Malaysia-Singapore = Trouble

The sudden withdrawal of Singapore from the state of Malaysia was almost inevitable. The problems which prevented its creation until 1963 are the same ones which have caused the present split. Malaysia, a nation of about ten million, was finally cobbled together out of four formerly British-controlled territories—Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, and Sabah.

The first and most important component is peninsular Malaya, consisting of nine historic Malay states which had become an independent federation in 1957. To all appearances, Malaya is a Malay state, but in fact only about half its population is ethnically Malay. It is about 40 per cent Chinese, 8 per cent Indian or Pakistani, and the rest European or Eurasian. These three major groups have not mixed racially, or “integrated” culturally, to any significant degree.

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Susan Huck

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The sudden withdrawal of Singapore from the state of Malaysia was almost inevitable. The problems which prevented its creation until 1963 are the same ones which have caused the present split. Malaysia, a nation of about ten million, was finally cobbled together out of four formerly British-controlled territories—Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, and Sabah.

The first and most important component is peninsular Malaya, consisting of nine historic Malay states which had become an independent federation in 1957. To all appearances, Malaya is a Malay state, but in fact only about half its population is ethnically Malay. It is about 40 per cent Chinese, 8 per cent Indian or Pakistani, and the rest European or Eurasian. These three major groups have not mixed racially, or “integrated” culturally, to any significant degree.