DETAINEES STILL UNDER DETENTION

Mr David Marshall asked the Minister for Home Affairs how many of the detainees referred to in the Statement submitted by the Singapore Government to the Internal Security Council dated 12th August, 1959, and tabled in this Assembly on 20th July, 1961, are still under detention.

Mr Ong Pang Boon: Mr Speaker, Sir, of the 61 persons under detention at the time when the P.A.P took office, 17 are still under detention.

Mr David Marshall: I would refer the Minister to the statement of the Deputy Prime Minister and ask whether of the 18 he then referred to as being still under detention and who were to be released forthwith, there are, in fact, still 17. May I expand it, Mr Speaker, since he does not perhaps remember?

Mr Speaker: Order. There is Standing Order No. 19 (1) (d) which reads:

`a question shall not refer to debates or answers to questions in the current session;'.

I do not know whether this refers to a debate or an answer in the current session.

Mr David Marshall: No, Sir. It was in 1961, a statement by the Deputy Prime Minister that there were 18 detainees left from the Government's two purges, and his words were:

`Notwithstanding the stand of the British Government in the Internal Security Council, the Singapore Government will issue orders for the release of the detainees in hatches from time to time in accordance with the original proposal of the Singapore Government...'.

I did refer to it in my question in Hansard, col.1683.

Mr Speaker: In the previous Session?

Mr David Marshall: That is so, Sir.

Mr Speaker: Will the Minister accord the Member a reply?

Mr Ong Pang Boon: I shall inform the Member for Anson in due course.

Mr Tee Kim Leng (Pasir Panjang): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, can the Minister for Home Affairs tell this House how many of these detainees are ex-officials of the P.A.P. and how many of them have supported the P.A.P. before?

Mr Ong Pang Boon: Mr Speaker, I am unable to recollect offhand, but I do know at least one who was an expelled member of the P.A.P.

Dr Lee Siew Choh (Queenstown): Would the Minister inform the House why there should still be so many detained by the Government?

Mr Ong Pang Boon: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am surprised that the Member for Queenstown still fails to understand the constitutional set-up of Singapore. He should know by now that there is an Internal Security Council consisting of three parties, and that although it is the Government's intention to release by batches all those detainees detained by the former Government, consent from the other two parties is necessary. We may advise the Yang di-Pertuan Negara to release the detainees, but it is up to the other parties to give their consent as well.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Has any attempt been made to get these people released?

Mr Ong Pang Boon: Mr Speaker, Sir, although I cannot recollect offhand how many have been released. I can assure the Member for Queenstown that not less than three batches have been released since the Deputy Prime Minister made his statement in the last Session of the Assembly.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: Does the Minister mean to say that in three batches the Government has released only one detainee? Because the figure given in 1960 was 18, and now the figure given to us is 17. Only one person has been released in three batches.

Mr Ong Pang Boon: Unfortunately I do not have the copy of the statement referred to, so I am not in a position to know what this figure 18 referred to. But as far as I could recollect, not less than five have been released. In fact, I would imagine more than five were released since the Deputy Prime Minister made his statement in the last Session.

Mr David Marshall: I wonder if you will permit me, Sir, to help the Minister with the figures given by the Deputy Prime Minister. If it will please you, Sir, I would like to ask this question. Do we understand that despite the statement of the Deputy Prime Minister that, notwithstanding the stand of the British Government in the Internal Security Council, the Government will issue orders for the release of the detainees in batches, there has, in fact, been no attempt to obtain their release against the wishes of the British Government?

Mr Ong Pang Boon: Mr Speaker, Sir, far from it. In the last few releases, the Government in fact, made the decision first. If the Member for Anson will only read the statements that were released by the Internal Security Council, I think he will get the meaning there.

Mr Speaker: I will allow one more question. Dr Lee.

Dr Lee Siew Choh: How much longer does the Government intend to keep the other detainees in, and if it is not an inhumanitarian act to keep detainees for longer than five years without trial?

Mr Speaker: It is a matter of opinion. Mr David Marshall.