'A Life-and-death Matter': How Israel Helped Singapore When It Needed It Most.
● Tel Avil, The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, was proclaimed on 14th May 1948 by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization, Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, and later first Prime Minister of Israel.
( 17 years later )
■On 9th August 1965, Singapore separated from Malaysia to become an independent and sovereign state. The written history of Singapore dates back to the third century. Evidence suggest a significant trading settlement existed in Singapore during the 14th century. In the late 14th century, Singapura was under the rule of Parameswara until he was expelled by the Majapahit or the Siamese.
It then came under the Malacca Sultanate and then the Johor Sultanate. Modern Singapore was founded in 1819, when Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles negotiated a treaty whereby Johor allowed the British to found a trading port on the island. During World War II, Singapore was conquered and occupied by the Japanese Empire from 1942 to 1945. When the war ended, Singapore reverted to British control, with increasing levels of self-government being granted, culminating in Singapore's merger with the Federation of Malaya to form Malaysia in 1963. But social unrest and disputes between Singapore's ruling People's Action Party and Malaysia's Alliance Party resulted in Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia. Singapore became an independent republic on August 9, 1965.
Singapore and Israel share 'a certain kindred spirit,' both small nations having to survive under difficult odds and surrounded by Muslim-majority countries. Israel is surrounded by Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon . Singapore is surrounded by Malaysia and Indonesia.
" THE BROWN BOOK "
In the chaos of the historic Six-Day war between Israel and its Arab neighbours in 1967, a battle that would reshape the entire Middle East, unexpected spectators stood miles away in the island nation of Singapore. Amidst the clashing forces and the whirlwind of conflict, Singapore's leaders were not just passive observers; they were invested in a particular outcome.
They were silently rooting for Israel to emerge victorious. But what could this seemingly distant war possibly have to do with a tiny South East Asian nation like Singapore? Join us as we uncover this mystery and its lasting impact on a nation striving to find its place on the world stage after gaining independence.
Let's first step back to 9th August, 1965, when Singapore was expelled from Malaysia. At that time, the odds seemed stacked against this young nation that gained independence against its will.
The divorce from Malaysia was abrupt and unwanted, leaving Singapore without its essential economic support.
To add to the predicament, the remnants of a recent communist insurgency still lingered in the air. Amid this chaos, President Soekarno's Indonesia was locking horns in a fierce military confrontation, also known as the Konfrontasi, branding Malaysia as a "neo-colonialist" construct. In the crosshairs of this conflict, Singapore found itself in the thick of it. To make matters more pressing, the Vietnam War was gaining momentum, casting an ominous shadow over the region. These early days of independence for Singapore were far from ideal.
It was a precarious state of affairs that left Singapore's government with no choice but to swiftly establish a credible and independent defence capability.
From day one, this became an existential priority. However, Singapore's defence setup post-independence was far from impressive.
Its military comprised of just two under-strength infantry battalions, with more than half of their soldiers made up of Malaysians who were given the option to either stay in Singapore or return home in Peninsula Malaysia. Unsurprisingly, most Malaysians chose to leave. Left with only a handful of Singaporean ancillary units after most of the Malaysians departed, the city-state's military force was as minuscule as it could be. The military's arsenal was modest at best - a dilapidated wooden gunboat - and not even a single aircraft to call their own.
It was clear that Singapore had a long and arduous journey ahead in building up a robust defence force from practically nothing. But that's not all!
While the British maintained a significant military presence in Singapore and Malaysia, winds of change were stirring in London. Pressure was mounting on the British to scale back their military presence in the region and they were eying an exit strategy.
Singapore had to come to terms with the possibility that the British might withdraw their military support at some point.
This realization added yet another layer of urgency to Singapore's need for self-reliance.
In the midst of this tumult, Singapore's founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, didn't mince words.
He famously used the analogy of Singapore having to be a "poisonous shrimp" in a world where big fish devoured the small, and the small preyed on the shrimp, alluding to the country's need to be a strong deterrent force in a world dominated by larger powers. Bold words, perhaps, but this notion set the tone for a defence strategy focused on deterrence that would shape Singapore's future. The urgency to strengthen Singapore's defence was undeniable, and so, Goh Keng Swee, serving as the Finance Minister, bravely stepped forward to face the challenge at hand. However, his familiarity with military affairs was limited to his time as a corporal in the Singapore Volunteer Corps during the British rule before the Japanese invasion in 1942.
Motivated by the imperative to strengthen Singapore's defence, Goh Keng Swee swiftly organized a small team to establish the new Ministry of Interior and Defense, which was later split into the Ministry of Défense and the Ministry of Home Affairs of today.
The dilemma was real: Singapore, with its relatively small population and limited resources, couldn't sustain a large, professional army.
To circumvent this obstacle, the government initially experimented with the concept of a part-time volunteer army.
Thus, the People's Defence Force emerged shortly after Singapore gained independence. However, the government grappled with the challenge of garnering enough volunteers. Several factors contributed to this, including the absence of a strong military tradition in Singapore, and the prevailing belief among the predominantly Chinese population that military service wasn't a desirable career path. In Cantonese, 好仔唔當兵 hou zai mm dong bing ; in simplified Chinese, 好孩子不当兵 Hǎo háizi bùdāng bīng.
[ Today : Although the Singapore Armed Forces is one of the most technologically advanced militaries in Southeast Asia, it suffers from a number of institutional weaknesses. Singapore's multiethnic but Chinese-dominated society and unique geographical and political characteristics result in challenges in both the recruitment and retention of high-quality personnel into the armed forces as well as in developing the proper role in the military for Singapore's Malay minority (whom the government historically has seen as a security risk but who also have a strong cultural inclination toward military service). This article contends that in meeting these challenges, Singapore has reduced the effectiveness and professionalism of its military significantly by unwisely preventing Malay participation systematically in key areas of the armed forces, by limiting the positions women can hold in the military, and by using a promotion system that is based more on education and scholarships than on proven competence.]
1965: Hence, this approach proved to be unsustainable in the long run. Confronted with this reality, Lee Kuan Yew turned to India and Egypt, perceived as the "natural" allies of the "nonaligned" world, in hopes of receiving support to bolster Singapore's defences. However, after weeks of waiting, both countries failed to offer the much-needed assistance.
With no other alternatives in sight, Lee Kuan Yew eventually granted Goh Keng Swee permission to go with the final option, which was none other than Israel. Truth be told, Goh Keng Swee had been marvelling at Israel's impressive defence system during his visit to the country in 1959. Both nations, Singapore and Israel, were small in size but situated in somewhat hostile regions.
And Israel had been one of the earliest countries to recognize Singapore's sovereignty. General Ze'evi, then serving as the Israel Defence Forces' Deputy Head of the Operations Directorate was dispatched to Singapore in October 1965.
Under a cloak of secrecy, he embarked on a covert mission to meet with Goh Keng Swee. Ze'evi, always the consummate military strategist, roamed Singapore incognito by taxi to familiarize himself with the lay of the land and the local conditions.
He returned to Tel Aviv with newfound insights. Back in Israel, Ze'evi gathered a team that included Meir Amit, the director of Mossad, their intelligence agency.
Together, they embarked on an ambitious plan to develop the Singapore Armed Forces, or SAF in short.
This masterplan, also known as the "Brown Book", was ready within a month and translated into English shortly after.
The Brown Book covered a broad spectrum, from strategic considerations to doctrines. Jointness across four branches of the SAF is integral to the Army's warfighting doctrine.
At its heart lay the realization that the only feasible solution for Singapore was to build a citizen army, composed of conscripts, and led by a small regular force. To make this vision a reality, the book proposed the establishment of an "Officer Training School" to train a core of professional leaders.
The backbone of this citizen army would be made up of citizen-soldiers, ensuring that in times of national crisis, the entire nation's population could be swiftly mobilized.
The Brown Book meticulously outlined the steps needed to put this concept into action.
One of the key objectives was to expand the army to 12 battalions within a decade, a feat achievable only through conscription.
The Singapore Army originated with two infantry battalions, the 1st and 2nd Battalions, Singapore Infantry Regiment (1 SIR and 2 SIR), which were respectively formed in 1957 and 1962 when Singapore was still a British colony. After a merger with Malaysia which resulted in separation in 1965, Singapore passed the Singapore Army Bill in Parliament on 23 December 1965 and gained complete control of the two battalions from Malaysia in January 1966. At the time, the Singapore Army had only the two infantry battalions and the old Singapore Volunteer Artillery Corps. Months later, the Army had a reserve force, the People's Defence Force, which was formed from an old volunteer unit mobilised for service during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. A third battalion, the 10th Battalion, People's Defence Force (10 PDF), was raised as a volunteer infantry reserve battalion.
A battalion typically consists of between 500 to 1,000 soldiers. It is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and is subdivided into a number of companies, each typically commanded by a major or a captain.
In 1967, Parliament passed the National Service (Amendment) Act, introducing National Service (conscription) for all able-bodied young men aged 18 and above. In June 1967, the Singapore Army introduced its first artillery battalion, the 20th Singapore Artillery Battalion (20 SAB). Two new infantry battalions, the 3rd and 4th Battalions, Singapore Infantry Regiment (3 SIR and 4 SIR) were formed in August 1967. In November 1968, the Singapore Army's first armoured battalion, 41st Battalion, Singapore Armoured Regiment (41 SAR), was formed. This was followed by the creation of the 1st Commando Battalion (1 Cdo Bn) in December 1969.
In the wake of this audacious plan, Singapore and Israel inked a one-page agreement, a pact that would change the course of Singapore's defence forever.
The agreement was straightforward: Israel would provide defence advisers to Singapore, and in return, these advisers would receive salaries on par with their counterparts in Israel, along with accommodation and meals.
In retrospect, these terms proved incredibly generous on Israel's part, but the benefits Singapore reaped from the invaluable counsel of the Israelis would be immeasurable. Yet, the presence of Israeli military advisers in Singapore posed a political conundrum. Why, you may wonder? Well, the enduring Israeli- Palestinian conflict held significant emotional weight, especially among Southeast Asian Muslims, and Singapore couldn't afford to stir up tensions with its neighbours, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Thus, the defence cooperation between Singapore and Israel was intentionally kept under wraps, hidden from the public eye for decades. Even now, this partnership is not often publicised despite its profound impact.
This discreet approach was set in motion when a modest group of seven military advisers from the Israel Defence Forces, led by Colonel Yaakov "Jack" Elazari, landed in Singapore in November 1965.
A small group of seven Israeli advisers — or “Mexicans”, if you will — led by Colonel Yaakov “Jack” Elazari arrived in Singapore in November, 1965. He was later promoted to brigadier general. He passed away in 1989.
Prior to their departure, they had met Rabin, who told the team:
“I want you to remember several things. One, we are not going to turn Singapore into an Israeli colony. Your task is to teach them the military profession, to put them on their legs so they can run their own army. Your success will be if at a certain stage they will be able to take the wheel and run the army by themselves. Second, you are not going there in order to command them but to advise them. And third, you are not arms merchants. When you recommend items to procure, use the purest professional military judgment. I want total disregard of their decision as to whether to buy here or elsewhere.”
It then came under the Malacca Sultanate and then the Johor Sultanate. Modern Singapore was founded in 1819, when Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles negotiated a treaty whereby Johor allowed the British to found a trading port on the island. During World War II, Singapore was conquered and occupied by the Japanese Empire from 1942 to 1945. When the war ended, Singapore reverted to British control, with increasing levels of self-government being granted, culminating in Singapore's merger with the Federation of Malaya to form Malaysia in 1963. But social unrest and disputes between Singapore's ruling People's Action Party and Malaysia's Alliance Party resulted in Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia. Singapore became an independent republic on August 9, 1965.
Facing severe unemployment and a housing crisis, Singapore embarked on a modernization programme beginning in the late 1960s through the 1970s that focused on establishing a manufacturing industry, developing large public housing estates and investing heavily on public education. By the 1990, the country had become one of the world's most prosperous nations, with a highly developed free market economy, strong international trading links, and the highest per capita gross domestic product in Asia outside Japan.
The Greco-Roman astronomer Ptolemy (90–168) identified a place called Sabana in the general area in the second century, and the earliest written record of Singapore occurs in a Chinese account from the third century, describing the island of Pu Luo Chung (蒲 罗 中). This was itself a transliteration from the Malay name "Pulau Ujong", or "island at the end" (of the Malay Peninsula). The Nagarakretagama, a Javanese epic poem written in 1365, referred to a settlement on the island called Temasik (possibly meaning "Sea Town"). The name Temasek is also given in Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals), which contains a tale of a prince of Srivijaya, Sri Tri Buana (also known as Sang Nila Utama), who landed on Temasek during the 13th century. When he saw a lion, the prince took this as an auspicious sign and founded a settlement called Singapura, which means "Lion City" in Sanskrit. The actual origin of the name Singapura however is unclear according to scholars.
In 1320, the Mongol Empire sent a trade mission to a place called Long Ya Men (or Dragon's Tooth Strait), which is believed to be Keppel Harbour at the southern part of the island. The Chinese traveler Wang Dayuan, visiting the island around 1330, described Long Ya Men as one of the two distinct settlements in Dan Ma Xi (from Malay Temasek), the other being Ban Zu (班卒, from the Malay pancur). Ban Zu is thought to be present day Fort Canning Hill, and recent excavations in Fort Canning found evidence indicating that Singapore was an important settlement in the 14th century. Wang mentioned that that the natives of Long Ya Men (thought to be the Orang Laut) and Chinese residents lived together in Long Ya Men. Singapore is one of the oldest locations where a Chinese community is known to exist outside China, and the oldest corroborated by archaeological evidence.
By the 14th century, the empire of Srivijaya had already declined, and Singapore was caught in the struggle between Siam (now Thailand) and the Java-based Majapahit Empire for control over the Malay Peninsula. According to the Malay Annals, Singapore was defeated in one Majapahit attack. The last king, Sultan Iskandar Shah ruled the island for several years, before being forced to Melaka where he founded the Sultanate of Malacca. Portuguese sources however indicated that that Temasek was a Siamese vassal whose ruler was killed by Parameswara (thought to be the same person as Sultan Iskandar Shah) from Palembang, and Parameswara was then driven to Malacca, either by the Siamese or the Majapahit, where he founded the Malacca Sultanate. Modern archaeological evidence suggests that the settlement on Fort Canning was abandoned around this time, although a small trading settlement continued in Singapore for some time afterwards.
The Malacca Sultanate extended its authority over the island and Singapore became a part of the Malacca Sultanate. However, by the time Portuguese arrived in the early 16th century, Singapura had already become "great ruins" according to Alfonso de Albuquerque. The Portuguese seized Malacca in 1511, and the sultan escaped south and established the Johor Sultanate, and Singapore then became part of the sultanate. The Portuguese however destroyed the settlement in Singapore in 1613, and the island sank into obscurity for the next two centuries. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the Malay Archipelago was gradually taken over by the European colonial powers, beginning with the arrival of the Portuguese at Malacca in 1509. The early dominance of the Portuguese was challenged during the 17th century by the Dutch, who came to control most of the ports in the region. The Dutch established a monopoly over trade within the archipelago, particularly in spices, then the region's most important product. Other colonial powers, including the British, were limited to a relatively minor presence.
In 1818, Sir Stamford Raffles was appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of the British colony at Bencoolen. He was determined that Great Britain should replace the Netherlands as the dominant power in the archipelago, since the trade route between China and British India, which had become vitally important with the institution of the opium trade with China, passed through the archipelago. The Dutch had been stifling British trade in the region by prohibiting the British from operating in Dutch-controlled ports or by subjecting them to a high tariff. Raffles hoped to challenge the Dutch by establishing a new port along the Straits of Malacca, the main ship passageway for the India-China trade. He needed a third port since the British only had the ports of Penang and Bencoolen. The port had to be strategically located along the main trade route between India and China and in the middle of the Malay Archipelago. He convinced Lord Hastings, the Governor-General of India and his superior at the British East India Company, to fund an expedition to seek a new British base in the region.
Raffles arrived in Singapore on 28 January 1819 and soon recognized the island as a natural choice for the new port. It lay at the southern tip of the Malay peninsula, near the Straits of Malacca, and possessed a natural deep harbor, fresh water supplies, and timber for repairing ships. It was also located along the main trade route between India and China. Raffles found a small Malay settlement at the mouth of the Singapore River, with an estimated population of about 1000 that consisted of the Orang Laut (sea gypsies), Malays and Chinese. headed by the Temenggong and Tengku Abdu'r Rahman. Around 100 of these Malays had originally moved to Singapore from Johor in 1811 led by Temenggong. The island was nominally ruled by the Sultan of Johor, who was controlled by the Dutch and the Bugis. However, the Sultanate was weakened by factional division and Tengku Abdu'r Rahman and his officials were loyal to Tengku Rahman's elder brother Tengku Long who was living in exile in Riau. With the Temenggong's help, Raffles managed to smuggle Tengku Long back into Singapore. He offered to recognize Tengku Long as the rightful Sultan of Johor, given the title of Sultan Hussein and provide him with a yearly payment of $5000 and $3000 to the Temenggong annually; in return, Sultan Hussein would grant the British the right to establish a trading post on Singapore. A formal treaty was signed on 6 February 1819 and modern Singapore was born.
When Raffles arrived, it was estimated that there were around 1,000 people living in the whole of the island of Singapore, mostly local groups that would become assimilated into Malays and a few dozen Chinese. The population increased rapidly soon after Raffles' arrival; the first census of 1824 shows that 6,505 out of the 10,683 total were Malays and Bugis. Large number of Chinese migrants also started to enter Singapore just months after it became a British settlement, by the census of 1826, there were already more Chinese than Malays excluding Bugis and Javanese. Due to continual migration from Malaya, China, India and other parts of Asia, Singapore's population had reached nearly 100,000 by 1871, with over half of them Chinese. Many Chinese and Indian immigrants came to Singapore to work in the rubber plantations and tin mines, and their descendants later formed the bulk of Singapore's population.
Raffles returned to Bencoolen soon after the signing of the treaty and left Major William Farquhar in charge of the new settlement, with some artillery and a small regiment of Indian soldiers. Establishing a trading port from scratch was a daunting endeavor. Farquhar's administration was fairly funded and was prohibited from collecting port duties to raise revenue as Raffles had decided that Singapore would be a free port. Farquhar invited settlers to Singapore, and stationed a British official on St. John's Island to invite passing ships to stop in Singapore. As news of the free port spread across the archipelago, Bugis, Peranakan Chinese, and Arab traders flocked to the island, seeking to circumvent the Dutch trade restrictions. During the starting year of operation, $400,000 (Spanish dollars) worth of trade passed through Singapore. By 1821, the island's population had gone up to around 5,000, and the trade volume was $8 million. The population reached the 10,000 mark in 1824, and with a trade volume of $22 million, Singapore surpassed the long-established port of Penang.
Raffles returned to Singapore in 1822 and became critical of many of Farquhar's decisions, despite Farquhar's success in leading the settlement through its difficult early years. For instance, in order to generate much-needed revenue, Farquhar had resorted to selling licenses for gambling and the sale of opium, which Raffles saw as social evils. Shocked at the disarray of the colony, Raffles set about drafting a set of new policies for the settlement. He also organized Singapore into functional and ethnic subdivisions under the Raffles Plan of Singapore. Today, remnants of this organization can still be found in the ethnic neighborhoods. William Farquhar was also stripped off his post. Farquhar later died in Perth, Scotland.
On 7 June 1823, John Crawfurd signed a second treaty with the Sultan and Temenggong, which extended British possession to most of the island. The Sultan and Temenggong traded most of their administrative rights of the island, including the collection of port taxes for lifelong monthly payments of $1500 and $800 respectively. This agreement brought the island under the British Law, with the provision that it would take into account Malay customs, traditions and religion. Raffles replaced Farquhar with John Crawfurd, an efficient and frugal administrator, as the new governor. In October 1823, Raffles departed for Britain and would never return to Singapore as he died in 1826, at the age of 44. In 1824, Singapore was ceded in perpetuity to the East India Company by the Sultan.
The status of a British outpost in Singapore seemed initially in doubt as the Dutch government soon protested to Britain for violating the Netherlands' sphere of influence. But as Singapore rapidly emerged as an important trading post, Britain consolidated its claim on the island. The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 cemented the status of Singapore as a British possession, carving up the Malay archipelago between the two colonial powers with the area north of the Straits of Malacca, including Singapore, falling under Britain's sphere of influence. In 1826, Singapore was grouped by the British East India Company together with Penang and Malacca to form the Straits Settlements, administered by the British East India Company. In 1830, the Straits Settlements became a residency, or subdivision, of the Presidency of Bengal in British India.
During the subsequent decades, Singapore grew to become an important port in the region. Its success was due to several reasons including the opening of the Chinese market, the advent of ocean-going steamships, the dramatic reduction in the time and cost of shipping goods to Europe after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, and the production of rubber and tin in Malaya. Its status as a free port provided a crucial advantage over other colonial port cities in Batavia (now Jakarta) and Manila where tariffs were levied, and it drew many Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Arab traders operating in South-East Asia to Singapore. The later opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 would further boost trade in Singapore. By 1880, over 1.5 million tons of goods were passing through Singapore each year, with around 80% of the cargo transported by steamships. The main commercial activity was entrepôt trade which flourished under no taxation and little restriction. Many merchant houses were set up in Singapore mainly by European trading firms, but also by Jewish, Chinese, Arab, Armenian, American and Indian merchants. There were also many Chinese middlemen who handled most of the trade between the European and Asian merchants.
By 1827, the Chinese had become the largest ethnic group in Singapore. They consisted of Peranakans, who were descendants of early Chinese settlers, and Chinese coolies who flocked to Singapore to escape economic hardship in southern China. Their numbers were swelled by those fleeing the turmoil caused by the First Opium War (1839–1842) and Second Opium War (1856–1860). Many arrived in Singapore as impoverished indentured laborers. The Malays were the second largest ethnic group until the 1860s and they worked as fishermen, craftsmen, or as wage earners while continued to live mostly in kampungs. By 1860, the Indians had become the second largest ethnic group. They consisted of unskilled laborers, traders, and convicts who were sent to carry out public works projects such as clearing jungles and laying out roads. There were also Indian Sepoy troops garrisoned at Singapore by the British.
Despite Singapore's growing importance, the administration governing the island was understaffed, ineffectual and unconcerned with the welfare of the populace. Administrators were usually posted from India and were unfamiliar with local culture and languages. While the population had quadrupled during 1830 to 1867, the size of the civil service in Singapore had remained unchanged. Most people had no access to public health services and diseases such as cholera and smallpox caused severe health problems, especially in overcrowded working-class areas. As a result of the administration's ineffectiveness and the predominantly male, transient, and uneducated nature of the population, the society was lawless and chaotic. In 1850 there were only twelve police officers in the city of nearly 60,000 people. Prostitution, gambling, and drug abuse (particularly of opium) were widespread. Chinese criminal secret societies (analogous to modern-day triads) were extremely powerful, and some had tens of thousands of members. Turf wars between rival societies occasionally led to hundreds of deaths and attempts to suppress them had limited success.
The situation created deep concern in the European population of the island. In 1854 the Singapore Free Press complained that Singapore was a "small island" full of the "very dregs of the population of south eastern Asia".
As Singapore continued to grow, the deficiencies in the Straits Settlements administration became serious and Singapore's merchant community began agitating against British Indian rule. The British government agreed to establish the Straits Settlements as a separate Crown Colony on 1 April 1867. This new colony was ruled by a governor under the supervision of the Colonial Office in London. An executive council and a legislative council assisted the governor. Although members of the councils were not elected, more representatives for the local population were gradually included over the years.
The colonial government embarked on several measures to address the serious social problems facing Singapore. A Chinese Protectorate under Pickering was established in 1877 to address the needs of the Chinese community, especially in controlling the worst abuses of the coolie trade and protecting Chinese women from forced prostitution.[37] In 1889 Governor Sir Cecil Clementi Smith banned secret societies, driving them underground. Nevertheless, many social problems persisted up through the post-war era, including an acute housing shortage and poor health and living standards. In 1906, the Tongmenghui, a revolutionary Chinese organisation dedicated to the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and led by Sun Yat-sen, founded its Nanyang branch in Singapore, which served as the organization’s headquarters in Southeast Asia. The members of the branch included Dr. Wong Hong-Kui (黃康衢), Mr. Tan Chor Lam (陳楚楠, 1884-1971, originally a rubber manufacturer) and Mr. Teo Eng Hock (張永福, originally a rubber shoe manufacturer). Chan Cho-Nam, Cheung Wing-Fook and Chan Po-Yin (陳步賢, 1883-1965) started the revolution-related Chong Shing Chinese Daily Newspaper (中興日報, 中興 meaning China revival),[41] with the inaugural issue on 20 August 1907 and a daily distribution of 1000 copies. The newspaper ended in 1910, presumably due to the revolution in 1911. Working with other Cantonese people, Chan, Cheung and Chan opened the revolution-related Kai Ming Bookstore (開明書報社, 開明 meaning open wisdom) in Singapore. For the revolution, Chan Po-Yin raised over 30,000 yuan for the purchase and shipment (from Singapore to China) of military equipment and for the support of the expenses of people travelling from Singapore to China for revolutionary work. The immigrant Chinese population in Singapore donated generously to Tongmenghui, which organized the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that led to the establishment of the Republic of China.
World War I (1914–1918) did not deeply affect Singapore: the conflict did not spread to Southeast Asia. The only significant local military event during the war was a 1915 mutiny by the British Muslim Indian sepoys garrisoned in Singapore. After hearing rumors of plans to send them to fight the Ottoman Empire, the soldiers revolted, killing their officers and several British civilians before troops arriving from Johor and Burma suppressed the unrest. After the war, the British government devoted significant resources into building a naval base in Singapore, as a deterrent to the increasingly ambitious Japanese Empire. Completed in 1939 at a staggering cost of $500 million, the naval base boasted what was then the largest dry dock in the world, the third-largest floating dock, and enough fuel tanks to support the entire British navy for six months. It was defended by heavy 15-inch naval guns and by Royal Air Force squadrons stationed at Tengah Air Base. Winston Churchill touted it as the "Gibraltar of the East." Unfortunately, it was a base without a fleet. The British Home Fleet was stationed in Europe and the plan was for it to sail quickly to Singapore when needed. However, after World War II broke out in 1939, the Fleet was fully occupied with defending Britain. Lieutenant General Sir William George Shedden Dobbie was appointed governor of Singapore and General Officer Commanding Malaya Command on 8 November 1935, holding the post based in The Istana until shortly before the outbreak of World War II in 1939. He was responsible for forming The Dobbie Hypothesis on the fall of Singapore which, had it been heeded, may have prevented the fall of Singapore during the Second World War.
In December 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the east coast of Malaya, causing the Pacific War to begin in earnest. Both attacks occurred at the same time, but due to the international dateline, the Honolulu attack is dated December 7 while the Kota Bharu attack is dated December 8. One of Japan's objectives was to capture Southeast Asia and secure the rich supply of natural resources to feed its military and industry needs. Singapore, the main Allied base in the region, was an obvious military target because of its flourishing trade and wealth. The British military commanders in Singapore had believed that the Japanese attack would come by sea from the south, since the dense Malayan jungle in the north would serve as a natural barrier against invasion. Although they had drawn up a plan for dealing with an attack on northern Malaya, preparations were never completed. The military was confident that "Fortress Singapore" would withstand any Japanese attack and this confidence was further reinforced by the arrival of Force Z, a squadron of British warships dispatched to the defense of Singapore, including the battleship HMS Prince of Wales, and cruiser HMS Repulse. The squadron was to have been accompanied by a third capital ship, the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable, but it ran aground en route, leaving the squadron without air cover.
On 8 December 1941, Japanese forces landed at Kota Bharu in northern Malaya. Just two days after the start of the invasion of Malaya, Prince of Wales and Repulse were sunk 50 miles off the coast of Kuantan in Pahang, by a force of Japanese bombers and torpedo bomber aircraft, in the worst British naval defeat of World War II. Allied air support did not arrive in time to protect the two capital ships. After this incident, Singapore and Malaya suffered daily air raids, including those targeting civilian structures such as hospitals or shop houses with casualties ranging from the tens to the hundreds each time.
The Japanese army advanced swiftly southward through the Malay Peninsula, crushing or bypassing Allied resistance. The Allied forces did not have tanks, which they considered unsuitable in the tropical rainforest, and their infantry proved powerless against the Japanese light tanks. As their resistance failed against the Japanese advance, the Allied forces were forced to retreat southwards towards Singapore. By 31 January 1942, a mere 55 days after the start of the invasion, the Japanese had conquered the entire Malay Peninsula and were poised to attack Singapore.
The causeway linking Johor and Singapore was blown up by the Allied forces in an effort to stop the Japanese army. However, the Japanese managed to cross the Straits of Johor in inflatable boats days after. Several fights by the Allied forces and volunteers of Singapore's population against the advancing Japanese, such as the Battle of Pasir Panjang, took place during this period. However, with most of the defenses shattered and supplies exhausted, Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival surrendered the Allied forces in Singapore to General Tomoyuki Yamashita of the Imperial Japanese Army on Chinese New Year, 15 February 1942. About 130,000 Indian, Australian and British troops became prisoners of war, many of whom would later be transported to Burma, Japan, Korea, or Manchuria for use as slave labour via prisoner transports known as "hell ships." The fall of Singapore was the largest surrender of British-led forces in history. Japanese newspapers triumphantly declared the victory as deciding the general situation of the war.
Singapore, renamed Syonan-to (昭南島 Shōnan-tō, "Light of the South" in Japanese), was occupied by the Japanese from 1942 to 1945. The Japanese army imposed harsh measures against the local population, with troops, especially the Kempeitai or Japanese military police, particularly ruthless in dealing with the Chinese population. The most notable atrocity was the Sook Ching massacre of Chinese civilians, undertaken in retaliation against support of the war effort in China. The Japanese screened citizens (including children) to check if they were "anti-Japanese". If so, the "guilty" citizens would be sent away in a truck to be executed. These mass executions claimed between 25,000 and 50,000 lives in Malaya and Singapore. The rest of the population suffered severe hardship throughout the three and a half years of Japanese occupation. The Malay and Indians were forced to build the "Death Railway", a railway between Thailand and Burma (Myanmar). Most of them died while building the railway. The Eurasians were also caught as POWs (Prisoners of War).
After the Japanese surrender to the Allies on 15 August 1945, Singapore fell into a brief state of anomie; looting and revenge-killing were widespread. British troops led by Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander for Southeast Asia Command, returned to Singapore to receive formal surrender of the Japanese forces in the region from General Itagaki Seishiro on behalf of General Hisaichi Terauchi on 12 September 1945, and a British Military Administration was formed to govern the island until March 1946. Much of the infrastructure had been destroyed during the war, including electricity and water supply systems, telephone services, as well as the harbor facilities at the Port of Singapore. There was also a shortage of food leading to malnutrition, disease, and rampant crime and violence. High food prices, unemployment, and workers' discontent culminated into a series of strikes in 1947 causing massive stoppages in public transport and other services. By late 1947, the economy began to recover, facilitated by a growing demand for tin and rubber around the world, but it would take several more years before the economy returned to pre-war levels.
The failure of Britain to defend Singapore had destroyed its credibility as infallible ruler in the eyes of Singaporeans. The decades after the war saw a political awakening amongst the local populace and the rise of anti-colonial and nationalist sentiments, epitomized by the slogan Merdeka, or "independence" in the Malay language. The British, on their part, were prepared to gradually increase self-governance for Singapore and Malaya. On 1 April 1946, the Straits Settlements was dissolved and Singapore became a separate Crown Colony with a civil administration headed by a Governor. In July 1947, separate Executive and Legislative Councils were established and the election of six members of the Legislative Council was scheduled in the following year.
The first Singaporean elections, held in March 1948, were limited as only six of the twenty-five seats on the Legislative Council were to be elected. Only British subjects had the rights to vote, and only 23,000 or about 10% of those eligible registered to vote. Other members of the Council were chosen either by the Governor or by the chambers of commerce. Three of the elected seats were won by a newly formed Singapore Progressive Party (SPP), a conservative party whose leaders were businessmen and professionals and were disinclined to press for immediate self-rule. The other three seats were won by independents.
Three months after the elections, an armed insurgency by communist groups in Malaya – the Malayan Emergency – broke out. The British imposed tough measures to control left-wing groups in both Singapore and Malaya and introduced the controversial Internal Security Act, which allowed indefinite detention without trial for persons suspected of being "threats to security". Since the left-wing groups were the strongest critics of the colonial system, progress on self-government was stalled for several years. A second Legislative Council election was held in 1951 with the number of elected seats increased to nine. This election was again dominated by the SPP which won six seats. While this contributed to the formation of a distinct local government of Singapore, the colonial administration was still dominant. In 1953, with the communists in Malaya suppressed and the worst of the Emergency over, a British Commission, headed by Sir George Rendel, proposed a limited form of self-government for Singapore. A new Legislative Assembly with twenty-five out of thirty-two seats chosen by popular election would replace the Legislative Council, from which a Chief Minister as head of government and Council of Ministers as a cabinet would be picked under a parliamentary system. The British would retain control over areas such as internal security and foreign affairs, as well as veto power over legislation.
The election for the Legislative Assembly held on 2 April 1955 was a lively and closely fought affair, with several new political parties joining the fray. Unlike previous elections, voters were automatically registered, expanding the electorate to around 300,000. The SPP was soundly defeated in the election, winning only four seats. The newly formed, left-leaning Labour Front was the biggest winner with ten seats and it formed a coalition government with the UMNO-MCA Alliance, which won three seats. Another new party, the leftist People's Action Party (PAP), won three seats. David Marshall, leader of the Labour Front, became the first Chief Minister of Singapore. He presided over a shaky government, receiving little cooperation from either the colonial government or the other local parties. Social unrest was on the rise, and in May 1955, the Hock Lee bus riots broke out, killing four people and seriously discrediting Marshall's government. In 1956, the Chinese middle school riots broke out among students in The Chinese High School and other schools, further increasing the tension between the local government and the Chinese students and unionists who were regarded of having communist sympathies.
In April 1956, Marshall led a delegation to London to negotiate for complete self-rule in the Merdeka Talks, but the talks failed when the British were reluctant to give up control over Singapore's internal security. The British were concerned about communist influence and labour strikes which were undermining Singapore's economic stability, and felt that the local government was ineffective in handling earlier riots. Marshall resigned following the failure of the talk. The new Chief Minister, Lim Yew Hock, launched a crackdown on communist and leftist groups, imprisoning many trade union leaders and several pro-communist members of the PAP under the Internal Security Act. The British government approved of Lim's tough stance against communist agitators, and when a new round of talks was held beginning in March 1957, they agreed to grant complete internal self-government. A State of Singapore would be created, with its own citizenship. The Legislative Assembly would be expanded to fifty-one members, entirely chosen by popular election, and the Prime Minister and cabinet would control all aspects of government except defense and foreign affairs. The governorship was replaced by a Yang di-Pertuan Negara or head of state. In August 1958, the State of Singapore Act was passed in the United Kingdom Parliament providing for the establishment of the State of Singapore.
Elections for the new Legislative Assembly were held in May 1959. The People's Action Party (PAP) won the polls in a landslide victory, winning forty-three of the fifty-one seats. They accomplished this by courting the Chinese-speaking majority, particularly those in the labour unions and radical student organizations. Its leader Lee Kuan Yew, a young Cambridge-educated lawyer, became the first Prime Minister of Singapore. The PAP's victory was at first viewed with dismay by foreign and local business leaders because some party's members were pro-communists. Many businesses promptly shifted their headquarters from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. Despite these ill omens, the PAP government embarked on a vigorous program to address Singapore's various economic and social problems. Economic development was overseen by the new Minister of Finance Goh Keng Swee, whose strategy was to encourage foreign and local investment with measures ranging from tax incentives to the establishment of a large industrial estate in Jurong.
The education system was revamped to train a skilled workforce and the English language was promoted over the Chinese language as the language of instruction. To eliminate labour unrest, existing labour unions were consolidated, sometimes forcibly, into a single umbrella organisation, called the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) with strong oversight from the government. On the social front, an aggressive and well-funded public housing program was launched to solve the long-standing housing problem. More than 25,000 high-rise, low-cost apartments were constructed during the first two years of the program.
Despite their successes in governing Singapore, the PAP leaders, including Lee and Goh, believed that Singapore's future lay with Malaya. They felt that the historic and economic ties between Singapore and Malaya were too strong for them to continue as separate nations. Furthermore, Singapore lacked natural resources, and faced both a declining entrepôt trade and a growing population which required jobs. It was thought that the merger would benefit the economy by creating a common market, eliminating trade tariffs, and thus supporting new industries which would solve the ongoing unemployment woes.
Although the PAP leadership campaigned vigorously for a merger, the sizable pro-communist wing of the PAP were strongly opposed to the merger, fearing a loss of influence as the ruling party of Malaya, United Malays National Organisation, was staunchly anti-communist and would support the non-communist faction of PAP against them. The UMNO leaders were also skeptical of the idea of a merger due to their distrust of the PAP government and concerns that the large Chinese population in Singapore would alter the racial balance on which their political power base depended. The issue came to a head in 1961 when pro-communist PAP minister Ong Eng Guan defected from the party and beat a PAP candidate in a subsequent by-election, a move that threatened to bring down Lee's government.
Faced with the prospect of a takeover by the pro-communists, UMNO changed their minds about the merger. On 27 May, Malaya's Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, mooted the idea of a Federation of Malaysia, comprising existing Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Brunei and the British Borneo territories of North Borneo and Sarawak. The UMNO leaders believed that the additional Malay population in the Borneo territories would offset Singapore's Chinese population. The British government, for its part, believed that the merger would prevent Singapore from becoming a haven for communism.
On 9 July 1963, the leaders of Singapore, Malaya, North Borneo and Sarawak signed the Malaysia Agreement to establish the Federation of Malaysia. On 16 September 1963, Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak were merged and Malaysia was formed. The union was rocky from the start. During the 1963 Singapore state elections, a local branch of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) took part in the election despite an earlier UMNO's agreement with the PAP not to participate in the state's politics during Malaysia's formative years. Although UMNO lost all its bids, relations between PAP and UMNO worsened. The PAP, in a tit-for-tat, challenged UMNO candidates in the 1964 federal election as part of the Malaysian Solidarity Convention, winning one seat in Malaysian Parliament.
Racial tensions increased as the Chinese in Singapore disdained being discriminated against by the federal policies of affirmative action, which granted special privileges to the Malays guaranteed under Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia. There were also other financial and economic benefits that were preferentially given to Malays. Lee Kuan Yew and other political leaders began advocating for the fair and equal treatment of all races in Malaysia, with a rallying cry of "Malaysian Malaysia!".
Meanwhile, the Malays in Singapore were being increasingly incited by the federal government's accusations that the PAP was mistreating the Malays. The external political situation was also tense; Indonesian President Sukarno declared a state of Konfrontasi (Confrontation) against Malaysia and initiated military and other actions against the new nation, including the bombing of MacDonald House in Singapore 10 March 1965 by Indonesian commandos, killing three people. Indonesia also conducted sedition activities to provoke the Malays against the Chinese. Numerous racial riots resulted and curfews were frequently imposed to restore order. The most notorious riots were the 1964 Race Riots that first took place on Prophet Muhammad's birthday on 21 July with twenty three people killed and hundreds injured. During the unrest, the price of food skyrocketed when transport system was disrupted, causing further hardship for the people.
The state and federal governments also had conflicts on the economic front. UMNO leaders feared that the economic dominance of Singapore would inevitably shift political power away from Kuala Lumpur. Despite earlier agreement to establish a common market, Singapore continued to face restrictions when trading with the rest of Malaysia. In retaliation, Singapore refused to provide Sabah and Sarawak the full extent of the loans previously agreed to for the economic development of the two eastern states. The Bank of China branch of Singapore was closed by the Central Government in Kuala Lumpur as it was suspected of funding communists. The situation escalated to such an extent that talks between UMNO and the PAP broke down, and abusive speeches and writings became rife on both sides. UMNO extremists called for the arrest of Lee Kuan Yew.
Seeing no alternative to avoid further bloodshed, the Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman decided to expel Singapore from the federation. Goh Keng Swee, who had become skeptical of merger's economic benefits for Singapore, convinced Lee Kuan Yew that the separation had to take place. UMNO and PAP representatives worked out the terms of separation in extreme secrecy in order to present the British government, in particular, with a fait accompli.
On the morning of 9 August 1965, the Parliament of Malaysia voted 126–0 in favor of a constitutional amendment expelling Singapore from the federation; hours later, the Parliament of Singapore passed the Republic of Singapore Independence Act, establishing the island as an independent and sovereign republic. A tearful Lee Kuan Yew announced in a televised press conference that Singapore had become a sovereign, independent nation. In a widely remembered quote, he stated: "For me, it is a moment of anguish. All my life, my whole adult life, I have believed in merger and unity of the two territories." The new state became the Republic of Singapore, with Yusof bin Ishak appointed as its first President. After gaining independence abruptly, Singapore faced a future filled with uncertainties. The Konfrontasi was on-going and the conservative UMNO faction strongly opposed the separation; Singapore faced the dangers of attack by the Indonesian military and forcible re-integration into the Malaysia Federation on unfavorable terms. Much of the international media was skeptical of prospects for Singapore's survival. Besides the issue of sovereignty, the pressing problems were unemployment, housing, education, and the lack of natural resources and land. Unemployment was ranging between 10–12%, threatening to trigger civil unrest.
Singapore immediately sought international recognition of its sovereignty. The new state joined the United Nations on 21 September 1965, becoming the 117th member; and joined the Commonwealth in October that year. Foreign minister Sinnathamby Rajaratnam headed a new foreign service that helped assert Singapore's independence and establishing diplomatic relations with other countries. On 22 December 1965, the Constitution Amendment Act was passed under which the Head of State became the President and the State of Singapore became the Republic of Singapore. Singapore later co-founded the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on 8 August 1967 and was admitted into the Non-Aligned Movement in 1970.
The Economic Development Board had been set up in 1961 to formulate and implement national economic strategies, focusing on promoting Singapore's manufacturing sector. Industrial estates were set up, especially in Jurong, and foreign investment was attracted to the country with tax incentives. The industrialization transformed the manufacturing sector to one that produced higher value-added goods and achieved greater revenue. The service industry also grew at this time, driven by demand for services by ships calling at the port and increasing commerce. This progress helped to alleviate the unemployment crisis. Singapore also attracted big oil companies like Shell and Esso to establish oil refineries in Singapore which, by the mid-1970s, became the third largest oil-refining centre in the world. The government invested heavily in an education system that adopted English as the language of instruction and emphasised practical training to develop a competent workforce well suited for the industry.
The lack of good public housing, poor sanitation, and high unemployment led to social problems from crime to health issues. The proliferation of squatter settlements resulted in safety hazards and caused the Bukit Ho Swee Fire in 1961 that killed four people and left 16,000 others homeless. The Housing Development Board set up before independence continued to be largely successful and huge building projects sprung up to provide affordable public housing to resettle the squatters. Within a decade, the majority of the population had been housed in these apartments. The Central Provident Fund (CPF) Housing Scheme, introduced in 1968, allows residents to use their compulsory savings account to purchase HDB flats and gradually increases home ownership in Singapore.
British troops had remained in Singapore following its independence, but in 1968, London announced its decision to withdraw the forces by 1971. With the secret aid of military advisers from Israel, Singapore rapidly established the Singapore Armed Forces, with the help of a national service program introduced in 1967. Since independence, Singaporean defense spending has been approximately five percent of GDP. Today, the Singapore Armed Forces are among the best-equipped in Asia. Further economic success continued through the 1980s, with the unemployment rate falling to 3% and real GDP growth averaging at about 8% up until 1999. During the 1980s, Singapore began to upgrade to higher-technological industries, such as the wafer fabrication sector, in order to compete with its neighbours which now had cheaper labour. Singapore Changi Airport was opened in 1981 and Singapore Airlines was developed to become a major airline. The Port of Singapore became one of the world's busiest ports and the service and tourism industries also grew immensely during this period. Singapore emerged as an important transportation hub and a major tourist destination.
The Housing Development Board (HDB) continued to promote public housing with new towns, such as Ang Mo Kio, being designed and built. These new residential estates have larger and higher-standard apartments and are served with better amenities. Today, 80–90% of the population lives in HDB apartments. In 1987, the first Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line began operation, connecting most of these housing estates and the city centre.
The political situation in Singapore continues to be dominated by the People's Action Party. The PAP won all the parliamentary seats in every election between 1966 and 1981. The PAP rule is termed authoritarian by some activists and opposition politicians who see the strict regulation of political and media activities by the government as an infringement on political rights. The conviction of opposition politician Chee Soon Juan for illegal protests and the defamation lawsuits against J. B. Jeyaretnam have been cited by the opposition parties as examples of such authoritarianism. The lack of separation of powers between the court system and the government led to further accusations by the opposition parties of miscarriage of justice.
The government of Singapore underwent several significant changes. Non-Constituency Members of Parliament were introduced in 1984 to allow up to three losing candidates from opposition parties to be appointed as MPs. Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) was introduced in 1988 to create multi-seat electoral divisions, intended to ensure minority representation in parliament. Nominated Members of Parliament were introduced in 1990 to allow non-elected non-partisan MPs. The Constitution was amended in 1991 to provide for an Elected President who has veto power in the use of national reserves and appointments to public office. The opposition parties have complained that the GRC system has made it difficult for them to gain a foothold in parliamentary elections in Singapore, and the plurality voting system tends to exclude minority parties.
In 1990, Lee Kuan Yew passed the reins of leadership to Goh Chok Tong, who became the second prime minister of Singapore. Goh presented a more open and consultative style of leadership as the country continued to modernize. In 1997, Singapore experienced the effect of the Asian financial crisis and tough measures, such as cuts in the CPF contribution, were implemented.
Lee's programs in Singapore had a profound effect on the Communist leadership in China, who made a major effort, especially under Deng Xiaoping, to emulate his policies of economic growth, entrepreneurship, and subtle suppression of dissent. Over 22,000 Chinese officials were sent to Singapore to study its methods. In the early 2000s, Singapore went through some post-independence crises, including the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the threat of terrorism. In December 2001, a plot to bomb embassies and other infrastructure in Singapore was uncovered and as many as 36 members of the Jemaah Islamiyah group were arrested under the Internal Security Act. Major counter-terrorism measures were put in place to detect and prevent potential terrorist acts and to minimise damages should they occur. More emphasis was placed on promoting social integration and trust between the different communities.
In 2004, Lee Hsien Loong, the eldest son of Lee Kuan Yew, became the third prime minister of Singapore. He introduced several policy changes, including the reduction of national service duration from two and a half years to two years, and the legalisation of casino gambling. Other efforts to raise the city's global profile included the reestablishment of the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008, and the hosting of the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics.
The general election of 2006 was a landmark election because of the prominent use of the internet and blogging to cover and comment on the election, circumventing the official media. The PAP returned to power, winning 82 of the 84 parliamentary seats and 66% of the votes. In 2005, Wee Kim Wee and Devan Nair, two former Presidents, died.
The general election of 2011 was yet another watershed election due to the first time a GRC was lost by the ruling party PAP, to the opposition party WP. Four years later, Lee Kuan Yew, founding father and the first Prime Minister of Singapore, died on 23 March 2015. Singapore declared a period of national mourning from 23–29 March. There was a golden jubilee weekend, featuring an extra holiday in 2015. Fun packs, which are usually given to people who attend the National Day Parade was given to every Singaporean and PR household. The NDP that year was the first one without the founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, so it included a tribute to him. It was also the first NDP where foreign dignitaries were invited over to see the parade.
9th December, 2019 :
Unveiling the cover of the book, Beating the Odds Together: 50 Years of Singapore-Israel Ties, are (from left) Mr Sagi Karni, ambassador of Israel to Singapore; Mr George Yeo, Singapore's former foreign affairs minister;
Mr Bilahari Kausikan, former permanent secretary of foreign affairs; and Ms Michelle Teo, acting director of the Middle East Institute.
There is a little bit of Israel in parts of Singapore.
The night vision technology used at the Night Safari, the names of Jewish families found in street names such as Zion Road and Frankel Avenue, as well as the genesis of Singapore’s National Service — they all have their connections to the Israelis.
Little has been publicly written about the significant links between both nations due to political sensitivities — Singapore’s immediate neighbours are predominantly Muslims.
However, with attitudes changing today, a new book was published to commemorate the past 50 years of diplomatic relationship between Singapore and the Jewish state of Israel, titled Beating the Odds Together: 50 Years of Singapore-Israel Ties.
Launched on Monday (December 9th, 2019) at the Arts House by former foreign affairs minister George Yeo and jointly published by the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute and publisher World Scientific, the book compiles essays by prominent Singaporean and Israeli diplomats, civil servants, religious leaders, businessmen and professionals, acknowledging how the bilateral relationship was once highly secretive and, at times, controversial.
“The depth of this relationship has rarely been publicised because of political sensitivities, given our neighbours’ position towards Israel. This book will fill the lacuna.” ~ Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong wrote in the book’s foreword
The ties go back to 1965 after Singapore separated from Malaysia and became an independent nation. The fledgling and resource-limited city-state had turned to other countries for help to establish its military forces and only Israel answered the call.
'NOT A HUGE DILEMMA'
Lieutenant General (Retired) Winston Choo, Singapore's ambassador to Israel, was quoted in the book as saying that other states had turned down the request: “When Singapore stumbled into independence and our security and survival were in doubt, Israel provided ready assistance for the establishment of our armed forces.”
Speaking at the book launch, Mr Sagi Karni, ambassador of Israel to Singapore, said that Israeli foreign policy during the 1950s and 1960s was to be very proactive and to try to help post-colonial countries in Africa and Asia. He added that Israel tried to be generous despite its own small economy and limited resources. Sagi Karni (Hebrew: שגיא קרני, born 28 July 1967) is an Israeli diplomat. He was the Ambassador of Israel to Singapore from 2019 to 2023
“Therefore when the request for help came from young Singapore, it was not a huge dilemma to make a decision that we will go for it,” Mr Karni said.
Israel sent a team of military advisers, who had provided valuable expertise to Singapore during its post-independence years. However, this was kept secret for a time and the Singapore Government had called them “the Mexicans” in a bid to mask their true identities.
Travelling incognito to surveil Singapore in the post-independence years, the Israeli team came up with “The Brown Book”, a masterplan to build the Singapore Armed Forces, former head of civil service Peter Ho wrote.
Referring to Mr Ho's anecdote in his speech at Monday’s event, Mr Karni said: “I tell my friends it was better to be called Mexicans than ‘ang moh gui’ (Hokkien for “caucasian devil”).”
Mr Yeo remarked that he, too, learnt new facts from the book, such as how former Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin had asked this team of advisers to not turn Singapore into an Israeli colony or be “arms merchants” to the young country, and that the Israeli advisers' success will be measured by how Singapore can run its own army by itself.
Mr Yeo revealed, though, that this was not always adhered to: “It took time for Israel to develop a deep understanding of Singapore. As Defence Minister Howe Yoon Chong’s ‘bag carrier’ to Israel in 1980, I remember him being quite upset about the explicit pressure put on him by the Israeli defence sales unit to buy Israeli-made weapons.”
The two countries had maintained a low-key relationship until it was openly publicised in former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s biography, From Third World to First, in 2000.
The changing attitudes towards Israel by Singapore’s Muslim neighbours today, who once likened Singapore to Israel in an uncomplimentary manner, were mentioned by veteran diplomat Bilahari Kausikan in the book. Bilahari Kim Hee Papanasam Setlur Kausikan (born 1954, colony of Singapore) is a Singaporean retired academic, diplomat and civil servant who served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1995 and 1998. Kausikan's father, P.S. Raman, named his son Bilahari Kim Hee Papanasam Setlur Kausikan: Bilahari is the name of a raga; Kausikan is a form of the Vedic surname Kaushik; Setlur is a Brahmin sub-caste; and Papanasam is the name of P.S. Raman's home village in Tamil Nadu. Kim Hee (金喜; Jīn Xǐ; 'golden joy') is the Chinese name that Kausikan's mother gave him. [ his mother's name is Lim Eng Neo, a Peranakan, and he had three children]
“Equating Singapore with Israel as a warning is no longer credible. After winning four wars against numerically superior Arab forces, Israel is not going to be pushed into the sea. It is a successful country, here to stay as a legitimate part of the Middle East,” he wrote.
It is the first time that there is a book with multiple accounts detailing the inside story of Israel’s links to Singapore.
Mr Yeo said: “Our bilateral relationship now extends beyond defence to many other fields and it has always been our fervent hope that Singapore can be a benefit to Israel to whom we owe a deep debt of gratitude.”
The book is available at bookstores for S$37.
●
In October 1965, a senior Israel Defence Force officer was dispatched to Singapore to meet then Defence Minister Goh Keng Swee in secret.
Newly-independent Singapore, which had only two under-strength infantry battalions, an ageing wooden gunboat and no aircraft at the time, needed to build an army virtually from scratch.
Founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had given Dr Goh the go-ahead to approach Israel, after Egypt and India - both of whom Singapore sought help from to build up its defences - did not offer aid after a few weeks of waiting.
During his visit to Singapore, Major-General Rehavam Ze'evi travelled incognito by taxi to familiarise himself with the country's terrain.
He then assembled a team that developed The Brown Book - a masterplan for the build-up of the Singapore Armed Forces.
The plan, which Singapore accepted, assessed that the "only viable solution" was to build up a citizen army of conscripts that was trained and led by a small regular force.
Soon after, both countries signed a one-page agreement stating that Israel would provide defence advisers to Singapore.
The first batch of military advisers from Israel were described as "Mexicans" to disguise their presence.
The details of how Israel helped to build up Singapore's military in the early years is captured in a new book launched on Monday (Dec 9) to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Titled Beating The Odds Together: 50 Years of Singapore-Israel Ties, the 160-page book is jointly published by the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore and World Scientific.
Among the book's contributors was Mr Peter Ho, a former top civil servant who was permanent secretary for defence from 2000 to 2004, who gave the account of Israel's military aid during the early years.
Other contributors include former foreign minister George Yeo, Singapore Ambassador to Israel Winston Choo, world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, and rabbi of the Chesed-El Synagogue Jean Pierre Fettmann.
The two countries formally established diplomatic relations in 1969. Today, the bilateral relationship goes beyond security and stretches across many areas, from trade to culture and research.
Speaking at the book launch at The Arts House, Mr Yeo said the bilateral relationship is sustained not only by common strategic interests, but also by the sharing of "a certain kindred spirit" of having to survive under difficult odds.
He added: "Our bilateral relationship now extends beyond defence to many other fields, and it has always been our fervent hope that Singapore can be a benefit to Israel, to whom we owe a deep, eternal debt of gratitude."
In the book's foreword, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong noted that the depth of the relationship has rarely been publicised because of political sensitivities, and said the book "will fill this lacuna".
Singapore's friendship with Israel has attracted some controversy in the past, Mr Goh wrote, citing how the Government's decision in 1986 to invite then Israel President Chaim Herzog was met with anger and criticism from the Republic's immediate neighbours.
However, reactions were more muted when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a one-day visit to Singapore in 2017, he added.
Mr Bilahari Kausikan, who is chairman of the Middle East Institute and former permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote in his essay that the two countries are both small, improbable, and outliers in their respective regions.
"And we both must always be outliers if we are to continue to survive and prosper. If Israel becomes just another Middle Eastern country, or Singapore becomes just another South-east Asian country, we cannot survive, let alone prosper," he said.
The book's editor, Mr Mattia Tomba, said among the things he has learnt is how Jews have lived in relative peace and harmony in Singapore since the 19th century.
An 1830 census - the first official record of Jews in Singapore - had indicated that there were "nine traders of Jewish faith" then.
Mr Tomba, who is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and founding investor at Tradeteq, added: "Rather than give a list of facts and statistics, we hope that the personal stories and ties that the contributors share will make it interesting for readers, and show the depth and width of this unlikely relationship."
2024 Singapore Military Strength
For 2024, Singapore is ranked 30 of 145 out of the countries considered for the annual GFP review. The nation holds a PwrIndx* score of 0.4087 (a score of 0.0000 is considered 'perfect'). This entry last reviewed on 01/09/2024.
*PwrIndx: Each nation is assessed on individual and collective values processed through an in-house formula to generate its 'PwrIndx' (Power Index) score. Some values are estimated when official numbers are not available. View the NOTES tab below for a detailed breakdown of other assessments.
Breakdown
It is an annually-updated, statistics-based website tracking defense-related information of 145 nations and exists as a wholly-independent resource.
Why Singapore Secretly Needed Israel To win (In 1967)
The South African army got training and during the apartheid years and Israel was their main supplier of military hardware. Many less developed countries have turned to Israel because the IDF know how to get things done and how to do it on a budget because the IDF doesn't have the kind of huge budgets the US, Europeans, Iran and some Gulf Arab states do. Israelis should be proud of the fact that IDF guided and trained the Singapore Army and any other because it has made it possible for these countries to defend themselves. May the IDF train many more armies around the world.
Singapore is Israel's Chinese doppelgänger¹, although I'm afraid that they did a better job of it than us. Doppelganger means ¹A ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its fleshly counterpart.
²A spiritual or ghostly double or counterpart; esp., an apparitional double of a living person; a cowalker.
Singapore is a much smaller country, also with no natural resources whatsoever, surrounded by hostile Muslim neighbours, and with a significant Muslim population* which considered the Chinese to be settlers brought by imperialism. *Islam constitutes the third largest religion in Singapore, with Muslims accounting for approximately 15.6% of the population, as indicated by the 2020 census. At 539,251 or 15.6% of the resident population. Predominantly, Singaporean Muslims are Sunni Muslims.
Despite its even more impoverished situation at its birth, Singapore went the capitalist route, while Israel was ruled by socialists, and built their country from the poorest to the richest in the world in two generations -- passing Israel in prosperity along the way. Singaporean Chinese never won the love of the Muslims inside or outside of the country, but it was able to buy their cooperation and tolerance with its existence by generating extreme prosperity for everybody. There are many lessons for Israel in the history and massive success of Singapore.
Golani: In 1969 I worked in a hotel in Beersheva in Southern Israel and we were the hosts for many groups of young men from Singapore who where being trained by the Israeli Armoured Corp. They all wore green overalls without any patches or ribbons, they were polite, went to bed early, left the hotel in trucks early and came back exhausted. Most of them spoke good English and it was a pleasure having them stay with us. The only complaint was about the food and they would send somebody into the kitchen to work with the chef and cooks to provide food more in their own tastes. All the staff of the hotel loved eating the food prepared for them as in 1969 Israel was not known for its culinary expertise. So glad we could help.
I have seen plenty of soldiers from the Indian army coming out side the Kirya so the Indians are probably getting trained for something by the IDF. HaKirya, or The Kirya (Hebrew: הַקִּרְיָה, lit. 'The Campus'), is an area in central Tel Aviv, consisting of an urban military base north of Kaplan Street.
Instead of being jealous of their success, Singapore's northern neighbor, Malaysia, would do well to establish diplomatic ties with Israel and learn from them the business of military and economic know how. This revelation of Israeli involvement in the training of the Singapore Armed Forces is bound to rattle the Jew haters within their Muslim population.
Malaysia remains quite resentful of the success of Singapore, and continues to treat the Chinese majority in the country as second class citizens. The lesson for us is that despite this dislike for Singapore and ethnic Chinese, and their promises to conquer it and re-incorporate it into Malaysia, the prosperity of Singapore quickly became such that Malaysia (and Indonesia) did not want to kill the goose that was laying the golden eggs. When trade with Israel can offer Malaysia more than the good well they get from the Arabs for their boycott, Israelis will again be welcome in Malaysia. Incidentally, Malaysia once had a thriving -- now essentially extinct -- Jewish community, and there is still a very interesting and well cared for Jewish Cemetery in (majority Chinese) Penang.
[Defending the Lion City] SAF's Origins Story. click here
[Defending the Lion City] SAF's Origins Story
The official narrative given
Dr. GOH KENG SWEE
On 16 Jul 2004, Haaretz, an
A Deep, Dark,
Secret Love Affair
Jul. 16, 2004, Haaretz
Christmas Eve, 1965, is the
In his book, "From Third
The Israeli military mission
Singapore's army is today
The scope of the deals,
A few years ago,
Surrounded By Muslims
Lee explained the need to
At the same time, in the
Ze'evi appointed Elazari,
"The delegation arrived in
Wake-Up At 5:30 A.M.
On December 24, 1965,
Elazari operated according
"We wanted to recruit a
The first course had an IDF
Jobless Instead Of Soldiers
Once the staff of command
The Israelis faced a problem.
Stunned, the Israelis tried to
Golan says, "Yaakov and I
Along with the two tracks of
Surprise Tanks
The unquiet in Singapore,
On the basis of the lessons
Retired Colonel Asher Dar
The waiting period in Israel
In the wake of the Israeli
Foundations Of The Air
The small Israeli team in
"As compensation for the
Uzis And Israeli Marching
After the creation of the
A regular army needs an
Another major headache for
The Israeli team asked a
"Our motto was that we
The Jungle Combat Manual
The Singaporeans took the
"Three months later, the two
Dr Goh Keng Swee
(6 October 1918–
14 May 2010), one
of the founding
members of the
People’s Action
Party (PAP),
orchestrated much
of modern
Singapore’s
economic success.
Among other notable
accomplishments,
Goh famously
rescued the island
from the brink of
bankruptcy and was
instrumental in
shaping its
industrialisation
programme.
Apart from serving
the nation as its first
Minister of Finance
(1959-1965), Dr.Goh
also took on the roles
of Deputy Prime
Minister (1973-1984),
Minister of Defence
(1965-1967;
1970-1979), and
Minister of
Education (1979-
1980; 1981-1984).
In addition, Dr. Goh
chaired a number of
government-led
companies as well
as the Monetary
Authority of
Singapore (MAS)
from 1980 to 1985.
A heart for the
people
Goh was born in Malacca,
Malaysia. He moved to
Singapore with his family in 1920
at the age of two. He went on
to study at Anglo-Chinese
School and subsequently
graduated from Raffles College
in 1939. Armed with a diploma
in the arts, Goh found a job as
a civil servant in the British
Administration. His work was
disrupted by the invasion of
the Japanese army and
its subsequent three-year
occupation.
After the war, Goh re-entered
the civil service, working at the
Social Welfare Department
(SWD) as a social researcher.
It was here that his passion
for social justice and welfare
was kindled. Goh also played a
key role in putting together
causes such as the People’s
Kitchens to alleviate post-war
poverty among locals. His
overall performance at work
caught the eye of his superiors
who gave him a scholarship to
study statistics at the London
School of Economics (LSE) in
1948.
Fighting
injustice
In London, Goh started an
anti-colonial group called the
Malayan Forum. He was its first
chairman. There, he met
individuals such as Lee Kuan
Yew and Toh Chin Chye who
became his lifelong comrades.
They gathered regularly to
discuss the future of Malaya
and Singapore. At LSE, Goh
was awarded first-class
honours in economics in 1951,
and went on to obtain a doctor
of philosophy degree.
Upon his return to Singapore,
Goh was given the post of an
assistant director at SWD.
Shortly after, he became director.
It was around this period that
he felt perturbed by the pay
disparity between non-British and
British civil servants. Together
with fellow civil servant and
future PAP comrade K.M. Byrne,
Goh formed the Council for
Joint Action in 1952 to fight for
equal pay.
Goh subsequently left the civil
service to join politics full-time,
contesting in the 1959 general
elections as a member of the
PAP – the year Singapore secured
self-governance. Goh won a seat
at Kreta Ayer and became
Singapore's first finance minister
after the PAP’s historic sweep
at the polls.
Turning a falter
-ing economy
around
Goh,as Singapore’s newly-minted
finance minister, inherited a
government on the verge of
financial collapse – the nation
was projected to suffer a deficit
of $14 million by the end of
1959. Through expenditure cuts
and other initiatives, Goh not
only managed to save the country
from going into the red but also
succeeded in bringing in a tidy
surplus of $1 million by the
end of the year. His judicious
style of fiscal prudence went
on to have a lasting impact
on the PAP government’s
approach towards the
country’s finances.
In 1961, Goh established the
Economic Development Board
(EDB). Along the way, he also
launched an ambitious project
in Jurong to transform swamp
-land into an industrial estate.
The unstable situation in
Singapore at the time however,
left many ill-convinced of its
feasibility.
Some even gave his Jurong
Industrial Estate project the
disheartening nickname
“Goh’s Folly”.
Goh nonetheless preserved.
Citing the initiative as “an act
of faith in the people of
Singapore”, he put tremendous
energy into the project and
succeeded in proving critics
wrong. By 1968, Jurong was
home to 300 factories with
21,000 workers under their
employ. Goh’s strategy for
success included having EDB
conduct factory opening
ceremonies daily over a three
month period to drum up hype
and awareness that the estate
was now “open for business”.
Today, November 3rd, 2023,
Within seven years since its
inception in 2016, Jurong
Innovation District (JID) has
flourished into a thriving
ecosystem of over 100 key
players in the full
manufacturing value chain,
including research institutes
and capabilities developers,
technology and training
providers and advanced
manufacturers.
Located in western
Singapore and spread over
620 hectares across five
precincts (Nanyang
Technological University
(NTU), CleanTech Park, Bahar,
Bulim and Tengah housing
estate), JID is a crown jewel
in Singapore’s advanced
manufacturing vision. Jurong
Town Corporation (JTC) is
planning and developing JID
to be one of Singapore’s
advanced manufacturing hubs,
driving cross-pollination
of ideas and technologies
in advanced manufacturing.
The who’s who in JID
Today, JID boasts of being
home to an impressive
array of global companies
involved in training, R&D
and manufacturing activities,
besides researchers,
educational institutions,
start-ups, manufacturers
and technology firms.
For instance, the Bosch
Rexroth Regional Training
Centre and Makino’s Additive
Manufacturing Centre of
Excellence are both in
CleanTech Park, while
Angel Playing Cards’
manufacturing centre and
R&D hub and Shimano’s
factory and R&D hub are in
the Bulim precinct.
Joining them in Bulim is the
Hyundai Motor Innovation
Centre, which is expected to
be fully operational by 2024.
It will include an innovation
R&D lab, a test circuit and a
small-scale electric vehicle
assembly facility.
The Bulim population is set
to grow further when the new
SATS Food Hub, which will
allow SATS to achieve
operational efficiency through
automation and robotics,
is completed in 2025
(estimated). SATS is a
leading provider of
gateway services and
food solutions in Asia.
JTC’s upcoming Bulim
Square, estimated to be
completed in 2024, will
also enable companies to
establish their R&D and
prototyping, production,
distribution, and
headquarters functions in
one location. The ready-built
high-specification facility
will house the regional
headquarters of leading
Japanese digital workplace
solutions provider Konica
Minolta and Fanuc’s
advanced robotics centre,
where the global factory
automation manufacturer
will showcase its newest
robotics technology and
provide robotics equipment
maintenance and servicing.
Additionally, a Singapore-
headquartered hydrogen
fuel cell solutions specialist,
Spectronik, is carrying out
track trials at the Centre of
Excellence for Testing &
Research of Autonomous
Vehicles NTU (CETRAN)
for the first hydrogen-powered
light commercial vehicle, prior
to road tests around the
CleanTech Park in 4Q23.
A*STAR – Singapore’s Agency
for Science, Technology and
Research, also opened
another two research institutes
– the Singapore Institute of
Manufacturing Technology
and the National Metrology
Centre in October 2023 in
the CleanTech Park. The
agency’s A*STAR Advanced
Remanufacturing and
Technology Centre and
A*STAR Advanced
Manufacturing Training
Academy are already in
the same precinct.
The Surbana Jurong Group
– a global urban,
infrastructure and managed
services consulting firm,
also set up its new global
headquarters, Surbana
Jurong Campus, in the
CleanTech Park. Other
players in the CleanTech
Park include Aquaporin
Asia, Sunkonnect and
Gradiant International
Holdings.
The steady growth of JID
will pave the way for
Singapore to be the region’s
leading advanced
manufacturing hub and
stay ahead of the
transformation of the
manufacturing sector towards
higher value-adding activities
and the adoption of Industry
4.0 initiations.
Figure 1: Jurong Innovation
District
Source: Google Earth, JTC,
JLL Research
Table 1: Examples of major
companies in the JID
JID Precinct: Companies
CleanTech Park: ●Sodick
Singapore
●Surbana Jurong Group
●Makino
●DMG Mori
●Bosch Rexroth
●A*STAR
Bulim: ●Shimano
●Angel Playing Cards
●Fanuc*
●Konica Minolta*
●Hyundai Motor Group*
●SATS*
*Upcoming
Source: JTC, JLL Research,
October 2023
Along the way, Goh also
established the Development
Bank of Singapore (1968)
and MAS (1971) to bolster
Singapore’s economic status
in the region.
Establishing the
Singapore
Armed Forces
When Singapore became
independent in 1965, Goh was
appointed Minister of Defence
and was tasked to build up the
Singapore Armed Forces (SAF)
from scratch. To achieve this,
Goh introduced the 1967 NS
(Amendment) Bill which
essentially made conscription
compulsory for Singaporean
18 years old males, thus
greatly accelerating the
formation of the SAF.
Other
contributions
As the Education Minister, Goh
was asked to identify and
address issues with Singapore’s
education system. His findings
and suggestions were put
together in a report which
subsequently led to major
reforms and an overhaul.
Among the changes – the
introduction of a streaming
system so primary and
secondary school students could
learn at their own pace. This, he
felt, could help address the issue
of high dropout rates.
While at the helm at MAS, Goh
focused on promoting Singapore
as an international financial
centre. He made major amend
-ments to the Banking Act, the
MAS Act and the
Finance Companies Act.
Goh’s contributions went beyond
policymaking. Among other things,
he pushed for the establishment
of Sentosa (1968), the Jurong
Bird Park (1971), the Singapore
Zoological Gardens (1973) and
the Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies (1986).
A lasting legacy
Goh stepped down from politics
in 1984. In recognition of his
outstanding contributions to the
nation, he was awarded the
prestigious Order of Temasek
(First Class) the following year.
Numerous scholarships and
foundations were also set up in
his name. Among them, the
Goh Keng Swee Professorship
and the Master’s Scholarship
in Economics. In 2008, Goh’s
wife Phua Swee Liang set up the
Goh Keng Swee Foundation to
help the disadvantaged.
Dr Goh Keng Swee passed away
on 14 May 2010 but the fruits of
his labour are still evident today.
DR. GOH KENG SWEE
Thinker and Institution Builder
Dr Goh Keng Swee passed
away on 14 May 2010, aged
91. His death immediately
brought forth an
outpouring of accolades
from older Singaporeans,
which surprisingly left
their younger compatriots
astounded to learn how
much credit for the
country's successes was
owed to this forgotten
man.
It is certainly startling
that new generations of
Singaporeans know so
little about Dr. Goh Keng
Swee. After all, between
1959 and 1984, if Goh
was not Minister of
Finance, he was either
Minister of Defense or
Minister of Education,
and Deputy Prime Minister
or Acting Prime Minister
at the same time.
The range of institutions that
he built was so wide that it
has become a careless custom
in Singapore among the old
to suppose that the germ
for all these successful
institutions was first found
in his fertile mind. This is
not a wild supposition,
for what is amazing is
that at most times, their
guess would prove correct.
Dr. Goh Keng Swee did
have a decisive hand in
establishing a large number,
though needless to say,
far from all of the vital
institutions that continue
to power the political
economy of the island state.
Another common assumption
is that Dr. Goh Keng Swee and
Lee Kuan Yew represented
two different ways of doing
things and that the two did
not always agree. This seems
true only to an extent.
Dr. Goh Keng Swee may
have dealt largely with
financial and defence matters
while LKY was always in
the thick of political battles,
but the two seemed to
have been in much greater
agreement with each other,
especially in the early
years, than their varied
fields of focused activity
would have us suppose.
Dr. Goh Keng Swee was as
great a believer in strict
decisions and innovative
hard work as LKY was; but
although not one who
could be pushed around,
his acceptance of LKY's
political leadership was
complete. We see here a
case of a soft-handed
leader working along
-side a hard-fisted leader.
吴庆瑞博士
思想家和制度建设者
吴庆瑞博士于 2010 年 5 月 14
日逝世，享年 91 岁。他的逝
世立即引起了老一辈新加坡人
的一片赞誉，而年轻的同胞
们却惊讶地发现，这个被遗忘
的人为新加坡的成功做出了如
此多的贡献。
新一代新加坡人对吴庆瑞博士
知之甚少，这确实令人震
惊。毕竟，在 1959 年至
1984 年期间，吴庆瑞博士如
果不是财政部长，就是国防
部长或教育部长，同时还是副
总理或代理总理。
他建立的制度范围如此广泛，以
至于新加坡的老年人中已经形
成了一种不经意的习惯，认为
所有这些成功制度的萌芽都首先
出现在他丰富的思想中。 这
并非荒唐的假设，因为令人惊
奇的是，在大多数情况下，他
们的猜测都是正确的。吴庆瑞
博士确实在建立大量（但不
用说，远非所有）继续为这个
岛国的政治经济提供动力的重
要机构方面发挥了决定性作用。
另一个普遍的假设是，吴庆瑞博
士和李光耀代表了两种不同的做
事方式，两人并不总是意见一致
。这似乎只是在一定程度上是正
确的。吴庆瑞博士可能主要处理
金融和国防事务，而李光耀则一
直处于政治斗争的激烈之中，但
两人似乎彼此之间有着更大的一
致性，特别是在早年，这比他们
不同领域的关注活动让我们认
为的要多得多。
吴庆瑞博士和李光耀一样，坚信
严格决策和创新努力；但尽管他
不是一个可以被人摆布的人，但
他完全接受了李光耀的政治领导
。 在这里，我们看到了一个温和
的领导者与严厉的领导者一起工
作的例子。
Dr Goh Keng Swee and the
secret negotiations for
Singapore’s secession from
Malaysia in 1965 – and his
economic plan
“So the secession of
Singapore was well planned
by you and Tun Razak! It
was not foisted on
Singapore!”
“No it was not.”
– Dr Goh Keng Swee’s reply
to an interview question with
Melanie Chew, 1996, before
he fell into a long silence,
thumbed through the secret
files he named ‘Albatross’
in his possession, and finally
closed it, never to re-open it
again in this conversation
or in any subsequent public
ones.
Jurong Town Hall – under
construction in 1971 (inset)
and today. It was the result
of a competition in 1968,
won by the architecture firm,
Architects Team 3.
Since 1996 an extremely
important voice – none other
than Dr Goh Keng Swee’s,
Singapore’s Minister of
Finance (1959-1965, 1967-
1970) – has overturned the
story we tell ourselves about
9 August 1965. It is
contained in a book written
by Melanie Chew (1996). But
few of us take note of his
important testimony. For
instance an Infopedia article
on Dr Goh Keng Swee, written
in 2010 (Tien and Chew
2010), does not mention Dr
Goh’s role in negotiating the
Separation with Malaysian
colleagues and its record in
the secret files in his
possession, even though
Chew’s 1996 work is listed
in its bibliography. A Straits
Times article from Apr 20 this
year (Ng 2015) does disclose
the Albatross files and the
gist of the information Dr Goh
had disclosed to Melanie
Chew, but the explanation is
all too brief.
The notion that the
announcement of Singapore’s
expulsion from the Federation
of Malaysia on 9 August 1965
came as a shock rather than
one that was planned for and
desired for economic reasons
is a myth perpetuated by
others – except Dr Goh
himself, who provides us with
the exact opposite story.
Working behind the scenes in
projects such as Jurong since
1962, Dr Goh Keng Swee had
a vision of a Singapore
economy in industrialisation
and manufacturing that had
been initiated before
Singapore joined Malaysia,
and this was a vision that
sustained Singapore after
the Separation/ Secession
and well beyond it. In fact, as
we shall see, it was a plan
that was actually thwarted
during the Merger era.
From Dr Goh’s speeches we
note that things did not go
well when the newly elected
PAP government stepped
into office on 3 June 1959,
the same day the Singapore
Constitution, crafted for
several years before this by
the previous Labour Front
government under David
Marshall and Lim Yew Hock,
came into force. Investors
were leaving. Dr Goh noted
in 1969:
“When my [PAP] government
first assumed office on June
3rd 1959…..businessmen and
industrialists, far from hailing
this event as a happy augury
for the future, felt for the most
part that the end of the world
was around the corner. The
stock market collapsed and
there was a flight of capital
out of Singapore. Several
people fled the country. [But]
In a short space of ten
years, we brought about a
transformation of the
business climate.”– Dr Goh Keng
Swee, at the combined annual
dinner of the Singapore
Manufacturer’s Association and
the 9th Pioneer certificate
presentation ceremony held
at ‘Tropicana’ on Friday, 13th
June 1969. Source: Ministry of
Culture, Microfilm No. NA 1250.
Quoted in Khoo (2010).
Some people might point out
that Dr Goh probably owes at
least part of his success as
Minister for Finance to the
advice of Dr Albert Winsemius,
a UN economic advisor for
the industrialisation program
who first came to Singapore
in 1960.
While this is true, we should
note the following anecdote
that gives proof of Dr Goh’s
independent initiative and
capability just before Dr
Winsemius appeared on the
scene. Upon assuming office
in June 3 1959, as noted
above, there was no
confidence in the new PAP
government or in
Singapore’s economy, and
investments dissipated – but
by the end of the year Dr Goh
“had turned a $14 million
deficit forecast into a $1
million surplus” (Ng 2015).
The story of surplus has been
something we have taken
for granted, but in 1959 this
would have hardly been an
easy task. (It should be
noted, however, that
Singapore in 1959
apparently had $300 million
in reserves (Lee 2010) –
inherited no doubt from
the previous Labour Front
government).
Dr Goh had taken up the task
of developing facilities to
ensure Singapore’s economic
viability and survival even
before Singapore joined
Malaya
to form Malaysia in 1963 and
certainly before it separated
from Malaysia on 9 August
1965.
In fact, Dr Goh revealed in an
interview in 1996 with
Melanie Chew the following
(transcript reproduced in
Kwa 2010):
Melanie Chew: When did you
feel that Malaysia was going
to break up? Was it a
surprise to you?
Dr Goh: Now I am going to let
you into what has been a state
secret up to now. This is a file,
which I call Albatross. In the
early days there were a lot of
discussions about changing
the terms of Malaysia by the
Prime Minister, Rajaratnam,
and Toh Chin Chye. It got
nowhere. They discussed all
types of projects. Was
Singapore to be part of
Malaysia, but with special
powers, or with no connection
with Malaysia?
Now on the 20th of July 1965,
I met Tun Razak and Dr Ismail.
Now this is the 20th July 1965.
I persuaded him that the only
way out was for Singapore to
secede, completely.
(reading) “It should be done
quickly, and before we get more
involved in the Solidarity
Convention.” As you know,
Rajaratnam and Toh Chin Chye
were involved in the Solidarity
Convention.
“Malaysia for the Malaysians,”
that was the cry, right?
Melanie Chew: This Solidarity
Convention, you felt, would
be very dangerous?
Dr Goh: No, not dangerous. I said,
“You want to get Singapore out,
and it must be done very quickly.
And very quietly, and presented
as a fait accompli.” It must be
kept away from the British. The
British had their own policy.
They wanted us to be inside
Malaysia. And, they would have
never agreed to Singapore
leaving Malaysia. Now, the
details, I won’t discuss with you.
The above testimony, so briefly
and tersely presented to us by
Dr Goh, has immense
significance in our
understanding of how
and why Separation or
Secession occurred. It still
remains beyond popular
consciousness. Returning to
the transcript:
Melanie Chew: How did Tun
Razak and Dr Ismail react?
Dr Goh: Oh, they themselves
were in agreement with the
idea [of Dr Goh’s proposal
to get Singapore out quickly].
In fact, they had themselves
come to the conclusion
that Singapore must get out.
The question was, how to
get Singapore out?
Melanie Chew: So the secession
of Singapore was well planned
by you and Tun Razak! It was
not foisted on Singapore!
Dr Goh: No, it was not.
(There followed a long silence
during which he slowly leafed
through the secret file,
Albatross.Then he shut the
file, and resumed his narrative.)
Now then, independence. The
first thing an independent state
must have is a defence force …
Dr Goh Keng Swee’s testimony
and his secret files which he
named “Albatross” have yet
to be studied independently.
Lee Kuan Yew acknowledged in
his memoirs The Singapore Story
that Dr Goh gave him
“permission to read his oral
history recorded in 1980-81”
(Lee 1998: 633) – we do not
know the extent to which
this reflects the files in the
“Albatross” collection. However,
Lee Kuan Yew’s The Singapore
Story records Dr Goh’s
instrumental role in the
secret negotiations with
Malaysian ministers and
reveals that Dr Goh indeed
did not press Tun Razak for
“a looser rearrangement
(between Singapore and
Malaysia, rather than
complete separation) as I had
asked him to” – in other
words, this corroborates
Dr Goh’s own statement that
he had facilitated the decision
for Singapore to secede
rather than remain in a
modified looser confederation
with Malaysia as Lee Kuan
Yew would have preferred.
Dr Goh is thus the person
instrumental in facilitating the
secession of Singapore from
Malaysia.
There is reason to suggest
that a standoff between the two
Finance Ministers of Singapore
and Malaysia – Dr Goh Keng
Swee and Tan Siew Sin
(both, incidentally, hailing from
Melaka) – was among the
difficulties that spelled disaster
for Dr Goh’s envisioned
industrialisation program for
Singapore, and hence factored
in his economic calculations
to see a future in separation.
Dr Goh was instrumental in
the setting up of the Economic
Development Board (EDB) in
1961 and Jurong Industrial
Estate in 1962 – both moves
were made before merger.
These were to face
difficulties during the merger.
Janadas Devan, Director of the
Institute of Policy Studies (IPS)
and son of the former
minister Devan Nair, in a
speech
on Jan 26 this year for the IPS
Singapore Perspectives 2015
seminar (excerpts published
in the Straits Times Jan 28),
reveals the following:
“Dr Goh Keng Swee recounts
in
his Oral History a conversation
he had with a World Bank
expert who was advising
Kuala Lumpur and Singapore
on the common market.
“Suppose the Malaysian
Finance Minister Tan Siew
Sin does not play the
game and the common
market does not get off the
ground – what happens?”
Dr Goh recalls asking the
World Bank expert.
The expert answered
presciently thus: “In that
event, Mr Minister,
it’s not the common market
which should be in danger;
the whole concept of
Malaysia would be in danger.”
The stand-off between the
two Finance Ministers Dr
Goh Keng Swee and Tan
Siew Sin can be seen as
part of the larger rivalry
between PAP and the Chinese
party in Malaysia’s Alliance,
the MCA (Malaysian Chinese
Association), which Tan Siew
Sin headed. PAP’s entry into
Malaysian politics and the
proposal that it join the
Alliance with UMNO was seen
as an affront to MCA’s role
there. Lee Kuan Yew
(1998: 642) made this claim:
“he [Tan Siew Sin] believed
that any concession to
Singapore would help the PAP
to win over the Chinese in
Malaysia… [with Singapore’s
exit,] [h]e was only relieved
and happy that his position as
leader of the MCA and the
MCA’s position in Malaysia
were now secure. The threat
from the PAP and the
Malaysian Solidarity
Convention had been
removed.” .
Further, the PAP – Lee Kuan
Yew himself – had criticised
the Budget announced by
Tan Siew Sin in the Malaysian
Parliament in December 1964,
and this drew flak from
Malaysian backbenchers,
such as Mr Lee San Choon,
MCA of Alliance Segamat,
Johor (ST 3 Dec 1964).
The Jurong Industrial Estate
project that Dr Goh initiated
in 1962, before Singapore
joined Malaysia, faced
difficulties when Central
Government in Kuala Lumpur
deliberately dragged its feet
approving a key policy that
was to have allowed the
industrialisation project in
Jurong to take off. Again
quoting from Janadas Devan,
we hear of the following:
“… the Economic Development
Board had to seek permission
from Kuala Lumpur to award
pioneer certificates to
prospective investors here,
entitling them to tax-free
status for five to 10 years.
In the two years we were in
Malaysia, only two out of 69
such applications were
approved, and one came with
so many restrictions it
amounted to a rejection.”
Business as usual: 3rd April
1965, just (4) months before
the separation: With the
Malaysian Prime Minister
Tunku Abdul Rahman in
attendance, Singapore's
Minister of Finance Dr Goh
Keng Swee delivers a
speech at opening of
Bridgestone Malaysia Co. Ltd
in Jurong Industrial Estate.
This company was a joint
venture between Bridgestone
Tire Co. Ltd of Japan and
Pan-Malaysian Cement Works
Ltd - it was the first tyre
factory in Singapore and
financed on a 50-50 basis
by Japanese and Malaysian
businessmen. Source:
National Archives of Singapore.
This important economic
stumbling block was among
the factors which eventually
convinced Dr Goh that
secession or separation
was necessary for Singapore’s
industrialisation to take off
unhindered by Central
Government curbs. He was
thus against any kind of further
looser confederation and did
not follow Lee Kuan Yew’s
wishes to this end, preferring
to push for separation
instead in his secret
negotiations.
Dr Goh was also behind many
other initiatives and key
institutions, though this is not
the space to discuss these at
length. It is summed up in
this accolade from a
colleague, who was
Chairman of the Singapore
Exchange J.Y. Pillay, when he
spoke in 2010 one day
after Dr Goh’s passing:
“Dr Goh was the seminal figure
of the 1960s, 1970s and early
1980s. His fingerprints were
on virtually every significant
policy initiative of that
period” (Lee 2010).
Dr Goh passed away on 14
May 2010, without as much
fanfare as the public show
of grief and mourning
accorded to the passing
of Lee Kuan Yew. The full
story of the Separation/
Secession plans in 1965
and contents of the
‘Albatross’ file remains
unknown. Dr Goh did
not pen any memoirs.
Perhaps we may hold out
hope that Dr Goh may well
have recorded an interview
with the very institution of
public records he helped set
up, the Oral History
Department of the National
Heritage Board – perhaps
an interview placed on
embargo until a certain
period after his passing.
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