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Malaysian leaders, particularly Tunku Abdul Rahman, which many refer to simply as Tunku, had their own quiet expectations. Tunku reportedly advised Singapore's leadership that their ambitions should be limited, with Tunku implying that Singapore should not pursue political aspirations beyond its borders, likening its role to that of a city within a larger empire—akin to New York within the United States. Lee Kuan Yew and his team understood this message but did not directly challenge it, leading to possible misinterpretations. Tunku might have taken silence from Lee as acceptance of his implied boundary—an understanding that Singapore's future was confined within the city-state itself, without broader political ambitions.