August 9, 1965 – Singapore declares independence after being expelled by Malaysia
On August 9, 1965, the Malaysian parliament voted 126–0 toexpel Singapore from Malaysia.Members of Parliament from Singaporewere not present during the vote. Later that day, Singaporereluctantly declared its independence; in December 1965, it became the Republic of Singapore.
Singapore’s expulsion was a result of long-simmering tensions, distrust and ideological differences between the federal government in Kuala Lumpur led by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and Singapore’s dominant People’s Action Party (PAP).
Singapore was one of 14 states that formed the country of Malaysia in September 1963 from the merger of the Federation of Malaya with the other former British colonies of Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak. Singapore’s expulsion in 1963 occurred during the interim period in Malaysia between the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) and the Second Malayan Emergency (aka Communist Insurgency in Malaysia (1968-1989)).
Southeast Asia(Taken from Second Malayan Emergency – Wars of the 20th Century – Twenty Wars in Asia)
After being pushed out of Malaya, the Malay National Liberation Army (MNLA) of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) established a number of bases in southern Thailand close to the Malayan border, where it began a campaign to recruit new fighters from the local population, both in southern Thailand and northern Malaya. Its ranks soon included some 30% Thai nationals. Also in an effort to widen its support base, the CPM formed the Islamic Brotherhood Party (Malay: Parti Persaudaraan Islam), aimed at attracting ethnic Malays by advocating that Islam and communism were not incompatible ideologies.
In September 1963, the Federation of Malaya was ended, andreplaced by the Federation of Malaysia (or simply Malaysia),consisting of the former Federation of Malaya and the territories of NorthBorneo (Sabah), Sarawak, and Singapore(in August 1965, Singaporeleft the Federation and formed a separate independent state).
In the 1960s, with the growth of communist movements inIndo-China (North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodiaas well as in Thailand),the CPM stepped up its activities: propaganda and indoctrination campaigns werelaunched, and recruitment and training accelerated. From some 500-600 fighters remaining by theend of the Emergency, by 1965, the MNLA ranks had increased to some 2,000.
From 1963 to 1966, Malaysiawas embroiled in a low-intensity war with neighboring Indonesia. Then by the late 1960s, the Vietnam War wasincreasing in intensity. In May 1969,racial violence between Malays and Chinese broke out in Malaysia and Singapore, increasing racialtensions and forcing the Malaysian government to impose a state ofemergency. Believing that the upsurge inlocal and regional unrest was playing in its favor, the CPM/MNLA decided torestart hostilities.
This second phase of the war (commonly known as theCommunist Insurgency War) began on June 17, 1968 when the MNLA guerillasambushed Malaysian Army soldiers at Kroh-Betong, in northern Malaysia. Fighting eventually spread to other parts ofPeninsular Malaysia, but was much more concentrated in northern Malaysia,and also failed to achieve the degree of intensity and scope experienced duringthe Malayan Emergency. Furthermore, in1970, the CPM became wracked in an internal power struggle, which led to theformation of two rival splinter groups, the CPM-Marxist Leninist andCPM-Revolutionary Faction, aside from the original CPM, which continued to havethe largest membership. The CPM, whichfollowed the Maoist branch of communism and received support from China, was dealt a major blow when in June 1974,Malaysia and Chinaestablished diplomatic relations. Although the MNLA tried to maintain military pressure on the Malaysiangovernment, by the early 1980s, the insurgency was experiencing an irrevocabledecline.
Much of this decline was a result of the Malaysiangovernment adopting the successful multi-faceted counter-insurgency approachused in the Malayan Emergency, this time carried out in the Security andDevelopment Program (KESBAN, Malay: Keselamatan dan Pembangunan), whichconsisted of military and civilian measures. Military measures included directly confronting the rebels in combat,utilizing intelligence and psychological operations, and increasing the sizeand strength of security forces. Thecivilian component, while also involving resettling villages that werevulnerable to rebel influences and curtailing some civil liberties, focused ona “hearts and minds” approach in the affected communities, e.g. expandingsocial services and implementing public works programs. Neighborhood Watch and People’s VolunteerGroup initiatives not only served security functions in local neighborhoods,but also fostered better interracial relations among Malays, Chinese, andIndians. Furthermore, by the 1980s, Malaysiawas experiencing an extended period of dynamic economic growth.
The demise for the CPM also was brought about by theimpending end of the Cold War. By 1989,communism was waning globally, communist regimes in Eastern Europe werecollapsing, and the Soviet Union itselfdisintegrated in 1991. In southern Thailand, negotiations between the Malaysiangovernment and CPM (mediated by the Thai government) led to the signing of theHat Yai Peace Accord (in Hat Yai, Thailand) on December 2, 1989. As stipulated in the agreement, both the CPMand its military wing, the MNLA, were disbanded. The former rebels were allowed to return to Malaysia, an offer that was taken up by somemembers, while others chose to remain in southern Thailand. The peace agreement did not prohibit ChinPeng, the CPM leader, from returning to Malaysia. However, successive Malaysian governmentsrefused to grant him entry into the country. He passed away in Bangkok, Thailand inSeptember 2013.
