Chapter 21 Chapter 21 Greater Malaysia

For a long time, the British had discussed the concept of "Greater Malaysia" as one of the ways to achieve their long-term goal, that is, to unite their colonies in the region first, and then make them independent.The crux of the matter is, will the PAP government in Singapore one day be led by a Communist Party? They believe I have answered that question when I openly insisted that Singapore-Malaysia merger is the way to achieve independence for Singapore... During this period, the question of the merger of Singapore with Malaya looked utterly hopeless.The Tunku's attitude towards Singapore was most discouraging.He has repeatedly evaded any merger proposals put forward to him, resolutely refuses to merge Singapore and Malaysia under any circumstances, and uses every private or public occasion to express his position. In May 1960, he told Malaya students in London that Singapore’s political ideology is like the racial structure, which is not quite the same as that of the Federation; adding that there are 1.3 million Chinese in Singapore, this will make the Malayans feel at a loss. Destroy the peaceful atmosphere of the Federation.He said: "Many Chinese and new immigrants who have been educated in Chinese have always been loyal to China and rarely cared about Malaya." His remarks were very typical at the time.In fact, he is quite frank.Therefore, when I was asked on a radio program in June about the prospect of Singapore-Malaysia merger, I decided to pour cold water on people's expectations, saying that in the foreseeable future, Singapore and Malaysia would not be able to merge.I said that the Federation was worried that the racial balance would be disrupted, and it also suspected that most Chinese in Singapore were sympathetic to the Communist Party.So we have to show them in concrete ways that our allegiance is primarily to Malaya.

What is particularly worrying is that the Tunku has poured cold water on our hopes without feeling the least bit of harm done to the hearts of the Singaporean public.Whenever he made a speech, the Singaporean newspapers always highlighted it, which gave those who advocated the independence of Singapore a higher reputation.By October 1960, even Lim Yew Hock and the Singapore People's League agreed that Singapore should first establish a sovereign state before considering merging with Malaya.However, as I emphasized to the British Commissioner to Singapore, Lord Scheerke, this is absolutely not going to work.Once the Communist Party takes control of independent Singapore, it will definitely fight to the end and will not easily hand over sovereignty to the Federation.

Sherk is the second son of a Scottish duke, and he usually puts on an aristocratic air.He was unusually lanky and looked a little hunched.His hair was gray and curly, and his thin face often had a mischievous expression.He had a habit of distracting people. Whenever he had a problem, he fiddled with a false upper front tooth with his tongue, making it bounce up and down.He was not a man of great intellect, but he was socially savvy and possessed an aristocratic charm that made commoners feel at ease in his presence.He has a crush on me and we get along very well.But Moore, his second-in-command, probably sensed my impatience at times and suspected that I didn't treat him as a heavyweight.Therefore, in order to highlight his important position, Moore repeatedly reminded me that Scherke had served as a cabinet minister in the UK and is still able to directly meet with the prime minister.

I met British officials in Kuala Lumpur. In September I had a meeting with Percy Craddock.He was a classmate of mine at Cambridge Law School and is now Secretary to the British High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur.When we had lunch together, I told him that the Tunku's policy of excluding Singapore was short-sighted.In his presentation, Craddock said, I think "someone has to talk to the Tunku and tell him that if Singapore becomes an independent country, that's the best way to get Mao's representatives there. That way, you will In the face of the largest Enosis (merger) movement in history". (Enosis refers to the struggle of Greek Cypriots for political union with Greece, which resulted in many terrorist incidents that became major news.)

But three months later, the British High Commissioner to the Federation of Malaya, Sir Geoffrey Tory, told me that the Tunku had confided to him that whenever I, or any other Singaporean spokesman, made a public statement, it implied that the new The possibility of a merger with Ma made him politically embarrassed.First of all, this talk comforted and encouraged his opponents.His opponents are socialists, mainly Chinese, and they always hope that one day they can join forces with the People's Action Party on the other side of the Causeway.Second, such talk tended to strain relations between him and Malay nationalists, as any hint that the coalition government was considering some form of accommodation with Singapore would make them more apprehensive about the policies he was pursuing and would allow When the Chinese enter Singapore, the Chinese will overwhelm the Malays.Despite all our efforts, the Tunku, Tun Razak and Ismail just refused to sit down with me to have a serious discussion on the long-term relationship between Singapore and Malaysia.They did not want to think about the dire consequences for Malaya if Singapore were independent and under communist control.

Finally, to keep me hopeful, I think the British are encouraging me to come up with a larger proposal for a federation that includes not only Singapore but also the three British territories of Borneo (i.e. North Borneo, Brunei and Sarawak). Vietnam's grand plan so that the numbers of other races would not affect the majority of Malay voters.Sherk and Moore advised me to prepare a document not to be submitted to the Tunku but to Tun Razak.I guess they have persuaded Tun Razak to consider this concept through Geoffrey Tory.I prepared this document in early May 1961 and handed it to Ismail, who forwarded it to Tun Razak.To be honest, the British spent a lot of time trying to convince Tun Razak.Torrey also enlisted the support of Robert Thompson.Thompson is a civil servant in Malaya and serves as the secretary of the Ministry of Defense. Tun Razak is a minister and his immediate boss. The two work closely together.

The person who dared to raise this issue to the Tunku head-on was Duncan Sandys, Minister of Commonwealth Relations. In January 1961, he came to Singapore to continue his journey to the Commonwealth to report to the governments of the two places on the upcoming application of the United Kingdom to join the European Common Market.I took this opportunity to detail to Sandys the dangers we would face if Singapore and Malaysia were not united by the time the constitutional talks took place in 1963.If Singapore becomes independent on its own, taking the communist route will be an inevitable result.My words must have had some effect on him.Moore later told me that Sandys said he had never met a leader in power who was as eager to hand over power to another political center as I was.British records show that Sandys spoke to the Tunku about it.Schelke also reported that Sandys told him that the meeting went well, though he was ignorant of the details of the meeting.

Later, I had a deeper understanding of Sandys.He sometimes cut to the chase and was surprisingly frank.As Churchill's son-in-law, he was not lacking in self-confidence, with great determination and courage.During World War II, he injured his leg in a car accident. Afterwards, the pain was so constant that he had to take painkillers and walk with a limp on a cane.He literally gave his whole life to work.If you happen to be on his side, you find him endearing and admirable.I was lucky to agree with him.He tried his best to promote the merger of Singapore and Malaysia in "Greater Malaysia", and he must have the support of British Prime Minister Macmillan, who came forward to urge Tunku to accept this initiative.

The Tunku changed his stance On May 27, 1961, the Tunku delivered a speech at the luncheon held by the Southeast Asian Foreign Correspondents Club at the Adafi Hotel in Singapore.He suddenly said: "Sooner or later, Malaya should come to an understanding with the British and the people of Singapore, North Borneo, Brunei and Sarawak. The time is not yet ripe, and I cannot say how such an understanding will be achieved, but we must look ahead anyway. This goal, and consider some kind of plan to bring these regions closer together for political and economic cooperation." If the people of Singapore and the Federation decide to make Malaya continue to be our only homeland, as it has been in the past, it will Good for all parties involved.The Tunku's remarks were totally unexpected. He did not express before that he would change his consistent position, that is, Malaya cannot allow Singapore to join in any case.

The Tunku did not explain why he had changed his mind.Later, in October, he told the Congress in Kuala Lumpur that he did not approve of the merger of Singapore and Malaysia, because once the two places merged, it would endanger the security of Malaya.However, times have changed.He didn't make it clear how to change.I can only guess that it was the British who convinced him that he had to control the security of Singapore to be able to maintain the security of Malaya, since most of the people in Singapore who spoke Chinese or dialects were easily attracted to the Communist Party.I believe Ismail already understands that the problems of subversion in Singapore and Malaysia are closely related.He was told, for example, that although Malaya students made up only half of Nanyang University's student population, they were the majority of left-wing leaders and rioters.When they return to Malaya after graduation, they will cause more trouble.

Even Schelke and Moore didn't expect that Tunku's attitude would undergo a 180-degree change.For them, this is undoubtedly a "surprise".The British analyzed the current situation differently.For a long time, the British had discussed the concept of "Greater Malaysia" as one of the ways to achieve their long-term goal, that is, to unite their colonies in the region first, and then make them independent.The crux of the matter is, will the PAP government in Singapore one day be led by a Communist Party? They believe that I have answered that question when I openly insisted that Singapore-Malaysia merger is the way for Singapore to achieve independence, because it will make Malaya The Communist Party will never be able to seize power.Only then did they start to take the plan seriously. In May 1961, it appeared that the Tunku was at least ready to consider the merger of Malaya with Singapore in the larger Federation of Malaysia.In the ensuing six months, however, the Singapore-Malaysia merger sometimes appeared to be a mirage, as he remained hesitant about a real merger.Fortunately during this period I got on very well with most of the members of the British Commission, especially with Moore.A close friendship developed between us in the years that followed, especially when Singapore became part of Malaysia from 1963 to 1965. In 1961, we were on the same page.The British now set out to create a momentum in Malaysia and an atmosphere in which the merger of Singapore and Malaya was felt to be imminent.They responded two weeks after the Tunku made his proposal.They coordinated a series of statements of approval.First, Scherke described the Tunku's proposal as "a sound long-term plan" on June 13.A week later, in response to a query by Fenner Brockway in the British House of Commons, Macmillan said: "I have noticed the recent dramatic proposal by the Prime Minister of the Federation of Malaya. I am very interested in this proposal The Tunku believes that sooner or later the Federation should come to an understanding with the British government as well as with Singapore, North Borneo, Sarawak and Brunei regarding plans for closer economic and political ties in these regions, where his remarks have already sparked debate. The government hopes that when considering this proposal, it will also take into account the reactions of these regions... I think it is a good thing that this matter has been discussed after it was brought up." Then on June 27, Scherke convened the five regions meeting of the British Governor-General and High Commissioner.At the meeting, Gude, who has been re-elected as the Governor of North Borneo, said that "it is necessary to seize the right time to implement the Tunku's Greater Malaysia plan and ensure its success". On June 30, Scherke flew to London to discuss the plan with the British cabinet.