Our National Day Might Have Been On 3 June Or 7 August Instead! Olly Murs [BkIx88aYujK]

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Singapore's National Day was originally 3 June, marking the date in 1959 when Britain granted the island full internal self-government, and it was celebrated on that date from 1959 to 1964. Before that, ttc Singapore had been a British colony and part of the Straits Settlements, while the Federation of Malaya gained independence separately on 31 August 1957. Lee Kuan Yew, who became Singapore's first Prime Minister in 1959, campaigned hard for merger with Malaya, believing a small island with no natural resources could not survive alone. After a 1962 referendum, the Federation of Malaysia was formed on 16 September 1963, combining Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore. Singapore was the smallest state by land but had the largest population at about 1.77 million.

The merger quickly soured. Singapore expected a common market with free trade, but tariffs liverpool weather and economic friction remained, frustrating Finance Minister Goh Keng Swee. In late 1964, Malaysia proposed new taxes, which the PAP criticised, and Malaysia threatened to raise Singapore's revenue contribution to the central government from 40 to 60 per cent, with Lee Kuan Yew planning to bring the dispute to the World Bank. The PAP's push for a "Malaysian Malaysia" of racial equality clashed with UMNO's position, both sides broke an informal understanding by contesting each other's elections, and the racial riots of July and September 1964 left people dead and hundreds injured.

In December 2025, tied to SG60, the government fully declassified the Albatross File, a secret dossier compiled by Goh Keng Swee containing Cabinet papers and handwritten notes, published as a book by The Straits Times Press with the National Archives of Singapore and launched by Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 7 December 2025. It revealed that Singapore's exit was not a sudden expulsion but a "bloodless coup" negotiated in secret over 25 days, largely between Goh Keng Swee and Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak. On 15 July 1965, Goh suggested to Razak that both sides call it quits, and by 20 July, law minister E.W. Barker was secretly drafting separation documents. On 3 August, Goh called Lee Kuan Yew, who was on holiday in Cameron Highlands.

On 7 August 1965, the Independence of Singapore Agreement was signed in Kuala Lumpur, stating Singapore would cease to be a state of Malaysia on 9 August, meaning 7 August could also have been National Day. catherine, princess of wales Senior ministers Toh Chin Chye and S. Rajaratnam had been kept in the dark and initially refused to sign, relenting only after a personal letter from the Malaysian PM. On 8 August, British High Commissioner Lord Head learned of the separation by accident at a social event, and PM Harold Wilson's request for a 24-hour delay was refused. On 9 August 1965, the Malaysian Parliament passed the separation bill 126 to 0 with no PAP representatives present, the Proclamation of Singapore was read over Radio Singapore at 10am, and Lee Kuan Yew broke down in tears at his televised press conference that afternoon.