Singapore in Malaysia Federation, leading to the independence of Singapore on 9 August 1965. Racial tensions increased dramatically within a year. They were fuelled by the Barisan Sosialis's tactics of stirring up communal sentiment as the pro-Communist party sought to use means to survive against the crackdown by both the government of Singapore and the Federal Government. In particular, despite the Malaysian government conceding citizenship to the many Chinese immigrants after independence, in Singapore the Chinese disdained the Federal policies of affirmative action, which granted special privileges to the Malays guaranteed under Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia. These included financial and
Malaysia Some are federally gazetted public holidays and some are observed by individual states. Other festivals are observed by particular ethnic or religion groups, and the main holiday of each major group has been declared a public holiday. The most observed national holiday is "Hari Merdeka" (Independence Day) on 31 August, commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya in 1957. Malaysia Day on 16 September commemorates federation in 1963. Other notable national holidays are Labour Day (1 May) and the King's birthday (first week of June). Muslim holidays are prominent as Islam is the state religion; "Hari Raya Puasa" (also