New book sheds light on Singapore's secret negotiations for independence

It draws on Cabinet papers, memorandums, notes and extensive oral history interviews

- Chin Soo Fang Senior Correspondent

Singapore’s separation from Malaysia in August 1965 was the result of a “bloodless coup” orchestrated by then Finance Minister Goh Keng Swee and then Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, over just 25 days.

A new book, The Albatross File: Inside Separation, shows how an off-the-cuff remark by Dr Goh on July 15, 1965, set off a chain of moves that led to the proclamation, at 10am on Aug 9, that “Singapore shall be forever a sovereign democratic and independent nation”.

The book, edited by Ms Susan Sim and published by The Straits Times Press and the National Archives of Singapore, drew on papers that Dr Goh kept in a file he code-named “Albatross”, alongside extensive oral history interviews with Singapore’s founding leaders.

Albatross, which contained Cabinet papers, memorandums and Dr Goh’s handwritten notes of his discussions with Malaysian leaders in the months before separation, had until now largely been kept classified. A subset of the documents were exhibited in 2015 to commemorate the Republic's 50th year of independence.

Dr Goh had considered Malaysia an “albatross round our necks” because the promise of shared prosperity and partnership through merger had quickly given way to fraught debates over race and clashing ideas about the country’s future.

These tensions hardened following two major communal riots in 1964, which exposed how fragile the new federation was.

The book was launched by Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Dec 7, alongside a new permanent exhibition at the National Library Building. Here are four of its key revelations:

OFF-THE-CUFF TRIGGER

Following the race riots in July and September 1964, then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew concluded that extremist elements in Malaysia could use communal politics and riots as a weapon in Singapore, and that the island had to seek a rearrangement with Kuala Lumpur.