When Singapore and Malaysia were one BY VICTORIA BROWN Our first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and Lee waving after returning from the London talks on the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in November 1962. Our first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and Lee waving after returning from the London talks on the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in November 1962. Email Facebook 19 A Malaysian and a Singaporean recall the impact on their families when the island republic gained independence from the Federation. IMAGINE families being torn apart, uprooted, and separated by borders. You may think that this only happened in countries like Korea, Russia and Vietnam, where the separation of powers divided them. But it once happened here, when Singapore left Malaysia on August 9, 1965, after an unstable, short-lived union. On that day, a tearful Lee Kuan Yew announced that Singapore was a sovereign and independent nation, making Singapore the only country in the modern world to gain independence against its own will. During this trying time, many Malaysians in Singapore were faced with a unique dilemma. They had to decide between returning to their Malaysian birthplace, or staying in Singapore and taking up citizenship there. Vimalasena (back row, centre) during a trip to Malaysia in August for a rare reunion with all his siblings. He will always remember his Malaysian roots. Vimalasena (back row, centre) during a trip to Malaysia in August for a rare reunion with all his siblings. He will always remember his Malaysian roots. One affected party was B.M. Vimalasena, who shared his account of the separation’s impact on his family. “I was born in Penang in 1937. Those were the good old days, where things were nice and peaceful,” he began. “Then came the Japanese war, which upset everyone. I only started school in 1947, after the Japanese invasion. But I didn’t finish my secondary education because of my family’s hardships,” said the 76-year-old. Being the eldest son of five children, Vimalasena soon became the family breadwinner. “I lost my father when I was 13, and my family was very poor then. So when I was 17, I decided to go to Singapore to find work so that I can send some money home to my mother,” he said. Singapore was a long trip south from the Pearl of the Orient, and a homesick Vimalasena missed his family and friends, especially when he encountered difficulties during his time in the island country. “When I moved to Singapore, it was still a British colony, so I had a British Identification Card (IC) of the colony of Singapore. I didn’t see a point in changing my IC to a Malaysian one,” he said. When Singapore separated from Malaysia, Vimalasena said that people like him were stuck in limbo: “We became stateless. We were neither here nor there.” “My family (in Penang) was disappointed in me. But my mother told me that since I’m there (Singapore), there’s not much point in coming back,” he said. His struggles to make a living in Singapore continued until a happy union took place. “When I got married, all my roots were set in Singapore. I worked here until my retirement, and I have been here for almost 60 years now. “After the birth of my first daughter, I renounced my Malaysian citizenship and became an official Singaporean citizen in the 1970s,” he added. All three of his children were born, educated and raised in Singapore, and the trio are currently working there. Now, a happy Vimalasena says that he does not regret his decision to stay. “I like visiting friends and family in Malaysia. But I don’t miss living in Malaysia. It’s a beautiful country, but I don’t think I’d ever live there again,” he said. Vimalasena also cannot help but compare the two countries and how much they have developed over the years. “Penang is still the same since I left. It has not developed much. To me, Malaysia is 30 years behind Singapore,” he said. However, he will always remember his Malaysian roots. “Although I am Singaporean now, in my heart, I am Malaysian,” said Vimalasena. As for Juani Ahmad, who was only three years old when Singapore and Malaysia parted ways, her story begins with her parents’ origins. Her Malaysian mother was born and bred in a town called Pontian in Johor, while her father was born in Indonesia but moved to Singapore. “Back then, my paternal grandmother married a Malaysian and moved to Johor. My dad then started going to Singapore for night classes, and obtained Singaporean citizenship when he started working there,” said Juani. Her parents’ marriage was arranged by her grandparents. “The conversation went something like this: ‘I know your daughter, you know my son – let’s get them married’! So my mother was the only one among her siblings to leave Johor,” she explained. Juani’s mother moved to Singapore at a time where “Malaysia and Singapore were considered as one”. “We shared radio stations, airlines and even had the same currency,” she said. Though her parents were living in Singapore at the time, Juani ended up being born on Malaysian soil in 1960. “My mum was very pregnant with me when she went to a wedding in Johor, and she gave birth to me there,” she said. Despite being Johorean by birth, Juani was still raised in Singapore along with her two other siblings. However, her mother only became a Singaporean in the 1960s when agents went from office to office persuading people to take up citizenship. “Maybe people feared that they would no longer get benefits, like being able to go to the hospitals and send their children to local schools, if they did not change their citizenship,” she added. As Juani was born in Malaysia, her uncle insisted upon her being educated in Johor. Thus, she had to travel back and forth across the Woodland Causeway to go to school. “I was the most troublesome one because I would go to school in Johor and all of my siblings were going to school in Singapore!” she said. Juani remembered a time where she travelled in and out of Singapore without a passport, though she had to start using it when she was in Standard 3. “After primary school, I managed to get into a boarding school in Seremban. I was actually quite glad, because I had to get up really early in the morning to go to school before that!” said Juani. She feels that her education journey was much easier compared to some of her friends in Singapore. Juani said that technically speaking, she should not have been able to receive Malaysian benefits because her parents were Singaporeans. “But because my uncle is my legal guardian, I got to attend boarding school in Malaysia and was sponsored to study overseas. “This didn’t really happen in Singapore,” she revealed. Her siblings are now living and working in Singapore while she has settled down in Kuala Lumpur. However, her parents are currently staying in Johor because they find “Singapore too fast for them as they are old and in wheelchairs”. “My mum also wants to be closer to her siblings and my dad enjoys the space. So I have to sponsor my parents’ six-month entry permits to Malaysia. “So now, Hari Raya to me is at the Causeway. It is a must for me to visit my mother’s side in Johor, and then head to Singapore to visit my father’s side and all my siblings,” she said.
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 03:59:14 +0000
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