Back in Singapore, a tired Othman Wok arrived in the late afternoon and went frantically in search of Mr Rahim Ishak. He found him only just before midnight. They went to a secluded spot near the beach in Bedok where an army camp now stands. There, Mr Othman, who was only a year older, broke the news to him. "This is it, I told him after I explained the situation. He took it well." They talked till nearly 2.30 in the morning. And then it was Malacca for Mr Othman.
While Mr Rahim was taking in the implications of what he had just heard, Mr Barker was talking to his elder brother, Mr Yusof Ishak, then Singapore's Yang di Pertuan Negara, at Changi Cottage, a government bungalow by the sea. The Law Minister had gone there on behalf of the Cabinet to brief him. He recalls: "He had gone to watch a sepak takraw game. I waited for him till 12.30 am. I presented him with a copy of the agreement. He took the news very well."
Yusof IshakClearly, the Yang di Pertuan Negara, who would turn 55 on Aug 12, had hidden his feelings well. His wife, Puan Noor Aishah, now 57, remembers that he became "very upset" after his "man-to-man talk with Eddie Barker". "When he told me what it was about, I was very shocked too," says the former First Lady. While the couple pondered over the news, and Mr Othman drove his faithful dark grey Opel Rekord along the dark and winding roads of Johor, Mr Lim Bian Han, 70, and a crew of about 20 worked feverishly inside the locked Government Printing Office premises in Upper Serangoon Road. As Government Printer, which was his official title, his job was to have the Gazette notices typeset, printed and bound by dawn. An RMAF plane was waiting at the airport to rush copies to KL.
And then it was morning, Aug 9. While Mr Foong was translating the proclamation into Chinese, with Mr Lee personally checking to ensure that the words captured all that they were intended to convey, Lord Head arrived at the Tunku's Residency in KL at 8.45 am. He pleaded with the Tunku to postpone the decision by one day, but was told: "Nothing can change our decision."
At 9.30 am, Alliance MPs gathered in Parliament and were told the news. They were also asked to vote for the bill. As it turned out, 126 endorsed the amendment, none voted against. As agreed, all 12 Singaporean MPs were absent. Seventeen others, including Umno secretary general Syed Ja'afar Albar, did not turn up. The Malaysian Senate also approved the bill.
This was how the Tunku began his statement to the House of Representatives: "What I am about to announce to this House will no doubt come as a big surprise and shock to Members. In fact, to me and to many Members, it is the most painful and heartbreaking news I have had to break. I consider it a misfortune for me to have to make this announcement. In all the 10 years of my leadership of this House, I have never had a duty so unpleasant as this to perform. The announcement which I am making concerns the separationof Singapore from the rest of the Federation."
As he spoke, a letter dated Aug 7 went out from Dr Ismail, the Home Affairs Minister, to the Singapore Police Commissioner instructing him to take orders from Mr Lee from that day onwards. A similar letter also went out from the Tunku to Brigadier S.M. Alsagoff, Commander of the Singapore-based 4th Federal Infantry Brigade.
Next: Singapore is out of Malaysia
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