I should like to join with my hon. Friend in her tribute to the expatriate public servants. She referred particularly to Sarawak and to the period of Rajah Brook. More than one hon. Member urged that the present officials should not leave too soon. This is absolutely right, and I can assure the House that it is the wish of all parties and races in the Borneo territory that expatriate officials should stay on as long as necessary in order to train local people to take their places.
My hon. Friend the Member for Middleton and Prestwich (Sir J. Barlow) thought there was some danger that the safeguards in the Borneo territories might be abolished by the federal authorities. There are, of course, a variety of safeguards, some more important than others, and I assume that my right hon. Friend was referring to the more important ones. The abolition of the principal safeguards—the ones to which he referred particularly relate to religion and language—would require a two-thirds majority in the Federal Parliament and, in addition, the consent of the State Parliament. That is a pretty good safeguard. My hon. Friend regretted that the safeguards for language in Singapore have not been provided for North Borneo and Sarawak. I know that this Blue Book is a long document, but if my hon. Friend will look at it again, he will see that the safeguards are the same. The language cannot be changed without the consent of the State Parliament.
My hon. Friend the Member for Devonport asked when North Borneo would become Sabah. The answer is when the Federation comes into being on 31st August.
The hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Sorensen) and other hon. Members asked about the right of Christian missionaries to proselytise and make converts. It is true that in some States of Malaya there are certain restrictions by regulations under laws made by those States and not by the Federal Parliament. But because we were aware of this and because anxiety had been expressed about it, special precautions have been taken to ensure that this kind of thing cannot happen in the Borneo territories except with the general consent of the people. Article 11 (4) of the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya provides that State and not federal law may restrict the propagation of other faiths than Islam among Muslims. On the other hand, the Constitution of the Federation of Malaysia will provide that such State law may be introduced in North Borneo and Sarawak only by a two-thirds majority of the total membership of the State legislature. Since Muslims in North Borneo represent only 38 per cent. of the population and in Sarawak only 23 per cent., there is little risk that there would be a two-third majority in favour of introducing restrictions of that kind.
The right hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Creech Jones) urged that technical, financial and military assistance should continue. That of course is our desire and intention. The right hon. Member for Smethwick thought that the financial arrangements appeared generous. I regret that the House has not had longer to study these provisions. But it has been a bit of a rush and I do not pretend that it has not. Some of these matters have had to be cleared with the Governments concerned after the signature of the agreement; so it has not been altogether easy to get everything ready in time for this debate.
On the military side we are extending the Malaya defence agreement to embrace all Malaysia, and have offered to finance the new battalions needed in Singapore and the Borneo territories. We want the Malaysian forces to take over from us as quickly as possible responsibility for internal security. We do not want to have this for longer than necessary inside an independent State.
The right hon. Member for Llanelly said that he thought the amount we were giving was too little and the balance was wrong. We were giving too much for defence and not enough on the' civil side. I can quite understand his reaction to that, but I would point out that Malaysia is a stable and prosperous country and is able to raise money outside for economic development, from sources such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other such organisations. That money, however, is available only for economic development, not military needs. That is why, knowing that they have to depend for help on the military side from their friends and allies, we thought it right to put rather more emphasis on the military aspect of our aid than otherwise would have been done.
