Reflections | Chinese historical myths that are accepted as fact, and why they have endured
Like Singapore’s ‘ejection’ from Malaysia, Chinese history contains fallacies, including ones about Sun Yat-sen and Empress Dowager Cixi
Last week, I noted that the contents of the Albatross file cast doubts on the popular narrative that Singapore was abruptly “kicked out” of Malaysia on August 9, 1965.
The documents show that separation was not a unilateral expulsion but the outcome of months of secret, bilateral planning by senior leaders on both sides. The idea originated within Singapore’s own leadership in 1964, when figures such as then Minister of Finance Goh Keng Swee (who opened the file) judged that it was politically untenable for Singapore to remain in Malaysia.
Far from being hasty, separation was carefully negotiated with the federal government in Kuala Lumpur, albeit under conditions of extreme secrecy, with only a handful of people kept in the loop.
Many commentators have been quick to surmise that the account of Singapore’s sudden expulsion was a myth concocted and perpetuated by the ruling establishment, chiefly to emphasise the city state’s vulnerability and, by extension, the need for a strong hand at the helm. As yet, there is no firm evidence that this was the case.
Historical myths do not usually arise from a single source or motive; they emerge through different mechanisms and for different reasons.