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S. Rajaratnam on the 1965 Separation: ‘My dreams were shattered’
Drawing on previously classified documents and interviews, Irene Ng casts new light on the events leading to the Separation in 1965. Here is an edited excerpt.
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Mr S. Rajaratnam briefing the press during his first week as foreign minister of newly independent Singapore in 1965.
PHOTO: NATIONAL ARCHIVES
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Raja looked over the Separation Agreement that Lee Kuan Yew had handed him, and said: “I will not sign it.” He could not bow to the decision to split Singapore from Malaysia. And he would not. It was Aug 7, 1965, and he was enduring the most painful hours of his political life.
Lee had broken the news to Raja as soon as he strode into Temasek House in Kuala Lumpur just past 8am. Raja had rushed up after being summoned by a phone call from Lee in KL at about 1am.
