Why did Malaysia drive Singapore, which has a very important geographical position and is also the richest, out of the Federation?

Before World War II, the whole Malay Peninsula was a British colony. 1957, the Malayan Federation broke away from British colonial rule and declared its independence, but Singapore was not a member of the Malayan Federation at that time. 1963, the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah formed the Federation of Malaysia. 1On August 9, 965, Singapore was driven out of Malaysia and became an independent sovereign state.

Today, Singapore, with an area of nearly 500% and a population of nearly one-sixth, has roughly the same GDP as Malaysia, and its per capita GDP lags far behind Malaysia. In addition, Singapore's geographical position adjacent to the Straits of Malacca is very important, and it is also a superior port with fairly rich economy. According to common sense, Malaysia should use it to promote the development of Malaysia as a whole. Strangely, Malaysia is determined to drive it out of the Malaysian Federation instead of using it. What happened in the middle? What made Malaysia drive Singapore out of the Federation?

Join from the beginning

So, how did Singapore join Malaysia?

As we all know, Singapore is located in the south of Malay Peninsula, facing Malaysia across the sea in the north and Indonesia across the Singapore Strait in the south. After the opening of the new air route, Singapore, located at the crossroads of the Straits of Malacca, attracted the maritime powers Portugal, the Netherlands and Britain to compete for the ownership here. In the end, Britain, the global hegemon and maritime power, got Singapore and officially became a British colony from 1824.

Then, Britain occupied Penang and Malacca successively, and together with Singapore, formed a strait colony. In this way, Singapore, located at the outlet of Malacca Strait and a deep-water port, naturally became the core of the British Strait colony. And on this basis, the British continued to expand their colonial power to Southeast Asia. From 1874, it took 40 years to turn most of the Malay Peninsula into its own territory by signing a "treaty" with local indigenous people. At the same time, it obtained the sovereignty of North kalimantan island by means of forced buying and selling. At this point, Malaysia as a whole has become a dependency of Britain.

However, the British Empire was badly weakened in World War II and was unable to maintain a huge overseas colonial system. The Malay Peninsula, like Asia and Africa, also set off a national independence and liberation movement. 1957, Malay Peninsula broke away from British colonial rule and established Malaya Federation. However, the independence of other colonies around Singapore has not been solved. In this way, in 196 1 year, through the negotiations among Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak, Tengku's idea of four political entities working together to establish a "Malaysian Federation" was unanimously agreed.

To this end, Singapore joined the Malaysian Federation by referendum in 1962. 1963 In August, the Federation of Malaysia was proclaimed.

Joining Singapore in Malaysia Federation makes you feel more secure. Because Singapore is located in the center of the Straits of Malacca, it has a small area and no strategic depth and space. In case of foreign invasion, it is difficult to ensure safety by yourself. After joining the Federation, you can use Malaysia's defense system to protect yourself. At the same time, Singapore can overcome the disadvantages of lack of resources and small market and develop itself with the help of Malaysia's resources and market.

Reasons for expulsion

However, not long after Singapore joined, it was driven out by the Malaysian Federation. The main problem is that Singapore has paid high taxes to the federal government, which has triggered a series of political disputes.

At that time, Singapore was the richest region in the Federation and had to pay 40% tax to the federal government. By 1964, the proportion has increased to 60%. In this way, the federal government still refuses to open the Sabah and Sarawak markets to Singapore. In the final analysis, the Malaysian Federation economically suppressed and restricted Singapore.

Why is the federal government doing this? Because there are too many Chinese in Singapore, mainly Chinese, they are worried that the Chinese will control the Malaysian Federation after mastering the economic lifeline of Malaysia. Therefore, the focus of the contradiction between Singapore and Malaysia lies in the question of who is the owner of Malaysia in the Malaysian Federation.

As we all know, the main ethnic group in Malaysia is Malays. After getting rid of British colonial rule, Malays turned over and became masters. They don't want the regime to fall into the hands of others. They hope that the Federation will always be Malaysia.

But the problem is that besides Malays, there are many ethnic minorities such as Chinese and Indians. When the People's Republic of China was founded, the Chinese were the second largest ethnic group, accounting for 44% of the national population, almost the same as the Malays. Malaysia's economic lifeline is precisely controlled by the Chinese. This can't help worrying Malays. Coupled with the differences in religious beliefs and customs, the contradiction between Malays and Chinese is exposed. Malays' elites are always on guard against Chinese dominating Malaysia.

However, after Singapore experienced two waves of Chinese immigrants at the end of 19 and the beginning of the 20th century, Chinese surpassed Malays to become the main ethnic group. Lee Kuan Yew, then Governor of Singapore, also put forward the political proposition of "Malaysia for Malaysians". Although there are only differences between these two words, their meanings are quite different. Lee Kuan Yew's concept of Malays includes ethnic minorities such as Malays, Chinese and Indians, which of course violates the principle of "Malay Malaysia" of the federal government.

Therefore, in order to ensure that Malays would not lose state power, then Malaysian Prime Minister Tengku came up with a way to drive Singapore, which is dominated by Chinese, out of the Federation, thus reducing the proportion of Chinese in the Federation from 44% to 24% now. The proportion of Malays has now risen to two thirds.

In this way, Malays have an overwhelming absolute advantage in the country, and Malaysia's power is in the hands of Malays once and for all. As a result, the Malaysian parliament voted to expel Singapore, a small country with the most developed economy and too many Chinese, from the Federation.

Although neither Singapore nor Lee Kuan Yew wants to leave Malaysia, they have to face the reality. 1965 In August, Singapore and Malaysia formally separated, and Singapore was forced to become an independent sovereign state.

Differences and cooperation

With the advantages of being located in the Malacca Strait, the artery of international traffic, and the wisdom of Chinese, Singapore has vigorously developed its export-oriented economy, making it an international financial, commercial and tourism center and the only developed country in Southeast Asia, and winning its own living space.

After the separation of the two places, there have been differences and conflicts between Singapore and Malaysia, and the war of words has not stopped, but it has not reached the point of using guns, and cooperation is still the mainstream.

As we all know, fresh water resources in Singapore are very scarce. The fresh water that keeps Singapore alive comes from Malaysia, and the issue of fresh water has always been the most sensitive issue between the two countries. As early as 196 1 and 1962 before Singapore's independence, Singapore and Malaysia signed water supply agreements, which expired on 201and 20061respectively. According to the second agreement of 1962, before 206 1, Johor, Malaysia sold it to Singapore at the price of RM 3 per thousand gallons of raw water, equivalent to about RMB 50 cents, and repurchased purified water at the price of RMB 50 cents per thousand gallons.

Malaysia believes that Singapore, with its developed economy and abundant financial resources, should not enjoy low water prices. So I've been threatening to raise prices. Although Singapore has no advantage in the negotiations, Malaysia still cares about its international credit and dares not unilaterally fail to fulfill the agreement between the two countries. Singapore has repeatedly protested Malaysia's price increase through diplomatic channels. Therefore, the problem of fresh water between Singapore and Malaysia is a problem that runs through the struggle between the two countries.

In addition, Singapore and Malaysia also have sovereignty disputes over several nearby islands and related sea areas. Among them, the most controversial is resveratrol. Pedra Branca is located at the intersection of the Singapore Strait and the South China Sea, with an area as big as a football field. At low tide, they are all below sea level. The Sultanate of Johor originally belonged to Malaysia. Later, Britain was assigned to Singapore. It has always belonged to Singapore since then. However, starting from 1979, Malaysia first incorporated Pedra Branca into its territory on the grounds that it was once the land of the Sultanate of Johor, and thus began a 30-year-long sovereignty dispute over Pedra Branca. Pedra Branca is related to Singapore's lifeline port trade and the throat of the South China Sea entering the Straits of Malacca, so Singapore will never give in easily.

However, judging from the current situation, whether it is fresh water or sovereignty, the two countries should quarrel, but it has not affected the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries. Now, the first choice for Malaysians to work overseas is Singapore, and Malaysia has become the main place for Singaporeans to spend their holidays and shop.

In the whole international community, conflicts and cooperation coexist in the relations between countries. In fact, Singapore and Malaysia are complementary in length. Singapore is a developed country, but it is plagued by problems such as dense population, extreme shortage of labor and lack of resources, which are hardly problems for Malaysia. At the same time, Malaysia can learn from the development experience of developed and wealthy Singapore to solve the problem of long-term stagnation of national economic development.