PUBLIC SERVICE (MALAYANISATION)

10.52 a.m.

The Chief Minister (Mr Lim Yew Hock): Mr Speaker, Sir, in rising to move the motion standing in my name, namely.

That this Assembly approves the policy of Malayanisation of the public service as set out in Sessional Paper No. Cmd. 65 of 1956,

I wish to emphasise that the statement of policy on the Malayanisation of the public service was made after the most careful and minute consideration of the Malayanisation Commission's Report and the administrative problems involved.

Malayanisation of the public service is one of the main planks in the Labour Front-Alliance Government's programme, and it is the Government's duty to see that Malayanisation proceeds as smoothly and as quickly as possible with a minimum dislocation of the government machinery. At the same time, it must be true Malayanisation and this can only be brought about by malayanising the key posts now occupied by expatriate officers. It is only by doing this that we can hope that the Malayanisation policy will be pursued vigorously and effectively. The Government is in profound agreement with the Malayanisation Commission that the objective should be the Malayanisation of the administrative service. Immediate and complete Malayanisation of the administrative service is not possible, but by taking over the key posts, the greatest measure of Malayanisation will be achieved within the shortest time without having to displace all expatriate officers immediately. It is the Government's firm view that the principal civil service advisers of Ministers must be local men and this change must be brought about forthwith as soon as the new Public Service Commission comes into being, I hope, on the first of January, 1957. These key posts are the nine posts of Permanent Secretary grade listed in the White Paper laid before this Assembly today, and the choice of candidates for these posts will be one of the first tasks of the new Public Service Commission in the new year.

At this juncture, Sir, I wish to stress that the immediate Malayanisation of these posts of Permanent Secretary grade is no slur on the present expatriate holders of these posts. This decision is both a political and an administrative necessity. The expatriate holders have served well and have given of their best to this Government, and I am confident that they will freely give of their wide knowledge and experience during the next six months so as to ensure that their local successors will be assisted to the maximum in taking over the new duties. I am also confident that our local officers, who will be given full responsibility from the start, will rise to the occasion and prove that they are no less able than their predecessors.

I hope that no Member in this House will run away with the idea that, by immediately malayanising the Permanent Secretary posts, the way is set for a smooth Malayanisation of the public service. Far from it. It is just a proper start and the only logical approach to this difficult problem. There are just over 500 expatriate officers in the government service, both permanent and on agreement or contract. The problem is not only to replace these officers during the coming years, but to fill the many vacancies that now exist in the service and also to keep the service malayanised. The rate of Malayanisation must depend, in the first place, on the number of expatriate officers who wish to avail themselves of the abolition terms and leave this country immediately. It would be ideal if the rate of exodus of expatriate officers could be controlled or regulated. We can do this only up to a point by offering some form of inducement such as that proposed in the compensation scheme, and no further, for it is useless to force an unwilling officer to stay against his wish. To be without an officer is better than to have an unwilling one. We recognise the freedom of every man to choose his employer. We will not retain a single man against his wish. Malayanisation would have been a much easier task if in every senior service we had local officers in sufficient numbers and of sufficient seniority and experience. Unfortunately, Sir, we have not. In practically every senior service there is a disconcerting gap between the local officers recruited before the war and those after the war. The gap in some cases is from eight to ten years. Also the number of pre-war senior local officers is small simply because it was not the policy of the colonial Government then to open the door of the senior service to local officers. The responsibility for this shortage of senior local officers must therefore be placed at the doorstep of the colonial Government. We must therefore courageously make use of what we have, otherwise we will not have a true merdeka if the civil service is still dominated by expatriate officers.

Hon. Members will note in the White Paper that, apart from the immediate Malayanisation of the Permanent Secretary posts, the Government has also decided on immediate Malayanisation of other posts for which the Government is confident that local candidates are available. Expatriate officers in posts which are not to be malayanised immediately will be retained for varying periods which have been decided upon after the most careful consideration. Still it is not likely that Malayanisation will proceed the way that Government wants. We will get an accurate picture of what is likely to happen only when every expatriate officer is notified of his future career in accordance with the White Paper and each of them has indicated what his intentions are. I therefore warn hon. Members that the, last words have yet to be said on Malayanisation.

Hon. Members will have noted that in the technical service the period of continued service to be offered to expatriate officers is generally longer than in the administrative and the legal services, for instance. The reason for this is simple. We are short of technical men, not because our boys are incapable of becoming technicians but because the old colonial policy was not to open the door of the senior technical services to our boys to obtain high technical qualifications. I want to stress that the technical departments are responsible for our technical services on which depends the well-being of everybody in this country, and also our reputation as a great port and terminus. We are training as many technicians as possible, but it will take time to produce them in sufficient numbers and it will also take time for them to gain sufficient experience after qualification. Until then we must depend on the qualified expatriate technical officers to run our technical services efficiently.

Sir, the next few years will be the most critical for the civil service in the history of this country. We have plans for the reorganisation of the civil service and we hope that all these measures will help in not only malayanising the public service but in keeping it malayanised by the supply of qualified officers. Except in certain technical or professional posts for which certain qualifications are the sine qua non, every able officer will have an opportunity of rising by merit to the highest appointment.

Finally, Sir, one word to our expatriate officers who will be leaving us between now and the day of complete Malayanisation. To those who wish to leave now, I will repeat: we will not retain a single one against his wish. To those who elect to remain for the period we ask for or for a period of their choice, I will say that they will be eligible for promotion in accordance with traditional service principles, subject to paragraph 11(f) of the White Paper, and that they will continue to enjoy the same salary scales and conditions of service as at present. They need have no fear that they will be discriminated against in any way. I want them to realise that they must move with the times in colonial territories. Malayanisation has nothing to do with obtaining big jobs for a few local officers. It is a logical conclusion in the progress of any colonial territory towards self-government and ultimate independence. The entire control of the government must be vested in the local people, and we must prepare for this well in advance of self-government. I therefore move, Sir, the motion standing in my name.

The Minister for Local Government, Lands and Housing (Inche Abdul Hamid Bin Haji Jumat): Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to second the motion, reserving my right to speak at a later stage.

Question proposed.

11.05 a.m.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Speaker, Sir, I must first record my regret that the Government, on such an important subject as Malayanisation, has given Members of the Opposition a bare three days to study its policy before they are asked to debate it. Some Members of this Assembly who have offices in town received the policy statement on Saturday. Those who do not have offices in town received the statement on Monday. The Hon. the Chief Minister stressed, no less than three times in his speech, that the Government gave the most careful consideration to the recommendations of the Malayanisation Commission's Report. The Government took no less than nine months to meditate on the Report. But it has given the Opposition a bare 48 hours to study this policy statement. Fortunately it so happened that the major recommendations of this White Paper were acceptable to most Members of the Opposition, namely the acceptance of the principle that the control room of the civil service will be taken away from the white man and put into local hands immediately.

Malayanisation is one of those issues which have bedevilled the Government, striking right inside the machinery of government for the last eight years since the reoccupation of this country and principally in the last three years. Not long ago the whole civil service was nearly in open revolt, not on the specific issue of Malayanisation, but just out of a feeling of bitterness, frustration and discontent with the policy of the colonial Government. It is comforting to know that such a bitter issue can find a relatively peaceful end.

We are not supporting this statement of policy because we believe that if this White Paper is implemented Malayanisation will become an accomplished fact. We support it because once the principle of handing over the control room is accepted and implemented, then the flood gates are opened, and the white men will be swept out of all positions of administrative control in the next few years. That is why we have accepted in principle the statement of policy laid down in this White Paper.

Of course, the reaction of the public and of those members of the public in the government service who are directly affected by this White Paper has been a mixed and varied one, depending upon -

(1) Whether they are or are not affected, and

(2) Whether they are white or Asian.

As far as the white man is concerned, those commercial tycoons whose friends in the administrative service have long held the ring for them, I think we shall have to wait until the hon. Mr Sutherland makes it known how he feels about it. From now onwards Mr Sutherland may not be able to pick up the telephone and ring up Tom in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for a drink at the Tanglin Club to settle a few matters about A. P. Forms and Foreign Exchange controls.

Mr Speaker, Sir, to those who have been at the other end of the colonial stick - the big end of the stick - this has been a source of constant irritation. I am not suggesting that, because local men are moved into key positions, therefore the revolution in Malaya will be over. In fact, at a later stage in my speech, I wish to remind these local men who are assuming control, that the future of the democratic state in Singapore depends upon the integrity and the drive with which they discharge their duties.

Sir, the White Paper has been unsatisfactory on two very important branches of the apparatus of government -

(1) The judiciary, and

(2) The police.

These were the two issues which we never settled with the Secretary of State for the Colonies. He preferred not to discuss them until he could settle the question of internal security. Since that was not settled, these two issues on which we knew we were going to meet difficulties ware never discussed at the conference table. But he did indicate that the present High Court judges should not be removed, and that the Commissioner of Police and the Deputy Commissioner and the Director of the Special Branch of the police force could not be Malayanised without the consent of the Defence and Security Council. I am, however, astounded that, although the Secretary of State had only reserved these three important posts, this Government should have agreed that it is impossible to Malayanise the police force in six years, and that it has proposed to retain about 30 permanent officers of the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police and above for at least six years. The Commissioner of Police himself admitted before the Malayanisation Commission that the police force including his own job could be Malayanised in five years. The Commission recommended a period of three. The Government has chosen six. To a certain extent, the experience of Members on the other side of the recent disorders in the Colony of Singapore when they found that their own lives and property had to be defended by Gurkha troops and police and European officers may have weighed heavily in their minds. The Asian officers in the police force no doubt are somewhat frustrated and embittered about the Malayanisation of the police force. I was discussing this matter recently with someone who had occasion to know these Asian officers. He said, "Well, they have got their deserts. The cowards did not go before the Malayanisation Commission and beard the white officers in the Malayanisation Commission's den. They deserve what they have got for their timidity." To this, someone wisecracked, "Or perhaps this is the best place to start subversion! You have a discontented group of Asian police officers who now find for the first time that they have a stake in merdeka; that with complete and absolute merdeka will come avenues for promotion. Therefore, if we are true subversionists, we should exploit the situation and hold out this carrot to the Asian police officers to support merdeka!"

Sir, I say this to the Asian officers, if they demand the right to take over the police force, let us see their mettle. Let us see the grit that is wanted in men who are to hold the rifle barrel in this little island. Unless they can prove to us that they have guts, courage and integrity, then they deserve what they have got in this White Paper.

The second issue on which the White Paper has been silent is the Supreme Court judgeships. It is an open secret that there has been political wrangling over the appointment of two new judges, dating from the time when the Labour Front Coalition Government was led by the Member for Cairnhill. We now know from the estimates that only one more judgeship is to be created. We wish to make it clear that, whatever this Government says in this White Paper, my Party believes that the principle of the inviolability of the judiciary can only be accepted after we Malayans have decided who shall fill those positions. We do not accept that those whom the colonial Government has appointed as our judges are inviolate, and cannot be removed by this Legislature or this Government. However honest, however good as lawyers they may be, they are part and parcel of the colonial machinery which is unacceptable to any Malayan nationalist. In no territory of the British Commonwealth in Southeast Asia were European judges allowed to remain in office when the British imperial power finally departed. The only exception was in Ceylon where a white Chief Justice, who I notice is already a model for the Chief Justice of the Federation of Malaya, was allowed to remain because the Ceylonese Government wanted him to remain. But when that Government decided that he should go, he went. That is a principle which we must first establish before we accept the principle of the inviolability of the judicial service. It would be unfair to many distinguished judges if my remarks were to create the impression that I think they were all dishonest and useless instruments of British imperialism. The former Chief Justice of Singapore, for instance, was a man of great learning and balance of judgment, for whom all members of the Bar, whether white or black, had considerable respect. That does not in the slightest way detract from the principle that we cannot accept a white judiciary imposed upon us. We want the principle established that if we want them to quit, then they must go. Then when we appoint our local men, they will be inviolate. They cannot be removed either by the Government or the Legislature except by the most stringent of procedures.

Sir, there are other matters of detail with which we could pick faults in this statement of policy, but before I do so, I want to congratulate the Government on two important principles which it has established - one, in the administrative service, and the other, in the police. In the administrative service we congratulate the Government for having created an executive service so that no man shall be debarred from holding the highest of administrative posts just because he did not got to a university to take an Honours degree and so join the elite. We live in an egalitarian age. A man is judged for what he is worth and what he can contribute to society, not by the hallmarks that he has acquired in his lifetime in some venerable institution of learning.

Second, the principle in the police force that "the Commission's recommendations endorsing the system of promotion from the Rank and File to the Inspectorate and that the gazetted ranks should be recruited from the Inspectorate and not by direct entry is accepted. The recommendation that every member of the Rank and File should be given facilities as far as possible to improve his English is accepted. Lack of English should not, however, bar the promotion of outstanding N.C.Os. to the Inspectorate, or the promotion of officers of outstanding ability." Sir, when the white men came and colonised parts of South and Southeast Asia, they created a caste in the administrative machinery. They became an elite and any member who joined that administrative service became, in varying degrees, depending on one's position in the hierarchy, a member of an elite force, where entry was controlled, not by what a man was worth but by what his wealth, social position, and education were judged to be worth. With the disappearance of the white elite, it is absolutely vital that we should not see in its place a black elite - black, brown, yellow, whatever the varying shades there may be in Asia and in Malaya.

There is a tendency among some of the less distinguished officers of the administrative service recruited locally to imagine that their role is to step into the shoes of these sacrosanct white men and that the purpose of the State is to provide them with comfortable quarters, important positions, comfortable salaries and security and pensions. To these men we say that they will perish, and not only them, but also the whole State will perish with them, unless they re-orientate themselves. With the disappearance of a white elite, we must put in its place a new and efficient and democratic group where a man occupies a position because of what he can contribute, not because he has gained entry by some false standard of values.

I would now like to touch on some quite minor points where we feel that the Commission's Report could have been improved. If we had been given more time, we might have picked out more faults; but unfortunately the Government does not seem anxious that the Opposition should give this White Paper as careful a consideration as the Government itself has bestowed upon it.

First, it is stated here that there are to be two Permanent Secretaries to the Treasury - one responsible for Finance and the other for Personnel - and that there is, in fact, no need for any one administrative official to be head of the civil service. On the question of principle, that is wrong. There should be one head of the civil service. There cannot be two persons of equal status, for someone in that civil service must be the "Field-Marshal" through whom the Government issues its directives.

Secondly, in the medical branch, it might interest the Minister for Health to know that the doctors are once more thinking of "fixing" him and I would advise, if he were to fall ill, that he should choose his doctors carefully!

Mr Marshall: Shame!

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Sir, some people in this House have no sense of humour, and for these people I have the deepest sympathy. But for the Member for Katong, I hope he will bear this in mind - that the local chest specialists think it outrageous that they should wait ten years before they push the white men out. Further, that the local pharmacists think it equally outrageous that they should have to wait six years before they take over from the white men. So if the Minister for Health should have any chest complaint, no doubt he will choose his doctors carefully.

On the whole, we support the detailed proposals in this White Paper. We support it notwithstanding the fact that we know that many of the junior administrative officers are dissatisfied because of a statement of policy that there will be a five-year time lag before their avenues for rapid fortuitous promotion will be open. We say to them that we want them to prove their mettle in these five years, and to show us that they can compete with the white men who will stay behind, not as policy-makers but as functionaries. If they cannot compete with the white men, then they deserve not to be promoted.

Sir, the Malayan Civil Service was a mandarinate. The legend "M.C.S." after a white man's name on some wooden swing-door was some kind of hallmark, symbol of personal power and influence - as someone put it, "A member of the Black Dragon that ran this country." It was patterned on the Indian Civil Service. As we draw to the last and final round of this battle to wrest control from the white man, it might be useful to recall the role this particular service played in the historical exploitation of the territories of South and South-East Asia. Let me read a passage on the Indian Civil Service by a distinguished Indian historian, Mr K. M. Pannikkar, one-time Ambassador of the Indian Government to the People's Republic of China, who had reason to know the various types of civil service that a State can model for its own use. He said this of the Indian Civil Service:

"Under the 'lmperial' or central Government of India, there were the provincial administrators, again with authority delegated from the centre. The administration of India was conducted by a Civil Service, a regular mandarinate, recruited in England by open competitive examination. The curriculum of the examination was so arranged as to place a premium on candidates from the two metropolitan universities of Oxford and Cambridge, with their predominance of public school students, thereby ensuring both the 'class composition' of the services and the imperial tradition. In the first quarter of the century after the assumption of direct government of India by the Crown (1858) there were hardly any Indians in the Civil Service. Though from the end of the century a number of Indians continued annually to secure admission to the service, their proportion was not considerable until after 1919, that is, during the whole period of imperial supremacy. The Civil Service not merely administered, that is, collected the revenues, maintained law and order, and formed generally the magistracy over the entire country, but also participated in higher judicial work, a proportion of the judges of the Provincial High Courts being drawn from the administrative service.

Below this practically 'all-white' service was a large Indian bureaucracy recruited on a provincial basis and strictly controlled and supervised in its functions by the former. It was through this subordinate or provincial service, exclusively Indian in personnel, that the authority of the Government penetrated to the masses. The control, however, was for a long time solely in the hands of European officials."

Let me read what kind of society this mandarinate created in India:

"One other aspect of British authority in India at this period was the conviction held by every European in India of a final and enduring racial superiority. Seton Kerr, Foreign Secretary of the Government, explained it as 'the cherished conviction of every Englishman in India, from the highest to the lowest, by the planter's assistant in his lowly bungalow and by the editor in the full light of the Presidency town - from those of the Chief Commissioner in charge of an important province to the Viceroy on his throne - the conviction in every man that he belongs to a race whom God has destined to govern and subdue.' Many equally authoritative statements of this point of view from persons in the highest official position in India could be quoted to show how universal this conviction was during the last century and indeed up to the time of the first Great War. One further quotation may, however, be permitted, as it throws light on the attitude of the army. Lord Kitchener, a most distinguished Commander-in-Chief of India, declared:

`It is this consciousness of the inherent superiority of the European which has won for us India. However well-educated and clever a native may be, and however brave he may have proved himself, I believe that no rank that we can bestow on him would cause him to be considered an equal of the British officer.' ".

And this is what Mr Pannikkar has to say about this. (Mr Pannikkar is now the Indian Ambassador to France.)

"This flat racialism permeated all the services and constituted the distinguishing characteristic of British rule in the East in the 19th century. Its effects were widespread. In the Army, no Indian could hold a King's Commission. In the Civil Service, no Indian could enter by open competitive examination, no appointments above a certain rank were open to him, and the most distinguished Indian administrator of his day, R. C. Dutt, had to resign because, on the grounds of his race, he was not promoted to the post of a commissioner. Social life was, of course, exclusive, and from hotels and clubs and even from certain parks, unwritten rules excluded Indians. Also Indian life was held cheap. Rudd, a planter's assistant who committed an unusually brutal and cowardly murder, became on his conviction, a martyr, and the European public carried on an agitation for his reprieve."

Sir, many things have happened since India of the 19th century. The superiority of the white man was exploded, first, by the Japanese armies and then by the Chinese armies across the Yalu River. And so also has exploded the myth of the White mandarinate. Once he was an elite, a person who was groomed to govern. After the war, with the "banana colonels", this mandarinate began to collapse, and we lived to see a Chief Secretary stand up and tell the poor benighted natives that so many hundreds of his European officials had only School Certificates but that they had commissions in the British Army and were therefore qualified to hold positions which local men with honours degrees from local universities were not thought fit to hold.

This has been a long and bitter battle, but in Malaya it has been much shorter than it otherwise would have been, shorter than it was in India because the whole process of transfer of power in South-East Asia has been high-pressured. There is little time left for us to take over the whole apparatus of state and to make it function more efficiently than it did under the colonial system. In this apparatus of state the administrators are a decisive factor.

There are two ways of revolution in Asia. One is the Indian model where a political Party, like the Congress movement, obtained through peaceful methods of non-violence and resistance the transfer of power and the transfer of the apparatus of state. That political movement then assumed responsibility and the use of an effective machine - the Indian Civil Service, the Indian Police Service, and the Indian Judicial Service. The fact that India is today better governed than Indonesia is because they took over an efficient working machine. The Dutch did not have to hand over to the Indonesians a working machine and the result was chaos and muddle in Indonesia during the last ten years.

But there is the other pattern of revolution, that is the revolution in China. There they did not take over an existing machine. They built a movement that was a government in itself. Then when they took over, they swept aside the old machine and installed themselves as the machine. There is a fundamental distinction in the two methods.

We in Malaya (and I still speak in terms of Malaya and not Singapore, because I do not believe that we could exist as an island state) have to choose the first method, the method whereby we take over peacefully and work the previous machine. Revolution by violence in Malaya, in my opinion, would lead to race war. I am sure no one in Malaya, whatever his political convictions, wants a race war. We are convinced that whatever the zigzags of policy between the Colonial Office, the local Nationalist groups and the Communists., the road for this country is the road of peaceful non-violent transfer of power. Therefore, it becomes imperative that when we take over this machine, it must work, or the whole basis of a democratic State will collapse. If U.M.N.O., or for that matter the Labour Front, were a revolutionary Party in the Marxist sense of the term, what would happen when they won power would be a sweeping aside of the whole of the administration and substitution in its place of the U.M.N.O. party machine as the government. But no constitutional Party in this country hopes or desires to do that. What we hope to do is to build a democratic State in which the machinery of the government is there working neutrally, whatever political beliefs or political convictions its drivers may have. No constitutional political Party hopes to build up a machine that can take over the administration of Singapore, or the Federation. What constitutional Parties hope to do is to take over the driver's seat, and the right to tell the Chief Secretary, the Financial Secretary and the Attorney-General what to do, for we shall then be the drivers. But it will be small consolation to the drivers if the machine that they are supposed to drive has broken down. It is therefore vital to see that with Malayanisation, the machine is no merely kept intact and efficient. It must be made more efficient and effective to meet demands which were never made on the previous machine.

Under a colonial system which did not have to respond to popular and public agitation, one could govern from the clouds, from Mount Olympia. From Government House one issued edicts. One moved in pomp and splendour and the whole patina of the colonial Government gave prestige and weight to any edict that was issued from high places. That is not open and possible to a colonial Government now, and therefore this reluctant, belated hand-over. A popularly elected government will have to respond to popular agitation. We have to solve discontents where before, they could have been ignored with impunity. A colonial Government could send two Social Welfare vans down to the flood area and the Governor could come and tour the flood area with his trouser creases still showing above his rubber boots, and he can be hailed as a democrat. But if any elected Minister attempts to do that, he will perish in the next election. The need for a machine much more effective than before is vital. The survival of the democratic State, of the parliamentary system of government, depends upon whether the state machine can respond to the new needs. It is not enough just to have efficient routine officers who can write good minutes. It is vital that you find men with imagination, drive, integrity and purpose to make Malaya a thriving socialist democracy. Those who take over the white men's jobs must realise that not only their pensions, and their future prospects of promotion, but the future of a democratic parliamentary State depends upon whether or not they discharge their duties with honour and credit. Unfortunately in the past people have been chosen for the service, not because it was believed that they had signal qualities for service to their fellow-men, but because they had the signal qualities of docility and subservience to their white rulers.

A member of the Public Service Commission told me several years ago that the reason why his son had got on in the world and got into the civil service was because he and his son were not connected with politics. He thought it was good advice to a nice young man like myself whom he should save from perdition. That typifies the mind of the men who choose our civil servants. We shall have more to say of this when the Public Service Commission Bill comes up for its Second Reading.

If we want to fill the civil service with efficient people, then we must have men who understand the purpose of Malayanisation to do the choosing. If we have a lot of weak-kneed, flabby and feeble types who are more concerned with their personal welfare than the welfare of the people, to do the choosing, the whole fabric of government will collapse.

We support in principle the policy statement of the Government on Malayanisation, but we reserve our right to bring up the question of the police service and the judicial service, and the right to criticise further other points of detail which, because of the shortness of time, we have not been able as yet to consider properly. Finally I wish to remind the senior officers who are taking over the control room that theirs is a trust to be discharged with honour. We hope that history will record the fact that they discharged it with credit to themselves and the community.

11.50 a.m.

Mr Lim Choon Mong (Serangoon): Mr Speaker, Sir, I find that I have much to agree with the Government policy on Malayanisation. I agree with the Government that Malayan officers will be trained to take over vacancies and that the most important posts in the Ministries, especially the Permanent Secretary posts, will be filled by our local lads. The Government believes that the role of the expatriate officers should be that of advisers and I think that should be the case.

In going through the whole of this White Paper, I find that generally it is acceptable. I think that Government has done one very good thing, and that is, after Malayanisation, and especially after the setting up of the new Public Service Commission, discrimination in the matter of promotions to key positions will be put to an end. Previous to this, I am aware that it was very difficult for a local lad with good qualifications to get into the Government administrative service. In fact, from the year 1935 or so onwards, after the establishment of our first college in Malaya, only the very best graduates from the college were selected for appointment to the lower rungs of the administrative service. The position has not, however, improved even after the liberation. In the medical service, there is still the requirement that a local officer has to acquire five years' specialist experience and ten years' general experience before he can be promoted to a specialist post. This requirement troubled me a great deal and I made intensive investigations into the matter. What was revealed to me was that it had always been the order. I tried to dig deep into it to find out when that order was promulgated. I was informed that it was of very long standing. I am not convinced that it was so, because it was not brought into operation before local officers obtained degrees to enable them to fill such posts. I think that unless a circular, dating back earlier than after the liberation and notifying that such an order had been promulgated, can be shown to me, I shall never be convinced on this subject.

In the case of degrees, there is always a large number which are equal to one another, and in many cases I found that jobs were tailored for the officers they had in mind, so that, although the local lads might have higher qualifications, yet because the advertisement said that they must have certain specific degrees from certain specific schools or universities, they were always barred from entering the highest posts. This Malayanisation policy will, however, I feel, put an end to all these difficulties.

After we have decided on the implementation of this policy, there is one difficulty that will be encountered. This difficulty is stated in paragraph 6 of the White Paper where the Government says:

"There are eight local officers of the administrative service who each have seventeen or more years total service in the Straits Settlements Civil Service and the Administrative Service combined. But, below this, there is a disconcerting gap, due largely to the war years, and the remaining twenty-six administrative officers all have less than ten years service, sixteen of them being still probationers."

I say this - they have only 26 more administrative officers. Eight plus 26 makes 34, and out of these 34 officers, 16 of them have less than ten years service; and the conclusion that the Government has reached is that "there will not be sufficient local officers of experience to fill the other superscale posts", so that Government has decided on retaining many of the expatriate members of the overseas administrative service. I think that difficulty can be surmounted if Government accepts paragraphs 20, 21, 22 and 23 at page 13 of the Interim Report of the Malayanisation Commission which say:

"However, if we seek recruitment for these superscale jobs from outside the service as well, the greater become the prospects for their rapid Malayanisation. It was, however, maintained by some local officers that recruitment for the top posts should be reserved for serving officers. It was maintained that since officers joined the service in the expectation that they would have the opportunity of advancing to the top, it would be unfair if they were called upon to compete with outsiders for the more responsible jobs.

We agree that, other things being equal, prior consideration should be given to those who have made the Civil Service their life-long career. And in normal times that should in fact be the case.

However, the period between now and complete Malayanisation cannot be regarded as normal. The policy of Malayanisation means in effect upsetting established practices by procedures which are revolutionary. For many local officers Malayanisation opens opportunities for advancement which had never existed before and which they would never have had otherwise.

But it should be emphasised that Malayanisation is not intended as a device to promote wholly or even primarily the interests of the Civil Service. Malayanisation means providing the people of this country with an efficient Civil Service manned by the best available local people. If this efficiency must be provided by transfusion of talents from outside the service, then this departure from normal practice must be accepted at least until after Malayanisation is complete."

In contrast to that, we have paragraph 5 of the White Paper on Malayanisation which reads:

"The field of candidates for these posts will not be confined to the administrative service. It is essential that the posts be held by the best men available irrespective of their position and status in the service. Nevertheless, it is to be expected that the majority of these posts will be filled by senior members of the administrative service."

My contention, Sir, is that those who have served us well and for very long periods should be given the posts. They should have top priority. But according to the White Paper, even if all these men who have been in the service for a long time are to be promoted right now to the top posts, there is still, as the Government says, "a disconcerting gap". There will be many posts that will need to be filled by Malayans. We will not be able to find them in the civil service itself, or in any other service of the Government. If we confine our choice to the civil service alone, then it will be narrow. The policy of filling the posts with the best men, the most efficient men, will also not be possible to carry out. I suggest, Sir, that there is quite a large number of well-qualified people who are well able to do the job that needs to be done. I consider Malayanisation to be like this: we are going to fill posts with Malayans, whether they are inside the service or outside. So long as they are honest, efficient and loyal to this country, and so long as they are truly Malayans, I say that they should be given the chance of filling such posts after the local serving officers have been given the chance.

Turning to the Schedule in the White Paper, Mr Speaker, Sir, I find that we can divide the posts which are to be retained by expatriate officers into two classes - the technical side and the non-technical side. I do not disagree very much with Government's policy of wishing to slow down the process of Malayanisation on the technical side, but I do contend that the period envisaged to malayanise it is sometimes a little too long. On page 8 of the White Paper, under Broadcasting: Engineering, you have nine permanent officers and you need eight years before local officers can be trained to replace them. For the three permanent officers in the Printing Office, you require seven years. I find, Sir, that if we are to start from scratch and we have only boys who just enter the university now to contend with, we need less than eight years to produce engineers. And if we consider again, Sir, that many of our local students are already in the university, some of them nearly graduating, I think the period of eight years envisaged is too long. The period can easily be shortened without the posts being left vacant.

On page 9 of the White Paper concerning the Police the Government suggests a period of six years to malayanise the 30 posts filled by permanent officers of Deputy Superintendent and above. I feel also that this period is a little longer than necessary. There is an opinion expressed by many police officers that perhaps they lack experience in certain departments, and if they are to take over responsible jobs in the police force, they should be given a chance of training in those departments where they lack experience. If the Government is going to implement this scheme of Malayanisation with regard to police personnel, one of the most important things that it should do would be to send our men immediately for training in those departments with which they are not familar. I am aware, too, that amongst officers who are born locally, many of them are fit for higher promotion, and it is a fact that there are vacancies; and I see no reason why they should not even be promoted at this stage so that they can acquire more experience and a greater sense of responsibility. The Member for Tanjong Pagar suggests that some of our police officers may be so discontented that they can be incited to be subversive! I do not believe in that at all. In fact, I think that our police officers have always been very loyal and I do not think that anything will move them to become subversive elements.

It has been stated in this White Paper that Government's policy is to give our local people who have been trained a chance for greater responsibility. On page 14 of the White Paper, under Nursing Staff, I am aware that there are already four locally trained male nurses who have received the qualification of R.M.N. What will happen to them? It may sound somewhat detailed, but in the White Paper it is stated that three male nursing staff will be retained for six years. Will they not be a bar to our local people who have already acquired the necessary qualifications? I would like the Minister for Health to clarify this point.

On the whole, Sir, I agree with the White Paper, but, of course, there are defects, and if the Government will mend them, it will receive our support.

Mr Speaker: I think this is an appropriate time to suspend. I will take the Chair again at half-past two.

Sitting accordingly suspended at 12.12 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. Sitting resumed at 2.30 p.m.

Debate resumed.

Question again proposed.

2.31 p.m.

Mr G. A. P. Sutherland (Nominated): Mr Speaker, Sir, I had intended to say something on this White Paper and I hope still to say it; but it was comparatively non-controversial and indeed I intend to give full support to Government's policy in this matter. I have long since accepted defeat in what might have been termed a pro-colonial policy as far as this Assembly is concerned anyway, (after all, one has to be realistic) and anticipated that this debate would be the concern of elected Members only; but the Member for Tanjong Pagar has thrown out some sort of challenge at me and I am not clear precisely what it is. However, I should like to disabuse him on one point and, I hope, reassure him on another.

The first is that I am not a tycoon. I am a bank manager, strictly non-commission earning, and non-profit-sharing, and working on a salary basis only, and if the hon. Member wants an overdraft, he can have mine! I am flattered at the implication that I have some sort of influence over the official Members-some sort of "old boy" relationship-and can only say that if I have given any help whatsoever in their work, which I doubt, it has been very gladly given. I would assure the hon. Member that, if during the short period remaining to me before I am sacked from my firm I can give any assistance to the up-and-coming Permanent Secretaries, they have only to call on me and I will do my utmost to the limit of supererogation.

Sir, the aim of the policy in this White Paper, as I see it, and its attendant Bill is to compensate, no more than adequately, those expatriate officers who, having made their careers in the colonial service, are in many cases to have them cut short. When they embarked on their careers, they probably gave no thought to the possibility of this colony attaining early self-government, and at a later date few of them may have realised that the introduction of the Rendel Constitution heralded the twilight of the colonial power in this island. Few, too, would have realised that men of the calibre of the Member for Tanjong Pagar would rise in this Assembly and speak of "white men" with the acme of bitterness in his voice, as if the white men's lack of pigment were at the root of all this trouble. I am therefore glad to see, Sir, that the Labour Front Coalition Government has pledged itself to give expatriate officers fair treatment. A benign United Kingdom Government is in the process of handing over control of Singapore to its own destiny. In doing so, it hands over a government machine in first-class working order, a machine designed largely by colonial officials of unquestioned integrity, who have earned a reputation for themselves for devotion to duty and a reputation for zeal in their work. They have set a pattern which one hopes will be followed by their local successors for whom the task ahead is certainly not easy.

The English phrase "to have a chip on one's shoulder" is probably known to all hon. Members. As far as the Member for Tanjong Pagar is concerned, I fear he is carrying a marble slab, and I have been greatly depressed by his renewed attack on "white men" at such a time when surely the Government is looking for the utmost co-operation from this section of the community. The White Paper in paragraph 12 states:

"Some expatriate officers may not wish to accept the offer of continued service, but the Government hope that a sufficient number will do so in order that the administration may be carried on while Malayanisation takes its course."

One wonders, Sir, how many expatriate officers who, on learning what the Member for Tanjong Pagar has said today, will be influenced thereby and be prepared to take a chance and stay.

Sir, the only point which I had intended to make today is the following: In paragraph 13 of the White Paper, it states:

"It is proposed that the provisions of the compensation scheme and the constitution of the Public Service Commission should in due course be embodied in an Order in Council."

It seems clear that the Government's White Paper applies exclusively to the public service in the Government sense only; but surely "public service" also includes the Harbour Board, the Improvement Trust, the Telephone Board and the City Council. I wonder, Sir, if the Chief Minister would indicate what the Government's attitude is to the extension of the proposed Ordinance as it concerns compensation to employees of the government agencies that I have just mentioned. The Malayanisation Commission appointed by the Government also reported on City Council departments, and it would seem only equitable that if the government agencies are also to be malayanised at an early date, as presumably they must be, adequate protection such as is given in this Bill to Government expatriate officers should also be extended to those officers of the other public services and their rights to compensation safe guarded by provisions being included in the Order in Council.

2.38 p.m.

Mr R. Jumabhoy (Telok Ayer): Mr Speaker, Sir, my dream is coming true though it will take some ten years more to get it finalised. In October 1952, Sir, I moved a motion in the Legislative Council for Malayanisation and the Ad Hoc Committee took two years to publish a report. I think the expatriates knew that the time was coming when they had to leave. I do not know how many expatriates have been appointed to the civil service after I moved my motion in October 1952. Someone might query about it. Sir, I am not sorry that my dream of Malayanisation will be finalised in ten years. I am not here to give the expatriates a parting kick. I only say that colonialism is coming to an end with the key positions of the civil service in the hands of the local men. Let us part as friends. I do not think any Member on this side of the House is anti-white men. We are only against the white policy. Any white man is welcome to trade here, but he may not be allowed to exploit this country.

Sir, those expatriate officers who stay back will, I hope, give their loyalty to this country and also give guidance to our men who will be taking over the key positions in the civil service; for, without a good and efficient civil service, we might be in the same position as some of our neighbouring countries. India, Pakistan and Ceylon are carrying on as usual as if nothing has happened, because there was a trained local civil service to take over. We must retain the integrity and efficiency in our administrative service.

Sir, some Members mentioned the judiciary and the police. The control of the judiciary will, of course, come automatically into our hands when we achieve independence, as has happened in India, Pakistan and Ceylon. There are plenty of able people who, in the past, did not join the civil service because they were frustrated. I think we will be able now to pick out many who, although very brilliant, would not join the government service owing to frustration. I am sure that in this connection the new Public Service Commission with executive powers will be able to help us a great deal.

Sir, all Members on this side of the House will agree with the Government's White Paper on Malayanisation. We have not had sufficient opportunity to study thoroughly this White Paper, but there is one subject that I would like to touch on at page 13. I refer to Education which reads:

"Permanent Secretary to be Malayanised forthwith. The post of Director of Education to be separated from that of Permanent Secretary and the present holder to continue until his retirement. All officers to be offered 5 years with promotion prospects up to Director (but not Permanent Secretary) and with the reservation that administrative posts would also be open to teachers in non-Government schools though, other things being equal, preference would be given to Government teachers; aided school teachers who have taken an active part in politics cannot be considered for Superscale posts."

I certainly disagree with this. These teachers never knew what was coming and they had their share, like anyone else, of politics. In the Federation there is no bar to teachers who have taken part in politics from rising to the highest posts. I do not know why we should have this bar against teachers being considered for superscale posts just because they have taken part in politics. When this motion on Malayanisation is passed today, I think it can be made clear to these teachers that, if they will not take part in politics for a one- or two- or three-year period, they will be eligible for the superscale posts. I think that is very fair. We should try to be fair to those locally born people who have the brains and integrity to rise to the top of their profession.

In conclusion, Sir, I would like to say this: now that we will be taking over, we must retain, for our own sake, a most efficient service for the good of the country.

2.45 p.m.

Mr D. S. Marshall (Cairnhill): If it please you, Mr Speaker, Sir, I must confess to considerable astonishment this morning listening to the lukewarm support and petty fault-finding on the part of the leaders of the Opposition Parties in respect of this radical measure which is yet another milestone in our efforts to come out of the dark caves of colonial exploitation and government.

Sir, Malayanisation of key posts is even more important than new written constitutions in changing our status from that of a colonial people to that of human beings. It is recognised that Malayanisation is a thorny problem and has bedevilled our relations for the past two years and more. It has meant months of sincere effort by responsible people in the Malayanisation Commission and on the part of Government to produce this White Paper now before you, a White Paper which presents a solution that is sober, that is adequate, and that has achieved an amicable settlement with the civil service itself. I confess to considerable disappointment that the only reception from the leaders of the leading Opposition Parties is tantamount to a disgruntled grunt.

The implementation of the policy indicated in the White Paper before us means that the new year will see a new era for Singapore, an era when we can grow to a self-consciousness and a sense of self-respect, because it is not only through constitutions that people grow. It is through the realities of life, and the realities, Sir, are in the machinery of government which this White Paper has attempted and, I think, succeeded in meeting. For myself, Sir, I would like to say that I warmly welcome the policy indicated in the White Paper and I would like to congratulate the Government on a magnificient achievement and an excellent plan for an essential part of our work as a nation.

On paragraph 12 of the White Paper, Sir, I would like to say this. I am not averse to generosity. I am not averse to it particularly if it means a harmonious transfer of power, and I think Singapore can take the palm in being more generous than any other territory in the world in the compensation it is giving for the so-called element of interference in a career, a compensation averaging $43,000 per expatriate officer. I wish I could find myself an employer so generous. Sir, I refer to it only from this point of view - that the Government in paragraph 12 of the White Paper expresses a sense of alarm that expatriate officers who receive this remarkably generous Christmas gift would see to it that they take it as soon as they can, free of income tax plus full pension, and try and build a new life elsewhere, irrespective of the need of the people of this country. The Chief Minister has said, and said rightly, that we should never stop a man from leaving our employment if he so wishes. That is true, Sir, but a man who leaves my employment against my wish does not get by way of thanks a cheque for $43,000. It is suggested, Sir, that that dismissal interferes with his career. I am not going to argue the pros and cons, Sir. This is not the time. This is the time when I wish to express the gladness which I feel at the solution of a problem, a solution that is essential to our future growth. If I dismiss him, then by all means let him receive compensation; but if he leaves me against my will, I cannot see how it is conceivably proper that he should consider himself entitled to compensation. I know it is suggested that the very act of creating a Public Service Commission is an interference of so radical a character with the conditions of service that this compensation accrues. I say, Sir, that that is so thin an argument that it must be a very thick-skinned man who puts it forward. I say, Sir, that the Government should consider either denying wholly or denying in part the compensation to those who leave the service prior to the date when it is convenient for the Government to agree to the termination. We cannot too soon replace the administrative officers, but we can and must retain those with technical qualifications whom we cannot today replace, because of a colonial policy in respect of the civil service. If those technical officers take their compensation and leave, then it means that this country would be in a position of having to re-employ them at exaggerated salaries and inflated allowances until such time as we are ready with our own men-and they thus get it both ways. This country is being asked to be generous - $21.4 million for 500 expatriate officers. Surely we can make it a condition that payment of this compensation will only be made if the officer's termination of employment is in conformity with Government's requirements? If we want him to leave at the end of five years and he wants to leave us at the end of six months, by all means let him leave; but why should he get compensation when he knows that his leaving puts us to considerable inconvenience? Why, Sir? Why should we place ourselves to such an extent in the hands of the civil service? I can see no reason, Sir. I do not mind surrendering to the civil service - I am glad that we can part on friendly terms. It costs us $21.4 million - that is cheap enough - but why must we so wholly put ourselves in their hands that we have to plead with them to stay, when we can say to them, quite simply, "If you want to go, goodbye; but if you want to go before we are ready to let you, then do not expect a Christmas cake." That is the only criticism which I have to make in respect of a plan which I respect and salute.

I wish to deal with some comments which the Member for Tanjong Pagar made, and particularly the strictures of a most unpleasant character on our police force. He took it upon himself to call the Asian police officers cowards, because they, with their knowledge, their experience and their sense of responsibility, did not see fit to challenge the submissions made on behalf of the force by the Commissioner of Police in respect of Malayanisation. Sir, I think it is true to say that there has never been any suggestion of cowardice in respect of our police force at any time, that, in fact, in recent weeks we have had cause to respect and admire their courage, their fortitude and their sense of responsibility in this territory. I can but regret that a person, who suggests that not only is he a responsible Member of this House but the leader of his Party, should make a stricture of that character on a remarkably fine body of men because they do not want to gallop as fast as he does. It seems that anybody who does not agree with the P.A.P. is a coward. Sir, it may well be that the experience of the next few years of Malayanisation may indicate the possibility of more rapid Malayanisation in the police force, and I know that the Government Benches would welcome that day; and if that day should come, we, whichever side of the House we may be occupying - if we occupy any side at all - would only welcome it.

There is one other aspect of the speeches made this morning to which I wish to refer, and that is the reference to the judges. The Labour Front, both in the inter-Party meetings prior to the Merdeka talks last April and at the constitutional conference in London, made it clear that we considered the principle of the inviolability of the security of tenure of judges was one which should be respected, if our wishes were respected that no further judges would be appointed from amongst the expatriate officers. Sir, the judges who now grace our Bench have served us well. They carry a remarkably fine tradition that has brought to these shores one of the finest institutions known to humanity today; and I, for one, would regret any suggestion of dragging them into the political arena. I would particularly regret any attempt by the Secretary of State for the Colonies who sometimes finds it so hard to learn the lesson that he is living in the 1950's and not in the 1850's , . . I would regret it very much if he compels this country to drag the question of security of tenure of judges into the political arena by appointing further expatriate judges. This House has passed the Budget provision for an additional judge and the matter is certainly in the hands of the Governor who will act in conformity with the orders of the Secretary of State. I would like to give this assurance: So far as I am aware today, the Labour Front, as a body, believes that the security of tenure of the judges should not be interfered with, unless the Secretary of State for the Colonies sees fit himself to endanger that security by riding roughshod over the wishes of the people repeatedly expressed in this House.

One final word, Sir. The Member for Tanjong Pagar has made much of the fear, which he seems to entertain, that the machinery of government might break down. If he has doubts about the adequacy of our civil service to the opportunities which are now offering, I believe he is the only Malayan who does have them.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Are you a Malayan?

Mr Marshall: A great deal more than you are. Your right to stand for election was in doubt.

Mr Speaker: Order.

Mr Marshall: If it please you, Sir, I withdraw that remark. I am a great deal more of a Malayan than the Member for Tanjong Pagar whose right to stand for election was in doubt.

Sir, our Malayan members of the civil service have been carrying the burden through decades of effort and frustration, from even before the time when the Member for Tanjong Pagar was knee-high to a pup, and they are ultimately being given the opportunity. They come, Sir, as people who have struggled and sweated, who know the value of the prize which is theirs, and the opportunity which is theirs; and I, for one, Sir, have not the slightest doubt, not only that the machinery of government will function, but that it will function with more dynamism and more sincerity in its application to the welfare of the people of Singapore.

3.02 p.m.

Mr Lim Koon Teck (Paya Lebar): Mr Speaker, Sir, on the whole, I think this Malayanisation scheme produced today is a fair and comprehensive one and should be acceptable to most of the people in Singapore. Even the leader of the People's Action Party has found very few holes to pick in it.

There is only one aspect, Sir, on which I wish to speak today, and that is with regard to the rather unpleasant recriminations and remarks made during the Malayanisation enquiry. I am quite sure that all members of the service who were attacked will realise that this was due to the spirit of frustration and struggle which the local service have had to put up with for these many years. Now that we have produced a comprehensive scheme, I hope that those officers who will be leaving us will extend their help and forget all those unpleasant things that were said and give as much of their experience as possible to those who will be taking over from them.

To the young men in the service who will be taking over the public service, I have this to say to them. Their opportunities are tremendous. Such opportunities for advancement and promotion to positions of responsibility I do not think will occur again. I exhort them to treat this not as an opportunity for personal advancement, but as a dedication to the service of this country. At a time when we are working towards the basis of an independent nation, I hope that they will work hard and make Singapore worthy of its independence when we achieve it and also worthy of being a member of the family of nations.

3.04 p.m.

Inche Ahmad Bin Ibrahim (Sembawang): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Government White Paper on Malayanisation deserves support. It has made Malayanisation a reality. It is real enough to concern those who did everything to sabotage it and give satisfaction to those who fought hard and longed for it. The White Paper marks the culmination of a long struggle begun many years ago by local officers as well as others to break one of the tightest monopolies in this country - the expatriate civil service.

Sir, a year ago, Malayanisation on the scale contemplated by the White Paper would have been dismissed as impossible. Certainly those political leaders who graced the old Legislative Council, most of whom have now gone into unwilling political retirement, would have found a White Paper such as this one a dangerous document. This changed outlook has come about in a very short time. This is symptomatic of the times in which we live. We are losing our fear of change.

I am certain, Sir, there will be broad agreement with the scheme of Malayanisation indicated by the White Paper. One can quarrel that in certain departments, the Medical Department, for instance, the Government has been over-cautious, but the essential thing is that the key posts are to be malayanised immediately - and quite correctly. This will ensure, Sir, that local officers will be in a position to guide the civil service and assist in the making of policy. Whether, in fact, this will be so will depend on the character, the ability and the outlook of the local officers who will occupy these key posts. If the local officer regards himself as a local version of the expatriate officer whom he replaces, then Malayanisation becomes meaningless. It is merely an exchange of the white heaven-born for the black heaven-born. There is nothing more revolting and more disgusting than the sight of a black expatriate. For Malayanisation to succeed, it is not enough to replace the expatriates with local officers. There must be a new outlook and a sense of dedication on the part of the local officers. May I quote, Sir, the concluding words of the Majority Report of the Malayanisation Commission to remind ourselves and the local officers of the real meaning of Malayanisation:

"Malayanisation of the Public Service can only be a success if all concerned regard it as an expression of patriotic service. Local officers must not consider this an opportunity for self-advancement but rather an opportunity for self-sacrifice. They should not expect to see an end to all their problems but rather a beginning to many greater problems and they must face the new problems and difficulties that will arise with courage and determination to do their duty in spite of the sacrifices they will be called upon to make."

Without this sense of dedication, Malayanisation will become a humiliating scramble for spoils. The White Paper merely opens the door to Malayanisation. The completion of Malayanisation will rest, to a great extent, in the hands of our local officers. They must translate the high intentions of the White Paper into action. It is essential, Sir, that key posts should go to men of talent and men of dedication.

Since the reconstituted Public Service Commission will have a decisive say in the choice of personnel, it is vital that this body should be constituted of men who understand and appreciate the purposes of Malayanisation. If the Public Service Commission is composed of weak, timid and servile fumblers, then the result will be a civil service tainted with the timidity, servility and futility of those who choose them.

There is one point here, Sir, on which the Government needs to be criticised severely. It is on the question of compensation. We all agree that officers whose careers have been cut short should receive some compensation. This obligation is moral rather than legal; but there is a world of difference between a just compensation and lavish baksheesh. A moral obligation should not be made a pretext for unbridled generosity at the taxpayers' expense. We do not grudge reasonable compensation to abolished officers, but why should we make them lottery winners? On what basis was this compensation computed, and who computed it? It is not compensation but downright plunder. I cannot blame the expatriate officer, Sir, for attempting to get as much as he can by way of compensation, but even he must have been surprised at the size of the give-away. Sir, I cannot accept the scale of compensation offered.

3.11 p.m.

Mr Goh Chew Chua (Ponggol-Tampenis): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Government has given a lot of thought to the question of implementing the recommendations of the Malayanisation Commission's Report and has in its White Paper paid due regard to the efficiency of the public service during the transition period. It is good to know, Sir, that something is at last being done to enable officers, who have never had the good fortune to go to a university, to earn promotion to the highest post if they prove, by their experience, to be worthy of promotion. In the police force, Sir, there is now to be a ladder of promotion from the rank and file to the highest post, and direct entry to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police and above is to be abolished. This is a move in the right direction.

The compensation offered by Government to the expatriate officers is, in my opinion, too generous. These officers are very lucky to have come to this country after the last war with the British military forces and to have found jobs here. They did not possess the qualifications required of local officers and were lucky to find jobs which they would never have dreamt to obtain if they had remained at home. They have been generously paid for the work that they have done and are now to be compensated for the loss of employment. I do not see any justification, Sir, in these officers receiving more than what expatriate officers elsewhere received when they had to leave the service on account of merdeka.

3.14 p.m.

The Minister for Health (Mr A. J. Braga): Mr Speaker, Sir, I listened with great amusement to the remarks that were made by the Member for Tanjong Pagar. I assume that his remarks were made facetiously. Since they have been made, I think I had better meet them in case there may be some who think there is some substance in the attacks.

On the question of chest physicians, I think the hon. Member said that, were I to go to the hospital, I would be "fixed" by our local medical officers. I would certainly be very pleased indeed to lend myself to be "fixed" by the local medical officers in whom I have the greatest confidence. [Interruption.]

Mr Speaker: Order. If there is to be an intervention, it should be made properly.

Mr Braga: With regard to the chest physicians, Sir, we have four posts now and one more has been passed for 1957. Of those four posts, two are held by expatriates of considerable experience, and with the tremendous advance that we are making in T.B. treatment, more and more will be needed next year and the years to come. I can see no likelihood that the retention of these two expatriates, if they are willing to stay, will in any way block the advancement of local medical officers. During the next few days there will be an addition of 408 beds to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and another 408 beds later, in addition to the 500 existing beds, making a total of 1,316 beds; and when certain accommodation is released - it is now being occupied by nurses - we will have a total of 1,100 beds.

Of the remaining posts, two are being held by local officers. One of the posts has been earmarked to be a superscale key post in the new T.B. unit the operation of which we hope to commence next year.

I accept, of course, the excuse of the Member for Tanjong Pagar when he said that he had not had sufficient time to study the scheme of Malayanisation of the medical service, and when he has done so, I do not think he will have any cause whatsoever to say that our officers have to wait ten years before they can occupy key posts. The offer of ten years further service to these chest physicians has been criticised, but I can see no ground for criticism. As I have said before, of the four posts of chest physician, two will be vacant and additional posts will be required. It is not therefore a question of retaining expatriate officers who stand in the way of the local officers, but rather of retaining what we need until sufficient local officers are available. It is quite obvious that with the increase in our T.B. work, a considerable number of consultant posts will be required and all these will be subsequently filled, and filled shortly, by available officers. We need all of them.

The Member for Serangoon spoke a lot about the time when local officers had to wait five years and ten years and so forth before they could reach a super-scale post, and that they were frustrated. I agree with him, but I can only remind him that that was at a time when the Government was claimed to be predominantly "Progressive".

The offer of six years to the Pharmaceutical Chemist was criticised by the Member for Tanjong Pagar. There are three posts in that department of which two are vacant, and we shall certainly need that one expatriate officer for six years in view of the rate of expansion of the medical service today.

The Member for Serangoon also criticised the retention of male nurses for six years. The position here is that we have two superscale and nine time-scale appointments, and two additional posts have been entered in next year's estimates. Four of these posts are vacant. It has proved very difficult to find local candidates for training as male nurses since work in the Woodbridge Hospital is not popular. With the expansion of Woodbridge Hospital, it is undoubtedly necessary to retain the four expatriate male nurses for six years, if we can, and there are plenty of vacancies for our local officers. They will all be absorbed.

The Member for Sembawang said that Government was over-cautious regarding the medical service. I am glad he said so because I wish to agree with him. Government has to be extremely cautious, especially in the Ministry of Health, because we have the health and the lives of the people of Singapore to look after, and, as long as I am in charge of this Ministry, I will certainly see to it that we give of the best we can. Should the Member for Tanjong Pagar and the Member for Serangoon or their family have ever the need - God forbid! (to use an expression which is very popular with the Member for Tanjong Pagar) - of going to our hospitals for attention, and did not receive the best, I am certain that they would take the first plane out to another country where they would get more adequate service.

The Chief Minister rose -

Mr Speaker: Mr Chief Minister, in reply?

3.21 p.m.

The Chief Minister: Yes, Sir. Mr Speaker, Sir, the Member for Tanjong Pagar stated that, in his view, it was wrong not to appoint a local officer to be Permanent Secretary to the Treasury and head of the civil service. Sir, as explained in paragraph 3 of the White Paper, we have adopted the arrangement of two senior officers, one responsible for finance and the other for personnel, as being the most practical immediate arrangement, and have stated that subsequently it may be found desirable to have one Permanent Secretary to the Treasury of a higher grade than the corresponding officers in the other Ministries.

Sir, the Member for Tanjong Pagar also touched on the judiciary. Sir, the judiciary has been deliberately omitted from the White Paper because their position is a matter for discussion with the Secretary of State when constitutional talks are reopened early next year.

The Member for Tanjong Pagar, too, Sir, touched on the police. The Government was unable to accept the Malayanisation Commission's recommendation for complete Malayanisation of the police force in three years, because this would mean promotion of the most senior local officers from four to five ranks to take over the top positions. Moreover, the immediate loss of half of its officer strength would mean denuding the ranks of the inspectorate of all its experienced officers in order to fill the resulting vacancies in the ranks of Assistant Superintendent. We have therefore accepted the run-down of expatriate officers put forth by the Commissioner of Police which will be completed by the end of 1962. It must not be assumed that because 30 expatriate officers in the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police and above are being offered continued employment for six years, they will all remain for that period. A number will, in any case, reach the age of retirement and we must expect that others will either opt to retire or be transferred on promotion. Our problem, therefore, was to ensure that a sufficient number of these 30 officers remain in the force until our local officers were ready to take over completely. It is for this reason that we have offered continued employment with promotion prospects for six years.

Sir, I cannot believe that the Member for Tanjong Pagar really intended the reflections which he cast upon the courage and integrity of our local police officers. They have shown on many occasions that they are second to none in the world, not only in their professional ability but also in their personal courage and integrity.

Sir, both the Member for Tanjong Pagar and the Member for Serangoon stated that while they gave the White Paper their general approval, they criticised the detailed decisions recorded in the Schedule. I must make it clear, Sir, that the decisions recorded in the Schedule are the basis necessary for informing the expatriate officers concerned of the length of period for which they can continue to serve. This must be done almost immediately and there can be no going back on assurances once they have been given. It would be unreasonable to ask the officers concerned to make their decision unless they could be assured that the details in the Schedule are firm.

The Nominated Member Mr Sutherland touched on the question of Malayanisation in such bodies as the City Council, the Singapore Harbour Board and the Singapore Telephone Board. Sir, it would not be proper for the Government to commit these bodies. Furthermore, it must not be overlooked that the terms and conditions of employment of the expatriate officers in these bodies are not the same as those applicable to expatriate officers in the public service.

Three hon. Members, Sir - the Member for Cairnhill, the Member for Sembawang and the Member for Ponggol-Tampenis - touched on the compensation terms. Sir, I have already given notice that I will move the Second Reading of the Retirement from the Public Service (Compensation) Bill tomorrow. It is therefore my intention not to reply to the points which they have raised now but to deal with them tomorrow when the matter comes up for discussion.

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this Assembly approves the policy of Malayanisation of the public service as set out in Sessional Paper No. Cmd. 65 of 1956.