Quora Answer: What are the Defense Problems Faced after Singapore’s Independence?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “What are the defense problems faced by Singapore after independence?” 

When Singapore gained independence in 1965, it had no military, no indigenous defence industry to support such a military, no funds to grow either, and it lacked population homogeneity for unity.  These conditions all but guaranteed that Singapore would eventually be absorbed by a larger neighbour, or be reduced to client status by them or a foreign power.  It is a testament to the brilliance of the government that these issues were addressed, along with the strategic considerations that arose from addressing these issues.  Not enough study is done on the leadership required to get this done, bringing an impoverished island with no resources to its current status as a regional military power with force projection well beyond what is expected. 

Malaya had just about won the Communist Insurgency, and defeated the Malayan Communist Party, although the PAP still had leftist elements then.  Further to that, Singapore and Malaysia were involved in an undeclared conflict with Sukarno’s Indonesia, called the Konfrontasi.  On the 10^th March 1965, MacDonald House, in Orchard Road, was bombed by Indonesian commandos who had infiltrated the country.  This meant Singapore’s most hardened troops were at the Borneo border. 

When Singapore separated from Malaysia, the divorce was painful.  In the election prior, when the PAP campaigned in Malaysia for a “Malaysian Malaysia”, instead of a “Malay Malaysia”, UMNO were outraged and played the race and religion card.  The main instigator was Syed Jaafar bin Syed Hassan Albar, the so-called “Lion of UMNO”.  He was a radical Malay supremacist, despite the fact that he was clearly Yemeni Arab, and not Malay.  He was vehemently against Singapore’s separation from Malaysia, and resigned as secretary-general of UMNO in protest.  He went as far as to advocate that Malaysia militarily occupy Singapore. 

At the time of Separation, almost half of the troops based here were from Malaysia.  When the British gave control of the various units to Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, they neglected to consider that the units were recruited from all over the Malay Peninsula.  We had Singapore-born Malays and Malaysian-born Malays in the armed forces and the police.  The 4^th Malaysian Infantry Brigade consisted of two infantry regiments of about 1,000 soldiers each.  Just over half of them were Malaysian, and they had divided loyalties.  They were commanded by Brigadier-General Syed Mohamed bin Syed Ahmad Alsagoff, a relative of Syed Albar, and another Yemeni Arab.  To say that he did not get along with Lee Kuan Yew is to put it mildly.  He claimed it was a joke when he told Lee Kuan Yew that he could have had the PAP leaders arrested and shot.  Lee Kuan Yew and his family moved out of the Istana and borrowed the Gurkha Regiment to guard them. 

The Malaysian troops, all ethnic Malays, mutinied.  Just over half of them supported Malaysia.  One of the Singapore officers was killed.  It was Col. Alkaff, BG Alsagoff’s cousin, who negotiated a withdrawal of the Malaysian troops.  The 4^th Malaysian Infantry Brigade withdrew from Singapore by November of 1967.  The murderers of the Singapore officer were arrested.  Two were hanged, and the others were only released from detention a decade or so ago.  This situation highlighted the fact that Singapore could not trust the leadership of Malaysia.  This shaped our strategic thinking. 

Compounding all these issues, on the 16^th January 1968, Prime Minister James Harold Wilson and his Defence Secretary, Denis Winston Healey, announced the withdrawal of British military assets from east of Suez.  This meant the loss of British military support in Singapore, and the loss of tens of thousands of jobs, further exacerbating the insecurity and poverty. 

Singapore began in extremely difficult circumstances.  We are bereft, alone, and without friends.  We were surrounded by countries that we had recently had conflicts with.  We were a nation of immigrants, with no common cause.  We were susceptible to foreign domination.  If there was one thing we had, it was leaders of rare ability, led by Lee Kuan Yew.  They sold the people the promise that the sacrifice of that generation would be the foundation of future prosperity.  They delivered an honest, efficient, authoritarian government.  That generation put in place the values that built this nation.  Our challenge now is to live up to their values, to make their sacrifices worthwhile, to honour them – and to continue to work towards brining Singapore to the next level. 

Today, we have a prosperous, stable nation.  Because of the scarcity mindset of those early days, Singapore built up huge reserves, created a military budget that dwarves its neighbours, and invested in next generation technologies to create a military industrial complex that is one of the best in Asia.