“The late Lee Kuan Yew has gone on record as stating that he would have preferred that Singapore remain in Malaysia even if it meant being less prosperous than now.”
“Lee’s idea was that Singapore can be part of any nation as long as it gets to do what it can best do. His one great regret was that he didn’t go ‘slower’ with Kuala Lumpur since it would have, sooner or later in his words, come around anyway. The thought of Singapore being separate from Malaya was unthinkable to Lee. He never got over separation.”
When push came to shove, recalled Daniel John Jambun who heads the UK-based Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (Bopim), Singapore left Malaysia because it was “denied access” to the Malaysian Common Market. “This was the last straw. The evidence is there in many papers published by think tanks in Singapore.”
“No think tank in Singapore has pushed the idea that Singapore left Malaysia to be more prosperous.”
Lee himself, reminded the human rights advocate in a telephone interview, saw an independent Singapore as something “artificial” when he drew parallels with India. “He said that there had always been an India throughout history, sometimes smaller, sometimes larger, but the country had always been around.”
“He did not see the same future for Singapore and worried that the city state and island republic may not be around in another 50 years.”
Lee, continued Jambun, implied a return to (Malaysia) or being part of a neighbouring country (Indonesia). “He agreed that Singapore was a little red dot on the map, a Chinese island, in the vast Malay Archipelago, which it had to reckon with.”
“Lee was the one who pushed for Malaysia and to ensure that Singapore could merge successfully with Malaya, he advocated the inclusion of Sabah and Sarawak as well in a new Federation.”
Singapore may have its reasons for being out of Malaysia, conceded Jambun, like the UK notwithstanding Hargreaves for heading towards an exit from the EU, but there are no parallels here with Sabah and Sarawak. “The UK is already one of the great economies in the world with London a global financial centre and the sterling a strong currency.”
The UK’s position, reckons Jambun, may not be for the economic and financial reasons advocated by Hargreaves. “It’s populist for Hargreaves to take that position to push for Brexit.”
“The real reason for Brexit may be because the British people can no longer put up with the red tape in Brussels and want to restore their open, liberal society which values its historical links with the Commonwealth. The nostalgia for the British Raj dies hard in England.”
After Singapore left Malaysia, argued Jambun, the original premise for Sabah and Sarawak to be in the Federation no longer exists except for the afterthoughts, security, access to the Malaysian Common Market, and the promise of development on par with Malaya. “It’s clear that Sabah and Sarawak, after over 50 years, are not as developed as the peninsula. In fact, they are the poorest territories in the Federation.”
“This can be seen from Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s promise, during the recent Sarawak state election, pledging to ensure that Sarawak would be as developed as Malaya in the near future.”