Transcription
Senior Minister Lee Sandlong says that trust and government comes from people knowing their leaders will always have their backs. He says these were key lessons when Singapore was part of Malaysia from 1963 to 1965.
He was speaking at the launch of the Albatross file book and exhibition which draws on firsthand records of Singapore's separation from Malaysia and shows how it emerged as a negotiated agreement rather than a prevailing view that Singapore had been kicked out.
Since Singapore became an independent nation, one belief has endured that Singapore was forced out of Malaysia and into independence less than 2 years after merger. But documents in fact reveal that it was then finance minister Dr. Gokinui who first suggested separation, not the Malaysians, and that in his talks with Malaysia's leaders, he proposed a clean break from Malaysia. Even though Mr. Liquanu had instructed him to press for a looser federation instead.
"In this SG60 years, we are very glad that Dr. Go did what he did. Singapore has thrived and progressed far beyond anything the founding fathers imagined."
Mr. Lee Kwanu first found out about this over three decades later when he reviewed Dr. Go's oral account of separation. It's one of several transcripts declassified alongside 23 documents from what Dr. Go called the Albatross file. It covers the challenges that Singapore's leaders had to navigate after merger like navigating political conflict to economic frustration.
"If you wanted to go into a federation, you must make it work for Singapore economically. But then when he realized after joining Malaysia that all this was not happening uh the finance minister in KL was not being very friendly the uh special permits were not happening the common market was not happening he asked himself then what's the point and it became an arbitrage around our neck how to get out of this mess so all the papers that I collected here in this files which I think I personally handled because the the the files extremely untidy. Well, Malaysia was albatross. Very sad but instructive episode in our polit political education."
Those papers also highlight the pressures that Singapore's leaders were under and how both sides of the causeway were on track for a collision. The contradictions between the two societies were so profound that they could not have been resolved without a parting of ways.
"Like how radical elements so distrust between Chinese and Malay communities 10 months after merger."
"We separated from Malaysia because of identity politics based on race and religion. We will never allow race or religion to break up Singapore. Our founding leaders won the right to govern because Singaporeans were convinced that Mr. Lee and his team could not be intimidated into compromising Singapore's interests. His successors have not forgotten this lesson. No Singapore PM has ever allowed any force or power, whether foreign or domestic, to intimidate us into compromising our national interest or sovereignty."
The Albatross file has been here in the National Archives since 1996. And while a handful of historians have had the chance to read some of its classified documents, now many of them are being declassified, giving the public a chance to see those documents for themselves.
"The declassification of the albatross file uh is a breakthrough for historians. uh now we can move beyond uh inference and memory and work with the actual evidence of how uh separation unfolded." Proflauo adds that much of Singapore's history had been written from foreign archives and oral accounts and the file now gives Singaporeans a clearer, more accountable record.
The free exhibition on Singapore's road to independence opens to the public tomorrow. One historian says the showcase will help a new generation understand the weight of the pivotal event. Alive Amar reports.
"I'm here at the National Library Building where this new permanent exhibition on Singapore's independence from Malaysia showcases what organizers have called an unprecedented closeup of historical pieces that shaped the nation between 1963 and 1965."
"Very nice."
"Good to see you. Good to see you. Pleasure. Pleasure. Okay."
Helping me unpack the rich, carefully created history within these walls is historian professor Tantayong. He's also president of the Singapore University of Social Sciences, SUSS. Our journey begins in a zone called the Atlas. Here, an interactive wall surrounds us, counting down the pivotal months, days, and hours leading up to Singapore's separation from Malaysia on 9th August 1965. At its heart, a dramatic set called spac-time clock.
"Prof. How do you think this showcase can give people a greater sense of the events that transpired during that time and what stood out to you the most?"
"So, this whole piece that puts together graphics and a time a timeline a sequence of events does give a better sense of how things developed after September 1963. I think by just watching this uh short uh presentation, you can get a sense of how things evolved and things happened after September 1963 leading to um eventual separation. Well, what stood out for me was how fast things unraveled. You know, 1963 September it was the realization of a dream, right? Malaysia was formed and then all of a sudden one thing after another, the elections in Singapore, the elections in the federation and then uh ra uh riots and then uh the Malaysian solidarity convention and then plans to say were there alternatives to the current arrangements that were being made. All these started unraveling in a space of months."
Next door, history is brought to life at the room through reenactments as well as never before heard oral history clips such as one of founding prime minister Lee Kwanu's wife Madame Quachu.
"After the press conference, he was very very upset."
"Prof. We are hearing Madame Qua's words on Mr. Lee Kwanu's emotional state at that time. How significant uh this piece of history is, you think? You know, we have we we've all seen that um press conference where Mr. Lee cried um and broke down uh while explaining why separation had to happen."
"Um and I think this piece of uh information, this interview gives us an insight into his frame of mind at that time. It must be so difficult for him, right? He he had just gone through a very uh hectic period of negotiating for separation and um for him it was not just the constitutional changes but the collapse of a political ideal. So he had fought so hard to get Singapore into Malaysia in 1963 and now everything has come crumbling down. The interviews uh from Madame Qua said that I he was so distraught after the the the separation had been declared because you know suddenly it dawn upon him the weight of that decision and what it must mean for him personally his beliefs for his comrades and for the future of Singapore."
Other important artifacts are also revealed to the public for the first time like this 1965 letter from Singapore's then deputy prime minister Tochin Chai to Malaysian PM Tungu Abdul Raman.
"That deep deep sense of disappointment felt by Dr. Tochin Chai and he said that you know he had always believed in Malaysia. He was born in Malaya and um very disappointed that you know there was no way out without avoiding the kinds of problems that Tonku had explained except for separation. So he was uh saddened by that. He had hoped that um this would be something that can be overcome in the future. So he said that you know perhaps in the future in a different set of contexts when things are better there could still be a chance that um a unified Malaysia can be realized."
Through the exhibition Profan hopes that Singaporeans will be able to comprehend the complexities of crucial moments in time, ones that have shaped a nation and will be remembered for generations to come. People realize