1. Singapore
Merging with
Malaya

2. Reasons why Singapore wants to
merge with Malaya
• Singapore wants to join the Federation of
Malaya because of economy and politic.
• A federation is a group of states lead by a
central government
• The federation of Malaya has 11 states in the
Malay Pennisular after achieving
independence on the 31st of August 1957.

3. Economy reasons
• Singapore is a small country and lack of
natural resources. This made it hard to
survive independently. There is also a
decreasing amount of entrepot trade and an
increasing amount of unemployed people
• The Malayan government also reduced the
money collected from trade on the goods
traded between Singapore and Malaya

4. • Since Malaya was rich in natural
resources, Singapore wants to merge so
that the amount of natural resources will
increase.
• Merging with Malaya also increase space
to build markets to trade
• A common market could be built so that
goods could be freely traded with Malaya
without any tax

5. • This caused more money to be saved
because no money is needed for revenue.
The common market would also increase
trade, expand industries and give more job
opportunity for the locals

6. Political reasons
• The British lack confidence to grant
independence to Singapore as they are
afraid that communist activities may cause
Singapore to fall under the communist
• The PAP hope to increase anti-communist
by merging with Malaya. This could help
overpower the communist activity in
Singapore

7. • The PAP also did promise that they would
help Singapore achieve independence if
they win the election. As an honest
political party, they want to merge with
Malaya to achieve independence

8. Response to merge with Malaya
• Before 1961, Malaya don’t want to merge
with Singapore because it would cause
racial unbalance as the Chinese would be
more than the Malays
• The Tunku also is scared that the Chinese
would increase to Malaya and would
disrupt security in the Federation of
Malaya

9. • However, after 1961, Ong Eng Guan, a
pro-Communist leader was being expelled
from the PAP. HE was contested as an
independent in the Hong Lim by-election
• HE managed to defeat the PAP candidate
and won the by-election by a large surplus

10. • The by-election results made the Tunku
worry that the split within the PAP would
weaken the restriction and let the PAP fall
under the pro-communist
• When the PAP fall under the
communist, Singapore may become a
communist country.

11. • The Tunku solved the problem of racial
unbalanced by introducing
Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei people to
Singapore. He presented his method in his
speech on the 27th of May 1961

12. Internal opposition to merge
• The PAP lost to the by-election because the
pro-communist member in the PAP don’t
want to merge
• 13 PAP members were expelled because
they failed to challenge Lee Kuan Yew’s
leadership after a few months later.
• The expelled members formed the Barisan
Sosialis. Their chairman is Lee Siew Choh
and their seceratary-general is Lim Chin
Siong

13. • On the 3rd of September in 1961, the
Barisan Sosialis campaigned to object the
government’s plan for merging with
Malaya. They orgainzed labor strikes and
students demonstration
• The PAP had carried out a year of
campaign to win back the people’s support
for merging. They also tell them the
benefits of merging

14. • The PAP also conducted a vote on the 1st
of September 1962 about what type of
merge does the locals want

15. External opposition to merge
• The Cobbold Commission was led by Lord
Cobbold, including 3 British
representatives and 2 Malay
representatives which are from Sabah and
Sarawak.
• The Malay and British government set up
the commission in January 1962 to find
whether the Sabah and the Sarawak want
Singapore merge with Malaya

16. • More than two third of the people want
Singapore to merge with Malaya
• The Indonesians and the Philippines don’t
want Singapore to merge with
Malaya, instead, the Indonesians want
Sabah and Sarawak to merge with it, the
Philippines claimed that they own Sabah.

17. • Due to the competition, Sabah and
Sarawak broke off their ties with Malaysia
in 1963
• A policy of Kronfrontasi, confrontation in
English, was launched by Indonesia. It
aims to cause social disorder to show their
opposition for Singapore to merge with
Malaya

18. • The Tunku allowed a United Nations
Commission in Sabah and Sarawak to see
whether the people want Singapore to
merge with Malaya in order to solve the
opposition
• In September 1963, more than 70% of the
population wants Singapore to merge with
Malaya

19. • Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak were
included in the Federation of Malaya to
form Malaysia on the 16th of September
1963
• Brunei cannot agree on the economic
issue so it was excluded.

20. Singapore’s demand
• Singapore will provide $150000000 for
the development of Sabah and Sarawak
• Singapore would collect its own revenue
and agree on the sum of money to be paid
as taxes to Kuala Lumpur’s central
government
• The agreement also includes the terms for
the Common Market.

21. Malaya’s demand
• Malaya demand that Singapore will give
$50000000 for the development of Sabah
and Sarawak
• The Central Government will collect
revenue in Singapore and provide things
Singapore need to run the state
• The Common market will be discussed
after the merging.

22. Final Agreement
• The Common Market will be formed stage
by stage
• Singapore will provide $150000000 to
develop Sabah and Sarawak
• Singapore will collect its own revenue and
agree on the sum of money to be paid as
tax to the Kuala Lumpur central
government

23. • Singapore had its own state of
government and is allowed to hold
elections to elect its own state government
• Singapore is able to control over labor and
education
• The Central government will control the
armed force, police and foreign affairs