MERGER (SINGAPORE/FEDERATION OF MALAYA) (White Paper)

The Minister for Labour (Inche Ahmad Bin Ibrahim): (In Malay): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise to move the motion+ in my name. The separation of Singapore from the Federation is a criminal act committed by the British colonialists in 1945 when the Federated Malay States and the Unfederated Malay States with the two Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca were united as a Federation. At that time. Singapore was excluded from the Federation. All anti-colonialists did not cease to fight against the separation created by mankind. Sir, I intentionally used the word "anti-colonialists" because the nationalists and the Communists have both opposed colonialism and have fought against the separation.

+The motion reads as follows:

That, whereas it has always been the avowed objective of all nationalists of Malaya to achieve the reunification of Singapore with the Federation of Malaya and to remove the artificial division created by the British by their policy of "divide and rule", this House affirms and declares that the first objective of all true patriots of Malaya is to achieve the reunification of these two territories in a merger of Singapore with the Federation of Malaya.

3.05 p.m.

Therefore, for the last 16 years, one of the slogans which was constantly heard in the nationalists' circle, including the Communists, was merger and the reunification of Singapore with the Federation. Therefore, Sir, it is no exaggeration if I move such a motion asking all Members of this House to support this merger in principle. We must presume that all Members of this House are nationalists. If they are not nationalists, then I feel that they will call themselves anti-colonialists and non-Communists. Whatever name they may call themselves, we do not ask them to say what is their stand, or whether they are in support of or that they oppose the principle of merger.

As you know, only the Members of the Barisan Sosialis will be in an embarrassing position and will be in a predicament to support this merger in principle, and the principle of merger which is asked in this motion. To the members of the public, they say that they wish for merger more than anything else, anti more than anything else that has been fought for by the P.A.P. Government. Therefore, it will he strange if they vote against this motion. However, we know, anti they also know, that in their heart of hearts, merger is a matter which they do not wish, because merger means that the question of internal security will be placed in the hands of the Central Government of the Federation of Malaya, and that their hope to establish Singapore as an area separate from Malaya `will disappear. But that is their problem. To the public, they say they want merger more than the type of merger which the P.A.P. is asking for. But, in actual fact, they fear merger. We now ask them to say in this House whether they support or oppose this principle of merger. If they support merger, then we may be able to discuss the details which should be placed in the hands of the Central Government when merger is achieved. Thus, on the one hand, they oppose merger, but in public they are forced to support it. Then when we discuss the details concerning their type of merger, it will he more difficult. There is no doubt, Mr Speaker, that the strong men in their Committee have carefully considered the position. What we want now is that each Member says, "agree" or "not agree". If they say they agree, then we will proceed to discuss motion No. 7 on the Order Paper in the name of the Prime Minister today which will ask the House to accept the heads of agreement set out in the White Paper agreed to between the Governments of Singapore and the Federation and the working basis for the reunification of the two territories.

Mr Speaker, there is no need to have an unnecessary debate. What is required is to count the people who agree and those who do not agree in order to record their stand on the question of principle of merger.

Mr Speaker, I beg to move the motion standing in my name.

Ouestion proposed.

3.14 p.m.

Dr Lee Siew Choh (Queenstown): Mr Speaker, Sir, we in the Barisan Sosialis are in full agreement with the sentiments conveyed by the words in this motion by the Minister for Labour. In fact, these are the sentiments which we have repeatedly expressed in the past. These are the sentiments dear to the hearts of all socialists since our country was divided by the colonial power. It is not necessary for me to recall to your memory, Sir, the People's Constitutional Proposals of 1947 put forward by the PUTERA and A.M.C.J.A. which strongly opposed the artificial separation of Singapore from the mainland. I would like to take this opportunity to remind our Prime Minister, who seems to he smiling to himself, that the leaders of the M.D.U. whom he had recently smeared as Communists and pro-Communists were among the prime movers of these proposals.

Sir, we would have supported 100 per cent this motion before the House, but for the shameful record of the Government in the last two years, and especially in the recent months. [Laughter.]

Mr Speaker: Order.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: We have seen the P.A.P. leadership blatantly abusing the word "merger" and exploiting the people's aspirations for unity in order to smuggle in a constitutional arrangement which -

The Prime Minister rose -

Mr Speaker: On a point of order?

The Prime Minister: Yes. I have in item 7 of the Order Paper a motion which will give the Member for Queenstown ample scope to take to task every single paragraph of that paper to express his ire, his anguish and' his rancour. And I hope we will be spared, Mr Speaker, Sir, as a matter of relevancy. a repetition of these sentiments on two separate occasions. As I have said, this is purely one on principle. If he agrees, we all count heads and we can start disagreeing on item No. 7.

Mr Speaker: I think we ought to wait and see how the Member for Queenstown develops his argument. It appears to me on a casual reading of the motion that there may be a dispute as to what is merger; whether merger is a merger in the dictionary sense of the word, or under the heads of agreement.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Thank you very much, Sir, I know they would try tricks like this -

Mr Speaker: Order. I think the Prime Minister was justified in raising a point of order, and I do not think that can he named as a trick.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: My apologies to you then, Sir. I was saying, Sir, that we have seen the P.A.P. leadership blatantly abusing the word "merger' and exploiting the people's aspirations for unity in order to smuggle in a constitutional arrangement which can in no way be called merger. It is only an arrangement aimed solely at keeping themselves in office. We have seen them twisting the meaning of the word "merger" into something entirely different from what it is normally understood to be.

The words of this motion. Sir, convey high and noble sentiments to which none of us can disagree. But, Sir, the record of the Government in recent months has clearly shown that their actions do not in any way match these high-sounding words. We must judge a government by its actions and not by its words. Judging from its actions. Sir, we have every justification to suspect that the Government is not sincere in what it says. It is abundantly clear that the P.A.P. is moving this motion purely for propaganda purposes. It is clear that the P.A.P. hopes that the people will mistake any support for the noble principles enunciated in this motion as a support for the P.A.P.'s type of tipu orang merger. In other words. Sir, the aim of the P.A.P. in moving this motion is to ask this House to give it a blank cheque. But. Sir, we are not prepared to give this blank cheque and we are not prepared to trust this politically bankrupt government -

An hon. Member: Rubbish!

Dr Lee Siew Choh: - a blank cheque.

The Prime Minister: So you are against merger.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: In order that they may clearly understand the real motives behind this motion, we must review the political events in recent months so that we can see things all in clear perspective. Let me do the review for you and for everybody, and let us all see how this motion has come about.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I think all of us can still remember that historic crisis sitting of the Assembly on the 20th of July, 1961. At that time 39 Members were still sitting on the Government benches. But what do we see today? Not only is there a complete change in the landscape in this Chamber, hut there is also not the same smug arrogance on the faces of the Government Front benchers any more. They try and laugh. You remember, Sir, when the P.A.P. Assemblymen first marched in 1959, there was not sufficient elbow room for all the 43 of them on the Government side. Within a year -

Dr Toh Chin Chye: On a point of order, Sir.

Mr Speaker: Point of order.

Dr Toh Chin Chye: Mr Speaker, as you mentioned to me at the last sitting of the Assembly, that was last Friday, you told me not to go back to history. I am just wondering whether what the Member for Queenstown has uttered is relevant to the motion on merger. I do not think the landscape in this Chamber is comparable to the landscape in the Federal Parliament at all.

Mr Speaker: I was listening very carefully to the Member for Queenstown, as indeed I will have to listen very carefully to all speeches in this debate, and it appears to me that perhaps the Member for Queenstown is going into a little more detail than he ought to in these reminiscences. I cannot see at the moment how these reminiscences have any hearing on the motion, hut perhaps he could assist the Chair by suggesting how they are relevant.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: I hope, Sir, to quote the words of the Prime Minister when he said this sometime back:

'If at the end of my speech I fail to bring the pieces into pattern and if the people and you. Sir, fail to see the pattern, then I will have wasted the time of the Chair as well as that of the House and that of the people of Singapore.'

As I was saying, Sir, within a year the number had dwindled down to 40, which was later further reduced to 39. But that still did not materially upset the strength of the Government. With 39 against 12 on the Opposition, they still had a majority of 27 in this Assembly. By any standards the P.A.P. Government was still a strong and stable Government. But today, it is such a contrast. It grieves me to see those vacant seats on -

Mr Speaker: Order. I am still endeavouring to put the pieces together in this jig-saw puzzle, and I still cannot see how this historical precis as to what has happened in the past has anything to do with the motion.

Dr Goh Keng Swee: He is hoping to come back!

Dr Lee Siew Choh: I beg your indulgence, Sir. It is to show how from a strong stable Government it has gone down to a weak and wobbly Government -

Mr Speaker: Order. That may be so in the view of the Member for Queenstown, but has that any hearing on the motion which seeks agreement in principle to the reunification of the two territories in a merger of Singapore and the Federation of Malaya?

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Mr Speaker, Sir, I just mentioned to you a little while hack that I wanted to show you the real motive behind this motion - that it is for propaganda purposes. I want to show you how it is meant for propaganda purposes. I will enlarge on that a little and I will not digress too much.

From a comfortable and overwhelming majority of 27, it has now been reduced to a miserable and uneasy majority of only one. By no stretch of imagination can this Government be called strong or stable, in fact, it is so weak and unstable now -

Mr Speaker: Order. I am very sorry to be interrupting like this, but if the hon. Member goes into expressions of opinion like that, then, of course, that opens up a debate on quite a different aspect of the whole case. He is now debating whether or not the Government is now stable; and if he goes into detail, that will open up a debate whereon the Government side will say they are still stable. So I would suggest that all that the Member need do to make this point is to say that, in his opinion, the Government is not stable and leave it at that. But if he goes into more details, then I am afraid he will become more and more irrelevant.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: I will skip some parts of it then, Sir - parts which would be very interesting reading, I am sure.

The Minister for Education (Mr Yong Nyuk Lin): Reading for the Government benches.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Anyway, Sir, today all those on the Government benches know that there is not much time left for the P.A.P. to be in office. The Member for Tanjong Pagar knows that his days as Prime Minister -

Mr Speaker: Order. May I know who the Member for Tanjong Pagar is vis-a-vis the Assembly?

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Well, I qualified it with "his days as Prime Minister", Sir, are already numbered. I would like to add that the future of the rest is too grim to be mentioned.

Mr Byrne: What about your days?

Mr Speaker: Order.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Anyway, Sir, to cut a long story short, I do not need to repeat what is now well known to the whole of Singapore.

An hon. Member: Quite true!

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Everyone - workers, farmers, students, teachers, office workers, office girls even, and civil servants, hawkers, taxi-drivers - everyone, Sir, knows today -

Inche Ahmad Bin Ibrahim: The Member for Queenstown.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: - of the arrogance and haughtiness of the Lee Kuan Yew Government. It has deviated from its avowed party stand and policy -

The Prime Minister: On a point of order, Sir. Could I suggest, Mr Speaker, Sir, in view of the great difficulty the Member for Queenstown has in knowing which parts of his speech to read out and which parts to leave out, he might be given a few minutes' adjournment to consult his ghost writer?

Mr Speaker: Order. I think the Prime Minister ought to restrain himself and leave points of order to the Chair. The point he has raised, of course, is not a point of order, unless he says the Member for Queenstown is reading, in which event I have not noticed that he has been referring to his notes much too much.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: I do not have the Thomsons, the Blades and the Meadows to help me.

The Prime Minister: You have got Lim Hock Siew.

Mr Speaker: Order. The debate on this particular topic, one should imagine, is one of gravity to Singapore. I would suggest to Members on the Government benches to try and contain themselves and listen with patience to what the Member for Queenstown has to say.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Thank you very much, Sir. They have always been trying to intimidate people. If not the Special Branch following around -

Mr Speaker: If the Member for Queenstown invites interference or interjections, then, of course, the Chair is unable to protect him. I would suggest that he goes on with his speech and ignores what is happening on the Government benches. Dr Lee.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Anyway, Sir, the P.A.P. has so deviated from its party stand and policy of anti-colonialism that it is now desperately trying to sell Singapore down the river. In their mood of despair, they are making all-out efforts to transmute a personal and party crisis into a national one.

The destiny of our people now becomes tied to the foibles and weaknesses of a few men in power. During the so-called national crisis following the crisis debate, the Prime Minister and two other Ministers left their posts in the hour of so-called grave national peril and went back to work in their Party headquarters at 62c, South Bridge Road. The Prime Minister ostensibly went to ascertain the people's views on problems facing the country and affecting the livelihood and welfare of the people. In actual fact, drawing his salary as Prime Minister -

Mr Speaker: Order. Can the hon. Member indicate how that is relevant to the motion? The motion asks the House to affirm and declare that the first objective of all true patriots of Malaya is to achieve the reunification of the two territories in a merger of Singapore and the Federation of Malaya.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Mr Speaker, Sir, I was hoping that I could lead you down to [Interruption]

Mr Speaker: Order. Dr Lee.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: They want to mislead the people into believing that there is this so-called Communist threat, and because of that, so many things have happened. He was drawing his salary as Prime Minister and, hiding behind the facilities of Radio Singapore, he lashed out his twelve talks, trying to create an artificial tension of fear and uncertainty in the people. The Prime Minister had hoped to divert attention from the fact that he was selling us all out.

Thus for the last three months, since that fateful all-night Assembly sitting on 20th July, there have been nothing but Communists, Communist cadres, Communist-front men, Communist-front organisations, pro-Communists and, of course, the P.A.P. brand of merger. Did we not learn from the Prime Minister that Chinese middle schools, old boys' associations and cultural organisations are hotbeds of Communist activities? And did not the Prime Minister say that office workers, office girls and even the English school teachers are getting to become pro-Communists?

The Prime Minister: On a point of explanation, Sir.

Mr Speaker: If the Member will give way? The Member will not give way.

The Prime Minister: Then on a point of order.

Mr Speaker: Yes, if it is a point of order.

Dr Lee Siew Choh resumed his seat.

The Prime Minister: Will the Member produce the document which shows me as saying those things? I never said that.

Mr Speaker: That, of course, is not a point of order. Dr Lee.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: The Tunku said in the special General Assembly of U.M.N.O. at Kuala Lumpur on 5th November, 1961, that it was because of those frightening stories of the Prime Minister of Singapore, which had been poured into his ears, that finally convinced him to accept merger. Why do we not hear of this, and how is it we have not heard how he has managed to convince the Tunku?

Merger between Singapore and the Federation, as it is understood by everyone, had never been an immediate objective of the P.A.P. In all the writings, all through the years, of the P.A.P. hierarchy, merger had always been mentioned as a long-term objective. For example, Sir, in the two booklets "The Tasks Ahead", there is no talk of immediate or early merger. On the other hand, there is "The Five-Year Plan". In this Plan are the development of industries, agriculture and fisheries, streamlining of State administration, strengthening education, improving the health of the people, improving the welfare of the workers, and the emancipation of women - all of which have now been forgotten by the P.A.P. leadership, as it was proved during Question Time only two days ago. But at no stage, Sir, is there mention of the attainment, or the possibility even, of merger within the next five years.

Similarly, during the First Session of the Legislative Assembly in 1959, the emphasis was "On the road towards a more equal and just society". "A more equal and just society" - how inspiring, Sir, but that is now all forgotten. You will note that there was no mention of an early merger.

Again, during the Second Session in 1960, the emphasis was on the year of construction. "Construction" again, how inspiring, Sir, but again there was no mention of an early merger. There was no progress even on the common market which the P.A.P. talked so much about. Even now the common market has to wait, as we have learnt only a couple of days ago. Yet within the short space of a few months, all of a sudden, as it were, merger has become a matter of practical politics for the P.A.P. and startling developments have been pushed with stunning speed.

The Prime Minister: Thanks to you!

Dr Lee Siew Choh: What then will this be a year of? It has been suggested that the first year of the P.A.P. Government was the year of excitement. The leadership soon blundered the second year into the year of confusion, and has made the third year the year of desperation. But, Sir, it is quite evident that there is more than mere desperation in this - the third year. It is already the talk of the town that this year of the P.A.P Government is the year of the sell-out - "the year of the sell-out". Yes, "sell-out", Sir, because no other word describes it. No other word quite describes the action of the few leaders of the P.A.P. who have so degenerated with the taste of power that they have now turned against the people in their actions and policies.

Sir, the leap from no-merger and no-common-market to merger and to the P.A.P.'s so-called 12th State of the Federation, is something that calls for explanation, for it may well be a leap in the wrong direction and a leap in the dark. Objective realities do not disappear with a wave of the magic wand. The reasons previously advanced for the separation of Singapore from the Federation are still present. The very same people who objected to merger in the past are still at the helm in the Federation. There has been no cataclysmic upheaval in the political situation over the Cause, way. In Singapore, there is still the same peace and quiet. All of us daily go about our work as usual.

The Prime Minister: That is right, and night too!

Dr Lee Siew Choh: We have not seen anything that has caused us to miss our meals or our sleep, though of late we see more dirt, mosquitoes and flies around, a more inept administration, water rationing in the midst of floods and monsoons, and greater inefficiency all-round. What then has happened during the last few months that has caused this so-called merger to dominate every other issue in Malayan politics?

Sir, it is our duty as an Opposition Party to explain the circumstances that have led to the P.A.P. deal with the Federation Government. It is also our duty to expose the true nature of this deal, and thereby to draw the urgent attention of the people to the dangers pregnant in the so-called merger proposals of the P.A.P.

Let me first preface my remarks by saying that we in the Barisan Sosialis are students of politics. We shall always be so, unlike the Prime Minister who maintains that he - and he alone - decides, and later on condescendingly adding his Committee as well. We in the Barisan Sosialis accept a position of humility and shall always learn what the wants and demands of the people are, no matter from what strata of society they may come from. We shall learn from our own experiences and from the experiences of others. We shall endeavour to explain issues clearly to the people and we shall seek to establish a government that rules by consultation and not by decree. It is a position that we, when we were in the P.A.P., Sir, had all sought to establish. We failed in our efforts because the Prime Minister suffers from an enormous personality problem. I regret to say that his psychological make-up is that of a mandore.

Mr Speaker: Order. I think the hon. Member for Queenstown must realise that what he is saying now is completely irrelevant to the motion. He should now come to the point. He can say whether he or his Party affirms and declares that the first objective of all true patriots of Malaya is to achieve the reunification of these two territories in a merger of Singapore with the Federation of Malaya. The impression I have had up till now is perhaps that there is a quarrel with the word "merger". But I may be wrong.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: I am coming to it, Sir. Those of us who have followed the papers will know that the Prime Minister of Singapore has been shuttling back and forth between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, the Cameron Highlands and Penang every fortnight or so for the last three months.

The Prime Minister: We meet a very big man.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: We see photos of the Prime Minister carrying golf clubs all over Malaya -

Mr Speaker: Order. If I allow these personalities, I do not think we will be able to get on with the debate. We have three other motions on the same topic. I must ask that all personalities be forgotten. Let us come down to the pith of the motion.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Newsmen, both local and foreign, were kept busy with Press interviews every time our Prime Minister left Kuala Lumpur or arrived back in Singapore. Meetings of the Prime Ministers of the Federation and Singapore were followed by joint statements which were issued at regular intervals. On the 23rd of August, we learned that agreement between the two Prime Ministers had been reached in principle. And on the 14th of September, agreement had been reached that a Working Party should work out details of merger with a view to bringing about the integration of the two territories and its peoples in or before June 1963. From no-common market, and even a little coolness and unfriendliness, to integration in or before 1963! All in a couple of months, Sir. Really fast work! Fast work that can only come out of the last gamble of the P.A.P.

Let us look into the matter a little more closely, Sir. The Federation had all along been against merger. Both inside and outside Malaya, the Tunku had always indicated that he did not want merger. In fact, he had said that he would not even touch Singapore with a barge pole. How come then, Sir, that the Tunku now suddenly wants merger in spite of all his fears and prejudices? If there was high-pressure cooking, who was doing the cooking? Was it a piece of fast sales talk on the part of the Prime Minister of Singapore? And was the country gentleman impressed by the City slicker? The Tunku, Sir, had previously given three reasons for not wanting merger. He said that the Federation has a kingship and a sultanate: it has Islam as the State religion, and Malay as the national language. He was afraid that the people of Singapore were not used to these things, and I will quote, Sir:

because of the differences in outlook of the people of Singapore and the Federation', with merger differences of the people might clash and thus create problems which would be difficult to resolve.'

This is in the Straits Times of 17th October. Sir, these are reasons given by a diplomat, reasons that appear plausible on the surface, but reasons which cannot really stand up to critical examination. For example, Malay is also the national language of Singapore. Then there is freedom of worship in Singapore as well as in the Federation. And we have already indicated that we would accept the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as our constitutional head, just as Queen Elizabeth II is accepted as the constitutional head of the British Commonwealth. Therefore, these reasons given by the Federation Government are not the true reasons; they are not reasons that can stand up to critical examination. What then are the true reasons that prevented merger in the past? Sir, they are reasons which the Prime Minister has repeated times out of number. They are reasons which the Prime Minister has often quoted in this House in the past. They are reasons which are on record in the Fourth Anniversary Souvenir of the Petir - reasons which the Tunku had admitted as such in the Special General Assembly of the U.M.N.O. in Kuala Lumpur on 5th November, 1961. The reasons are:

(1) Singapore has too many Chinese;

(2) Singapore has too many Leftists.

Sir, whether we like it or not, these are the basic fears of the present Government of the Federation. They had been used by the Federation for not wanting merger in the past, and they are still the reasons given for the continued division of our country and our peoples today.

But times have changed. So must our outlook. "Times have changed so must our outlook", says the Tunku. How have the times changed? The number of Chinese in Singapore continue only to increase by natural growth. So has the number of Leftists. Let us, therefore, find out how this change of outlook has come about.

Sir, this so-called merger issue involves Singapore and the Federation. First, let us take a look of things in the Federation. In the Federation, progressive forces are daily gaining ground, both in the town and in the country. More and more support is going to the Socialist Front, as was demonstrated in the recent elections. Though the U.M.N.O. is still firmly in the saddle, they cannot afford to be complacent any further. There is every indication that the Tunku is becoming anxious and a little apprehensive. If the socialist forces -

Mr Speaker: Order. I am wondering whether this motion which we are now debating would open up a debate on the policy of the Federation in regard to this particular subject. I am not quite certain whether the hon. Member is relevant.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: If you will allow me, Sir, I am going to show you the different situations existing in the Federation and in Singapore. It is only by comparison and contrast that you see things more clearly. It will be very short. Sir,If the socialist forces are allowed to develop and expand unimpeded, then there is every possibility that the present Government may be ousted from office in the Federation in the not too distant future. But by and large, it is unlikely that there will be any major change in the Federation political situation, at least not until the next general elections in 1964. And except for occasional news of skirmishes at the Thai-Malayan border, all is peace and quiet. The U.M.N.O. is still the strong and stable Government that can claim to represent the majority of the people, and the Prime Minister is still the respected Prime Minister of the people of the Federation. But in Singapore, Sir - now I come to Singapore - the picture is entirely different. Here we have an unstable Government that by no stretch of the imagination can claim to represent the people of Singapore. We have a Prime Minister who is completely discredited in the eyes of the people. Once a strong and robust Government with 43 out of 51 in this House, it is now weak and wobbly with only 26 seats. The original majority of 35 has dwindled down to a majority of only one.

Sir, today the Government stays in office only on sufferance. There is no doubt in the mind of everyone, both inside and outside Singapore, that the present P.A.P. Government is on its last legs. That the leadership has had to get all the Assemblymen still existing on the Government benches, to sign a pledge to support the leadership of the P.A.P., shows how desperate they are in their efforts and in their anxiety to remain in power.

Sir, with the exposure of the true opportunistic nature of the P.A.P. leadership, a great change has taken place in Singapore in the last few months. These changes, Sir, have put the fear of God in the hearts of the Prime Minister and his opportunistic friends. It is a political situation in which the P.A.P., after having held the political stage of Singapore for a time, is now on the decline and on its way out. A new star, Sir, has arisen. It is outshining the P.A.P. and it will not be long before the P.A.P. will be totally eclipsed. This new star, Sir, is the Barisan Sosialis. And it is this new force in Singapore politics, the Barisan Sosialis, that has caused our Prime Minister to belly-crawl to the Federation for help -

Mr Speaker: Order. I do not think I can allow that expression of a Member of this Assembly. I myself do not know how to do it. But I would suggest that the word "belly-crawl" is unparliamentary. Will the Member withdraw that word?

Dr Lee Siew Choh: I withdraw, Sir. May I substitute kow-tow? Let me, Sir, briefly,, in order that we may better understand the political changes, go back just a little into the background to the present Singapore situation. It will be all very brief, Sir. With the heavy defeat in Hong Lim, the Prime Minister and his -

Mr Speaker: Order. The difficulty with the Chair is to try and see that motions do not overlap one another. It appears to me that what the hon. Member is saying may well be said in support of his own motion which appears as item 10 on the Order Paper. Perhaps it is inevitable that there should be some overlapping. But if there is to be overlapping, then I would suggest that references should be just in passing and detailed remarks be made on a particular subject when we come to the particular motion to which the remarks apply.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: May I, Sir, just show you how merger has been used as a diversion by the P.A.P. to distract the attention of the people from the failings of the Party leadership? I want to show you how this was deliberately taken out and made into an issue during the Anson by-election.

Mr Speaker: Order. I am afraid I will have to try and draw a line somewhere. May I remind the hon. Member again of the terms of the motion we are debating, i.e., the House is asked to affirm and declare "that the first objective of all true patriots of Malaya is to achieve the reunification of these two territories in a merger of Singapore with the Federation of Malaya." I understand the Member for Queenstown to indicate that perhaps this is not an appropriate time for merger. If that is so, he will, I have no doubt, move an amendment on those lines. But, of course, that is left entirely to him. But I cannot see how the Hong Lim by-election, or what use was made of merger in the Hong Lim by-election, has anything to do with the motion itself.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: That was only an aside. Sir. What I intended to mention was the Anson by-election. May I inform you also, Sir, that I intend to move an amendment? I will mention that as I come to the appropriate part of my speech. I will try and skip some parts of it. The Prime Minister knew, even before the rise of the Barisan Sosialis, that he was faced with a situation that was a challenge to his leadership. He did not meet this challenge in a democratic way. Instead he conjured up the old trick of the colonial master - the Communist bogey.

Sir, history has shown that whenever a despot or a dictator is confronted with an untenable political situation, when the growing unpopularity of the dictator brings with it mounting unrest and instability inside the country, the unpopular dictator seeks some foreign diversion to distract the attention of the people, away from the real and genuine grievances. Similarly in Singapore. The discredited P.A.P. leadership has to find some diversion for the people so that their attention may be distracted from the failings and blunders of the P.A.P. That diversion, Sir, is merger.

The P.A.P. has always shouted, "independence-through-merger." And since they have been exposed as pro-colonial in spite of all the show about Lumumba, the Algerian Fund and mock protests about the British bases, this merger issue, in addition to being a diversion, would also give an opportunity to the P.A.P. to put up the time-worn mask and smokescreen of the "independence-through-merger" slogan to refute the charge of being pro-colonial. Of course, this will not deceive the people. Though they are trying to suggest that their type of merger is a panacea for all the ills in Singapore, the truth is that with merger, the Prime Minister hopes to be able to defeat and eliminate his political opponents with the help of his Federation friends. He will then he able to remain in office and live happily ever after. That is what the Prime Minister thinks.

But first let me show how the P.A.P made merger the issue at the Anson by-election. On 2nd June, 1961, six unionists had come out with their first statement asking for full and complete internal self-government as the minimum demand in the 1963 constitutional talks. This included the abolition of the Internal Security Council. The Tunku on 27th May, 1961, had already come out with the Malaysia Plan, and the Prime Minister of Singapore had responded with full support on the 3rd of June, 1961. Thus, to go one better on his critics, Dr Toh, the Chairman of the P.A.P., declared that the P.A.P. Government would in the June 1963 constitutional talks seek "complete eradication of colonialism in Singapore, asking for complete independence through merger with the Federation or within a larger federation." So what began as a skirmish in the Hong Lim by-election - I will not mention anything about Hong Lim - had become in Anson a real battle-ground, for contending Parties and candidates, on the question of the constitutional future of Singapore. The S.P.A.-U.M.N.O. Alliance called for a confederation in which there would be separate electoral registers and separate legislatures, with a Joint Consultative Committee to co-ordinate economic, financial and other policies. External defence and the like would be under the control of the Federation Government. This, Sir, is an arrangement which would not give the people of Singapore any say in the appointment or removal of their Government. We know how the people of Anson had rejected this plan. But the P.A.P. went one further. It was merger. Merger then, but we know it is different now. So you see, Sir, the P.A.P. had deliberately brought out this question of merger in Anson, and had made it clear that a vote for the P.A.P. was a vote for the merger policy of the P.A.P.

I do not need, Sir, to quote how the P.A.P. had made merger their cardinal issue in Anson. It had all been done by the Member for Anson during the last so-called crisis debate on the 20th of July, 1961. But I would like to quote just one from the Straits Times of 26th June, 1961. The Prime Minister was reported to have said, "We must accept the Tenku's Malaysian proposal. Confederation acceptable to states concerned because Malays would still form the predominant part of the population."

You see, Sir, the P.A.P., thinking they were going to win, had taken great pains to explain that Anson is a typically representative constituency in Singapore. Which means that if the P.A.P. had won they would have claimed that the people of Singapore, as a whole, had given their support to the P.A.P. merger plan.

Let me summarise the political situation then existing, Sir, in the Federation and in Singapore in a few words. In the Federation, on the one hand, there is a stable U.M.N.O. Government, that though firmly in the saddle, is nevertheless fearful of the slow but steady inroads into the U.M.N.O. spheres of influence made by progressive socialist forces in the town and in the country. In Singapore, on the other hand, there is a discredited and unstable P.A.P. Government that has lost the support of the people: so the leaders of the P.A.P. have to find a scapegoat for their own failings. That scapegoat is the Left. Now that the Barisan Sosialis has been formed, the P.A.P. has to face a strong, virile Opposition that is daily growing stronger and stronger and that is daily getting more and more support from the people.

The Prime Minister: Why did you stop your mass rally?

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Both the Federation Government and the Singapore P.A.P. Government have a common fear of the socialist forces. Both the Governments, therefore, have a common interest in suppressing opposing socialist forces. But despite this common interest to knock out the socialist forces, the Federation still would not want to dabble in the affairs of Singapore. Because of Singapore's too many Chinese and too many Leftists, a bait, therefore, had to be used. What then was the bait that was made and offered to the Federation? in other words, how did our Prime Minister induce an anti-merger Federation to accept the P.A.P. brand of merger?

Sir, the P.A.P. leaders have always boasted of their skill and ingenuity in meeting awkward and difficult situations. I have no doubt they put their skill and ingenuity to good use. Since the Tunku is unhappy and fearful of the expanding influence of the socialist forces, what better line is there then to increase this fear? Because of the two fears - too many Chinese and too many Leftists - the Tunku has been led into the belief that, of the two evils, he has to choose one, whichever is the lesser. And the Tunku is convinced by these frightening stories of the Prime Minister of Singapore. So he now proposes to acquire Singapore, to take the path where previously even angels feared to tread. The Prime Minister may think he can congratulate himself on his success for having persuaded the Tunku to fall in with his personal objects and plans. But let me tell him this. The name Lee Kuan Yew will be remembered in history like those of Wang Cheng-wei, Syngman Rhee. Chiang Kai-shek. That is what he is, Sir.

The Prime Minister rose -

Mr Speaker: Is it on a point of order?

The Prime Minister: No, Sir, on a point of information.

Mr Speaker: The Member is not giving way. Dr Lee.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Sir, this motion must therefore be viewed in the light of the P.A.P.'s impending demise. We have seen how its desperate leaders are clutching at every straw in order to keep themselves in office. The P.A.P. is trying al all costs to get Singapore under the political control of the Federation Government and it hopes that the Federation Government will save it from its inevitable downfall by doing the dirty work -

The Prime Minister: What dirty work?

Dr Lee Siew Choh: - of removing its political opponents from the political field.

The word "merger", instead of symbolising the noble aim of uniting our peoples, now symbolises a manoeuvre of the P.A.P. so that it may safeguard its political future. Sir, the meaning of the word "merger" has been stretched beyond all recognition. It is clear, as you have already indicated, Sir, that when the P.A.P. talks about merger, they do not mean what you or I and everybody else understands by merger.

Mr Speaker: Order. I am afraid the Member for Queenstown must have misunderstood the Chair, because the Chair never dabbles in politics. The Chair has not enunciated what true merger is. Dr Lee.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Sir, we are dealing with desperate men struggling for survival. We have seen how everyday events and personal conversations have been twisted and misrepresented -

The Prime Minister: Take action.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: - so as to lit in with their diabolical schemes. Sir, we cannot trust desperate men with blank cheques. We must, as it were, fill up the cheque before giving it to them, and it has therefore become necessary for us to state what we mean by merger in this motion. We must ensure that the Government does not debase the word "merger" to mean something entirely different. Even the Tunku has said that the present arrangement is not a merger. I will therefore move an amendment to the motion before the House at the end of my speech as follows. Would you like me to tell you my amendment now. Sir?

Mr Speaker: Please proceed.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: My amendment reads as follows,

To leave out from "a" in the last line to the end, and to insert-

"genuine merger of Singapore with the Federation of Malaya, with Singapore entering the Federation as the twelfth State and with all its citizens automatically becoming Federal citizens on Merger Day".

Mr Speaker: Can I have a copy of the amendment?

Amendment handed in.

Mr Speaker: Order. I have indicated the difficulty of the Chair in the matters we are faced with regarding substantive motions on the question of merger between Singapore and the Federation. There is also the motion in respect of the Yang di-Pertuan Negara's speech which also would touch on merger. Therefore, the difficulty the Chair is faced with is, how far could procedural barriers be placed in debates on one motion if there is an overlapping in other motions? It appears to me that this amendment might be said to overlap the motion which the Prime Minister will be moving later on in connection with the White Paper on the reunification of Singapore and the Federation of Malaya. That portion reads:

`That this House accepts the heads of agreement set out in the White Paper -'

and one of the heads of agreement is "Citizenship and Nationality". The Member for Queenstown has, in fact, consulted me on this amendment. I have had the opportunity of studying this amendment rather carefully, and it seems to me that it would be convenient for the Assembly to debate this aspect of merger which appears. I suppose, to be one of the great points of deviation between the Barisan Sosialis and the Government. So on that argument, I propose to allow this amendment. Dr Lee.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Sir, to the people of Singapore - and I am sure to the P.A.P. of bygone days as well - merger has always meant one thing and one thing only. It is the complete political integration of Singapore and the Federation, with a common electoral register and a central administration and legislature. In other words, it means a true and genuine reunification of the territories and peoples of Singapore and the Federation, with all the people sharing a common citizenship and a common life and destiny. To put it in another way, merger or genuine integration means the entry of Singapore into the Federation as one of its constituent States, with all Singapore citizens becoming Federation citizens, having equal rights and equal status with the rest of the Federation citizens. Let me explain the importance of this sharing a common political life and destiny. In the Federation today, the Federal Parliament is representative of the Malayan electorate as a whole. The Federal citizens living in a constituent State, say Johore, may stand for election to the Federal Parliament in any constituency in any State - Perak or Kedah for instance - in the Federation and have the right to influence the people throughout the length and breadth of Malaya on all political issues. In turn, the people of Johore, for example, may elect as their representative, any citizen from outside their State - for example, from Perak or Selangor - who seeks to represent them. That is, they in turn can be influenced by people throughout Malaya. This right to influence and be influenced, is the right of every fellow citizen in the country. It is all for the common good. It is one of the basic conditions for the practice of parliamentary democracy. It is a pre-condition for ensuring that the Federal Parliament reflects the views and aspirations of the people as a whole. It is a condition which we now have in Singapore. A Singapore citizen now has the right to influence and be influenced by his fellow citizens throughout the island. But what does the constitutional arrangement of the P.A.P. amount to? According to the Tunku, "the merger proposals between Singapore and the Federation amount to an association of such a nature as would recognise the Federation of Malaysia with Singapore as partners in one identity". Note, Sir, the words "the Federation of Malaysia" and "partners".

Let me now examine the various aspects of merger. Mr Speaker, Sir, first, I would like to deal with the very important citizenship issue in all its aspects. Then if you will allow me, Sir, I shall discuss the word "national" and the words "proportional representation".

The Prime Minister: On a point of order, Sir,In view of the decision you have made in allowing this amendment, may I suggest that motion No. 7 be taken and debated together with motion No. 5, otherwise we shall be debating this matter twice over, Mr Speaker. I do not want to have to answer the Member for Queenstown and no doubt other speakers on citizenship, nationality, a common political life, and people living in Singapore standing for elections in Trengganu, and so on, and repeat the whole business again in motion No. 7. If I may suggest. I would say that we put motion No. 5 as it is as the first limb of the motion, and motion No. 7 as the second limb of the motion. No. 7 being then amended by the amendment proposed by the Member for Queenstown who will ask for those words to be deleted - the one in No. 7 - and to say that what he asks for in merger is, as he has stated, complete with all reserve powers and with automatic conversion from Singapore citizenship to Federation citizenship. Then we will have disposed of the whole of the question at the end of the debate.

Mr Speaker: I was hoping that that suggestion could have been put to the Speaker before today because, as I have indicated, it is difficult for the Chair to draw lines between the three motions I have mentioned. The three motions are as shown in item 5, which we are now debating, item 7* and item 10+. If it is for the convenience of the Assembly that all aspects of the merger between Singapore and the Federation should now be touched on, then the procedure would be that the debate on which we have now entered would range over item 7 and item 10; and then after the debate has been completed, there will only be a vote, if a vote is called for on a division, on item 7 and item 10.

• Motion (Item) No 7 reads as follows:-

That this House accepts the heads of agreement set out in the White Paper Cmd.33 of 1961 agreed to between the Government of the State of Singapore and the Federation of Malaya as a working basis for a reunification of the two territories.

• Item 10 reads as follows:-

That this Assembly views with grave concern and anxiety the exclusion of the Opposition Parties in the current "merger" negotiations, and demands that the Government convene forthwith an All-Party Conference to discuss and to agree on all basic questions on the constitutional future of Singapore; and failing agreement, demands that the Government seek without delay a new mandate from the people.

The Prime Minister: So be it. We are prepared for the debate to commence now.

Mr Speaker: In that event then, Members will be permitted to range over items 7 and 10, so that the Member for Queenstown could now cover all aspects of the suggested merger between Singapore and the Federation of Malaya. So we will have a complete picture before the House, and Members will then be able to know how to vote when we come to items 7 and 10.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Mr Speaker. Sir, can you please explain once more the voting procedure? I am not very clear about that.

Mr Speaker: The parliamentary procedure is this. If there are several motions before the Assembly which appear to overlap or, in fact, do overlap, then it is permissible, with the assent of hon. Members of course, for the debate on one motion to range over the aspects of the other motions.

In this particular instance, we are now debating item 5, which has the word "merger" in it, and which the hon. Member for Queenstown is not satisfied with. And in order to explain why he is dissatisfied with merger, he has moved an amendment which in effect asks permission to range over certain items which have been covered in Paper Cmd. 33 of 1961, the subject matter of the motion standing in the name of the Prime Minister as item 7 on the Order Paper. Then again, in item 10, we also have a motion on merger and the constitutional future of Singapore - the motion standing in the names of the Members for Queenstown and Havelock - which reads:

That this Assembly views with grave concern and anxiety the exclusion of the Opposition Parties in the current merger' negotiations, and demands that the Government convene forthwith an All-Party Conference to discuss and to agree on all basic questions on the constitutional future of Singapore; and failing agreement, demands that the Government seek without delay a new mandate from the people.' That appears to me also to be an offshoot of the whole subject which we are discussing today. And I think it would be convenient if that could be done, as that would, as the Prime Minister has pointed out, obviate any over-lapping or repetition which might become tedious.

Dr Lee Siew Choh rose -

Mr David Marshall: On a point of order. Mr Speaker, Sir.

Mr Speaker: Is the Member for Queenstown addressing the Chair on a point of order?

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am only wondering if you will allow us to adjourn at this hour so that we can discuss this properly - just in case we should mistake things. We do not want to go wrong.

Mr Speaker: Mr Marshall, on a point of order?

Mr David Marshall: Entirely, Sir. I was wondering, Sir, whether item No. 10 is purely procedural. I rather like the idea of joining items 5 and 7, if you so feel; then we can cover the points with substance. Item No. 10 merely raises a question of procedure - the way the Opposition is being treated on the question of having an All-Party Conference. The speeches are already inordinately lengthy and can be expected to be so. Could we keep that one apart, Sir?

The Prime Minister: May I raise a further point? My inclination is very much in the opposite direction. I would suggest, Mr Speaker, Sir, that since you want to include item 10 in it, you might as well allow the speeches to range over that part of item 8* which is covered in the amendment proposed by the Member for Queenstown. And then at the end of this no doubt lengthy, exhaustive and fruitful - I hope - debate, we would at least have come to some conclusion and finality on all aspects of merger, and could then go on to discuss the Yang di-Pertuan Negara's speech, the Federation of Malaysia on principle, Nepotism, and a Commission of Inquiry.

*Item 8 reads as follows:-

That the following Address in reply to the speech of the Yang di-Pertuan Negara be agreed to:-

"We, the Legislative Assembly of the State of Singapore, express our thanks to the Yang di-Pertuan Negara for the speech which he delivered on behalf of the Government at the opening of the present session of this Assembly.".

Dr Lee Siew Choh (Member for Queenstown):

As an amendment, "at end, to add -

"but regrets that the Government is pursuing a "merger" policy of unequal rights contrary to the interests of the people of the two territories, and urges the Government to re-orientate its policy in confirmity with the ardent desires of the people for genuine unification'."

Mr Speaker: The point raised by the Member for Anson perhaps has been well taken, because it is, in fact, an off-shoot of the whole debate. I do not know whether the Prime Minister agrees that item 10 perhaps would bring in matters which could, in fact, be easily separated from the main debate.

The Prime Minister: Mr Speaker, Sir, my only intention is to avoid having to repeat ourselves. I know that we are all very interesting to listen to. We have written speeches or have memorised speeches written by us; and, of course, it is a bit upsetting if we have to repeat these things too often.

Mr Speaker: Well then, I will allow the debate to range over item 7, and I agree with the Prime Minister that the amendment of the Member for Queens-town which escaped me, and of which notice has been given, and which he wishes to move to the Address of Thanks, also covers the same subject matter of merger between the two territories; and therefore perhaps the debate could range over that as well. I also agree with the Member for Anson that item No. 10 should be kept separate. But it is a major departure from the procedure we are following now and I do agree with the Member for Queenstown that he is entitled to some consultation, and I therefore propose to suspend this sitting until 5.30 p.m.

Sitting accordingly suspended at 4.38 p.m. until 5.30 p.m. Sitting resumed at 5.30 p.m.