The attitudes of leading Singaporean politicians and businessmen towards the possible merger of Singapore with the Federation of Malaya.

Present prosperity of Singapore derives from her importance as the financial and trading centre of South East Asia, but territory has world's highest birth rate, little industry and no natural resources so merger offers obvious economic and social advantages both to British investors and Chinese workers (3/4 of the population). Bitter differences of opinion concerning the aims of the merger do however exist, as interviews reveal. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, accused by his left-wing opponents of being "extremely ambitious" and a practitioner of the "communist-smear" technique, amiably deflects these attacks, and stresses the political value of an enlarged anti-communist Federation of Malaya. Leader of the Workers' Party David Marshall wants Britain to evacuate her bases and cease treating Singapore as a colony. Trade Union leader denies being a communist and says he would welcome the merger. From Britain's point of view merger would involve the evacuation of her bases but would also offer possibilities for economic expansion.