The self-governance of Singapore was carried out in several stages. Since the founding of Singapore in 1819, Singapore had been under the colonial rule of the British. The first local elections on a limited scale for several positions in the government of Singapore started in 1948 following an amendment to the Constitution of Singapore.
This was further amended with the Rendel Constitution, strengthening local representation. Singapore was granted full internal self-government in 1959, but the colonial administration still controlled external relations and shared control of several key internal policies such as internal security.
The Singapore Progressive Party (SPP), a political party with a progressive platform of working with the British for gradual reform and self-governance, won half of the seats. This was technically a plurality, as independent candidates won the other three: the SPP became the ruling party of the local representation. The majority of seats were still appointed by the colonial administration.
However, the early political leaders in Singapore did not press for self-government. These early leaders were organised into two main parties, the Malayan Democratic Union (MDU) and the SPP. The MDU wanted Singapore to join the Federation of Malaya. The SPP wanted eventual self-government, but was too comfortable with the existing situation of cooperating with the British colonial government to set a target date.
The period after the war saw a political awakening amongst the local populace and the rise of anti-colonial and nationalist sentiments, epitomised by the slogan Merdeka, or "independence" in the Malay language. An important anti-colonial incident was the Maria Hertogh riots.
The British, on their part, were prepared to embark on a program of gradually increasing self-governance for Singapore and Malaya,[1] although the British wanted to retain control of Singapore because of Singapore’s important port facilities and resources of rubber.
The prospects for self-government or independence for Singapore was initially deemed to be less than optimistic. Within Singapore itself, there was little demand for self-government, let alone independence. The communists were the only group that wanted the British to leave, and the communist party was illegal. In fact, the independence movement led by the communists convinced non-communists that British presence was needed to prevent the communists from taking over the government.
In 1953, a British Commission, headed by Sir George Rendel, proposed a limited form of self-government for Singapore. A new Legislative Assembly with twenty-five out of thirty-two seats chosen by popular election would replace the Legislative Council, from which a Chief Minister as head of government and Council of Ministers as a cabinet would be picked under a parliamentary system. The British would retain control over areas such as internal security and foreign affairs, as well as veto power over legislation.
The 1955 election for the Legislative Assembly held on 2 April 1955 was a lively and closely fought affair, with several newly formed political parties joining the fray. Unlike previous elections, voters were automatically registered, expanding the electorate to around 300,000. The SPP was soundly defeated in the election, winning only four seats. The newly formed, left-leaning Labour Front was the biggest winner with ten seats and it formed a coalition government with the UMNO-MCA Alliance, which won two seats.[1] Another new party, the leftistPeople's Action Party (PAP), won three seats.
Partial internal self-government (1955–1959)
The leader of the Labour Front, David Marshall, became the first Chief Minister of Singapore. He presided over a shaky government, receiving little co-operation from either the colonial government or the other local parties. In May 1955, the Hock Lee Bus Riots broke out, killing four people, and seriously discredited Marshall's government.[2] The Chinese Middle School riots broke out in 1956 among students in schools such as the Chinese High School, further increasing the tension between the local government and the Chinese students and unionists who were perceived.
In April 1956, Marshall led a delegation to London to negotiate for complete self-rule in the Merdeka Talks, but the talks fell through due to British concerns about communist influence and unrest and labour strikes from workers and from trade unions which were undermining Singapore's economic stability. Marshall continued to pressure the British, before declaring that if the British did not give Singapore self-rule, he would resign. However, the British were unrelenting and wanted to retain important control over Singapore's internal security. Marshall resigned following the failure of the talk. His successor as Chief Minister, Lim Yew Hock, launched a crackdown on communist and leftist groups, imprisoning many trade union leaders and several pro-communist members of the PAP under the Internal Security Act.[3]
The British government approved of Lim's tough stance against communist agitators, and when a new round of talks was held beginning 11 March 1957, they were amenable to granting almost complete self-government, only retaining control over external security, and allowing internal security to be an area of shared responsibility between the local government and them.
When the talks concluded on 11 April, it was agreed that a State of Singapore would be created, with its own citizenship . Singapore Citizenship Ordinance 1957 which commenced on 1 November 1957 provided Singaporean citizenship to all people who were born in Singapore (except children of diplomats and enemy aliens). People who were born in the Federation of Malaya or citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies who had been resident for two years, and others who had been resident for eight years were able to register or naturalise as Singaporean citizen. The Legislative Assembly would be expanded to fifty-one members, entirely chosen by popular election, and the Prime Minister and Cabinet would control all aspects of government except defence and foreign affairs. On 1 August 1958, the State of Singapore Act would be given royal assent after having been passed by the Parliament on 24 July, providing for the establishment of the State of Singapore.
The British-appointed Governor was to be replaced by a Yang di-Pertuan Negara, to represent Queen Elizabeth II, who remained titular head of state.[4] The British government would be represented by a Commissioner, who had responsibility for defence and foreign policy, apart from trade and cultural relations, and would preside over an Internal Security Council, consisting of three members from the United Kingdom, three from Singapore (including the Prime Minister) and one from the Federation of Malaya.[5]
Full internal self-government (1959–1963)
Elections for the new Legislative Assembly were held in May 1959. This time round, the PAP swept the election, winning forty-three of the fifty-one seats. They had accomplished this by courting the Chinese-speaking majority, particularly those in the labour unions and radical student organisations. The leader of the PAP, Lee Kuan Yew, became the first Prime Minister of Singapore.
The PAP's victory was viewed with dismay by foreign and local business leaders. Although Lee and the other leaders of the PAP hailed from the "moderate" wing of the party, many of the other members were staunchly pro-communist. Many businesses promptly shifted their headquarters from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur.[3]
Despite these ill omens, the PAP government embarked on a vigorous program to address Singapore's various economic and social problems. The plan for the economy was overseen by the capable Goh Keng Swee, the new Minister of Finance, whose strategy was to encourage foreign and local investment using a wide variety of measures, ranging from low tax rates and tax holidays to the establishment of a new industrial estate in the Jurong area.[3]
At the same time, the education system was revamped with the goal of suiting the workforce to the needs of employers; more technical and vocational schools were established, and English was promoted over Chinese as a language of instruction. The long-standing problem of labour unrest was suppressed by consolidating existing labour unions, sometimes forcibly, into a single umbrella organisation, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), which was closely affiliated with the government.[3]
On the social front, an attack was launched on the long-standing housing problem by an aggressive and well-funded public housing program, overseen by the Housing and Development Board (HDB). Headed by the banker and industrialist Lim Kim San, the HDB constructed more than 5,000 high-rise, low-cost apartments during its first two years of operation.[3]
Despite their successes in governing Singapore, the leaders of the PAP, including Lee and Goh, believed that Singapore's future lay with Malaya. They felt that the historical and economic ties between Singapore and Malaya were too strong for them to continue as separate nations, and campaigned vigorously for a merger. On the other hand, the sizeable pro-communist wing of the PAP were strongly opposed to the merger, fearing a loss of influence; the government in Kuala Lumpur, headed by ruling party United Malays National Organisation, was staunchly anti-communist, and would support the PAP in such an event against them.[3]
The UMNO leaders were also sceptical of the idea; there was some distrust of the PAP government, and some were concerned that a merger with Singapore, with its large urban Chinese population, would alter the racial balance on which their political power base depended. The issue came to a head in 1961, when Ong Eng Guan, a long-standing member of the PAP, stormed out of the party and beat a PAP candidate in a subsequent by-election, a move that threatened to bring down Lee's government.[3]
Faced with the prospect of a takeover by the pro-communist wing of the PAP, UMNO did an about-face on the merger. On 27 May, Malaya's Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, mooted the idea of Malaysia, comprising the existing Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Brunei and the British Borneo territories of Sabah and Sarawak. They held to the idea that the additional Malay population in the Borneo territories would offset Singapore's Chinese population.[3]
The Malaysia proposal ignited the long-brewing conflict between the moderates and pro-communists in the PAP. The pro-communists, led by Lim Chin Siong, left the PAP to form a new opposition party, the Barisan Sosialis (Socialist Front), to campaign against entry into Malaysia under the conditions that the PAP wished. In response, Lee called for a referendum on the merger, to be held in September 1962, and initiated a vigorous campaign in advocation of their proposal of merger, possibly aided by the fact that the government had a large influence over the media.
The referendum did not have an option of objecting to the idea of merger because no one had raised the issue in the Legislative Assembly before then. However, the method of merger had been debated, by the PAP, Singapore People's Alliance and the Barisian Sosialis, each with their own proposals. The referendum was called therefore, was to resolve this issue.
The referendum called had three options. Singapore could join Malaysia, but would be granted full autonomy and only with fulfilment of conditions to guarantee that, which was option A. The second option, option B, called for full integration into Malaysia without such autonomy, with the status of any other state in Malaysia. The third option, option C, was to enter Malaysia "on terms no less favourable than the Borneo territories", noting the motive of why Malaysia proposed the Borneo territories to join as well.
Referendum on joining Malaysia
After the referendum was held, the option A received 70% of the votes in the referendum, with 26% of the ballots left blank as advocated by the Barisan Sosialis to protest against option A. The other two plans received less than two percent each.
On 9 July 1963, the leaders of Singapore, Malaya, Sabah , Sarawak and United Kingdom signed the Malaysia Agreement to establish the Malaysia which was planned to come into being on 31 August. Tengku Abdul Rahman later changed the date to 16 September to allow United Nations to complete a survey with people of Sabah and Sarawak on the merger.[3]
On 31 August, Singapore declared its independence from the United Kingdom, with Yusof bin Ishak as the head of state (Yang di-Pertuan Negara) and Lee Kuan Yew as prime minister; sixteen days later, Singapore would join the Federation of Malaysia.
Singapore held polls for a general election as a state of Malaysia five days after the merger in the 1963 state elections on 21 September 1963. The PAP won 71% of the seats, defeating the Barisan Sosialis, but their popular vote had slipped to 46.9%.
The difficulties of merger
Due to worsening PAP-UMNO relations, Singapore's status in Malaysia became increasingly tense as time went on. Singapore retained its autonomy, but differences in racial policy concerning issues of racial discrimination affected Singapore. The UMNO backed Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia, which gave the government of Malaysia power to enforce special social and economic privileges for the Bumiputra, which were ethnically and religiously defined.
The PAP called for a Malaysian Malaysia, that favoured all Malaysians, rather than specific ethnic groups. Singapore was also required to pay the Federal Government a large percentage of its budget, money which would not be necessarily returned as services towards Singapore. At the same time, free trade was not granted between Singapore and other states of Malaysia.
Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean statesman and lawyer who served as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990, and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party from 1954 to 1992. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tanjong Pagar from 1955 until his death in 2015. Lee is widely recognised as the founding father of the modern Singaporean state, and for his leadership in turning it into a highly developed country under his tenure.
The People's Action Party is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and one of three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and Progress Singapore Party (PSP).
The United Malays National Organisation ; abbreviated UMNO or less commonly PEKEMBAR, is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest national political party within Malaysia, UMNO has been known as Malaysia's "Grand Old Party".
The Malaysian People's Party is a political party in Malaysia. Founded on 11 November 1955 as Partai Ra'ayat, it is one of the older political parties in Malaysia and traces its pedigree to the anti-colonial movements from the pre World War II period like the Kesatuan Melayu Muda.
Barisan Sosialis was a political party in Singapore. It was formed on 29 July 1961 and officially registered on 13 August 1961 by left-wing members of the People's Action Party (PAP) who had been expelled from the PAP. The prominent founding members of the Barisan were Lee Siew Choh and Lim Chin Siong. It became the biggest opposition party in Singapore in the 1960s and the 1980s.
PAP–UMNO relations refers to the occasionally-turbulent relationship between the People's Action Party (PAP), the governing party of Singapore since 1959, and the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the leading party of the Barisan Nasional coalition which governed Malaysia from 1955 to 2018. The two parties' relationship has impacted Malaysia–Singapore relations given the countries' geographical proximity and close historical ties.
Lim Chin Siong was a Singaporean politician and union leader active in Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s. He was one of the founders of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), which has governed the country continuously since independence. Lim also used his popularity to galvanise many trade unions in support of the PAP.
Operation Coldstore was the code name for a covert security operation executed in Singapore on 2 February 1963 which led to the arrest of 113 people, who were detained without trial pursuant to the Preservation of Public Service Security Ordinance (PSSO). In official accounts, the operation was a security operation "aimed at crippling the Communist open front organisation," which threatened Singapore's internal security. The operation was authorised by the Internal Security Council which was composed of representatives from the British government, Singaporean government, and the Malayan Federal government.
A referendum on the terms of integration into the Federation of Malaya was held in Singapore on 1 September 1962. There were three options. At the time of the referendum, Singapore was a self-governing country since 1959, although the British Empire still controlled external relations.
Lim Yew Hock was a Singaporean-born Malaysian politician and diplomat who served as Chief Minister of Singapore between 1956 and 1959. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cairnhill between 1959 and 1963 and previously a Member of the Legislative Council and later Legislative Assembly between 1948 and 1963. He was de facto Leader of the Opposition between 1959 and 1963. He and his family elected to take up Malaysian citizenship after Singapore's independence from Malaysia.
General elections were held in Singapore on 21 September 1963, five days after Singapore became part of Malaysia. Voters elected all 51 members of the Legislative Assembly. The elections were the only ones to date with no boundary changes to any existing constituencies prior to the elections. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party (PAP), which won 37 of the 51 seats, while the majority of the remaining seats were won by Barisan Sosialis (BS).
The Singapore People's Alliance was a political coalition in Singapore founded in 1958, comprising the Labour Front and Liberal Socialist Party. It has never won any seats in the Parliament of Singapore. However, the party did win 4 seats to the Singaporean Legislative Assembly in the general election of 1959 under the leadership of former Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock, with a popular vote of 107,755 or 20.7% of the total number of votes. Following the election, the Liberal Socialist Party merged into it.
The 1964 race riots in Singapore involved a series of communal race-based civil disturbances between the Malays and Chinese in Singapore following its merger with Malaysia in 1963, and were considered to be the "worst and most prolonged in Singapore's postwar history". The term is also used to refer specifically to two riots on 21 July 1964 and 2 September 1964, particularly the former, during which 23 people died and 454 others suffered severe injuries.
The history of the modern state of Singapore dates back to its founding in the early 19th century; however, evidence suggests that a significant trading settlement existed on the island in the 14th century. The last ruler of the Kingdom of Singapura, Parameswara, was expelled by the Majapahit or the Siamese before he founded Malacca. Singapore then came under the Malacca Sultanate and subsequently the Johor Sultanate. In 1819, British statesman Stamford Raffles negotiated a treaty whereby Johor would allow the British to locate a trading port on the island, ultimately leading to the establishment of the Crown colony of Singapore in 1867. Important reasons for the rise of Singapore were its nodal position at the tip of the Malay Peninsula flanked by the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the presence of a natural sheltered harbour, as well as its status as a free port.
General elections were held in Singapore on 30 May 1959. They were held under the new constitution and were the first in which all 51 seats in the Legislative Assembly were filled by election. This was the first election victory for the People's Action Party (PAP), as they won a landslide victory with 43 seats. The party has remained in power ever since.
The Colony of Singapore was a Crown colony of the United Kingdom that encompassed what is modern-day Singapore from 1946 to 1958. During this period, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Labuan were also administered from Singapore. Singapore had previously been established as a British colony since 1824, and had been governed as part of the Straits Settlements since 1826. The colony was created when the Straits Settlements was dissolved shortly after the Japanese occupation of Singapore ended in 1945. The power of the British Government was vested in the governor of Singapore. The colony eventually gained partial internal self-governance in 1955, and lasted until the establishment of the State of Singapore in 1958, with full internal self-governance granted in 1959.
Singapore, officially the State of Singapore, was one of the 14 states of Malaysia from 1963 to 1965. Malaysia was formed on 16 September 1963 by the merger of the Federation of Malaya with the former British colonies of North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore. This marked the end of the 144-year British rule in Singapore which began with the founding of modern Singapore by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. At the time of merger, it was the smallest state in the country by land area, but the largest by population.
Eu Chooi Yip was a prominent member of the anti-colonial and Communist movements in Malaya and Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s. Eu Chooi Yip was born in Kuantan, Malaysia.
Colonel Tun Sir Henry Lee Hau Shik, also known as H.S. Lee, was a Malaysian politician and businessman who served as the Minister of Finance and Minister of Transport under former Chief Minister and former Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman from August 1955 to August 1959 and in between, Federation of Malaya gained independence from Britain in August 1957. He co-founded the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Alliance Party (Alliance), predecessor of Barisan Nasional (BN). He was also a member of the Merdeka mission to London and the only Chinese signatory of the Malayan independence agreement with Britain. He was the only major leader of the independence movement not born in Malaya, instead, he was born in the British Hong Kong.
The Malaysia Agreement or the Agreement relating to Malaysia between United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore (MA63) was the agreement which combined North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore with the existing states of the Federation of Malaya, the resulting union being named Malaysia. Singapore was later expelled from Malaysia, becoming an independent state on 9 August 1965.
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