The Country That Didn't Want Independence

the prime minister of malaysia tonko abdul rahman putra al haas did proclaim and declare the singapore shall on the ninth day of august in the year 1965 cease to be a state of malaysia and shall become an independent and sovereign state and nation separate from and independent of malaysia and recognize as such by the government of malaysia independence is something that many countries that exist today have to fight for whether it's through the violence of a gun or the political tools of protests and referendums proponents of independence have fought for what they believed was just for their nation with singapore however things were rather different singapore had independence thrust upon it becoming its own country abruptly and against its will this happened in 1965 when the malaysian prime minister expelled singapore from the federation this tiny city-state at the southern tip of the malay peninsula was thrown in at the deep end and it was very much sink or swim as singapore battled against the odds to become the prosperous nation that it is today so how and why did this happen for this we need to go back to 1819 the beginning of singapore's modern history now to set the stage this was a time when britannia ruled the waves the british east india company had a firm grasp on the indian subcontinent and was looking to expand its reach with the trade route between india and china becoming ever more important the straits of malacca was identified as a strategic location for a new trading port adding to the existing british ports of penang and bingkuen chosen by stanford raffles singapore was deemed to be the perfect location after objections raised by the dutch for encroaching on their sphere of influence the two colonial powers signed the anglo-dutch treaty in 1824 which officially delineated each country's zone of control with international recognition of british rule over singapore it was able to begin its journey from a humble trading port to one of the most important cities in the world from the outset singapore was decidedly business friendly with no taxes or fees levied on trading for this reason many hopeful and ambitious immigrants and nearby natives flocked to the up-and-coming city the majority of those who arrived were chinese but there were also large minorities of malays and indians the population grew rapidly over the years from around 1 000 when raffles established the port to 220 000 by the turn of the century and there was good reason for such staggering growth between the strategic location the industrial power of the british empire and the business acumen of its immigrants particularly those from china singapore had a perfect recipe for success but as well as the right ingredients singapore also had fortuitous timing three major historical events throughout the 19th century further accelerated the growth of the so-called lion city first there was the treaty of nan king in 1842 in the aftermath of the qing dynasty's defeat in the first opium war this treaty opened up chinese pores to foreign merchants which made singapore's position even more strategic second there was the industrial revolution led by the british from mass production manufacturing methods to significantly faster ships commercial activity went through the roof and finally the opening of the suez canal in 1869 which dramatically cut travel time between europe and asia bringing yet more cargo through the malacca straits moving on to the 20th century and singapore wasn't really affected much by the first world war the second world war however was a crucial turning point in the country's history from as early as 1919 the british had been preparing for japanese aggression and expansionist plans singapore was to play a pivotal role in britain's defensive strategy in asia a naval base with the largest dry dock in the world was constructed on the island taking 15 years and 50 million pounds to complete that's 3.3 billion when adjusted for inflation singapore had a reputation as an impenetrable fortress island winston churchill described it as the gibraltar of the east unfortunately this image was quickly shattered at the start of 1942 when japan attacked the royal navy found itself overstretched also trying to defend the english channel from nazi germany back home japanese forces landed in malaya and after several battles the allied forces were pushed back to singapore which then fell in just one week eighty thousand prisoners of war were taken and singapore would remain under japanese occupation until the end of the war churchill called the battle of singapore the worst ever defeat in british military history the events of world war ii changed everything the attitudes of singaporeans towards the british had been altered forever how could the mighty british empire not protect this island fortress against japan generally positive attitudes towards britain has shifted to anti-imperial sentiment the british tried to give singapore some degree of self-governance in varying forms throughout the post-war period in the 1959 general election the people's action party or the pap won 43 of the 51 seats lee kuan yew became the first ever prime minister today he is recognised as the founding father of the country it may have been settled by raffles but lee was the leader who took it from our british colony into the singapore that we know today the leaders of the pap and especially lee believed that the future of singapore was with the rest of the peninsula with malaya aside from their shared history a union with malaya was seen as a way to finally break from the british and protect themselves against some of their own weaknesses most notably their minute size and lack of natural resources from the malay perspective though they were skeptical about a merger due to singapore's ethnic makeup while singapore did have a significant malay population it was the chinese community that made up the majority however these concerns became less pressing given fears of a communist takeover of singapore after a pap member defected and won a by-election as an independent with strong support from the far left the leading political party in malaya the umno was staunchly anti-communist to compensate for these racial concerns an idea was floated that malaya should merge with not only singapore but also the other nearby british possessions of north borneo and sarawak this would add significantly more ethnic malaise to the mix and the chinese majority of singapore would have less of an impact the british empire was already very much in the process of decolonization and this arrangement was seen as a good way to curb any spread of communism in the region and so in 1963 the country of malaysia was born singapore within this union would be short-lived racial tensions existed going into the merger and continued throughout a major sticking point between the regional governments was article 153 of the constitution this article granted certain rights and what it called special positions to the native malay population this was viewed as absolutely necessary affirmative action by the umno given the economic imbalance between the three main ethnic groups the financial sector was dominated by the chinese and indians of malaysia while the malay majority tended to make up most of the low-skilled workers like laborers and farmers the native malays made up 65 of the population but only 4 of the country's economy despite the clear inequality the pap viewed this article as discriminatory their view was that no one group should receive any special treatment relations broke down between the umno and the pap when both parties ran candidates in each other's constituencies despite earlier promises not to do so on the 9th of august 1965 seeing no other course of action the malaysian prime minister expelled singapore from the federation after just two years as part of malaysia singapore suddenly found itself all on its own as an independent country against its will a tearful li kuan yew called it a great anguish saying that all of his adult life he believed in the merger between the two territories well your mind every stop for a while singapore was faced with numerous post-independent challenges a tiny country with racial tensions unemployment crumbling infrastructure and no natural resources it seemed unlikely that singapore would survive however it's been suggested that it was this survival instinct that made singapore into the country that it is today faced with the unenviable position of leading singapore through these difficult times the pap firmly placed the country's economy as the number one priority the government actively invested in the country through what are called government-linked companies or glc's these are companies that are wholly or partially owned by the government yet function like private companies for example singapore airlines is 55 government owned government investment only goes so far though encouraging foreign investment in the little red dot was essential to the pap's plan for the country this was achieved partly through business-friendly policies and favorable tax treatment which helped to bring in a lot of capital it was other less tangible factors though that helped keep that foreign capital for one thing the government took measure to virtually eliminate crime and corruption making it even easier for foreign companies to do business there singapore became known for its political stability the pap has won every single election in singapore's short history without having to worry much about pleasing the citizens every election cycle a government really can get quite a lot done in several decades of uninterrupted rule this combination of so-called state capitalism and foreign investment supercharged the economy in the early years of independence the country's gdp grew by nearly 13 per year and had soon achieved zero percent unemployment singapore's banking and shipping industries in particular helped propel the city to one of the most important financial hubs in the world this allowed the pap to reinvest government revenue and take an active role in further developing their economy and strengthening the social fabric this enabled the government to provide for its people world-class education and healthcare as well as the creation of affordable public housing as much as 80 percent of the population today lives in these public housing units the poorest parts of the city were demolished and 23 new towns were built previously segregated under british rule the communities of the three main ethnic groups were brought together living side by side as neighbors this was to help form a singaporean identity and ease racial tensions it was thanks to these policies and strategies that transformed the city into the modern metropolis that it is today as well as the country's economy and skyline the city's population has also grown substantially from 1.9 million upon independence to 5.9 million today to accommodate all these extra people with such limited space singapore has actually expanded its territory by 22 over the years through land reclamation in fact the iconic marina bay was constructed as part of a land reclamation project and is home to the most prestigious venues singapore has to offer infinity pools rooftop bars five-star hotels and high roller casinos in 2015 the year the country celebrated its 50th anniversary lee kuan yew passed away at the age of 91. under his leadership singapore underwent what is often referred to as the singapore medical taking an unexpectedly independent city into one of the most prosperous nations on the planet in a matter of decades for all its accolades though there are many things about singapore that perhaps some might find shocking for such a rich modern first world country a famous article by william gibson published by wired in 1993 referred to singapore as disneyland with the death penalty in this article he depicts the city as more of a futuristic dystopia rather than the miraculous success story that singapore is generally known for singapore tends to have a zero tolerance policy towards behaviors that the government views as undesirable these behaviors tend to be things that are considered unclean disrespectful or provocative for example chewing gum is completely banned in the country spitting of any kind is not allowed and not flushing a public toilet after use is a final offense on the more extreme end if you're caught smuggling drugs into the country you'll find yourself at the business end of a noose possession of just 15 grams of cocaine carries a mandatory death sentence on top of this civil liberties and freedom of speech are widely suppressed in singapore the media is more or less controlled by the state and dissident journalists or bloggers are met with aggressive litigation or threats of jail time reporters without borders ranked singapore on par with somalia in its 2021 world press freedom index ranking 160th out of 180. protests are completely out of the question because any outdoor gathering of five or more people requires a permit now with all that being said there is one thing that is undeniable the country would not be what it is today without the authoritarian rule of the pap and regardless of anyone's political or cultural views singapore is by just about every metric imaginable a wildly successful country its people have an exceptionally high standard of living with arguably the best healthcare and education on the planet along with a strong and stable economy it's also one of the cleanest and safest cities in the world with fantastic infrastructure and public transportation ultimately this is why the government has high approval ratings among citizens there exists a sort of unwritten agreement between the people and the government if the country is well run and everything is provided that the people need to have a good life the government can rule however it sees fit to do so of course this agreement only works for as long as the country remains successful this is why even 56 years after independence the pap still has the same survivalist mentality that the country was built on since they cannot afford to be complacent given their natural and geographic realities singapore is one of the most unique countries in the world a multi-racial southeast asian english-speaking city-state with an authoritarian capitalist government in many ways it's no wonder many wrote off singapore when it unexpectedly became independent in 1965. the british street names that littered the island are a reminder of the country's humble origins but the remarkable city skyline that the modern country is known for was built up in just the last 50 years representing the singapore miracle one of the great success stories of modern history if you enjoyed this video did you know you could have seen it even sooner on nebula nebula is a streaming service owned and operated by me and my creator friends like wendover productions real life lore real engineering legal eagle and so many more many videos feature exclusive content like extended versions of videos found on youtube or companion videos to complement the main one as well as big budget original content for example neo's eye-opening look at human displacement or tears fun let's play outside series because nebula is owned by the creators we can take more risks and try content that might not necessarily work on youtube without having to worry about the unforgiving algorithm or demonetization the best part is we've teamed up with curiosity stream and you can access both through a bundle deal which is on sale right now for less than fifteen dollars for an entire year this gives you access to nebula as well as the thousands of professionally produced documentaries on curiosity stream if you're looking to learn even more about singapore you can check out the wonders of asia series which features singapore in episode 3 and you can see what singapore is really like to visit you can get access by clicking the button on screen now or at forward curiositystream.com wonder why which is also the best way to support this channel and educational content in general thank you so much for watching and i'll see you next time you

Channel: WonderWhy

Views: 215,488

Keywords: singapore, city-state, malaysia, lee kuan yew

Id: DfdewkU3_Hg

Length: 18min 58sec (1138 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 30 2021