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

[Mr SPEAKER in the Chair]

Mr Speaker: I would like to make an announcement on the merger debate. It has become increasingly evident during the last 8 days that in relation to the amendment proposed by the Member for Queenstown to the merger motion moved by the Minister for Labour, all points of view appear already to have been advanced and to have been thoroughly discussed.

As a result, it has been distinctly noticed that certain Members on both sides of the House have been unable to offer any new arguments and have, in fact, repeated the arguments used by other Members. While a certain amount of repetition is inevitable in a debate, constant repetition of the same theme and the same arguments becomes tedious and is not permitted.

I have had occasion to refer to the relevant Standing Order on this point, and, as a further reminder to Honourable Members, I propose, to read that Standing Order again. It is Standing Order No. 54 and reads as follows:-

'54. The Speaker or the Chairman, after having drawn attention to the conduct of a Member, who persists in irrelevance, or tedious repetition either of his own arguments or of the arguments used by other Members in debate, may direct him to discontinue his speech.'

The extent to which the debate on this matter has been drawn out is largely due to repetitions of Members' own arguments or the arguments used by other Members and if, in future, the repetitions become tedious, I shall find myself compelled, as I am bound to under the Standing Order, to direct the Member speaking to discontinue his speech. This I am always reluctant to do, more especially in this particular debate, which is one on a matter of such grave import to the peoples of Singapore and indeed to the peoples of the whole of the future Malaysia.

At the same time, it is incumbent upon me as Speaker to ensure that the debate is kept within its proper bounds. With that in view, I called a meeting of Leaders of all Parties represented on the Opposition Benches, the independent Member on the Opposition Benches, the Leader of the House and the Government Whip in order to ascertain whether there could be some agreement whereby the conclusion of the present debate could be reached at the earliest possible moment.

Certain devices are adopted in other Parliaments to bring proceedings to a speedy conclusion, but I need mention only two.

Firstly, time limits may be placed on the length of speeches and, secondly, Members voluntarily subject themselves to self-discipline in relation to the time they should allow themselves and the substance of their speeches.

A meeting of Members of the Opposition and the Leader of the House was held in my Chamber this morning and it was agreed that the second device would best meet the circumstances in the present debate. I invite Honourable Members to adopt the course suggested, that is to say, to subject themselves to self-discipline and so to see that their speeches are not unnecessarily lengthy and to avoid unnecessary repetitions.