BAN ON IMPORTATION OF PUBLICATIONS FROM CHINA AND HONGKONG (Government policy)

The Chief Minister: May I now proceed with another statement, Sir, in relation to the recent ban on the importation of publications from certain publishers in China and Hongkong? Sir, I would like to emphasise that this was not a change of policy but a tightening up of the application of our policy. Previously, all books had been allowed to enter except those specifically banned. This was appropriate when there was still a certain amount of freedom for publishers, and classics and textbooks in particular were re-published untouched from the freer days of Chinese culture.

But with the change of policy in China and the subordination of all publishing houses, and through the process of rectification of all writers to the Communist Party, this laxity could not be allowed to remain unchecked, for with an import of a million publications a month from China and Hongkong, there can be no guarantee that the assessment and sifting can be complete. It is therefore the procedure now that only books which are specifically exempted for the cultural and academic value of their contents, and which have not been reduced by editing, presentation or selection to the level of Hsueh Hsi textbooks, will be allowed to enter.

We appreciate, Sir, that this has caused temporary hardship to those in the book trade, but every step is being taken to speed up our processes of assessment of existing books, so that exemptions among those already here and for the future can also be given speedily. It has been encouraging that the grounds of our policy have been generally accepted and that there is appreciation of the need at this time of democratic nation-building to prevent the weight of other external ideologies and nationalisms drowning our own.

This is the logic of citizenship in action, and it is for us, by our mental reactions and by our actions, to show that citizenship based on exclusive and active loyalty to Malaya is a reality, and an axiom of our political thought and action. If it can be shown to us that this action pf ours weakens the forces of democracy or inhibits the growth of our new patriotism, then we are in the wrong. But no responsible government in Singapore can accept criticism based on any outlook which is not Malayan.

I realise that we cannot merely create a vacuum and that the ultimate answer is the production of writing of our own with a Malayan atmosphere and a Malayan outlook. I would appeal, therefore, to all writers to direct their thoughts and words to the lives and aspirations and problems of the peoples of Malaya; and to publishers in all languages to give our writers encouragement by offering publication and distribution facilities.

We cannot produce best-sellers straightaway, but now is the time for those who have had the benefit of our rapidly growing education and who feel the new forces of democratic constitutional nation-building to express that positive creative force for those who are less explicit and begin to make our own contribution to the world of arts.

Sir, before I make the final statement, I would welcome questions from the other side of the House.

10.15 a.m.

Mr Lim Cher Kheng: Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to ask the Chief Minister whether he is aware that it is already the practice and a fact that every book imported from China or Hongkong, especially in the Chinese language, has been examined carefully by the Chinese Secretariat before it is allowed to be sold on the market? Therefore those 53 publishers -

Mr Speaker: Order. Perhaps the hon. Member will pause there and get an answer to his question.

The Chief Minister: I am sorry, Sir, I have lost the trend of the hon. Member's question while listening to what he was going to say.

Mr Speaker: Perhaps the Member for Changi will repeat his question.

Mr Lim Cher Kheng: Sir, I would like to ask the Chief Minister whether he is aware that it is the practice for the Chinese Secretariat to examine every book published in the Chinese language, whether it is imported from, say, Peking, Hongkong or Formosa? Those 53 publishers who have been banned - many of their books have already been -

Mr Speaker: Order. I think the Chief Minister has grasped the question.

The Chief Minister: Sir, I said in my statement that the previous policy had been to allow these books to come in and the restriction was only placed on certain books which were banned. Because of the change of policy of the Chinese People's Government and because of the growing sense of nation-building in Malaya, the Government has thought it fit and proper that this attempt by the Chinese People's Government, through publications, to indoctrinate the citizens of Singapore should be checked.

Mr Lim Cher Kheng: Actually, Sir, my question is in two parts. I want to ask whether the Chief Minister has any adequate evidence to prove to this House that those books which are allowed to be imported - including a lot of classics by Confucius and Lao-tze, and books on the arts, too, such as music, medicine and science - have any political significance; and also whether the Chief Minister is aware that in certain universities and libraries there are thousands of books classified as research work, such as the classics, books on science or special studies, and has he any concrete evidence that those books have any political significance?

The Chief Minister: Sir, if the hon. Member will step into my office and arrange an appointment with me, I will endeavour to show to him in secret the attempts that have been made.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Sir, I want an explanation from the Chief Minister, in public why the Singapore Government has found 23 more publishing houses than the Federation Government has discovered, to be subversive.

The Chief Minister: Sir, in regard to that, I understand that the Federation Government is asking importers to take up separate import licences for those publishers which were not listed by them in its earlier ban.

Mr Lim Cher Kheng: Mr Speaker, Sir, as the Chief Minister has appealed to the local publishers and writers to publish and write literature with a Malayan outlook, there is one question I want to ask him. It is this - can he inform this House whether it is possible for our local publishers and writers to publish classic books on special studies'? Say, for example compare the works of Shakespeare with the Chinese classic The Red Chamber Dream.

The Chief Minister: Sir, I think the hon. Member has not understood my statement well. I said, regarding the classics, books of art and science, so long as they have not been contaminated by any attempt to subordinate them to the Communist doctrine, they are not going to be banned. In fact, they are indeed welcomed. What I am appealing to is that, since we are all conscious of a new nation being born in Malaya, and since we have each and every one of us declared that we love Malaya, surely there are bound to be some people in Malaya who will be able to contribute in this world of art.

Mr Lim Choon Mong (Serangoon): Can the Chief Minister give an illustration of such a contamination for the benefit of the public?

The Chief Minister: It may interest the hon. Member, Sir, to know that I am having a White Paper compiled.

Mr Lim Cher Kheng: Mr Speaker, Sir, just now the Chief Minister touched on Malayan loyalty. He has a suspicion that the books from China are going to cause the Chinese in Singapore to withdraw their loyalty to Malaya. Does the Chief Minister know that a lot of books from Taipeh and Hongkong have been financed by the U.S.I.S., and that they go out to the local overseas Chinese calling on them to support the Chiang Kai-shek regime? Does the Chief Minister consider this also harmful to this country? If he wants to ban the 53 publishers, can he tell us how many publishers there are in Taipeh and Hong-Kong who are supporting the Chiang Kai-shek regime and trying to woo the support of the overseas Chinese and who should be banned?

The Chief Minister: Sir, in our desire and attempt to build up a Malayan nationhood, any attempt by outside forces to thwart that objective is wrong.

Mr Speaker: Mr Chief Minister, your third statement.