A reconstruction of events which turned a rebel state into a reluctant republic. By LESLIE FONG.
First published in The Straits Times, Aug 9, 1990
DAWN broke at 6.35 am on Aug 9, 1965. In a rented room on the first floor of an old shophouse in Cambridge Road, radio and television producer Foong Choon Hon was tossing and turning in his sleep, which had not come easily. It had been like that for weeks. Like most other politically attuned Singaporeans, he had followed with increasing trepidation the very public and very bitter quarrel between Singapore and Malaysian leaders over the kind of Malaysia they wanted. Singapore was fighting for a Malaysia for all races; Umno, the senior partner in the Alliance government, perceived that as a threat to Malay dominance. Such had been the acrimony that some Malaysian politicians were calling openly for the arrest of all the Singapore leaders. With memories of the communal riots in 1963 and 1964 still fresh, the question that had gnawed at Mr Foong and so many others was: Where was it going to lead Singapore?
The answer came in a way he could not have imagined even in his wildest dream. Suddenly, the bedside telephone installed at official expense rang. He woke with a start. The voice at the other end identified himself as Teo, personal assistant to the Prime Minister. Mr Foong was to present himself at the PMO in City Hall by 8 am.
Being so summoned was not exactly new to the broadcaster, whose deep, mellifluous voice and impeccable pronunciation of Mandarin had, by that time, made him a household name with Chinese listeners. He had been doubling as translator for Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Still, he thought to himself, it was a little early to be called.
As he hurried onto the streets, he noted the overcast sky and paused, wondering if he should go back for an umbrella. Deciding against that, he hailed a taxi, his only means of transport to this day as he has never learnt to drive. The fare was $1.80. Considering that he was to have a ringside seat at the making of history, it was cheap.
On arrival, he was handed a document to translate into Chinese. It was a proclamation, signed by Mr Lee as Prime Minister, that Singapore would become "forever a sovereign democratic and independent nation, founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of her people in a more just and equal society". Mr Foong was dumbfounded. Though everyone knew that tension between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore had been rising, no one had thought a separation possible. It was so...so...unexpected! Though he had, as a current affairs producer, handled some big stories before, he knew for sure that this would be the most dramatic ever to come his way, the biggie to end all biggies.
Yet on catching his breath, the 37-year-old bachelor's first thought was to ring his brother, with whom he was sharing the room, to say he was not likely to be home in time for dinner - such was the well-chronicled propensity of most people for thinking the most seemingly mundane things even at the height of a crisis. "But all telephone lines were disconnected, and all doors locked," he recalls. "So I just got down to work." He was held incommunicado so there could be no leaking of this shattering piece of news before 10 am, when it would be broadcast to the world.
Foong Choon Hon, summoned in the night to translate the proclamationMr Foong, who has since retired from government service and is now a senior journalist with Shin Min Daily News, was not the only one to have found himself in that strange position at the time. Some 20 Government Printing Office employees had been locked in from the night before to produce thousands of copies of the Gazette notice containing the proclamation.
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