RETIREMENT OF DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL BRANCH (Request for Statement)

Mr Lee Kuan Yew asked the Chief Secretary whether a Malayan Officer who had been promoted to the post of Director of Special Branch as a result of Malayanisation has asked to retire on terms under the Retirement from the Public Service (Compensation) Ordinance, 1956, and on what grounds is the request made; and whether he will make a statement in the matter.

Mr E. B. David: Sir, the officer in question, who holds his appointment by the approval of the Secretary of State, made representations to the Secretary of State in 1957 under Section 18 of Ordinance No. 43 of 1956. The Secretary of State, after considering those representations, expressed himself satisfied that he had reasonable grounds for anxiety regarding the future of his career in the public service. The officer thereupon became an entitled officer and the provisions of the Ordinance applied to him accordingly. In November 1958, he gave five months' notice of his intention to retire under Section 3 of the Ordinance. His retirement will therefore be effective next month.

The compensation to which he will be entitled under the Ordinance will not be based on the emoluments of his present rank of Senior Assistant Commissioner, but on the emoluments of his previous rank of Superintendent, since he will not have completed two years in the higher rank as provided in the Fourth Schedule to the Singapore (Constitution) Order in Council.