MR. L. W. DONOUGH (Retirement) (Tributes)

Mr Speaker: I have to inform hon. Members that, on the advice of the Medical Officer in charge of Officials, the Clerk of the Assembly, Mr Donough, asked to be allowed to proceed on retirement leave on the 1st of April last, and that his request has, with great regret, been granted by His Excellency the Governor.

I need not say that His Excellency's regret is shared by me and, I am sure, by hon. Members.

Mr Donough joined the Government in the General Clerical Service on the 10th of April, 1922.

On the 1st of February, 1941, he was appointed an officer of the Straits Settlements Civil Service and on the 21st of October, 1949, an officer of the Colonial Administrative Service.

After about 19 years in the General Clerical Service and before he became attached to the Legislature, Mr Donough served as:

Chief Administrative Officer, Department of Supply, Malaya.

Private Secretary to Secretary for Economic Affairs, Singapore.

Deputy Superintendent of Census, Malaya (Headquarter), Ipoh.

On the 1st of March, 1948, he became the Clerk of then Advisory Council and on the 1st of April, 1948, the Clerk of Councils, Singapore.

The latter post was abolished and a new appointment of Clerk of the Legislative Council was created with effect from the 1st of December, 1951. Mr Donough filled that post and became the first Clerk of this Legislative Assembly during the early part last year.

Mr Donough, on his retirement, has thus served this country for a period of some 34 years.

My association with Mr Donough has been of a very short duration - just over a year - but during that short period I have become aware of, his sterling quality as a loyal, capable and completely efficient officer, who has never hesitated to give of his utmost under any circumstances.

His grasp of the intricacies of Parliamentary practice and procedure is second to none, and his retirement is indeed a great loss to this Assembly and to this country.

I trust that now that he has been relieved of the anxieties and stresses of his post, Mr Donough will soon recover his health, and that he and Mrs. Donough will enjoy a happy and contented retirement.

The Chief Minister (Mr D. S. Marshall): Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to associate the Government Benches with the expressions of regret and appreciation which you have just made - regret, Sir, that the heavy pressure of duties during the past year has taken so grievous a toll on so conscientious an officer. We who have known him, we - and this refers to everyone of us - who have benefited by his assistance, his guidance and his courtesy, feel a greater regret at the loss of a very able and a very efficient officer.

I would like to hope, Sir, that not only will he be fully recovered during the next few months of his leave, but that Singapore may yet benefit from his services in other departments.

Sir, on behalf of all the Members on the Government Benches, I would like to express to Mr Donough our sincere good wishes on his retirement.

Mr Lim Choon Mong (Serangoon): Mr Speaker, Sir, on this occasion the Opposition Benches would also like to express regret over the retirement of a very able officer. Indeed, Sir, Mr Donough has proved to everyone here that he is capable and that he will render aid to all Assemblymen, irrespective of whether they are on the Government Benches or on the Opposition Benches.

He has shown that he is able to take on work which should indeed have been done by more people, and we have seen that his Office has been run very efficiently.

Furthermore, his deep understanding of Parliamentary procedure has been of great help to all.

We would like to express also our wishes for his happy retirement and quick recovery.

The Chief Secretary (Mr W. A. C. Goode): Sir, I also would like, if I may, to pay tribute; and, speaking perhaps for once as a civil servant rather than as a Member of this House, I should like to say, Sir, that to me Mr Donough was an outstanding example of the finest type of civil servant. He was conscientious, a master of his subject, efficient, and completely loyal to the principles of his service and quite unsparing of himself in his thoroughness and in his sense of duty. It was by these qualities that, as you have said, Sir, he won his promotion from the Clerical Service to the Administrative Service and, finally, to the very responsible post of Clerk of this Assembly.

During the past three years, Sir, particularly in the two years preceding the constitution of this Assembly, I saw a great deal of Mr Donough and of his work, and I cannot speak too highly of it. He was never satisfied, Sir, unless everything was done properly and efficiently, and, as you have said, he had a detailed knowledge of Parliamentary procedure which was of great benefit to everyone of us in this House and in the previous Legislative Council; and he had, what is more, Sir, an intense loyalty to the principles and traditions; of Parliamentary government. He was, quite rightly, most jealous of the rights of Members of the Legislature and of the independence of the Legislature from the Executive, and he defended both of those principles quite fearlessly. He was always respectful and yet dignified, but he was insistent on anything he held to be right; and both this Assembly, Sir, and the previous Legislative Councils owe him a great debt of gratitude for his knowledge and his wisdom, and we shall sorely miss his guidance in the future.

I fully share the regrets that have been expressed that his keen sense of responsibility and his refusal to spare himself in the service of this Assembly have overtaxed his health so that he now has to give up this work to which he was so devoted and in which he so excelled. I know I can speak, Sir, on behalf of my officials, both in this House and throughout the public service, in associating ourselves with the tributes that have been paid to one of our colleagues. It is with real regret that we lose one who was an example to us and a friend, and we join, Sir, most sincerely in wishing Mr Donough good health and happiness in his retirement, and I hope that he will see the fruits of his labours in the future conduct of this Assembly.