 Meanwhile , the Malays in Singapore were being increasingly incited by the federal government 's accusations that the PAP was mistreating the Malays . The external political situation was also tense ; Indonesian President Sukarno declared a state of Konfrontasi ( Confrontation ) against Malaysia and initiated military and other actions against the new nation , including the bombing of MacDonald House in Singapore 10 March 1965 by Indonesian commandos , killing three people . Indonesia also conducted sedition activities to provoke the Malays against the Chinese . Numerous racial riots resulted and curfews were frequently imposed to restore order . The most notorious riots were the 1964 Race Riots that first took place on Prophet Muhammad 's birthday on 21 July with twenty three people killed and hundreds injured . During the unrest , the price of food skyrocketed when transport system was disrupted , causing further hardship for the people . 
