Reunification: Msia-S'pore

I have been talking about this reunification for sometime now. I do hope that one day, the agenda develops further to become mainstream. By then, we would have a unionist community here that supports the re-entry of Singapore into the Federation of Malaysia (maybe we already do have!).

Union of countries provides economic advantages for a small and land-scarce country like Singapore. It provides an opportunity to consolidate strength in the face of ever increasing economic competition from giants like China and India and a much bigger local market. Also we lessen the cost of defence and security as we would be very sure this time that there would be no military threat coming from the northern side. We can then focus more on social spending for our elderly citizens.

Also in terms of demographics and population, we no longer need to rely on immigrants of faraway lands to make up for the labor shortages but instead focus more on internal migrations of people who share somewhat cultural similarities. This is much better than relying on a liberal immigration policy, madly trying to court the PRCs and Indians who have no cultural roots in the region who in the end will migrate elsewhere.

People perceive that the culture and work ethics of Singaporeans are superior to that of the Malaysians. I believe that is all too simplistic to conclude that Malaysian are less hard-working than Singaporeans. It is obviously a myth. The racial composition in Malaysia is more or less the same other than that Malaysia might have more multi-cultural than Singapore.

Others tend to believe that Malaysia is a country that is filled with racists and religious supremacists and that Singapore is an "egalitarian society" that it makes it difficult for any form of reunification to take place. The beauty of Malaysia is that because of the widespread of people over the huge land mass and the cultural diversity that has contributed to the rich intellectual, ideological and political diversity that they have. There is no uniformity unlike in Singapore which is too small for any kind of rich diversity like in Malaysia to ever occur.

Reunification as a process of reconciliation between two people and that which Malays in Singapore will never be viewed as "potential traitors" again. We have to think of Malaysia as a rich multicultural environment which has contributed to its colourful political scene rather than a unitary state controlled by one party. Even if it is Barisan Nasional, it is still a multi-party coalition although we naively believe that it is only UMNO.

The reunification could bring about a system of "One Country, Two System" where Singapore would become an autonomous republic within the Federation retaining control over a limited land defence force and having its own limited constitution.

I am after all a unionist and I suppose the opposite of a unionist would be a separatist or a nationalist. To be one, you would have to be able to speak the National Language (Bahasa Kebangsaan). I wonder if they could in the first place. The only historical baggage that stands in the way of reunification are dinosaurs who will perish soon.

If we were to pursue reunification, people would be divided. But that would have to be resolved via referendum. This island would not be divided into two countries like Cyprus (Greek and Turkish), but more likely to be along partisan line; one favouring reunification, the other favouring status quo.

We have to remember that in 1989 that when the Berlin Wall was brought down that led to East and West Germany reuniting, there was a striking cultural difference between the people of either side. Vast differences between the former East Germany and West Germany (for example, in lifestyle, wealth, political beliefs and other matters) remained.

The East Germans brought up under communism were more likely to be to be used to centralised planning compared to the West Germans who were brought up under a liberal democracy. Till today, there is a process of "inner reunification". These complicated socio-cultural and ideological differences were not a hindrance for the physical "German reunification".

Further reading: "Unlikely for S'pore, Malaysia to merge: Lee Kuan Yew" http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1154893/1/.html