during merger Flashcards
significant events during merger
- participation of SAP in 1963 singapore state elections
- participation of PAP in 1964 federal elections
- 1964 racial riots
- malaysian solidarity convention
describe what happened during 1963 elections
- sap (umno + mic + mca + spa) was formed decided to challenge pap in elections
- sap did not win a single seat while pap won 37/51 seats
- all 7 seats previously held by spa and umno was lost to pap candidate, did not win even in constituencies with majority of malay voters
- umno and tunku were unhappy and felt threatened
- significance: tunku had broken gentleman’s agreement not to meddle in each others affairs
why was tunku and umno unhappy with their loss in 1963 elections
- showed that their pro-malay policies had no appeal among singapore malay residents and that they trusted pap leadership
- meant they were not popular in singapore and felt threatened and challenged
describe what happened in 1964 federal elections
- pap decided to participate
- lky felt that he was just exercising his right as a malaysian
- won 1 seat while alliance party won 89/104
- alliance leaders were upset with the pap for contesting and felt threatened
why was umno upset with pap for contesting in 1964 elections
- pap was going to set up branches in all states it contested for in the 1964 elections, showed ambition to secure more seats in federal parliament
- lky campaigned for a non-communal society where there would be equal treatment of all races
- umno did not believe that the pap only participated to present a better alternative to the mca but served as a direct challenge to it
- winning the additional seat would mean that the pap was the leading opposition party in the federal parliament
- felt threatened by lky
describe anti-pap campaigns made
- started by umno extremists, rumours that pap was not taking care of malays and treating singapore malays as second class citizens to tarnish its reputation was spread through malay press
- false report on resettlement project made: 200 malay families asked to move out as their area needed development, described as 3000 malay families forcefully evicted from their homes + discrimination
- secretary-general of umno made an anti-pap speech to raise tensions
- arrest threats started to be made for lky
describe what happened in 1964 racial riots (july)
- muslims gathered at padang for a procession to commemorate prophet muhammad’s birthday
- clashes broke out when chinese policeman asked a small group whether they had a permit to go on with the procession, angering them
- curfews imposed islandwide to restore order
- 23 dead, 454 injured
describe what happened in 1964 racial riots (september)
- mysterious death of a malay trishaw rider sparked another wave of riots between the chinese and malays
- resulted in 13 deaths and 106 injuries
result of 1964 racial riots?
- caused fear and suspicion among chinese and malays
- prompted alliance party and pap to declare political truce and set aside their differences to rebuild social fabric and reintegrate affected communities and not raise racial matters or challenge each other in elections for the next 2 years
describe malaysian solidarity convention
pap brought together malaysian opposition parties who opposed the sap to form a political alliance
- campaigned for a ‘malaysian malaysia’ where all would be treated equally regardless of race or religion
- seen as challenge to alliance party and special privileges enjoyed by malays, further straining relations between pap and umno
- calls from radical umno factions for arrest of lky, but tunku called it unconstitutional and undemocratic
reasons for separation
- issue of common market
- issue of revenue contribution
- composition of political parties
- treatment of races
how did issue of common market lead to separation
- singapore hoped for it to be set up to remove tariffs on singapore goods in malaya, helping its long term survival
- delay in setting up of common market
- tariffs continued to be imposed to protect malaya’s industries, singapore’s goods became more expensive and could not compete with locally made goods
how did issue of revenue contribution lead to separation
- singapore initially contributed 40% of its revenue to the federal government in exchange for defence, which was already a large sum
- federal government wanted to increase singapore’s revenue contribution to 60% as defence spending had increased significantly due to konfrontasi
- singapore felt it was outrageous
how did composition of political parties lead to separation
singapore
- major political parties were multiracial and sought to represent interests of all communities
- pap characterised by non-communal ideas based on multiracialism
malaya
- federal government comprised of 3 communal race-based parties which sought to look after the interests of their respective ethnic communities
- umno was characterised by communal ideas and believed in special rights and privileges for malays (formed along racial lines)
how did treatment of races lead to separation
singapore
- believed in equal treatment for all races (multiculturalism) and aimed to represent the interests of all racial communities
- felt that everyone regardless of race or religion should be given equal opportunity to succeed
malaya
- distinctively pro-malay and sanctioned policy of how malays were to be given special privileges and rights
- special privileges in employment, business and education given to malays to improve their economic and social position
