What Did Independence Mean For SG
Independence
On August 9, 1965, Singapore gains its independence and was no longer a part of Malaya. Singapore then became a Republic having Yusof bin Ishak as the first president of Singapore and Lee Kuan Yew as the prime minister. There were people who were happy with Singapore's independence and there also people who were disappointed.
Reaction After The Separation
Political Leaders' Reaction
Many of the political leaders were disappointed at the separation such as Lee Kuan Yew and Ong Pang Boon as they believe in merger and the unity of two territories. There are also political leader like Othman Work, who are happy with the separation as there were many difficulties that Singapore encounters in terms of economics, finance and politics
Citizens' Reaction
Most of the citizens were also disappointed at the separation as most of them doesn't believe that Singapore have hope of surviving, because Singapore have no economic resource. There are also people who are happy with the separation and are celebrating for the separation
Problem
Security
Singapore was lacking in army force, there were only 1000 soldiers which 700 were Malaysians. There were only 2 old gunboats in Singapore's Navy and no aircraft as there wasn't any air force. From colonial times, Singapore was dependent on British's military, but the British had withdraw their troops from Singapore by 1971, which made Singapore vulnerable to internal and external threat. Dr Goh, tried to avoid this threat by introducing National Service system to increase the number of troops rapidly. By 1976, the number of national servicemen and the reservists in the SAF were about 140000
Economy
Singapore is a country without any natural resources, in order for Singapore to live on, Singapore needs to develop good trade relationship with Malaya, and also develop a diversified economy and there were many unemployment in Singapore. Thus, new jobs need to be created for these people.
Sense of belonging
Many of the people in Singapore were born in Malaysia, and were qualified for Malaysian citizenship. The citizen need to develop a sense of belonging to Singapore as they can choose to or not to take up the Singapore citizenship.