'Hippie hair' crisis between Singapore and Malaysia

This is an excerpt from the book The Accidental Diplomat: The Autobiography Of Maurice Baker by Maurice Baker, an academic and one of Singapore's pioneer diplomats
The Straits Times, 30 Aug 2014

I THOUGHT that a meeting of the two prime ministers face-to-face might help to lead to better understanding and improve relations between Singapore and Malaysia.

The plans were made and set in motion for Lee Kuan Yew to visit Kuala Lumpur.

But an unfortunate incident ruined our plans and set back the visit till after I had left Kuala Lumpur and returned to teach at the University of Singapore in 1972.

The Singapore police had received information that a gang of youths, probably secret society members, would meet in the Orchard Road car park (now no more) which at night flourished as a hawker centre.

By an unfortunate coincidence, three long-haired Malaysians, two of whom were university undergraduates from Kuala Lumpur and who were on a visit to Singapore, had decided to have a meal at the hawker centre.

The local detectives promptly arrested them and, despite their protests that they were Malaysians who had left behind their passports in their hotel, the detectives hauled them to the Central Police Station, forced them to have a haircut and locked them up for the night!

They were searched but no drugs were found on them. The next day the police realised their mistake but it was too late. The high-handed action of the detectives was to have severe repercussions as the undergraduates from the Universiti of Malaya at Pantai Valley in Kuala Lumpur decided on a huge demonstration against the Singapore High Commission which was then located at the fifth floor of the Straits Trading Building on Market Street (now Jalan Leboh Pasar).

They came by the busload. The secretary-general of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Sheikh Abdullah, who had been a year my senior at Raffles College, telephoned me before the demonstrators arrived assuring me that the police, both in plain clothes and in uniform, would be present to keep control and that nothing untoward would happen apart from some clamour.

On this occasion and on several others when I was faced with demonstrations during my two terms as high commissioner in Malaysia, the police kept the demonstrators under firm control and did not permit any disorder or violence.

Their armed presence alone was enough to deter even the most indignant and vociferous in the crowd from becoming violent. The Malaysian police were thoroughly efficient and deserved high praise.

The students sent five representatives to see me in my office - the delegation included a Chinese and an Indian undergraduate. My first secretary, Mushahid Ali, sat with me.

At first the students appeared belligerent, the Chinese and Indian being more aggressive than the Malay representatives. It is usual in Malaysia for the Chinese and Indians to impress the Malays with their enthusiasm. The Malays usually remain more polite.

I listened to them and then explained that the policemen involved in the arrests were detectives who were low ranking, not too well-educated and possibly even reformed ex-criminals - "set a thief to catch a thief" - and their rash action in no way represented government policy. Malaysians should not place too much importance on the unfortunate incident for which the Singapore authorities had apologised.

The students relaxed and appeared to be satisfied. They asked me whether I would go down to be photographed with them but I regretted that I had to decline the invitation.

They left quite appeased but later we could hear the mass of students booing their representatives. I don't know what they had expected of their delegation.

The proposed talks between the two prime ministers in Kuala Lumpur had to be postponed and The Straits Times of 20 Aug 1970, commenting on this, called for a curb on "over-zealous CID officers".

"Policemen must not let themselves be carried away by distaste for hippie hair or anything else."

Meanwhile, the secretary-general of the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs exclaimed: "My God, has it come to this? We must consider whether or not to advise our Sarawak brothers through Tan Sri Temenggong Jugah that anyone there with long hair should stay on their plane on transit in Singapore."

Temenggong Jugah was an lban minister and lbans in Sarawak often grew their hair long!

Meanwhile in Kuala Lumpur, the Singapore High Commission was subject to abusive, and at times threatening, phone calls. The police had to monitor all calls to my residence. Among several letters I received were cartoons of our prime minister depicting him as bald-headed. There were donations of locks of hair including pubic hair!

An example of a hardly literate threatening letter:

"Awak punya consul boleh close. Go home Israel Asia. Lee datang sini akan di-tembak. Kepala kasi botak. One day Malaysia Black Commandos akan rampas Singapura. Go to hell Israel Asia.

- from Malay Black Commandos."

While on my way to official functions in my car with the Singapore flag flying, I was booed and shouted at for a while.

I was also handed a strong protest note by a Foreign Ministry official expressing its "most serious concern" at the "ill-treatment" of the three Malaysians by Singapore police officials.

This was "contrary to the spirit of goodwill which underlies the relations between the two countries".

"It is the view of the Malaysian Government," the note continued, "that since the bulk of interstate relations is conducted at the level of day-to-day contact involving citizens, the attitude and behaviour shown by public officials should be such as to be conducive to the promotion of good relations between Malaysia and Singapore."

The protest note sought "full clarification" from the Singapore government.

The Singapore authorities, who believed that the Malaysian press had blown up the incident out of proportion, apologised "if the three Malaysians had been wrongly and poorly treated", and reiterated that Malaysians were welcome to visit Singapore.

But Lee Kuan Yew decided to postpone his visit for "a more propitious moment" to avoid embarrassing both governments although Tun Dr Ismail had assured me that the students would be under strict control.

In answer to questions regarding Singapore's decision to keep "hippies" out of Singapore, the prime minister insisted that he was convinced the policy was for the good of Singapore.

The Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs soon announced that it was fully satisfied with the explanation given by Singapore that over-zealousness on the part of a few police officials, who should have acted more tactfully, was responsible for the incident. "The Singapore note reiterated their apologies in regard to the hair-cutting incident and further said that no malice was intended to the three youths concerned."

The whole affair was declared closed.

I breathed sighs of relief.

The book is available at Kinokuniya bookstores at $29.96 with GST. Published by World Scientific, 278 pages.