Uneasy years with KL
DR GOH KENG SWEE
Former Deputy Prime Minister, who was instrumental in the country's industrialisation, recalls the years of Singapore's merger with Malaysia.
AT THAT time, unknown to us, the British had come to the conclusion that the position in Singapore was untenable, that if it came to a fight between PAP and the Communist United Front, we would have lost and there would have been a communist government elected in Singapore.
The British came to that conclusion, particularly after our defeat in Hong Lim. And it was the British who worked out the scheme to absorb Singapore into Malaya and as an inducement, to throw in the Borneo territories and present Malaya not only with Singapore -- which they disliked because of the Chinese population -- but also Sarawak and Sabah and even Brunei to compensate for the racial balance.
It was the British who thought it out and sold the idea to the Tunku. And he wasn't interested in financial arrangements or common market or whatever.
We struck a bargain with him, whereby our condition of entry into Malaysia was that we would have common market or a Customs union, whereby manufacturers in Singapore would have duty-free entry into Malaysia; we would have autonomy in education, autonomy over labour.
So in return for this degree of autonomy in finance, in education, in labour, we were prepared to reduce our representation in Parliament. In other words, not to get the number of seats in the Federal Parliament which our numbers or size would justify.
Eventually we asked a number of outside experts to arbitrate and to suggest a solution: One, a Frenchman called Leonard Rist, he was political adviser to the President of the World Bank, then Mr McNamara, and an economist, a young American economist, I forgot his name.
And, they, having discussed the position with both Malaysians and us, proposed a compromise which I again found unsatisfactory.
It gave the Malaysian government the right to determine which products should go into the common market. In other words, a common market by progressive stages with the Malaysians determining the pace.
I spoke to Leonard Rist, I said: "Look, we are placing our fate in the hands of Kuala Lumpur -- in the hands of the Finance Minister in Kuala Lumpur.
"Supposing he does not play the game and the common market does not get off the ground? What happens?
And Leonard Rist's remark struck me as very profound and prophetic. He said: "In that event, Mr Minister, it's not the common market which should be in danger. The whole concept of Malaysia will be in danger."
Well, we had no choice but to agree to these terms, the World Bank having done its best. And events turned out as I feared.
They never had any serious intention of giving us the slightest advantage and slightest access to the market.
On the contrary, if they heard that such-and-such a business was going to be established in Singapore, they approached these people and said: "Well, if you establish in Singapore, you will not get entry into Malaysia. If you set up in Malaysia, you'll get whatever the Singapore government gives you."
It was, as Leonard Rist said, "it's an act of utter bad faith", and they acted in utter bad faith.
And that is why the longer we stayed in Malaysia, the more doubtful we became that we did the right thing. And things grew from bad to worse and eventually we were reduced to a pretty desperate state. YOU know, as a minister, your work is your life, even when you are not working at the desk, you are still thinking about your work, you have no life outside your work.
Actually, I toyed with the idea of going incognito by putting on a disguise, in fact I asked Eddie Teo and he recommended some people in SBC, the TV people, he said he could give me a disguise.
But I have not taken advantage of this disguise facility, I guess I don't feel strongly enough to go incognito.
But at times I do find it irksome, I must confess. Really, there is no interest outside your work. Such other pursuits that you undertake, such as exercise, golfing, it's really to make you more fit to work.
If you're listening to music, it just clears your mind so that you can address your mind to work problems more effectively. So we just get encapsulated in the whole business.
On the whole, I must say life has been kind to me and I had this opportunity to make my contribution to Singapore's development, lay a foundation for the next generation to
build on.
Copyright © 1998 Singapore Press Holdings. All Rights Reserved.
