"2. Singapore broke off from Malaysia and established a separate state. What were the main reasons the Chinese of Singapore so desperately sought to be independent of Malaysia? [from my posting with questions for Badawi]

Hugh
From what I remember, Singapore was expelled from Malaysia so that the country as a whole did not end up with a Chinese plurality. From then on, Singapore prospered, while Malaysia did to a lesser extent, courtesy the Chinese and Tamil work force."
-- from a reader

You have a point. What I should have written is that initially, when both Malaya and Singapore were independent, Singapore not only did not object, but wanted to become part of a federation with Malaya (and Sarawak), for economic reasons, and thus Malaysia came into being. But what happened then was so unpleasant for the Chinese (and Indians) of Singapore that they changed their minds. The Bumiputra system -- a disguised Jizyah paid to the Muslim Malays by the Indians and Chinese - was written into the Federation's Constitution. And when the Chinese, under Lee Kuan Yew, began to protest this and other Muslim acts, there were attacks on the Chinese. Muslims from Indonesia joined in. One such attack, significantly, took place on Muhammad's birthday.

So while it is true to say that the Singaporeans sought the union, they also sought after a few years to get out of that same union with Malaya. You have written that the Malays of Malaysia were glad to see them go; I had always understood that the Malays wanted to keep Singapore in the federation against the will of its Chinese and Indian population, but am certainly prepared to defer to you if you have -- as it sounds like -- investigated this matter.

Any further information about the attitude of the Malays when the Singaporeans wanted out should be posted here.