| State of Singapore Negeri Singapura (Malay) 新加坡州 (Chinese) சிங்கப்பூர் மாநிலம் (Tamil) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State of Malaysia | |||||||||
| 1963–1965 | |||||||||
.jpg) Singapore in 1959 | |||||||||
| Anthem | |||||||||
| Majulah Singapura | |||||||||
| Capital | Singapore City | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• 1964[1] | 670 km2 (260 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1964[1] | 1,841,600 | ||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| • Type | Parliamentary government within a federal constitutional elective monarchy | ||||||||
| Yang di-Pertuan Negara | |||||||||
• 1963–1965 | Yusof Ishak | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1963–1965 | Lee Kuan Yew | ||||||||
| Legislature | Legislative Assembly | ||||||||
| Historical era | Konfrontasi, Cold War | ||||||||
• Independence from the United Kingdom declared | 31 August 1963 | ||||||||
| 16 September 1963 | |||||||||
| 9 August 1965 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Singapore (Malay: Singapura), officially the State of Singapore (Malay: Negeri Singapura), was one of the 14 states of Malaysia from 1963 to 1965. Malaysia was formed on 16 September 1963 by the merger of the Federation of Malaya with the former British colonies of North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore. This marked the end of the 144-year British rule in Singapore which began with the founding of modern Singapore by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819.[2] At the time of merger, it was the smallest state in the country by land area, but the largest by population.
The union was unstable due to distrust and ideological differences between the leaders of Singapore and of the federal government of Malaysia. They often disagreed about finance, politics and racial policies. Singapore continued to face significant trade restrictions despite promises of a common market in return for a large proportion of its tax revenues, and retaliated by withholding loans to Sabah and Sarawak. In politics, the Malay-based United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and Singapore-based People's Action Party (PAP), entered each other's political arenas, despite previous agreements not to do so.[3] These resulted in major race riots in Singapore in 1964, which were attributed (at least in part) to instigation by UMNO and its Malay-language newspaper Utusan Melayu for affirmative action for Malays in Singapore.[4]
These culminated in the decision by Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman to expel Singapore from the Federation, and on 9 August 1965, Singapore became independent.[5]
- ^ "Singapore – Land area". Index Mundi. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- ^ "As Singapore mourns the Queen, there's little discussion about its colonial past". 16 September 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
- ^ Noordin Sopiee, Mohamed (2005). From Malayan Union to Singapore separation : political unification in the Malaysia region, 1945–65 (2nd ed.). University Malaya Press. ISBN 978-9831001943.
- ^ Rahim, L.Z. (2008). "Winning and losing Malay support: PAP-Malay community relations". In Barr, M.; Trocki, C. A. (eds.). Paths not taken: Political pluralism in post-war Singapore. Singapore: NUS Press. pp. 95–115.
- ^ HistorySG. "Singapore separates from Malaysia and becomes independent – Singapore History". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. National Library Board. Retrieved 9 March 2020.