‘Nearest to a nervous breakdown’: Kwa Geok Choo on Lee Kuan Yew’s agony after Malaysia separation

SINGAPORE – Founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew came closest to a nervous breakdown in the hours after announcing Singapore’s separation from Malaysia on Aug 9, 1965, according to a newly released oral history interview with his wife, Madam Kwa Geok Choo.

“He was upset after the thing (negotiations for separation) was over,” the late Madam Kwa said in the interview, recorded between 1981 and 1982. “I think where he had the nearest to a nervous breakdown was after it was over, after the press conference (on the afternoon of Aug 9) when we came back... Then he was very, very upset.”

The interview will be featured at

The Albatross File: Singapore’s Independence Declassified,

the capstone event for Singapore’s 60 years of independence.

Jointly developed by the National Library Board (NLB) and the Ministry of Digital Development and Information, the permanent exhibition will open to the public from Dec 8 at the National Library Building in Victoria Street.

The showcase is based on the upcoming book, The Albatross File: Inside Separation, which draws on papers that former deputy prime minister Goh Keng Swee kept in a file he code-named “Albatross”, alongside extensive oral history interviews with Singapore’s founding leaders. 

The late Mr Lee, who had long believed in merger, had hoped for a looser federation rather than a complete break, even amid political tensions between the ruling parties of Singapore and Malaysia and the communal strains that led to the 1964 racial riots.

On Aug 7, 1965, after the separation agreement was already signed by the negotiating ministers at the home of Tun Abdul Razak, then Malaysia’s deputy prime minister, Mr Lee drove to the residence of then Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman to explore whether some “looser” form of association might be acceptable.

He was told: “There is no other way now.” 

Mr Lee said in his oral history interview later that he did not know Dr Goh had not pressed Tun Razak for a looser federation, but had proposed a separation instead. He realised this only in 1994, when he read Dr Goh’s oral history interview in preparation for his own 1998 memoirs, The Singapore Story.

Up to the eve of the break from Malaysia on Aug 9, 1965, Singapore’s founding leaders were divided on the split.

Mr S. Rajaratnam and Dr Toh Chin Chye opposed the idea and agreed only after the Tunku wrote a personal letter to Dr Toh, saying that he could not ensure peace if Singapore remained.

Dr Toh’s reply to the Tunku, also being shared for the first time now, expressed his anguish.

“It has come as a blow to us that the peace and security of Malaysia can only be secured by the expulsion of Singapore from the Federation,” he wrote. “If this is the price for peace in Malaya and Singapore, then we must accept it, however agonising our inner feelings may be.”

Mr Gene Tan, executive creative director of the exhibition, said Singapore’s history was not a foregone conclusion.

“It could have gone so many ways... Right from the start, the plans kept changing, and a lot of factors were beyond the control of the protagonists,” he said during a media preview on Nov 26.

The team behind the exhibition, which also created the SG60

Heart&Soul Experience

and the 2019 Bicentennial Experience, hopes visitors will “feel history” – experiencing the anxieties, uncertainties and courage of Singapore’s early leaders.

“I like the calmness and the thought process that they went through each time they faced a very difficult situation,” said Mr Tan, who is also NLB’s chief librarian and chief innovation officer. “It’s courage with intelligence and insight. It is, to me, such a potent combination.”

The exhibition has four sections, catering to visitors who prefer different platforms.

“Room” features a 22-minute film blending archival footage and oral history interviews with cinematic re-enactments of the events leading up to the separation.

“Records” is where visitors can hear the voices of key players from their oral history interviews, and examine official documents and handwritten notes, including declassified Albatross File documents.

“Atlas” features an interactive wall tracing the final months, days and hours leading up to the separation, complete with a “spacetime clock” that visualises the movements and decisions of key actors.

“ChatBook” allows visitors to converse with a generative AI-powered chat service, which draws its insights from the book and content from the National Library and the National Archives of Singapore.

The exhibition is on at level 10 of the National Library Building from 10am to 9pm except the eves of Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year, when it will close at 5pm. It will be closed on public holidays.

Those keen to visit the exhibition can book their tickets online now at 

https://thealbatrossfile.nlb.gov.sg

While admission is free, entry to the exhibition will be on a first-come, first-served basis.