This study of the politics of merger between Singapore and Malaysia stems from my on-going interest in the emergence of post-colonial states in the aftermath of empire in Asia. While the formation of Malaysia has attracted the attention of scholars since the late 1960s, the contexts and processes have not been subjected to deep historical analysis that could illuminate the critical decisions that were taken during that episode in the history of Singapore and Malaysia. Although there has been a spate of books dedicated to Singapore's association with Malaysia, none has examined, in detail, the manner in which the deal was constructed by the major parties concerned — British officials on the ground and in Whitehall, the People's Action Party (PAP) government in Singapore and the Alliance leaders at Kuala Lumpur. With the de-classification of official records of the 1960s in the British archives in the past few years, the opportunity has presented itself for historians to dig deeper and to provide a fuller picture of the events of that momentous period — the transition between the end of British rule and Singapore's independence through Malaysia.

My interest in the history of Singapore's independence through merger was further piqued by the publication of the memoirs of Singapore's founding Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew in 1998. In volume 1, The Singapore Story, Lee recounted Singapore's tumultuous years in Malaysia, culminating in separation in 1965. The story of the failed merger between Singapore and Malaysia has generated excitement from both sides of the causeway, especially on the personalities and issues that had contributed to the breakup. Analysing the contentious and acrimonious relationship between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur between 1963 and 1965, it became apparent that the seeds of dissension had indeed been sown earlier, when the deal was being worked out that would bring Singapore, the Federation of Malaya and the Borneo Territories of North Borneo and Sarawak together to form Malaysia. To understand the difficulties that emerged between 1963 and 1965, it is therefore necessary to take a few steps back — to look into the history of the making of Malaysia — to understand why the new Federation that was constructed in 1963 was fraught with so many innate problems. This study is intended as an analysis in the making of a flawed federation, the important prequel to the story of separation.