian Malaysia" are quoted above in his own words; a US National Intelligence Estimate of December 1965 summarised the PAP as having "sought a noncommunal nation, arguing that the constitutional privileges of the Malays should be progressively curtailed". That summary is a foreign intelligence assessment, not a PAP statement.
established
On the Alliance side, the party published its own answer to "Malaysian Malaysia" in 1965 in a pamphlet, *Pendapat Parti Perikatan Tentang Konsep Malaysia Bagi Rakyat Malaysia*, written by the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Ismail bin Dato Abdul Rahman. An academic study of the period summarises its argument as: that the PAP approach was drawn from governing Singapore, where the Chinese were the majority community and communal imbalance was not the problem it was in Malaysia; that it was therefore unsuited to Malaysia, where in the Alliance's view the imbalance between Malays and non-Malays still had to be corrected; and that pressing it would worsen communal tension.
established
The same study records that at the UMNO General Assembly on 16 May 1965 Tunku Abdul Rahman resisted calls from within the Malay community to detain Lee Kuan Yew, saying that to act against Lee would mean restricting freedom of speech, and that Alliance ministers decided to oppose Lee politically rather than by arrest.
established
The common market that had been agreed as a condition of Singapore's entry into Malaysia was not established: the same US National Intelligence Estimate records that "a common market — which had been a precondition of Singapore's entry into Malaysia — was not created," and that no effective steps had been taken to co-ordinate industrial policy or economic planning.
established
Singapore's fiscal contribution to the federation was a live dispute: the same estimate records that during 1964 "Singapore made a net contribution to the federal government of about $13 million, and was expected to contribute a larger amount in 1965."
established
Currency and central banking were not resolved by separation: Malaysia and Singapore continued to share the Malaya and British Borneo dollar after 1965 and negotiated over whether Bank Negara Malaysia would issue for both. The separation of the currencies then happened in stages. On 12 June 1967 the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Malaya and British Borneo handed over its issuing powers and Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei each began issuing its own currency, signing a Currency Interchangeability Agreement under which the three currencies remained exchangeable at par. On 8 May 1973 the Malaysian government announced that the Singapore dollar would no longer be interchangeable at par with Malaysian currency, and on 22 May 1973 the Brunei Currency Board ended interchangeability with Malaysian currency; the Brunei-Singapore arrangement continues.
Bank Negara Malaysia · Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam · Monetary Authority of Singapore · Wilson · NIE 54/59-65
established
Communal rioting broke out in Singapore on 21 July 1964, with sporadic incidents on the following three days.
established
The UK Government told the House of Lords on 29 July 1964: "Total casualties are reported to have been 21 dead and about 460 injured."
established
The separation was negotiated in secret over roughly five weeks: Tunku Abdul Rahman, in London and unwell, wrote to Acting Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak on 1 July 1965 raising separation; Goh Keng Swee met Razak in Kuala Lumpur in mid-July and again with Razak and Dr Ismail on 20 July, when it was agreed that the constitutional amendments would be made by 9 August and that E.W. Barker would prepare a draft; the Tunku held an emergency meeting of core Cabinet members on 6 August to approve the draft Bills; the Agreement was signed on 7 August.
established
The Constitution and Malaysia (Singapore Amendment) Bill was moved by the Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, on a certificate of urgency and passed all its readings in the Dewan Rakyat on 9 August 1965 without a dissenting vote.
established
Separation was effected by Malaysia's Parliament amending the Constitution and ratifying the Agreement, and was announced in Singapore by a Proclamation of Independence read by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew over Radio Singapore.
established
Singapore was admitted to the United Nations on 21 September 1965, the Security Council having recommended admission by resolution 213 (1965) adopted unanimously on 20 September 1965.
United Nations · UN Digital Library record for Security Council resolution 213 (1965)
established
Singapore joined the Commonwealth in October 1965. Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs states: "Singapore joined the Commonwealth in October 1965 after gaining independence, and regularly participates in the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGM)."
established
The Dewan Rakyat Hansard for 9 August 1965 records the division on the separation legislation as 126 votes in favour, none against and one abstention.
uncertain
No digitised primary copy of the Alliance’s 1965 pamphlet *Pendapat Parti Perikatan Tentang Konsep Malaysia Bagi Rakyat Malaysia* was located; an academic source identifies the pamphlet and summarises its purpose, but is not a substitute for its full text.
established
The official Dewan Rakyat Hansard is publicly available and records parliamentary debate about Singapore and “Malaysian Malaysia”; this establishes the availability of the parliamentary record, not the content of unpublished UMNO party records.
established
The Malaysian Solidarity Convention’s 9 May 1965 Declaration by its conveners is publicly documented as appearing in English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil; the National Museum of Singapore describes it as backing a “Malaysian Malaysia” in which citizens were equal regardless of race.
National Museum of Singapore · National University of Singapore Libraries
established
No final official inquiry report on the 1964 Singapore disturbances was located; a National Archives of Singapore transcript records Lee Kuan Yew stating that the proposed commission of inquiry “was never held”.
established
Singapore’s representatives ceased to sit in Malaysia’s Parliament on separation, and GE3 in 1969 was contested for 144 seats; the extent to which this institutional change affected later party competition is an analytical question rather than a measurable single effect.
where accounts differ
The parts nobody agrees on
contested
Whether Singapore was expelled or chose to leave is the central disputed question. Mushahid Ali, writing for RSIS in 2015, argues that "it was Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman who initiated the move to 'hive off' Singapore" and that this "confirms that Singapore was forced to leave Malaysia at the Tunku's behest". He acknowledges other scholars argue Singapore sought to secede.
contested
On the same account, Goh Keng Swee is recorded as having proposed to Tun Abdul Razak and Dr Ismail that Singapore leave Malaysia and become an independent state, and later as saying Lee Kuan Yew favoured secession and that it should be done quickly. Whether this makes the initiative Singaporean or merely the execution of the Tunku's prior decision is the point in dispute.
uncertain
The date of Goh Keng Swee's first approach to Razak differs between accounts: RSIS gives 13 July 1965, while NLB's BiblioAsia account gives 15 July 1965. Both agree on a second meeting with Razak and Ismail on 20 July.
alleged
The account of the 29 June 1965 Razak-Lee meeting rests on Lee Kuan Yew's memoirs, *The Singapore Story*, in which he states that Razak went back on an earlier willingness to consider a looser arrangement and insisted on Singapore's capitulation in political activity, defence, foreign affairs, security and finance. This is one participant's recollection.
uncertain
Reports that the federal government proposed raising Singapore's share of federal revenue from 40 to 60 per cent in 1964-65, and that Finance Minister Tan Siew Sin pressed the point in December 1964, circulate widely, but no contemporaneous record for them — a federal budget statement, a Hansard passage or a dated newspaper report — could be located for this page. The figures should not be relied on until such a record is found.
contested
The causes of the July 1964 disturbances are disputed and were disputed at the time. The UK Government statement of 29 July 1964 attributed the outbreak to "an incident involving a procession held in connection with Mahomet's birthday"; in the same debate a peer raised the possibility of Indonesian involvement, which the Minister said he could not confirm.
uncertain
Casualty figures for July 1964 differ between sources. The contemporaneous UK official figure, given eight days after the outbreak, was 21 dead and about 460 injured; the Singapore government's own retrospective accounts give 23 dead and 454 injured.
alleged
The characterisation that the "Malaysian Malaysia" campaign "infuriated the ruling Alliance... especially the dominant United Malays National Organisation", and that some in the ruling parties accused the PAP of treason and called for Lee's arrest, is Mushahid Ali's, not a quoted contemporaneous UMNO statement.