The Konfrontasi Memorial and Sukarno
Singapore is regarded as a quiet overachiever within Asia. The streets are famously clean, the people keep to themselves and everything, from buses to waiters, run on a timely schedule. There’s no chewing gum, graffiti or litter and watch neighbourhood feels safe and welcoming to all who visit.
But it should not be forgotten that during the first half of the twentieth century, Singapore was the epicentre of a number of conflicts. It’s location at the tip of the Malayan Peninsula places it right at the bottom of Asia, the crossroads between numerous nations and kingdoms that have contributed to shaping the multicultural atmosphere of Singapore, but have also on occasion caused tremendous strife. Furthermore, the presence of the British, Japanese and other global superpowers meant that Singapore was not able to simply lie low and avoid invasion. From riots on the streets during the First World War, a Japanese occupation during the Second World War and the constant threat of terrorism during the Malayan Emergency, Singapore has seen it’s fair share of dark days.
But perhaps the most significant conflict in regards to the formation of Singapore was the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation, also known as the Konfrontasi. Lasting for three years from 1963 to 1966, the Konfrontasi saw Singapore torn between the interests of numerous international actors which shaped the dynamics of politics within South-east Asia for years to come.
During the late 1950’s, the British Empire was on the decline. Still reeling from the economic impacts of the Second World War and caving to pressures from their colonies to be given self-determination, the United Kingdom started granting independence to it’s dominions across the world. In 1957, the Federation of Malaya was created as an independent nation, uniting all of the British protectorates on the Malayan Peninsula into one state. This strategy was not uncommon for British holdings seeking independence. Canada, Australia and South Africa were granted autonomy when their seperate colonies banded together to create one larger nation under a federal system. Malaya was no different, as each state within the federation maintained a local monarch who headed their politics, like a Governor, within the larger network of the union. This strategy was intended to give newly independent nations a greater chance at success and stability from the outgo of their formation, having a larger pool of resources and labour to create essential industries for domestic and international affairs. Furthermore, each of these newly created independent states became members of the Commonwealth of Nations, a voluntary association of former British states aimed at depending political and trade connections between these countries.
The Federation of Malaya was a successful country. With assistance from the Commonwealth, particularly the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Rhodesia, Malaya was able to overcome a rampant communist guerrilla insurgency threatening their populace, before focusing it’s efforts on building a maritime presence. In 1963, the British looked to rid themselves of the cost of more colonies. The Macmillan government identified the colonies of Sarawak, North Borneo and Singapore as ripe candidates for self-governance. But rather than have these relatively tiny colonies flounder on their own, it was decided the best option would be for these states to join the Federation of Malaya and take advantage of the nation’s stability to undergo a gentle transition to independence. This was a tremendously convenient idea for all parties. Malaya gained the developed port of Singapore, as well as permanent presence on the island of Borneo to it’s east, expanding the reach of the nation. The British were also able to cut costs whilst ensuring no states could complain of being dumped unceremoniously, and ultimately all involved characters remained with their sphere of influence as Commonwealth members. The expanded Malaya was to be named the Federation of Malaysia, a new name for a greater nation.
However, there was one actor who intensely opposed the expansion of Malaya. Indonesia was a young nation in 1963, just shy of twenty years old. Having fought against the Japanese during the Second World War, Indonesian forces had developed a consciousness as political entity and decided they desired independence. Following a four year conflict with the Netherlands, the United States of Indonesia was recognised internationally in 1949. Under the guidance of the authoritarian President Sukarno, Indonesia expanded into the territory of Netherlands New Guinea throughout the 50’s, proclaiming the territory as Indonesian in a dispute that continues to this day. Indonesia saw itself as a determined independent actor within the Pacific and desired to reach the levels of Australia, China and Japan as an authority within the region.
The Federation of Malaysia threatened Indonesia’s position. Another multi-island nation with access to a wide pool of labour and materials could prove to undermine Indonesia’s standing within South-East Asia. Furthermore, President Sukarno was alarmed at the notion of Malaysia being a Commonwealth state. A staunch anti-colonist, Sukarno saw Malaysia as a puppet state of the British, intended to trap and contain Indonesia between itself and Australia. Other factors, such as Indonesia envisioning all of Borneo belonging to them and the prospect of the oil rich Sultanate of Brunei joining the Federation, granting it even greater economic power, lead Sukarno to decide that action must be taken against the establishment of Malaysia.
On January 20th, 1963, Indonesia declared it’s unequivocal opposition to the formation of a greater Malaysia and began a series of attacks across the island of Borneo. Rushed peace talks were engaged, but with support from the United Nations and the Commonwealth, the Federation of Malaysia was internationally recognised and formally united on September 16, 1963.
The initial conflict was solely fought on Borneo, with Indonesian forces conduction guerrilla campaigns from the jungle. As this conflict was never formally declared as a war, action was slow to commence. The United Kingdom sent a battalion of Gurkha forces to assist the Malaysian army in fighting Sukarno’s military in close combat, jungle based skirmishes. However, in August of 1964, Sukarno decided to increase pressure upon Malaysia and focused military efforts on the Malayan Peninsula. Bringing the conflict out from the jungles of Borneo and onto the streets of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur was thought to be an effective way to terrorise the people of Malaysia into surrendering. But this strategy also gave the conflict greater international attention as the Federation’s allies rallied to defend it’s territory. The United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand mobilised troops under the banner of Commonwealth forces to defend Malaysia’s territory, whilst Canada and other distant Commonwealth members provided ammunition and political support.
Singapore, as a wealthy port city, was the target of Indonesia’s efforts particularly. Pre-existing racial tensions were preyed upon by Sukarno, who fanned the flames of Chinese skepticism towards Malay authorities within the federation, hoping that ethnic tensions could tear apart the Federation. The island would also be the victim of almost seventy bombings, mostly focused on military instalments. Yet, the MacDonald House bombing, which killed three civilians on March 10 1965, would also demonstrate that Sukarno was willing to spill innocent blood in his quest to put down Malaysia.
As Konfrontasi looked to be a conflict that would drag out over multiple years, September of 1965 brought two significant changes to the momentum of the conflict. On August 9th, Malaysia made the decision to expel Singapore from the Federation, thrusting independence upon the island which was now a country itself. The reasons for this decision will be discussed in another post on this blog, but Sukarno looked at this outcome optimistically. If the same could be done to Sarawak and North Borneo, Malaysia would cease to exist and Indonesia would once again be an uncontested authority within it’s region. However, a western backed military coup launched on September 30 would rob Sukarno of all his authority, with General Suharto taking control of the country and slanting Indonesia’s political leanings towards the west. Suharto had no interest in fighting Malaysia and began peace talks in May of 1966, culminating in a signed agreement in August of that year with Indonesia recognising both Malaysia and Singapore as independent nations.
The site of the MacDonald House bombing now bears a memorial dedicated to all Singaporeans who died fighting during the Konfrontasi. Although the casualty count was relatively low, this conflict manifested some of the worst fears Singaporeans hold about their society, dragging racial disputes and insecurities into the light in an attempt to divorce the island from Malaysia. Although Singapore would ultimately go it alone, the determination of Sarawak and North Borneo to remain states within Malaysia created a national identity across the Peninsula and Borneo, meaning that although Malaysians were seperate by water, they were all Malaysian nonetheless.
Under ASEAN, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are now close allies who co-operate in numerous fields of trade, defence and technology development, having left all hostility in the past. But the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation highlights how the establishment of these nations shook the region as it sought to determine how power would be dispersed from imperial authorities. Konfrontasi remains within the mindset of Singaporeans, as they seek to avoid the domestic and international tensions from the period and instead focus on bringing the people of South-east Asia together as an expanded community, rather than apart by the lines of nationality or ethnicity.
Sources:
https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/f950e04d-44d7-47ad-a10c-16dfb0cc9ce3
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