Singapore from Temasek to the 21st Century: Reinventing the Global City

10. The Malayan Trajectory in Singapore’s History

243 ฀ 10 The฀Malayan฀Trajectory฀in฀Singapore’s฀ History Karl฀Hack C H A P T E R “I฀do฀not฀believe฀that฀Singapore฀could฀survive฀as฀an฀independent฀island฀ state.” Lee฀Kuan฀Yew,฀Singapore฀Legislative฀Debates฀[SLAD]฀2,฀15฀฀ (5฀December฀1956),฀col.฀1089. “We฀ of฀ Singapore฀ look฀ forward฀ to฀ the฀ day฀ when฀ our฀ strength฀ will฀ be฀ added฀ to฀ your฀ strength,฀ and฀ our฀ separation฀ will฀ be฀ ended฀ …฀ MERDEKA.” Singapore฀Chief฀Minister฀Lim฀Yew฀Hock฀proposing฀congratulations฀฀ to฀the฀Federation,฀Singapore฀Legislative฀Debates฀[SLAD]฀2,฀35฀฀ (21฀August฀1957),฀col.฀2493. “Singapore฀has฀always฀been,฀and฀still฀is,฀an฀integral฀and฀inseparable฀part฀ of฀ Malaya.฀ As฀ such,฀ it฀ is฀ not,฀ and฀ can฀ never฀ be฀ independent฀ …฀The฀ Malayan฀people฀are฀Malayans,฀not฀so-called฀Singaporeans฀and฀so-called฀ Malaysians฀…” The฀Plebeian฀[Barisan฀Sosialis฀paper],฀25฀August฀1967. 10฀SS21c.indd฀฀฀243 8/30/10฀฀฀9:40:27฀AM 244฀ Karl฀Hack Most฀stories฀have฀a฀beginning,฀middle,฀and฀end.฀In฀the฀modern฀history฀of฀ Singapore,฀however,฀the฀middle฀seems฀to฀have฀gone฀missing.฀In฀the฀1970s,฀ the฀ beginning฀ of฀ Singapore’s฀ “modern”฀ history฀ could฀ still฀ be฀ presented฀ as฀ part฀ of฀ a฀ Straits฀ Settlements฀ Story,฀ as฀ in฀ Mary฀Turnbull’s฀ The฀ Straits฀ Settlements฀1826–67:฀Indian฀Presidency฀to฀Crown฀Colony฀(London:฀Athlone฀ Press,฀ 1972),฀ and฀ Chang฀ Hai฀ Ding’s฀ Straits฀ Settlements฀ Foreign฀ Trade฀ (Singapore:฀ National฀ Museum,฀ 1978).฀ This฀ reflected฀ the฀ reality฀ of฀ the฀ majority฀of฀Singapore’s฀post-1819฀history.฀The฀island฀was฀administered฀as฀ a฀ dependency฀ of฀ Sir฀ Stamford฀ Raffles’฀ factory฀ at฀ Bencoolen฀ from฀ 1819– 1824,฀ separately฀ under฀ Calcutta฀ until฀ 1826,฀ then฀ alongside฀ Penang฀ and฀ Malacca฀as฀part฀of฀the฀Straits฀Settlements฀Presidency.฀This฀last฀answered฀ to฀ the฀ East฀ India฀ Company’s฀ government฀ in฀ India.฀ Despite฀ Singapore฀ becoming฀ the฀ administrative฀ seat฀ of฀ the฀ Presidency฀ in฀ 1832,฀ its฀ judicial฀ centre฀remained฀in฀Penang฀until฀1854.฀The฀Straits฀Settlements฀became฀a฀ crown฀ colony฀ in฀ 1867,฀ but฀ remained฀ distinct฀ from฀ the฀ Malay฀ Sultanates฀ on฀the฀mainland,฀and฀from฀the฀British฀protectorates฀on฀Borneo.฀Most฀of฀ post-1819฀“Singapore”฀history฀was฀thus฀part฀of฀a฀Straits฀Settlements฀Story,฀ with฀the฀three฀territories฀under฀one฀set฀of฀legal,฀administrative฀and฀judicial฀ structures.฀This฀cosmopolitan฀Straits฀Settlements฀period,฀before฀the฀massive฀ increase฀in฀Chinese฀immigration฀from฀the฀1870s฀turned฀Singapore฀into฀a฀ society฀ mainly฀ of฀ male฀ Chinese฀ sojourners,฀ was฀ the฀ one฀ that฀ established฀ Singapore฀as฀a฀free฀trading฀world฀city.฀ Speed฀forward฀to฀the฀histories฀of฀the฀1980s.฀Independence฀had฀come,฀ unwanted,฀ on฀ 9฀ August฀ 1965.฀ We฀ now฀ find฀ that฀ the฀ Straits฀ Settlements฀ Story฀ was฀ replaced฀ by฀ a฀ Singapore฀ Story฀ more฀ fitted฀ to฀ the฀ needs฀ of฀ statehood,฀of฀being฀us-not-them฀(not-Malaysians).฀Now฀books฀increasingly฀ assumed฀a฀teleology฀in฀which฀what฀went฀before฀1965฀was฀measured฀by฀how฀ it฀led฀to฀an฀independent฀Singapore.฀Turnbull’s฀next฀major฀work฀was฀her฀A฀ History฀ of฀ Singapore,฀ 1819–1975.฀ Lee฀ Kuan฀ Yew’s฀ memoirs,฀ published฀ in฀ 1998,฀were฀called฀The฀Singapore฀Story:฀Memoirs฀of฀Lee฀Kuan฀Yew.฀ History฀ had฀ skipped฀ from฀ the฀ “Straits฀ Settlements฀ Story”฀ to฀ the฀ “Singapore฀Story”.฀The฀Malayan฀trajectory฀had฀become฀truncated฀to฀1961– 1965.฀Now฀the฀“Malaysia”฀idea฀appeared฀as฀if฀sprung฀on฀an฀unsuspecting฀ Singapore฀public฀by฀Malaya’s฀premier,฀Tunku฀Abdul฀Rahman,฀in฀May฀1961,฀ with฀realisation฀at฀the฀foundation฀of฀Malaysia฀on฀16฀September฀1963.฀In฀ this฀ story,฀ the฀ idea฀ comes฀ just฀ in฀ time฀ to฀ save฀ a฀ People’s฀ Action฀ Party฀ (PAP)฀ leadership฀ terrified฀ that฀ its฀ left-wing฀ might฀ otherwise฀ triumph.฀ It฀ plays฀ the฀ function฀ of฀ flushing฀ that฀ left-wing฀ out,฀ into฀ the฀ new฀ Barisan฀ Sosialis฀party,฀and฀of฀defeating฀them฀politically฀in฀the฀merger฀referendum฀ 10฀SS21c.indd฀฀฀244 8/30/10฀฀฀9:40:28฀AM The฀Malayan฀Trajectory฀in฀Singapore’s฀History฀ 245 of฀September฀1962.฀Malaysia฀is฀then฀undermined฀by฀Malay฀“ultras”฀from฀ the฀mainland฀whose฀reckless฀campaigning฀in฀Singapore฀sparks฀racial฀riots฀ in฀July฀and฀September฀1964.฀ In฀ this฀ story,฀ the฀ PAP฀ is฀ all฀ but฀ forced฀ to฀ abandon฀ a฀ gentlemen’s฀ agreement฀for฀Singapore฀and฀Malaya฀not฀to฀meddle฀in฀each฀other’s฀politics,฀ leading฀ it฀ to฀ market฀ its฀ meritocratic฀ “Malaysian฀ Malaysia”฀ vision฀ to฀ the฀ peninsula,฀ in฀ combination฀ with฀ opposition฀ parties฀ from฀ across฀ Malaysia.฀ This฀in฀turn฀causes฀alienation฀from฀UMNO฀in฀1964–1965.฀Singapore฀duly฀ leaves฀Malaysia฀on฀9฀August฀1965.฀The฀British฀are฀seen,฀correctly฀for฀1959– 1965,฀ as฀ significant฀ but฀ limited฀ players.฀ They฀ hold฀ the฀ Singapore฀ bases,฀ and฀ through฀ Singapore’s฀ Internal฀ Security฀ Committee฀ (ISC,฀ with฀ three...