The British, Federation, and PAP leaders agreed a merger of the Federation and Singapore should happen. But Tunku Abdul Rahman demanded that Singapore’s political opposition be arrested before merger; Lee Kuan Yew demanded they be arrested after merger; and Lord Selkirk felt arrests were unnecessary and unjustified. In this episode, PJ Thum explains how this was the central political conflict surrounding merger and how this deadlock was eventually broken by an unexpected event far, far away from Malaya.

Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at patreon.com/pjthum. For all the previous episodes in this series, search for "History of Singapore" on bfm.my.