GENERAL ELECTIONS TO LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

[Mr SPEAKER in the Chair]

2.31 p.m.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to move the motion standing in my name, namely,

That this Assembly resolves that it is of the opinion that election writs be issued for General Elections to the Legislative Assembly under the new Constitution on or before April 2, 1959, and that an address be presented to His Excellency the Governor to fix the date for the introduction of the new Constitution in accordance with paragraph 54 of the Report of the Singapore Constitutional Conference 1957 contained in Sessional Paper No. Misc. 2 of 1957.

Sir, on 2nd April, 1955, 25 Members of this Assembly were returned amidst tumultuous applause. One has since left us. The motion that I seek to move today is to end the life of these 24 elected representatives and the 25th who has joined us as a result of a by-election. As the last record is being put on in this round of musical chairs, it is likely that there will still be many more turns before the curtain finally drops and the music runs out. But what I want to remind the House today is that according to section 67 of the Singapore Colony Order in Council, 1955, the music is deemed under the law to run out on 2nd April, 1959.

Sir, I would like briefly to take Members through the legal and constitutional position so that there would be no doubts in our minds as to what we are debating. We are going to be asked to approve the Budget in the next two weeks. Once that Budget is approved, the Government has legally equipped itself with finance for a period of one year for the whole of 1959. According to section 67 of the Rendel Constitution, subsection (1) says:

"The Governor, after consultation with the Chief Minister, may at any time prorogue or dissolve the Assembly by Proclamation published in the Gazette."

Subsection (2) of the same section reads:

"The Governor shall dissolve the Assembly at the expiration of four years from the date of the return of the first writ at the last preceding election, if it shall not have been sooner dissolved."

What it means, Sir, is that the Governor can dissolve, after consulting the Chief Minister, at any time. But in any case, he shall dissolve after four years from the return of the writ in the preceding election, and this writ was returned on 2nd April, 1955. Unless, therefore, something is done to alter that, this Assembly fades out in exactly 119 days' time - 27 days in December, 31 in January, 28 in February, 31 in March and 2 in April. What is interesting to note is that Ministers do not fade out on the 2nd of April. Sir, according to section 22 of the Rendel Constitution, subsection (3) (b) reads:

"The office of an appointed Minister shall also become vacant if he ceases to be a Member of the Assembly for any reason other than a dissolution thereof."

We will all cease to be Members of the Assembly on the 2nd April, 1959, but the offices of the Ministers are not dissolved. They carry on, because they have been appointed by the Governor. We did not appoint them. So they will be able to carry on without an Assembly. The only disadvantage of not having an Assembly is that you cannot get votes for money, because that is the right of the Assembly. But if the votes for money have already been given in this Budget, then it will save a lot of embarrassment and unnecessary debate. The Ministers could, legally, carry on until three months from the 2nd of April. That is contained in section 68 of the same Constitution which says:

"There shall be a general election at such time within three months after the appointed day, and thereafter within three months after every dissolution of the Assembly, as the Governor shall by Proclamation publish in the Gazette appoint."

Assuming for one moment that there is no complication in this new Constitution, the position is this. If we want, so to speak, to live out our lives to the bitter end, we go on to the 2nd of April, 1959. Then the Governor, unless he receives orders to the contrary and there has been a change in the law, will have to dissolve the Assembly. Under the present law a general election will then have to be held within three months from the date of the dissolution. Presumably the Ministers will carry on as a caretaker Government without an Assembly whilst proceedings are taken for the holding of an election.

But under the new Constitution - the Singapore (Constitution) Order in Council, 1958 - it is provided in section 2:

"This Order may be cited as the Singapore (Constitution) Order in Council, 1958, and, save where otherwise provided, shall come into operation on such day as the Governor may appoint by Proclamation in the Gazette of the Colony of Singapore."

And when the Governor so appoints by proclamation, section 3 of the same Order will come into operation revoking the Singapore Colony Orders in Council, 1955 and 1956. So under the new Order in Council the moment the Governor names an appointed day the old Constitution dies. The new one springs into being, presumably on polling day under the new Legislative Assembly Elections Ordinance - which we are supposed to pass in the not too distant future before 2nd April, 1959. Sir, this is not provided for in the Constitution itself. It has, however, been provided for in the Report of the Singapore Constitutional Conference held in London in March and April 1957, published and tabled in this House as Sessional Paper No. Misc. 2 of 1957. Section 54 of that Report, to which the then Governor was a signatory, together with five other Members of this Assembly, provides for this:

"It was agreed that the date should be fixed by the Governor after he was satisfied, after considering an address from the Legislative Assembly, that a reasonable period for the registration, as provided in paragraph 50 of this Report, of persons eligible for Singapore citizenship had elapsed."

Sir, I hope the House will bear with me if I read the whole of that paragraph because it is quite some time since we last debated this Report.

"It was the view of the Singapore Delegation that elections under the extended franchise which would result from their citizenship proposals set forth in paragraph 50 must precede the coming into force of the new Constitution. We therefore agreed that an exact date for the introduction of the new Constitution could not be determined at this stage, but that it should be brought into force on a date after the 1st January, 1958."

and then follows the sentence which I have just read. It means simply that what was agreed was that in any case the new Constitution which we then expected was not to come into operation before 1st January, 1958. But, any time after 1st January, 1958, we in this Assembly have the right to present an address to the Governor to ask him to fix the date for the introduction of the new Constitution. The Governor has two things to consider: first, the address; secondly, the fact that he must be satisfied that a reasonable period for the registration of the new Singapore citizens has elapsed.

Sir, a reasonable period for the registration of Singapore citizens has elapsed. In fact, electoral registers have been compiled with their names in them. They have been open for viewing by objectors. All objections that can be made have been made, and I imagine the registers should be ready for use at any time. Therefore, there are no obstacles to our presenting this address. What I am seeking to move in my motion, Mr Speaker, Sir, is to express the opinion of this Assembly "that election writs be Legislative Assembly under the new issued for General Elections to the Constitution on or before April 2, 1959, and that an address be presented to His Excellency the Governor to fix the date for the introduction of the new Constitution in accordance with paragraph 54 of the Report...".

Sir, if the House agrees to this motion without amendment, as I hope it will, it means that on or before the 2nd of April - if everybody wants the extra few odd days of the 119 days left, so be it - the Assembly will be dissolved by the Governor. Then under the new Legislative Assembly Elections Ordinance which we will have to pass, the Governor will issue writs for general elections. The writ will also name the date for the return of the writ, which will be polling day. This will presumably also be the appointed day on which the new Constitution springs to life.

Sir, one of the factors which has prompted my Party to table this motion is the concern in certain quarters at the talk of certain wild men connected with a certain new Party. Sir, it has been openly said by men, who ought to have been responsible enough to know better, that there will be no difficulty in winning the next elections, if the P.A.P. or any other Party is not in its way. If I may quote the Minister for Communications and Works - I am not quoting him for what was supposed to have taken place - in his description of two former Presidents of the Labour Front, who both became Chief Ministers and who both now lead new Parties - I think, of all the astonishing things the Labour Front has ever done, this deserves a gold medal! In the short space of four years, to quote the present Secretary-General of the Labour Front: two Presidents, two Chief Ministers, both leading two new Parties! Sir, we are not concerned with the last turn of the acrobat as the elephants dash by. But we are concerned to know that beyond any doubt one Chief Minister said to another Chief Minister - we are not sure who said to whom - "Why not let us scrap the P.A.P.? Then there is nothing to stop the Singapore People's Alliance."

Sir, I bring this up for one specific purpose; just to tell the world at large, first, that we are not so easily intimidated; and secondly, to remind those who might be foolish enough to believe in such idle talk that the power to proscribe is not in the hands of elected Ministers alone. The ultimate responsibility is with the British Government who will have to answer for it. The portfolio is that of a nominated Government official and ex-officio Minister, and that there are certain repercussions which the head of the ex-officio, the Minister in Westminster will have to consider if he were ever advised to weigh the advisability of such a course of action. Let me put it bluntly this way. May I preface my remarks, Mr Speaker, Sir, by saying this? The British democratic system is deemed to be superior to a non-democratic one because in a democratic state things are done publicly and above board. The public knows what its rulers are doing, and will support them in what they are doing because they know the reasons for doing it are right and proper. I wish openly to crush this mad talk because I think an atmosphere of plotting and conspiracy is inimical to the continuance of the democratic spirit.

Let me put it bluntly like this. If it is the British who want to ensure that the so-called extremists do not win the elections - let us put it bluntly that they do not want the P.A.P. to win the elections - there is nothing to prevent them from scratching us out from the race. There will be certain long-term and certain immediate repercussions. The immediate ones can be looked after by the Armed Forces; but the long-term ones cannot. There is one weakness in that line of thinking because, whilst you can prevent a particular group or Party from winning, you cannot make another Party win. Putting it in simpler words: assuming one scratches out the P.A.P., then one has got to do something about the leaders. If the leaders are at large, then, in the public eye, there is no difficulty for them to muster, rally and fight back. It would then become necessary to put away the leaders. If some leaders are put away and others are not, then the others who have not been put away will fight for those who have been put away. If all are put away, there is still the problem of making the people vote for those who put those leaders away. Ultimately the result is zero for those who hope to win by adopting such tactics.

I will say this for the Chief Minister - that I do not believe for one moment that he is politically an imbecile. I think he is one of the most cunning politicians who ever graced this Assembly. For a man to bridge three eras - 1948, as a nominated Governor's man, into the Rendel era as an elected Minister of the first semi-elected Government - is an achievement not lightly to be dismissed. I therefore credit him with more intelligence than the people who spread this kind of wild talk credit him with. But there are other Ministers not known for great political dexterity and skill who have also joined in such wild discussions, and it is for their benefit that I have raised this matter and brought it into the open.

Sir, once everybody understands what is on the time-table, two things can happen. The wild talk ceases as reality is brought home, or in precipitate haste then proceed with their nefarious schemes. I am quite confident that these wild men will be swept into the limbo where all wicked politicians, I hope, will ultimately be put to rest -

Mr Lim Cher Kheng: With you!

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: - and a saner and cleaner atmosphere will prevail. Once this motion is passed, it will be your task, Mr Speaker, Sir, to convey this address to the Governor. And, according to paragraph 54 of the Report of the Singapore Constitutional Conference held in London in March and April, 1957, it will be his duty to set at rest all the doubts and speculations as to the date on which the new Constitution will come into force, and a new Government will take over.

Sir, three years ago, when this Assembly first met, there was an atmosphere of promise. Today it is a stale and a dreary Assembly. There is nothing that can happen between now and 2nd April, 1959, which is likely to alter the views of those who have had to sit through dreary and sometimes disheartening hours watching men who can never grow up politically. There are some speakers who mount the platform and who do not know when it is time to stop. Therefore, it is useful, when one starts off a meeting with such people, to have a sign by which we give them an extra two minutes and cry halt! This is what we are doing today. Members of this Assembly can take it that my arithmetic has not been weak. In exactly 119 days from today, if we pass this motion the bells will be rung. We hope to get a reply from the Governor in the very near future. Then we will have the last act in which I believe there will still be many more twists and turns, but none of which will turn this tragicomedy into either tragedy or altogether comedy. Let us hope this play has a quiet and peaceful close. If there is one thing that we hope could happen anyway in this Assembly, it is that they go out quietly and peacefully - and then the hustings. We hope that all wise, brave, honest, and truly good citizens will receive tumultuous acclamation and applause, and come back with new life and new vigour to open a new chapter in the history of this little island.

2.56 p.m.

Mr Goh Chew Chua: Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to second the motion.

It is important that Government should do something immediately to clear up the prevailing uncertainty about the date of the general elections to bring in the new Constitution for Singapore. Mere statements by the Chief Minister and Government spokesmen to the Press indicating that the writs and other things for the general elections will be issued before the date of the expiry of the Rendel Constitution are not enough. We want more positive action than that.

My leader has just now moved a motion which is to bring in the new Constitution, and this is to give the Hon, the Chief Minister an opportunity to say openly and publicly the Government's intention in this matter.

The public of Singapore, Sir, have been amused and confused by the gymnastics that have been going on in political circles recently, and the new Alliance which has been formed and known to the man-in-the-street as the Rojak Party has succeeded beyond all expectations in making confusion worse confounded!

Sir, in the midst of this shabby political manoeuvring, the Government still maintains the strictest silence about its intentions.

Mr Speaker: Order. I think the hon. Member has used the expression "shady political manoeuvring" - or "shabby", it makes no difference - but if that expression has any reference directly or indirectly to any Member of this Assembly, then he must withdraw that expression.

Mr Goh Chew Chua: I am sorry, Sir. I did mention "shabby" just now.

Mr Speaker: Order. That, of course, is not the point. The point is does that expression have any reference to any hon. Member in this Assembly? If the hon. Member thinks it has, then he ought to withdraw the expression.

Mr Goh Chew Chua: Sir, I will withdraw it.

It is believed, Sir, that all that the Government wants to do is to remain in power longer than the time allowed. If this is not what the Government is trying to do, Sir, I challenge Members of the Government to state here, openly and publicly, that the Government is committed to initiating action to hold general elections to bring the new Constitution of Singapore into being, and even before the expiry date of the present Constitution on the 2nd of April next year.

Question proposed.

3.02 p.m.

The Minister for Health (Mr A. J. Braga): Mr Speaker, Sir, I am instructed by the Hon, the Chief Minister to say that the Government accepts the motion.

Mr R. Jumabhoy: Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the motion moved by the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar. I am very happy to learn that the Government has accepted this motion. This has cut down much of what I originally intended to say.

One thing I must say, and that is that the U.K. Government is the only colonial power of any consequence left in South-East Asia. They have offered this constitution and if anybody hinders the progress of Singapore, he is a traitor to Singapore. In any country, once a constitution is granted, it is accepted immediately. There should not have been such a long wait. Sir, the past is past. Let us face the electorate who will judge us by what we have done in this House for the past few years. I am very glad that the Government has accepted this motion.

3.05 p.m.

Mr Lim Cher Kheng: Mr Speaker. I thank you very much for calling me. I was hesitating trying to pick out the most fitting and most beautiful phrases to echo the lovely speech which has just been delivered by the Member for Tanjong Pagar. Sir, I must thank the hon. Member for giving me the opportunity to speak on his motion.

In recent months, Sir, my health has been troubling me; so I consulted a doctor and after making an examination, he said, "Mr Lim, you had better be careful. Your heart is rather weak." He asked what caused my condition to be like this. I could not think of any reason then. Later I consulted my wife and she said, "Maybe you have been hearing too many speeches from the Member for Tanjong Pagar!" Sir, I am sure that, vice-versa, the Member for Tanjong Pagar must have been getting headaches and feeling disgusted lately because of my speeches! As a result of this motion, it may be that next April the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar will remain here; or maybe I will remain here; or maybe both of us will be very happy to have departed from this place! Maybe I should address the hon. Member as the most honourable man, a great man, the decent gentleman from Oxley Road, the champion of the underdog, the saviour of the prisoners of Changi Jail; and, of course, the most honourable the regular Island Club golf player.

Mr Speaker: Order. I do not know what the honourable nicknames being given to the Member for Tanjong Pagar has anything to do with the motion. Perhaps the hon. Member should go on with his speech on the motion.

Mr Lim Cher Kheng: Sir, what I have been addressing the Member for Tanjong Pagar is not irrelevant to my speech which follows.

This morning, Sir, I happened to pass in front of Government House. I do not know whether hon. Members observed that the Military and the Police were holding a joint security exercise, with troops heavily armed and the erection of barbed wire barricades. I must thank the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Commissioner of Police for holding this exercise. If it was not done on purpose, surely it was a coincidence to hold it on such a beautiful day - on the same day as the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar is moving his motion. This joint manoeuvre by the Military and the Police will, I hope, serve to remind the hon. Member and other Members of this House of the status, of Singapore today.

Sir, when I was just now interrupted by you. I forgot to add that the Member for Tanjong Pagar is the most honourable anakan tanah ayer Singapura - that means the most honourable son of the soil.

Sir, next year we will have to address the occupant of Government House as either His Majesty or the Yang di-Pertuan Negara, but still we are going to be protected by British tommies and the Police.

Sir, I am very happy with this motion because it will fix a date which will decide whether the Member for Tanjong Pagar or I will be sitting in this House next year. The Member for Tanjong Pagar used the opportunity in moving his motion to deliver his Queen's trained English.

Sir, many months have passed since the hon. Member made three trips to England to negotiate this new Constitution. He said that actually the agreement arrived at was set for January 1958. I am sorry that he did not enlighten us sufficiently as to why he waited until today, 4th December, 1958, to move his motion urging the Government to set the date. It has taken him eleven months to do so. But let me tell you why. I have been asked thousands of times by people, "Mr Lim, when can the election date be fixed?" I told them that I was not qualified to answer that question. The only two men in Singapore who were qualified to do that were the Member for Tanjong Pagar and the Hon, the Chief Minister. They were the "abang adek" who could fix everything for us. "If abang says, 'Set it later'; yes, that date will be set." But I hope that is not true. Sir. What I wish to say is that the matter is in the hands of the P.A.P., in the hands of a petty dictator, as I have once addressed it. "We only want the elections when our house is in order."

Sir, this is the secret I am going to tell. The people most anxious for the P.A.P to be returned to power must be the British. I will explain why, Sir. There is a Chinese story - a travelogue - called Si Yu Chi [A travel to the West]. There was a monk called Sien Chuang Pang Teng, and there was a monkey God who was very clever and popular. He could do everything. But unfortunately this monkey God had a magic ring at the top of his head. When the monk thought that the monkey God was playing too much, he simply chanted, "O li toh, o li toh!" and then the monkey God had to kowtow and obey the monk's orders! The monk was very weak but very clever. The monkey God was very clever and very powerful. And who is the monkey God in this instance, Sir? - I hope you will not rule me out - it is the Member for Tanjong Pagar! Who is the monk, Sir? The monk is the British Colonial Office in London whose head is the Rt. Hon. Sir Alan Lennox Boyd. And what is the magic ring on top of the monkey God's head? It is this so-called party-supported Constitution.

Sir, why worry if the P.A.P. are returned to power next year; or even Mr Chin Peng becomes the Prime Minister of Singapore next year? So long as this Constitution exists, the British do not care at all. They can suspend the Constitution. They can even ask the Federation Government to interfere. So this is the secret - those who are so eager and even anxious to let the P.A.P. come into power are not only the P.A.P. themselves, but also the British!

The second secret is this, Sir, that within this year -

Mr Speaker: Order. I think we have heard of one secret which, to me, does not appear to have any relevance to the motion. I hope the second secret will have some relevance to the motion.

Mr Lim Cher Kheng: I am sorry, Sir, that you think it is not relevant, but at least the Government does not think so. I am sure it is very relevant because I want to challenge the sincerity and the motive and judge the reactions after this motion has been carried. What benefit there will be for this country once responsibilities lie in the hands of the P.A.P. Sir, the P.A.P., after having successfully put right their own domestic affairs - some have been sent to Changi Prison; some have been struck off the citizenship register; some are, I think, on the black list and after having strengthened their Party executive, think that this is now the right time to move this motion, and that this is for their benefit. I believe it is my duty to let the House know all this.

Then there is another secret which is also very relevant. They hope to succeed in fooling the Malay masses that only the P.A.P. are the anak tanah ayer Melayu [sons of Malaya]. The Malays must support the P.A.P., because the P.A.P. are genuine Malayans, and no other people. The P.A.P. support the Malay language as the lingua franca.

Sir, may I quote from the Straits Times of Monday, 1st December?

"MAKE CHINESE AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

M.C.A. Leader: Call from Loyal People Whose Hopes Are Tied Up In That Question

Dr Lim Chong Eu, President of the Malayan Chinese Association, said here last night."

The P.A.P. are trying, by some clever means, to convince the masses in Singapore to prepare for the taking over by the P.A.P. of the administration next year. If there is any trouble or failure faced by the present Government, the P.A.P. say that it is because we cannot achieve a merger with the Federation. Because you do not support Malay as the lingua franca, there is therefore a failure. Sir, this motion only suits the interests of the P.A.P. and not those of the people of Singapore.

Sir, I was very careful to notice that the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar in his speech just now was simply interested as to when the election writs will be issued, his call for a general election. What we would like him to do is to give us a clear-cut picture of the future elections. Why does he want elections? Is it merely because this new Constitution is going to bring us stability and solve our unemployment problems? Or is it to achieve a merger with the Federation? The people of Singapore would like to hear from him. But I could not find anything connected with these issues from the speech he made just now. I agree, Sir, that it was a beautiful speech; but there was no substance in it. Although the motion is closely linked with the relationship with the Federation of Malaya, not a single word about this was mentioned.

Sir, there is a news report in the Straits Tunes of Monday, 1st December, which I will quote:

"MERGER CLAUSE 'MAY BREAK ALLIANCE'

Kuala Lumpur, Sunday.

The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Tan Siew Sin, tonight warned that one of the objects of the new M.C.A. constitution for a merger with Singapore might break up the Alliance."

On what grounds did Mr Tan make his statement? He said that Tunku Abdul Rahman has repeatedly said that he does not want an immediate merger with the Colony.

Sir, I have purposely quoted these two instances which I think are sufficient to support my charges that the mover of this motion moved it for selfish party interests. Sir, serious problems lie ahead - our economic stability and our political stability. As the hon. Member for Ulu Bedok has said, we must not play communal politics. Yet the P.A.P. are the champions at it. He says that the Malays fear the Chinese. Why dues he not defend the Chinese who fear the Malays? And the language -

Mr Speaker: Order. I hate interrupting the hon. Member, but I would ask him to read the motion very carefully and try to relate his remarks to the motion. He is straying very, very far away.

The Chief Minister rose -

Mr Speaker: Is the Chief Minister moving a business motion?