Federation of Malaya

But I think also some of the frameworks that kind of defined her early success had also evolved by the late 1960s.

So she was actually celebrated as, you know, the first Malayan-born woman to hold a solo exhibition in Singapore and the Federation in 1959.

And as you mentioned, after the two countries became independent, I know it was a period of profound change.

And I think this category of Malayan-born really fell out of circulation.

Yeah.

And on this date in 1963, Malaysia was formed through the Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore.

And then two years later in 1965, Singapore left the Federation just to be Singapore.

Okay.

The island was small and had limited resources.

At the time, the Federation of Malaya was already an independent country.

There was an idea to create a larger federation that could include Malaya, Singapore, and also the other British territories of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

After several years of negotiations, Singapore joined the new Federation of Malaysia on the 16th of September 1963, but the relationship was difficult immediately.