Explaining Singapore-Malaysia relations : an ideas-based analysis

Abstract

According to existing literature, meritocracy, as an idea manifested in Singapore's "Malaysian Malaysia" campaign, was one of the "irreconcilable differences" that led to the Separation in 1965. But, there has not been any systematic study on the reasons behind the "Malaysian Malaysia" campaign, and why meritocracy rankled the Malay leadership so much during the period of Merger and continues to do so even today (exemplified by Kuala Lumpur's rigorous response to Mr Lee Kuan Yew's meritocracy-related comments in 1996 and 2006).