OBITUARY ON THE LATE HON. MEMBER MR P. GOVINDASWAMY

The Minister for Health (Dr Toh Chin Chye): Mr Speaker, when Encik Baharuddin bin Mohamed Ariff died in April 1961, the People's Action Party lost the constituency of Anson to David Marshall. In 1963, when the general elections were held, Anson was a bitterly contested constituency in a six-corner fight. On the surface, it was a fight between P. Govindaswamy and David Marshall. In style, character and background, P. Govindaswamy was the very opposite of the lawyer and ex-Chief Minister. But as the election results showed, it was not a contest between P. Govindaswamy and David Marshall. It was a fight between the PAP and the Barisan Sosialis which represented the Communist United Front. P. Govindaswamy won 46.5% of the votes cast and Barisan Sosialis 39.7% while David Marshall had only 4.8%.

P. Govindaswamy truly represented the working class in his outlook to life. He came a long way from being a retired postman to becoming a Member of Parliament. But his elevation did not inflate his ego nor did he change his lifestyle. Neither did he alter his view of politics in the service of the ordinary man and he had held Anson in successive elections in 1968, 1972 and 1976.

P. Govindaswamy, in Parliament, was what I would call a qualitative man. He had a political instinct of what he deemed was good or bad administration or legislation, partly because of his experience in trade union work and partly because he was in constant touch with his grassroots. He was not equipped with 'O' level or 'A' level certificates, much less a University degree. But he had courage. He had courage to speak out his mind. Members of Parliament will recollect the heat that was generated when increases in road tax, vehicle registration fees and area licensing fees were imposed on New Year's Day in 1976. While others were merely vociferous, P. Govindaswamy had the courage to sign his name together with a few other Backbenchers a letter of protest to the Prime Minister.

P. Govindaswamy proved that age was not a handicap to learning and trying. He spoke indeed, fluent Tamil in this Chamber but he knew that the emphasis and the nuances of his Tamil speech were lost in the process of translation. He switched to speaking in English. To be true, it was not even Singapore English, but he drove his points forcibly home. So he found his feet in Parliament and grew to become an endearing figure as he heaped ridicule on the Government Benches in his inimitable English. I believe he generated more laughter in this House than any other Member.

With P. Govindaswamy's death, Anson has lost a good spokesman and Parliament will miss his earthy humour during Question time and debate.

Mr Speaker: As a mark of respect to the late hon. Member, I propose that the House observe a two-minute silence.

The House rose and paid respect 2.40 p.m.