Singapore[edit]

In the context of Singapore, Merdeka usually refers to the gaining of self-rule and self-
government from the United Kingdom in the 1950s, as imperialism in Asia slowly declined. It
usually does not refer to Singapore's independence from Malaysia in 1965, which followed its
merger with Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak on 16 September 1963 after having held the 1962
national referendum.
The Constitution of Singapore had been amended in 1953 following recommendations by
the Rendel Commission, creating a 51-seat Legislative Assembly of Singapore to replace
the Legislative Council of Singapore. The Legislative Assembly would become the predecessor
to the modern Parliament of Singapore. The following Singapore general election of 1955 had
members that were elected by the population for the first time become the majority in
Singapore's legislature. Previously, only six members of the Legislative Council were elected —
the rest were appointed. This however did not satisfy individuals calling for full self-government at
least in the matter of domestic affairs.
The call for Merdeka was a growing tension between progressivism and radicalism, cooperation
and hostility towards the British. David Saul Marshall of the Labour Front narrowly won the
Singapore general election of 1955, but being anticolonialist, tended to be a vocal opponent of
the British rule. As such, the British found it hard to work out a compromise. A petition was
started in 1956 which collected the signatures of 167,000 — a vast portion of the electorate in
that era — in a petition that demanded Merdeka.
During the Merdeka Talks of 1956, the year before Malaya's independence, the British agreed to
grant Singapore self-government over domestic issues, while the British retained control of
finance and the military. This seemed to satisfy Marshall initially, but the negotiation later broke
down when the British refused to turn over internal security to the local government. The British
felt that Marshall was not doing enough to counter the threats of the communist insurgency and
the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) which had sparked the Malayan Emergency. The march
towards independence was stalled and Marshall resigned in 1956 making good on his earlier
pledge that he would step down in the case of failure.
Another Labour Front leader Lim Yew Hock took over as Singapore's Chief Minister and
continued the effort to push for independence. Lim then undertook harsh measures against the
communists demonstrating that his administration was willing to take a tough stance to safeguard
internal security. In the Chinese middle schools riots of 1956, some nine hundred people were
arrested. Leading a negotiation delegation consisting of several Singapore political leaders from
various parties, Lim managed to convince the British to grant Singapore Merdeka by amending
and revamping its Constitution in 1958 to allow for a fully elected legislature which would form an
internal government with complete autonomy over domestic affairs. This government was formed
following the Singapore general election of 1959, but the Labour Front lost as Lim's harsh
techniques had alienated large portions of the electorate.