AUG 8 — On Monday I will be attending the Singaporean National Day reception in KL (National day is tomorrow). It is pretty ironic to have the nniversary celebration of our southern republic neighbours in KL, since it was KL’s expulsion of Singapore from Malaysia which rendered them a separate independent country.
Our own partition.
And the widely held consensus is that Malaysia let go of such a powerful economic entity for political goals, the goals of Umno back in 1965.
I think of how bizarre it was when Syed Hamid Albar as Foreign Minister attended Singapore nationhood celebrations when his father Syed Jaafar was so instrumental in forcing the issues which led to our divorce. The whole relationship we have with Singapore is filled with contradictions, maledictions, trepidation, envy and a closeness we cannot deny.
In my uni days I used to have loads of fun making fun of Singaporeans in the debate scene, as much they had fun showing us how strong their currency is and how backward we are. No love lost, but we can’t deny that up to today the first place people from the peninsula and that island in the south would like to use their passport is at passport controls in the causeway (well two land entry points now).
It is unlikely there will be a common future for our countries, unless of course Asean takes the EU path. And I’ll actually answer the million dollar question, would Singapore be what it is today if it stayed in Malaysia, with Malaysia staying the way it did? Of course not, the self-flagellation we have gone through as a country would have drowned the island city.
But perhaps not eh. And perhaps the matter is too moot to rekindle.
Without being one country again, we can still help each other as people, and we do. The thousands of workers cringing through morning and evening traffic to and fro from Singapore are just the tip of the iceberg on how we both need each other.
It would be nice if we did resolve those long standing issues with present day sensibilities.
That requires honest talking from both sides.
That is for another day. Today we wish our brothers south, A good solid national day.
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Recent Comments
August 10, 2009 at 10:47 pm
huem..
i think its better to ask urself…
Would Malaysia be better than it is today if UMNO doesnt kicked-out the Malayan Union?
August 13, 2009 at 1:18 am
actually I would enjoy living in a republic with no sultans and equal citizenship for all. You actually think I oppose the Malayan Union system that followed the 6 odd months of British Malaysia Administration by the military? My my emma u do surprise me
August 14, 2009 at 9:01 am
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August 14, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Praba..
pls do show some patriotism laa..
dont u think, its proper to ask, “Would Malaysia be better than it is today if UMNO doesnt kicked-out the Malayan Union?”… which R more likely a malaysian…
instead of saying, “would Singapore be what it is today if it stayed in Malaysia?, which are more likely of a singaporean..
But still, both versions, doesnt make u “less” Annoying laa..
August 21, 2009 at 4:46 pm
emma dearie,
nothing about being patriotic and being anti-malayan union. You can imagine, I don’t think Umno is good for the country.
August 27, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Praba,
You are mistaken on Syed Jaafar Albar. He was not instrumental in expulsion of Singapore. Its the other way around. He was totally against expulsion of Singapore. As a patriot he wants to keep Singapore at all cost. When voting was done for the expulsion he was stopped from entering the parliament. I guess you like many others this days rely too much info on Wiki and the Memoir of Senile Oldman-LKY. Everything that comes from Spore must smell like roses.
August 27, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Praba,
You are mistaken on Syed Jaafar Albar. He was not instrumental in expulsion of Singapore. Its the other way around. He was totally against expulsion of Singapore. As a patriot he wanted to keep Singapore at all cost. When voting was done for the expulsion he was stopped from entering the parliament. I guess you like many others this days rely too much info on Wiki and the Memoir of Senile Oldman-LKY. Everything that comes from Spore must smell like roses.
September 4, 2009 at 10:07 pm
thanks for the comment mate.
Of course Jaffar Albar the Sumatran would have wanted to keep Singapore in the federation, quite strongly. His role was in heightening the tensions in the period which forced a not ‘complex’ abdul rahman to abruptly remove Singapore. And no, I am no fan of LKY. The man is pretty full of himself.