Singapore, every so briefly, was a part of Malaysia until it was kicked out in 1965. Since it's one of the very few nations in history that this has happened to, the question is why? Find out in this short and simple animated documentary.

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Sources:

Malaysia-Singapore Relations: Crisis of Adjustment, 1965-68 by Lau Teik Soon

Malaysia and Singapore: Agreement on Separation and Independence of Singapore (The actual independence document, translated into English).

Singapore in Malaysia: The Politics of Federation by Michael Leifer

It's not often that territories are kicked out of countries.

Most nations will often go to great lengths to make sure that they keep hold of

as much land and as many people as humanly possible.

Yet in 1965, this very thing happened to Singapore when it was ejected from Malaysia.

Given how rare willingly losing a bit of land is throughout human history, the obvious question is, why?

Why was Singapore, such a geographically important region, kicked out of Malaysia?

So after the Second World War, South East Asia was in a place of flux, and many of the area's imperial powers were struggling to reassert their authority there.

This was because throughout the war, these areas had been occupied by Japan, and the Japanese had made sure to place them under the control of the native people.

And at the end of the war, the Europeans returned and had wanted everything to go back to normal, but fun fact, no.

As of 1948, Britain's Southeast Asian colonies were the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, Brunei, and North Borneo.

Despite Britain's best efforts though, by September 1963, all of these colonies, barring Brunei, were independent.

And all of these independent states opted to join the brand new Malaysia in the same year.

For some, it was fear of communist takeover that pushed them into union and for Singapore it was about giving it access to larger markets to increase its wealth.

And also, Malaysia wasn't Britain which seemed like a step in the right direction for Singapore.

Yet, a mere 2 years after joining Malaysia, Singapore was out.

Well, the reason was primarily political.

Malaysian politics at this time was dominated by the Malaysian Solidarity Convention, a coalition of right-wing parties led by Tunkel Abdul Rahman that represented Malaysia's largest ethnic groups.

Whereas Singaporean politics was monopolised by the People's Action Party, which was a more centrist multi-ethnic party headed by Lee Kuan Yew.

Now both sides had rushed into this union because fear of communism and both immediately ran into major issues.

The first was that Malaysia operated on a system called Malaysian Malaysia, which discriminated against those who weren't ethnically Malaysian.

The second was that the central government based in Kuala Lumpur was sure to clamp down on any idea of Singapore maintaining any real autonomy because it was afraid that Singapore would become the nation's heart.

As such, the PAP, despite promising not to, opted to run in the 1964 federal election against the MSC.

Now, the PAP was crushed, but the fact that it ran on a platform of ending racial discrimination worried the MSC.

of Malaysia's population was ethnically Chinese and this voting bloc could have kept the MSC out of power.

In fact, the only reason why most Chinese Malaysians voted for the MSC was the threat that any attempt to rewrite the system in place would lead to the government joining Indonesia to keep the Chinese out of power forever.

As such, Rahman came up with a brilliant idea.

Tensions continued to rise and culminated in a series of race riots in Singapore whose population was overwhelmingly Chinese.

You should know though that this wasn't some quick unilateral decision and there were many months of discussions between both sides.

Most Singaporean leaders wished to remain a part of Malaysia but some, like Goh Keng Swee, wanted to have a much looser agreement.

The Malaysian government said no and so Swee pushed for Singapore to leave Malaysia altogether.

The deadlock continued and tensions rose further and so Rahman went to the Malaysian parliament and pushed for a vote on simply expelling Singapore, which he won unanimously.

On August 9th, 1965, the Singaporean representatives reluctantly declared independence and thereafter Singapore would be an independent nation, 1 which then became incredibly wealthy so it sort of worked out in the end.

I hope you enjoyed this episode and thank you for watching with thanks to my Patreon supporters whom you can see on screen now.

James Bizonette, Ike, Danny Maloney, Cooling Castleman, Marvin Casal, Rob Waterhouse, Aaron The White, Jordan Longley, Chris Wicker, Gustav Swan, Gareth Turner, Markus Arsner, Maggie Pakskowski, David Silverman, Spinning3plates, Spencer Lightfoot, Lexi Schwin, Winston K.Wood, Kelly Moneymaker, Anthony Beckett, TheOriginalCage, Robert Wetzel, Skye Chappell, Parshew19, and Mo.


Speaker 0: It's not often that territories are kicked out of countries. Most nations will often go to great lengths to make sure that they keep hold of

Speaker 1: as much land and as many people as humanly possible. Yet in 1965, this very thing happened to Singapore when it was ejected from Malaysia. Given how rare willingly losing a bit of land is throughout human history, the obvious question is, why? Why was Singapore, such a geographically important region, kicked out of Malaysia? So after the Second World War, South East Asia was in a place of flux, and many of the area's imperial powers were struggling to reassert their authority there.

This was because throughout the war, these areas had been occupied by Japan, and the Japanese had made sure to place them under the control of the native people. And at the end of the war, the Europeans returned and had wanted everything to go back to normal, but fun fact, no. 1 example is Britain. As of 1948, Britain's Southeast Asian colonies were the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, Brunei, and North Borneo. Despite Britain's best efforts though, by September 1963, all of these colonies, barring Brunei, were independent.

And all of these independent states opted to join the brand new Malaysia in the same year. For some, it was fear of communist takeover that pushed them into union and for Singapore it was about giving it access to larger markets to increase its wealth. And also, Malaysia wasn't Britain which seemed like a step in the right direction for Singapore. Yet, a mere 2 years after joining Malaysia, Singapore was out. But why?

Well, the reason was primarily political. Malaysian politics at this time was dominated by the Malaysian Solidarity Convention, a coalition of right-wing parties led by Tunkel Abdul Rahman that represented Malaysia's largest ethnic groups. Whereas Singaporean politics was monopolised by the People's Action Party, which was a more centrist multi-ethnic party headed by Lee Kuan Yew. Now both sides had rushed into this union because fear of communism and both immediately ran into major issues. The first was that Malaysia operated on a system called Malaysian Malaysia, which discriminated against those who weren't ethnically Malaysian.

The second was that the central government based in Kuala Lumpur was sure to clamp down on any idea of Singapore maintaining any real autonomy because it was afraid that Singapore would become the nation's heart. As such, the PAP, despite promising not to, opted to run in the 1964 federal election against the MSC. Now, the PAP was crushed, but the fact that it ran on a platform of ending racial discrimination worried the MSC. The reason being that about

Speaker 0: 30-35%

Speaker 1: of Malaysia's population was ethnically Chinese and this voting bloc could have kept the MSC out of power. In fact, the only reason why most Chinese Malaysians voted for the MSC was the threat that any attempt to rewrite the system in place would lead to the government joining Indonesia to keep the Chinese out of power forever. As such, Rahman came up with a brilliant idea. Let's just kick Singapore out. Tensions continued to rise and culminated in a series of race riots in Singapore whose population was overwhelmingly Chinese.

You should know though that this wasn't some quick unilateral decision and there were many months of discussions between both sides. Most Singaporean leaders wished to remain a part of Malaysia but some, like Goh Keng Swee, wanted to have a much looser agreement. The Malaysian government said no and so Swee pushed for Singapore to leave Malaysia altogether. The deadlock continued and tensions rose further and so Rahman went to the Malaysian parliament and pushed for a vote on simply expelling Singapore, which he won unanimously. On August 9th, 1965, the Singaporean representatives reluctantly declared independence and thereafter Singapore would be an independent nation, 1 which then became incredibly wealthy so it sort of worked out in the end.

I hope you enjoyed this episode and thank you for watching with thanks to my Patreon supporters whom you can see on screen now. And with an extra special thanks to... James Bizonette, Ike, Danny Maloney, Cooling Castleman, Marvin Casal, Rob Waterhouse, Aaron The White, Jordan Longley, Chris Wicker, Gustav Swan, Gareth Turner, Markus Arsner, Maggie Pakskowski, David Silverman, Spinning3plates, Spencer Lightfoot, Lexi Schwin, Winston K.Wood, Kelly Moneymaker, Anthony Beckett, TheOriginalCage, Robert Wetzel, Skye Chappell, Parshew19, and Mo.

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Why Was Singapore Kicked Out of Malaysia? (Short Animated Documentary)