REPRESENTATION BY ASSEMBLYMEN ON COURT OF UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA

Mr Lee Choon Eng asked the Minister for Education if he is aware that there are no representatives of the Legislative Assembly of Singapore on the Court of the University of Malaya, and if he will state when the election will be held by this Assembly.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am very glad that the Member for Queenstown has asked me this question of representatives of this Assembly on the Court of the University of Malaya as this same question has been engaging my attention for some time.

I have discussed this matter with several people and have indeed gone into the matter very carefully. I have been advised that it seems rather invidious that Members of the Legislative Assembly including Opposition Members should be appointed to the University Court as when an occasion arises and an Assemblyman wishes to criticise or query the Court, it would mean that the Opposition would in fact be criticising or querying itself.

There is also the other question of the future of the University and its division between Singapore and the Federation of Malaya which requires looking into. In the circumstances, I propose to deal with this question of the Assembly's representation on the University Court at the same time as I will be dealing with the future of the University and its new constitution which will arise because of the proposed division of the University.