S’pore out of M’sia: PM Lee breaks down while speaking about separation

This National Day, Mothership takes you back 60 years, to the day Singapore parted ways with Malaysia.

AUG. 9, 1965: As the Malaysian people in Singapore went to bed last night, it never crossed their minds that it'd be the last night they’d be known as such — Malaysians.

This morning at 10am, a broadcast on Radio Singapore officially declared the island an independent and sovereign state.

Longing for freedom

Negotiations for the separation were helmed by Finance Minister Goh Keng Swee, with many civil servants and senior People’s Action Party (PAP) cabinet members not in the know.

Sources reveal that Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had asked Law Minister E. W. Barker to draft a Proclamation of Independence in late July.

The document announced the constitutional change set in motion by a separation agreement written by Barker around the same time.

It was signed in a secret meeting between Singaporean and Malaysian leaders on Aug. 7.

"[...] Singapore shall on the ninth day of August in the year one thousand nine hundred and sixty-five cease to be a State of Malaysia and shall become an independent and sovereign state and nation separate from and independent of Malaysia and recognised as such by the Government of Malaysia.

[...] Singapore shall forever be a sovereign democratic and independent nation, founded upon the principles of justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of her people in a more just and equal society."

Moment of anguish

In a press conference after the initial broadcast, the Singapore premier’s stoic composure fractured.

"For me, it is a moment of anguish, because all my life…” PM Lee trailed off.

He stared at the ground, unable to meet the eyes of the reporters before him.

Then the tears came.

“You see, the whole of my adult life, I had believed in merger [...] People connected by geography, economics, and ties of kinship —” his voice cracked on the last word.

Do you really want to break up?: PM Lee to M’sia

The PAP leader might have fought tooth and nail for merger, but even he knew the breakup was a long time coming.

Earlier on Aug. 7, he’d made a last-ditch attempt to stitch back the severed ties.

Party insiders said that PM Lee went knocking on Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman’s door that day.

“Do you really want to break it up?” he asked.

The Tunku’s “body language” made it clear that he was done trying.

“So long as you are in any way connected with us, we will find it difficult to be friends,” the Malaysian leader replied.

He said at a separate press conference today that it'd been his idea for Singapore to be aborted from the union, seeing as there was “no hope for peace”.

He recalled having agonised over the “problems with Singapore” when he was receiving treatment in London for a bout of shingles last month.

“My conclusion: There would be no end to the bickerings with Singapore, except perhaps if Mr Lee Kuan Yew is made Prime Minister in the real sense of the word.”

Moving on

After his moment of vulnerability at the press conference passed, PM Lee dried his eyes and looked towards the road ahead.

Taking on a more hopeful tone, he reassured the newly-minted Singapore citizens:

“There’s nothing to be worried about. Many things will go on just as usual, but be firm, be calm. We are going to have a multiracial nation in Singapore. We will set an example [...] Everybody will have his place.

Let us Singaporeans — I can’t call myself a Malaysian now — unite, regardless of race, language, religion, culture.”

And so Singaporeans came to be.

Unmoored but unbowed, hurt but healing.

Trying to get used to the sound of their new name.

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Top images from National Archives of Singapore and Wikipedia