The Federation of Malaysia was created following the merger of the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak on Sept 16, 1963.

On that day, then Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew read out the Proclamation of Malaysia on the steps of City Hall.

The Proclamation - written in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil - decreed that Singapore would be "a part of the sovereign, democratic and independent state of Malaysia, 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".

This black-and-white photo from the Singapore Press Holdings' archives was colourised using the Government Technology Agency's new and free online tool that adds colour to old black-and-white photos almost instantly.

The tool, called Colourise.sg, takes about 3½ seconds to add colour to an uploaded photo.