Did LKY Lie We Were Kicked Out of Malaysia?

I was too young to remember the time when Singapore separated from Malaysia. All I know is that Lee Kuan Yew put up a good show crying crocodile tears on TV.

According to LKY, the Tengku kicked us out. However, I have come across other sources, which point that it was LKY who wanted out and threatened the Tengku with the Chinese Race Card if he did not let Singapore go. The Tengku relented.

That meeting happened in a place where there were only two people - The Tengku and LKY himself. The Tengku has since passed away and that leaves LKY to tell the world whatever (corrupted) version he wants to, unchallenged.

Well, as you know, when you tell a lie, you have to tell another lie to cover that lie. Then you have to tell yet another lie to cover that one too. It carries on until you cannot remember what lies you told.

So, it finally had to happen. The pack of lies told to us, that we were kicked out from Malaysia has finally collapsed. Here is an article in the ST Forum, which touches on LKY's eulogy, which gave away the fact that we were not kicked out, but instead, Singapore had planned to leave all along.

Separation from Malaysia: How crucial was Dr Goh's role?

MINISTER Mentor Lee Kuan Yew made an interestingly significant remark about Singapore's separation from Malaysia in his eulogy at Sunday's state funeral for his colleague-in-arms, former Deputy Prime Minister Goh Keng Swee.

MM Lee said he had asked Dr Goh to negotiate a looser rearrangement for Singapore, but to keep Singapore within Malaysia.

Added MM Lee: 'He (Dr Goh) decided that the best alternative was a clean break. After (Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister) Tun Abdul Razak and (Minister for External Affairs) Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman agreed, (Law Minister) Eddie Barker and I worked furiously to settle the terms of the separation.'

MM Lee's remark is intriguing in the light of the conventional narrative of the events leading up to Separation in 1965. From all that historians have gleaned prior to MM Lee's remarks on Sunday, MM Lee, who was then Prime Minister, played the pivotal role involving Separation.

His remarks suggest that the decision to break away from Malaysia was decided unilaterally by Dr Goh at the crucial moment; against the proposition MM Lee, and perhaps the collective Cabinet, had decided; which was at the very least, to still remain a part of the Malaysian federation of states.

If the above is true, the apparent contradiction should be resolved. A key question that arises from MM Lee's remarks is this: What was the extent and significance of Dr Goh's role in Separation? Furthermore, MM Lee's remark also suggests that the key Malaysian leaders - Tun Razak and Dr Ismail - agreed to Dr Goh's proposal of a clean break.

This would imply that it may well have been Singapore which precipitated the idea of Separation, rather than Malaysia, as has been the notion all this while, stemming from first Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman's view. He reconfirmed, when I interviewed him a few years before he died, that he overruled the strident objections of his extremist colleagues in Umno in deciding to sack Singapore from Malaysia.

It would be informative, if not instructive, if MM Lee or Dr Toh Chin Chye (then chairman of the PAP and the only key surviving member of the Old Guard today) shed more light on this critical turning point in the history of Singapore and Malaysia.

Associate Professor Hussin Mutalib

I have always suspected that it was LKY who wanted Singapore out. I never believed his claims that Singapore was "kicked out". While the LKY's eulogy implies that it was Dr Goh's idea for separation, I still believe that it was LKY's idea. After all, he has been known to fib about history.

Besides the point that he misrepresented Singapore was kicked out, he has also tried to cover up the fact that he was elected as PM in the early days only by virtue of the Chairman's vote. It was a tie between him and Ong Eng Guan for the post. Dr Toh casted the final (Chairman's vote) for LKY. However, LKY tries to deny that did happen, as can be seen in this article I wrote in Sep 2009

Old Man wants all the glory to himself

In the following article published in the Straits Times dated 5 Sep 09, Did Lee become PM by one vote?, Old Man claims he has no knowledge of the one vital vote, casted by Dr Toh Chin Chye (the Chairman of the PAP then), that allowed him to be the PM of Singapore. It was a nail-biting 6-6 vote, casted by the "inner core" of the pioneer PAP leaders. It was a tie between Ong Eng Guan and Lee Kuan Yew.

Being a tie, the chairman, Dr Toh, exercised the chair's vote, and Old Man became the PM.

But, Old Man, being what he is, does not want to admit it. He denies that there was such an event. Phew! Now why did Old Man have to wait for 50 years to say that? All along, it was written in the history books that he won by the chair's vote.

In the same article, I mentioned how LKY probably planned the merger in the first place, with the intention to leave the Federation later, so that he could be the PM of Independent Singapore. It was a perfect plan to oust his greatest rival then, Lim Chin Siong.

The article continues below.

A search on the internet will also reveal a few startling things about the history of Singapore. Here are some pointers.

Before independence, Chin Siong was Lee's biggest threat. While Chin Siong controlled the Chinese ground, Lee had the favours of the British government. But everything was hanging precariously and power could swing to either side.

Lee then planned a merger with Malaysia. It appeared that the merger was an excellent way to rid Chin Siong. Both the Brits and Tengku were uncomfortable with Chin Siong because he appeared to be a communist.

Till today, there is still controversy if he was communist. I would be inclined to believe the Chin Siong sounded communist because he used the Chinese race card to rally the people. (Hey, hasn't Old Man used the same Chinese race card for decades too? And no one dares claim he is a commie?)

I do not believe Chin Siong was a communist. The Brits (whom LKY was very much aligned to) were only too keen to link Chin Siong with the commies to contain him. With the merger planned, Lee had an excellent excuse to get Chin Siong locked up since both the Brits and Tengku did not like to have Chin Siong around.

You can do a search on "Lim Chin Siong" to get more news about the Lim Chin Siong vs Lee Kuan Yew dispute. That was really something.


My opinion on the Lim vs Lee episode

It was either Lim Chin Siong or Lee Kuan Yew. The fight for power to control was on the balance. While Lim used the Chinese ground for his support, Lee used the Brits for his support. What probably tilted the balance was the merger. Lee got the Tengku on his side too, because the Tengku was wary of Lim as well.

After the threat of Lim was over, it was time for Lee to create enough trouble for the Tengku, so that Singapore could be fully independent. Lee's story was that the Tengku kicked Singapore out. Tengku's story was that Lee wanted out and hence created problems.

So who is to be believed?

With the fact now exposed that Old Man is willing to twist history about the single vote by Dr Toh Chin Chye, who knows what other facts he has been twisting since the 1950s? After all, the Tengku is no longer around to dispute the story.


My viewpoint on the merger

The merger probably served Lee very well. It was the perfect way to rid of his biggest adversary, Chin Siong. At the same time, he could engineer for Singapore's independence so that he could be the PM of a truly independent Singapore.

It was not that Lee did not know that Malaysia's constitution stated the special privileges for the Malays. He asked for the merger with his eyes opened. Yet, after merging, he contested that very special privilege. It is like asking your neighbour to invite you to a party, then when he graciously lets you in, you start ordering him how he should host the party.

The merger itself caused Malaysia to have problems with Indonesia and Philippines. Malaysia's plan was to include Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei. Singapore was initially NOT on the list. Singapore asked to be invited and was accepted.

Indonesia and Philippines saw the merger as an expansionist plan by Malaysia and felt threatened. This was the Confrontation period. There were terror attacks from Indonesia against Malaysia. And Singapore, being part of Malaysia by virtue of the merger, was also attacked.

A point that I would like to make here is that, the PAP cites this incident was that the "sea of Malays around us" seeked to attack the majority Chinese Singaporeans.

I feel that Lee is trying to play the race card that Singapore being majority Chinese, are seen as enemies by the Malays around us. The fact was that this was actually about one Malay country (Indonesia) against another Malay country (Malaysia). Singapore was dragged in, because we were part of Malaysia. Not because the Malays were against the Chinese.

The above is yet another twist and lie, in the books of the PAP, headed by Old Man.


My Conclusion

Lee can claim that he is the "Father of Singapore" and that he is the one behind Singapore's success. But we have seen how he twists history, such that he is seen that he has attained a godlike status.

My opinion is that if Ong Eng Guan had been PM, he would have taken Singapore the same path. Perhaps, we would see the Ong Dynasty instead of the Lee Dynasty.

As for Lim Chin Siong, I also feel that if he had been Singapore's PM, we would still be the same Singapore, more or less. Some critics say that he was a communist and would steer away from Western technology, which brought about Singapore's economic success.

I dispute the above. Firstly, it was never proven he was communist. Secondly, if he had been PM, I am sure he would have abandoned his reference to China, changed allies, and taken advantage of the Western influence.

If Lee could have changed so quickly from let's merge with Malaysia to let's create trouble for Malaysia, surely Chin Siong could have changed his spots as quickly as Old Man.

Of course, also if Lim had been PM, in all probability, we would have to tolerate the Lim Dynasty instead.

Singapore does not depend on one man alone. Singapore's success is due to a group of hardworking leaders and citizens. The man at the top is shaped by what the group of leaders and the community do. He is dispensable.....no, he is expendable.

It looks as time goes on, LKY has difficulty in remembering the number of lies he has told Singaporeans. For every slip up he makes about the past, he reveals a ton of untold secrets about Singapore's, PAP's and his own history.

The latest slip up to be exposed is of course, we were never kicked out of Malaysia. It was planned by the Singapore side to use Malaysia as a scapegoat to get independence from the Brits - and to lock Chin Siong up, so that LKY could be PM of Independent Singapore.