Singapore AFTERMATH OF WAR, 1945-55
Panoramic view of Singapore's waterfront in mid-1940s
Courtesy National Archives
The abrupt end of the war took the British by surprise.
Although the Colonial Office had decided on the formation
of a
Malayan Union, which would include all the Malay states,
Penang,
and Malacca, no detailed plans had been worked out for the
administration of Singapore, which was to be kept separate
and
serve as the headquarters of the British governor general
for
Southeast Asia. Many former colonial officials and
businessmen
opposed the separation of Singapore from peninsular
Malaya, arguing
that the two were economically interdependent and to
exclude
Singapore would "cut the heart out of Malaya." The
Colonial Office
maintained that the separation did not preclude union at
some
future date, but that union should not be forced on
"communities
with such widely different interests." In September 1945,
Singapore
became the headquarters for the British Military
Administration
(BMA) under Mountbatten. Although Singaporeans were
relieved and
happy at the arrival of the Commonwealth troops, their
first-hand
witnessing of the defeat of the British by an Asian power
had
changed forever the perspective from which they viewed
their
colonial overlords.
Data as of December 1989
|