Revisited

No.126 Issue 4/2017

Title

Sea Change in the Strait

In 1965, Singapore was ousted from the Federation of Malaya. We examine the two countries’ respective political trajectories between then and now

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Sarah Chew It is August 1965. Less than two years after a merger, Singapore’s reluctant departure from the Federation of Malaya throws her into alienated independence. The separation comes after racial tension and strained political relations culminated in rioting the year before. The then-secretary-general of Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), Lee Kuan Yew, is named Singapore’s first prime minister, and faces the seemingly impossible task of shaping the nascent nation. Malaysia, now free from the internal threat of PAP’s influence, removes the party from its registry, forcing its Malaysian members to rename themselves the Democratic Alliance Party. While both countries declare themselves democracies, they remain targets of media criticism for autocratic practices, most notably for the length of time that their ruling parties have retained power: Singapore has remained under the PAP since independence, and Malaysia has remained under the Barisan Nasional since the coalition displaced the Alliance Party in 1973.