MALAYSIA – SINGAPORE RELATIONS:
THE SECURITY DILEMMAS

INTRODUCTION

‘It's impossible to be friendly with Singapore because of the neighbouring city states’ unfriendliness towards Malaysia. Singapore gets into that kind of mood that they reject anything that comes from Malaysia. We try to be as friendly as possible but it's impossible’.[1] Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad Former Malaysia Prime Minister

“…we fear that at some time or other there could be a random act of madness like cutting off our water supplies, which they had publicly threatened whenever there were differences between us… we have to be prepared for all contingencies”.[2]

Lee Kuan Yew Former Singapore Prime Minister

Singapore became a part of Malaysia in 1963. On the part of Singapore, such was a welcomed move as Singapore lacks the depth, mass and resources deemed necessary for development and survival. On the part of Malaysia, however, it started-off as a half-hearted decision, with Tunku Abdul Rahman fearing that the Chinese population in Singapore would, after the merger, upset the Malay majority in Malaya. In May 1960, he told Malayan students in London that “(The) Chinese-educated and new immigrants will always be loyal to China and they are less Malay-minded,” and that the inclusion of the 1.3 million Chinese would confuse Malayans and ruin the calm atmosphere of the Federation[3]. The approach changed subsequently with the British influence and, most significantly, the inclusion of Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei (the latter decided not to join in the end) in the merger proposal. The suggestion was finally made on 27 May 1961, when Tunku Abdul Rahman spoke to the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of South East Asia in Singapore. Amidst oppositions from Indonesia and the