If Singapore was still under
British rule, Singapore will have never been a state under
Malaysia. So your scenario is not valid.
The 1955 election was the first lively political contest in
Singapore's history. Automatic registration expanded the register
of voters from 75,000 to over 300,000, and for the first time, it
included large numbers of Chinese, who had manifested political
apathy in previous elections. The Labor Front won 10 seats. The
Peoples Action Party (PAP), which fielded four candidates, won
three seats. David Marshall became Singapore's first Chief Minister
on 6 April 1955, with a coalition government made up of his own
Labor Front, the United Malays National Organization and the
Malayan Chinese Association .
Marshall resigned on 6 June 1956, after the breakdown of
constitutional talks in London on attaining full internal self
government. Lim Yew Hock, Marshall's deputy and minister for Labor
became the Chief Minister. The March 1957 constitutional mission to
London led by Lim Yew Hock was successful in negotiating the main
terms of a new Singapore Constitution. On 28 May 1958, the
Constitutional Agreement was signed in London.
Self-government was attained in 1959. In May that
year Singapore's first general election was held to choose 51
representatives to the first fully elected Legislative Assembly.
The PAP won 43 seats, gleaning 53.4 percent of the total votes. On
June 3, the new Constitution confirming Singapore as a
self-governing state was brought into force by the proclamation of
the Governor, Sir William Goode, who became the first Yang
di-Pertuan Negara (Head of State). The first Government of the
State of Singapore was sworn in on June 5, with Lee Kuan Yew as
Singapore's first Prime Minister.
The PAP had come to power in a united front with the communists to
fight British colonialism. The communists controlled many mass
organizations, especially of workers and students. It was an uneasy
alliance between the PAP moderates and the pro communists, with
each side trying to use the other for its own ultimate
objective--in the case of the moderates, to obtain full
independence for Singapore as part of a non-communist Malaya; in
the case of the communists, to work towards a communist
take-over.
The tension between the two factions worsened from 1960 and led to
an open split in l961, with the pro-communists subsequently forming
a new political party, the Barisan Sosialis. The other main players
in this drama were the Malayans, who, in 1961, agreed to
Singapore's merger with Malaya as part of a larger federation. This
was also to include British territories in Borneo, with the British
controlling the foreign affairs, defense and internal security of
Singapore.
The Malaysia Proposal
On 27 May 1961, the Malayan Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul
Rahman, proposed closer political and economic co-operation between
the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, North Borneo and
Brunei in the form of a merger. The main terms of the
merger, agreed on by him and Lee Kuan Yew, were to have central
government responsibility for defense, foreign affairs and internal
security, but local autonomy in matters pertaining to education and
labor. A referendum on the terms of the merger held in Singapore on
1 September 1962 showed the people's overwhelming support for PAP's
plan to go ahead with the merger.
Malaysia was formed on 16 September 1963, and consisted of the
Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo (now
Sabah). Brunei opted out. Indonesia and the Philippines opposed the
merger. President Sukarno of Indonesia worked actively against it
during the three years of Indonesian confrontation.
Independence
The merger proved to be short-lived. Singapore was separated from
the rest of Malaysia on 9 August 1965, and became a sovereign,
democratic and independent nation.
Independent Singapore was admitted to the United Nations on 21
September 1965, and became a member of the Common wealth of Nations
on 15 October 1965. On 22 December 1965, it became a republic, with
Yusof bin Ishak as the republic's first President.
Thereafter commenced Singapore's struggle to survive and prosper on
its own. It also had to create a sense of national identity and
consciousness among a disparate population of immigrants.
Singapore's strategy for survival and development was essentially
to take advantage of its strategic location and the favourable
world economy.
Source: University of Texas
