War, Independence and the Developmental State (1942–1971) — a part of the book Singapore as an International Financial Centre by Dr Alexander Ressos.
Part C covers the occupation, decolonisation, the brief merger with Malaysia and the first years of independence, during which the state laid the foundations of the financial centre.
This part belongs to Singapore as an International Financial Centre by Dr Alexander Ressos, published here in full, section by section.
Syonan-to: Occupation, Currency and the Destruction of Trust
On the evening of 15 February 1942 the British garrison of Singapore surrendered to the Imperial Japanese Army. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe fall of Singapore in February 1942
The Japanese attack on Malaya began on 8 December 1941, when the 25th Army landed on the coast of the peninsula. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe occupation economy and its currency
The occupation destroyed the banking system that Chapter B.II describes. Read more Singapore · IndependencePersecution and forced contributions from the Chinese community
The occupation fell hardest on the Chinese community of Singapore and Malaya. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe return of British rule and the currency question
Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender on 15 August 1945. British forces landed in Penang on 3 September and in Singapore on 5 September 1945, where they were greeted by cheering crowds. Read more Singapore · IndependenceLessons for a centre built on trust
The occupation demonstrated that money is a promise whose value depends on the credibility of the issuer. Read more Singapore · IndependenceComparison: Hong Kong and Geneva
Hong Kong, occupied by Japan from December 1941 to August 1945, offers the closest comparison. There too the local currency was largely replaced by Japanese military notes. Read more Singapore · IndependenceSyonan-to: Occupation, Currency and the Destruction of Trust: summary
Singapore surrendered to Japan on 15 February 1942 and became Syonan-to, a military base whose banks of the Allied powers were closed and whose population was compelled to use unbacked military… Read more Singapore · IndependenceFrom Self-Government to Separation: 1959, 1963, 1965
Between 1946 and 1965 Singapore changed its constitutional status four times. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe postwar colony and the politics of decolonisation
The Straits Settlements, whose constitution as a Crown colony Chapter I of Part B described, did not survive the Second World War. Read more Singapore · IndependenceSelf-government in 1959
The first election under the new constitution took place on 30 May 1959. It was the first general election held with universal suffrage and compulsory voting. Read more Singapore · IndependenceMerger with Malaysia in 1963
The decisive impulse came from Kuala Lumpur when, on 27 May 1961, the Malayan Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, publicly proposed a closer association of Malaya, Singapore and the British Borneo… Read more Singapore · IndependenceSeparation and independence in 1965
The PAP’s campaign for a “Malaysian Malaysia”, in which citizenship would carry equal rights regardless of race, set it against the communal settlement on which the Alliance government rested. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe economic consequences of separation
Separation ended the hope on which the industrial strategy of 1959 had rested. Singapore lost the prospect of a common market of about 12 million people, on which its planners had counted since 1959. Read more Singapore · IndependencePractical consequences: the legal legacy of 1963–1965
The legal technique of 1965 still shapes practice. Read more Singapore · IndependenceComparison with Geneva and Dubai
Geneva’s history offers the closest parallel and the clearest contrast. Read more Singapore · IndependenceFrom Self-Government to Separation: 1959, 1963, 1965: summary
After the Straits Settlements were dissolved on 1 April 1946, Singapore moved through limited elections in 1948, the Rendel Constitution of 1955 and the State of Singapore Act 1958 to full internal… Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe Economic Development Board and the Strategy of Survival
In October 1960 a team of experts sent by the United Nations began a survey of a small island whose government had been in office for little more than a year. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe United Nations mission and the founding of the EDB
When the People’s Action Party formed the first fully elected government of self-governing Singapore on 5 June 1959, the city faced conditions that its leaders described as desperate. Read more Singapore · IndependenceIndustrialisation through foreign direct investment
Separation from Malaysia on 9 August 1965, examined in Chapter II of this part, removed the premise of the early strategy. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe withdrawal of British forces
On 18 July 1967 the British government announced that it would withdraw its forces from Singapore and Malaysia by the mid-1970s, because the British economy could no longer bear the cost of… Read more Singapore · IndependenceLabour, land and the instruments of the state
The industrial relations that Winsemius feared had deep roots. In 1955 Singapore recorded 275 strikes involving 57,000 workers and a loss of 946,000 man-days. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe state as architect of markets
The institutional legacy of the 1960s is a dense network of statutory boards and government-linked companies. Most of the state and semi-state enterprises were founded between 1968 and 1972. Read more Singapore · IndependencePractical consequences for investors and their advisers
For a company considering a significant investment in Singapore, the EDB remains the first point of contact. Its officers present the location, coordinate with other agencies and negotiate incentives. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe Economic Development Board and the Strategy of Survival: Comparison with Geneva
Geneva never had an Economic Development Board. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe Economic Development Board and the Strategy of Survival: summary
The Economic Development Board, established on 1 August 1961 on the recommendation of a United Nations mission led by Albert Winsemius, was the instrument through which the government of… Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe Asian Dollar Market of 1968
In October 1968 the Singapore branch of Bank of America began to accept deposits in United States dollars from non-residents and to lend them on to borrowers outside Singapore. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe Eurodollar market and the Asian time zone
The Asian Dollar Market was the regional counterpart of a market that had developed in Europe during the previous decade. A Eurodollar is a dollar deposit held with a bank outside the United States. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe Asian Currency Unit
The practical arrangements were worked out during 1968. Read more Singapore · IndependenceTax incentives for offshore banking
The first and most important incentive concerned the tax on interest. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe growth of offshore banking in the 1970s
The growth of the market in its first decade was extraordinary. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe Asian Dollar Market as template for later strategies
The Asian Dollar Market is more than an episode in banking history. It established a method that Singapore has applied repeatedly. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe Asian Dollar Market of 1968: practical consequences
The Asian Dollar Market belongs to history, but its legacy shapes the work of practitioners today. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe Asian Dollar Market and the comparison with Geneva, Hong Kong and London
Geneva and Singapore both became financial centres by serving wealth and money that originated elsewhere. Their methods differed. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe Asian Dollar Market of 1968: summary
The Asian Dollar Market began in October 1968, when Bank of America opened the first Asian Currency Unit in Singapore to take dollar deposits from non-residents during the hours when London and New… Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe Founding of the Monetary Authority of Singapore
On 1 January 1971 a new statutory body opened its doors in Singapore. Read more Singapore · IndependenceMonetary functions before 1971
Singapore entered independence with a monetary system inherited from the colonial period. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe Monetary Authority of Singapore Act 1970
The legislation came before Parliament in 1970, in a session that also dealt with the reform of banking law. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe Board of Commissioners of Currency
The Board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore operated under the Currency Act 1967. Read more Singapore · IndependenceExchange-rate-centred monetary policy
The Authority was born in turbulent times for the international monetary system. In August 1971, months after it opened, the United States suspended the convertibility of the dollar into gold. Read more Singapore · IndependenceSupervisory philosophy: prudence and reputation
The supervisory approach of the young Authority was shaped by its lack of a track record. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe Founding of the Monetary Authority of Singapore: practical consequences
For institutions and their advisers, the founding design of the Authority has lasting consequences. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe Founding of the Monetary Authority of Singapore: the comparison with Geneva and Hong Kong
Switzerland followed a sequence that reverses Singapore's. Read more Singapore · IndependenceThe Founding of the Monetary Authority of Singapore: summary
Before 1971 the functions of a central bank in Singapore were scattered across a currency board and several departments, an arrangement that Goh Keng Swee called “an untidy system of units” and that… Read more