Chapter 25 Chapter 25

The BBC asked me to broadcast to Singapore through its Far East Service.I recounted how the leaders of the non-aligned countries (India, Egypt and Yugoslavia) publicly supported Malaysia.Such news does not help the communists.They had claimed that they represented the views of Asia and Africa, and the reaction of these leaders after meeting me made their attacks futile, because these leaders admitted that I was not a traitor who had defected to the colonialists. In the midst of the heated debate, I thought it was time for me to visit the British leaders in order to reconnect with them and meet some Asian and African leaders along the way. In April 1962, I flew to London via Rangoon, New Delhi, Cairo and Belgrade,

Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru 100% supported my proposal of merging Singapore and Malaysia to form Malaysia.Indian newspapers are friendly.The Times of India, which specializes in recording major events, wrote under the headline "Malaysia Gets Prime Minister's Approval" that Malaysia has received official understanding.India apparently sees this as a good development that will help keep China out of Southeast Asia.At the press conference, I told the reporters that the Asian-African Secretariat declared that Malaysia was a product of neo-colonialism, and their prime minister did not care.I quoted Nehru's words.He said that the Asian-African Secretariat does not represent the Indian government, nor does it represent any government.When they asked me about the Communist opposition, I explained that in an independent Malaysia they could no longer disguise their activities as anti-colonial.With regard to British bases, it was fashionable to oppose British bases at the time.I said that I would rather have the British army, because they would submit to the pressure of world opinion and the United Nations, and they could be withdrawn at any time if necessary.

My next stop is Cairo.It was in Cairo that the Asian-African Solidarity Committee issued a statement criticizing Malaysia.If President Nasser can be won over, it will be a major breakthrough.When I arrived in the morning, the Vice President of Egypt greeted me at the airport and took me to the hotel, which was a relatively small palace of the former King Farouk of Egypt.In the evening President Nasser received me at his home.His home is not gorgeous, but the furnishings are very decent.The meeting had a harmonious atmosphere and was a success.He was standing in front of the gate when I arrived, with photographers at the ready.I think he's done this arrangement hundreds of times.He is very photogenic and looks good on TV or in the paper.He was friendly and gave me a warm welcome.The Consul General of Egypt in Singapore has been very supportive of me and very supportive of Malaysia.He knew we didn't want to be the Israel of Southeast Asia and he reported this to the foreign minister.

Nasser spent an hour listening to me.I explained the danger of Singapore's own independence, that it would break away from the mainstream of Southeast Asia and become a Chinese island in the Malay archipelago with a population of about 100 million.I don't want such a situation to happen. The solution is to reunite Singapore with the Malay Peninsula.Before the separation of the two places, they were once ruled by the British as a unit for more than 100 years.It didn't take me long for Nasser to argue that Malaysia was not a neo-colonial plot, assure me of his support, and show that I could talk it out.During the five-day visit, Egyptians rolled out the red carpet for me everywhere.I flew to the Aswan Dam, which was being built by the Soviets at that time. The engine of the Soviet plane that carried us had an engine failure. They diverted a comet plane to send us back to Cairo.

Nasser invited me to visit Egypt again at a later date and to see him any time.He said it was a personal invitation.I made a friend.I like him for who he is, for the simplicity of his life, and for his desire to root out the corruption in Farouk's Egypt. Nasser and I delivered the joint communiqué.Doing so breaks convention, as Singapore is not yet an independent country.The communiqué said he supported Malaysia and the "unification of all peoples who share the same political and social background ... striving to end colonial rule".Nasser and Nehru were leaders who set an example for Africa and Asia.Although Singapore is small, it is very important for them to understand"

Tito changed his mind We flew to Belgrade on May Day.Tito received me formally.Unlike Nasser's, his residence is grand and luxurious, with an automatic steel door at the entrance that opens silently when we arrive.A minister named Slavko Komar took me to him.Tito wore a plain suit, not a fancy uniform.When photographers took pictures, he looked serious and determined-no smile, no enthusiasm, the exact opposite of Nasser.I am in a difficult situation.Indonesians spoke ill of him in front of him.But he is willing to listen to me.I calmly explained my background as a nationalist, not a colonial puppet, unlike those Chinese-inspired communists in Singapore.Communists in Singapore could not have succeeded in Singapore and Malaya because their communism was not home-grown, and Maoism could not have succeeded in Southeast Asia.From his body language I found myself changing his perception.I mentioned an article in their party's publication "Communist Weekly" criticizing Malaysia. Tito said that the article did not represent the views of the Yugoslav government.I have achieved my goal.

Before leaving for the airport, shortly before meeting reporters at the airport, I asked Slavko Komar if I could repeat what Tito had said.He said that the president meant what he said, and he would not change what he said.So I repeated Tito's words at the press conference, turned around and asked the minister if I was right, and he nodded and said "yes".After I left, the spokesperson of the Foreign Affairs Secretariat said: "The article represents the author's personal opinion. During his stay in Belgrade, Premier Li told the President and the leaders of Yugoslavia about his desire to form a Federation of Malaysia. Yugoslavia has learned about it." Reuters The news was picked up by the News Agency, and it appeared in the papers in Singapore and Malaya, which was to our advantage.

Prosperity in London This is the first time Chi has returned since he left London in August 1950.London looks prosperous and Londoners are polite.They are entering the active 60s.Although I visited London three times between 1956 and 1958, I was impressed by the abundance of supplies, shops, restaurants and cars."It's never been better," McMillan repeated over and over again. He won the 1959 election and was dubbed "Superman Mike" by the popular press.It was May, the weather was lovely and we were delighted to find the British capital thriving.We were received by the British Government protocol and several giant Humber Pullmans were parked at the Grosvenor Hotel where we were staying for our use.But we had no time for sight-seeing and amusement, except for a play.The program was packed: discussions with ministers, meetings with old Labor supporters in Parliament, and relationships with British newspapers through unpublished interviews.

Wearing glasses, big and fit, the new Colonial Minister Modlin is friendly and easy to get along with.He and his wife met us first and made us feel welcome before the official talks began.He also invited some ministers to lunch with me.Mrs. Magdalen arranged a ladies' society for Chi at the Hyde Park Hotel. A major difficulty remains the old debate over whether to purge Communists before or after the merger.The Tunku repeated that he wanted the Internal Security Committee to take action against them first.He made it clear to the British, and he made it clear to me, that he was not willing to take action when Malaysia was formed because it would be ominous and not a good start.

At the time I was ready to make a move before the merger, but there were two important prerequisites.I told Modlin that the operation could start while the UK was still responsible for security and therefore had to be directed by the UK in its capacity as chairman of the Internal Security Committee.My public position will be: This is most regrettable, but absolutely necessary based on my personal knowledge of the Communists.But I also insist that when there is a referendum on Malaysia, the communists should remain free.I'm sure they'll call for a boycott, but voters won't listen to them, and they'll lose their reputation.On the other hand, it would be a fatal mistake to detain them before the referendum is held, as it would render the referendum worthless and allow people to accuse them of arresting them so that I could win and turn Singapore over To the Tunku.Protest riots are sure to ensue.

Modlin asked how many people were to be detained, I said it was up to the Political Department to decide, and I estimated that 200 to 250 people would be detained.About 100 of them will be released within a year, and the remaining half will be repatriated to China, but the Tunku must detain the remaining 25 to 35 diehards for a period of time.Modlin asked if the security action in Singapore would scare the Chinese in Borneo? I assured him that the Chinese knew what was going to happen because the Tunku had publicly stated his policy towards the communists. During this period, a special commission of inquiry headed by Lord Kobold was investigating the attitude of the people of North Borneo towards Malaysia.I stress that no matter what the Kobold Report recommends on the issue of citizenship in Borneo, Singapore must not be made worse off than Borneo. "Malaysian national" is acceptable if it applies equally to citizens of both places.But the Tunku is now announcing that the citizens of Borneo will become citizens of Malaysia, while the people of Singapore cannot. Sandys wanted to know the Tunku's general view of Malaysia.I said, it seems that it varies from time to time.It was a very different time when everything was going well, and he was counting on acquiring a large tract of land, than when he was thinking about the problems he would face and wishing he hadn't even started. In my impression, Maudlin is not Sandys' type of character.He is not so hardworking, not so aggressive, but very capable.He asked what problems I had with the Tunku.I said, "The Tunku thought I was smart but made mistakes, and he was not smart but made no mistakes. After the argument I won and he was embarrassed, but he still thought my conclusions were wrong, although he didn't know why." If he could persuade The Tunku realized that it would be foolish to think of all Chinese as potential communist supporters, and it would be better than me.The Tunku's simple belief is, "Politics belongs to the Malays, business belongs to the Chinese".That might have been true in his father's generation, but it wasn't true in 1962.As for the disagreement on citizenship, I met Lord Corbold that morning and spent more than half an hour discussing his proposals for Borneo.I told Modlin that I am happier now because he has seen how they will affect Singapore and how it will make things difficult for me. My visit is not purely work.Scherke and Mrs Audrey invited Chi and me to their home in Wembleth, Dorset, for the weekend.We also set aside time to drive to Cambridge to visit Billy Thatcher and have tea at the University Arms Hotel.Thatcher was delighted with how I had behaved since I left Cambridge in 1949, and asked about our children - we had written and told him dragons were smart.He took a copy of Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" for us to give to the dragon, and said, "If I'm going to see him here, he'll have to come fast." He didn't look so weak, I It was a great pleasure to see him.He passed away a year later and we were very sad as a couple. Being in Cambridge for the weekend was something we could not have wished for, allowing us to take a breather from the packed official programme.The official program included an hour-long meeting with Macmillan, while time was set aside to speak to the press. The BBC asked me to broadcast to Singapore through its Far East Service.I recounted how the leaders of the non-aligned countries (India, Egypt and Yugoslavia) publicly supported Malaysia.Such news does not help the communists.They had claimed that they represented the views of Asia and Africa, and the reaction of these leaders after meeting me made their attacks futile, because these leaders admitted that I was not a traitor who had defected to the colonialists. Newspapers and radio coverage of my meetings with Nehru, Nasser and Tito, and my broadcasts on BBC Radio must have done me good, because the Barisan Barisan lashed out at me.In order to explain why these great leaders of the Asian-African world did not think that Malaysia was a conspiracy of the colonialists, they claimed that I had created a wrong impression in order to gain their sympathy and support.The Barisan found fault with Nehru, Tito and Niwin (unlike Nasser) for not issuing a joint statement with a disgraced prime minister.However, the fact that they support Malaysia cannot be denied by the Barisan Barisan. Lim Chin Siong denies saying stupid things On the other hand, Indonesian pro-Communist newspaper Timor Star reported that Lim Chin Siong said he was in favor of merging with Indonesia rather than merging with Malaya.It is foolish to say so.Lim Chin Siong immediately denied making such a statement, but he had already suffered a blow - in the fight against mergers, the communists no longer exuded the confidence that victory was inevitable and they were determined to win.His denials are not convincing. Coming back after five and a half weeks away from Singapore, I feel much better.During this period, I was far away from the toss of daily public debate and the pressure of labor unrest. Now I have recovered enough energy to continue to fight the Communists and confront them with sharp words in the newspapers.In addition, there are ways to restrain ourselves in the face of their provocations of strikes, sabotages and sit-ins when businesses are hit, jobs are lost, and unemployment increases. Things didn't turn out so badly. In May, 3,000 students gathered at Chung Cheng Middle School to commemorate the May 13th Incident in 1954 when they clashed with the police.They sang, condemning the government's establishment of an investigative tribunal to investigate the middle school strikeout, and called on all Chinese middle schools to strike for one day when the investigative tribunal opened on May 21.But on May 21st, among the 25 middle schools, 19 had 100% student attendance, which means 70% of the students attended classes. 100 students were arrested for scribbling protest signs on walls, lampposts and traffic signs in the dark at 5 a.m.They don't want their activities to be discovered or photographed, On the other hand, although the Barisan Barisan launched propaganda every Sunday, the people did not oppose us.Their arguments did not prevail - with the exception of the issue of Malaysian citizenship.In Malaysia, Singapore citizens cannot become Malaysian citizens