opposition. I understand the bargain to be a fairly hard one for Singapore in terms of representation on the governing authority and, possibly, also in some of the economic arrangements which have been made.
My chief concern is that there should be adequate safeguards for Sarawak and North Borneo in the association which is now being formed. These are somewhat primitive, unsophisticated countries and the people who will ultimately be responsible for administering them have had little or no experience of administration of alien native peoples. It will, therefore, be a severe test for the new authority in regard to the policies which are pursued in the Territories from which Britain is withdrawing her administration.
I hope that the safeguards which will be built into the constitution will be real on behalf of those somewhat under-developed peoples and that they can go forward making the equal progress which they possibly would have made had they remained under the British Crown.
The experiment is one of great difficulty because of the number of peoples and races who are involved, but I think that the experiment in Malaya augurs well. To bring together three principal peoples like the Indians, the Chinese and the Malays under a single Government and to maintain harmony when there are so many conflicting pressures and conflicts in the world, is certainly a great achievement by the Malay Government. I hope, therefore, that tolerance and good will will be shown and that there will be understanding of the basic differences which exist amongst the peoples concerned.
I hope, further, that the British Government will not withdraw all their support of a practical character because a new nation or federation is being formed. The technical, financial and military assistance has been of great importance and I hope that a continuation of this technical co-operation, practical aid and financial help will be forthcoming and that as a result of our co-operation we will see the progress which we had hoped to see when some of these schemes of welfare development were inaugurated.
I hope, too, that it will be possible to entice Brunei to come into the Federation. Its strategic position is one of difficulty to itself if it does not join. I hope that the extraordinary wealth and great resources of that country can be utilised in a wider field than merely Brunei itself. Some of the advantages of that wealth could be shared by other parts of Borneo, by Sarawak and North Borneo. I hope that we will use our good offices in that direction.
I hope that with the coming together of this association, the principle of local autonomy will be full recognised. I cannot conceive of how these federations can work unless there is a widely recognised principle of self-government inside the respective provinces and territories. One of the mistakes that was made with Central Africa was to allow one of the three territories there to be in a dominant position in the Federation. As I said in the last debate on Central Africa, the East Africa Federation is coming into being largely because, right from the beginning, the equality of the respective territories was fully recognised as well as the equality of the races.
I hope, therefore, that the central Government of the Federation will be sufficiently tolerant and will give the respective territories as wide as possible an opportunity of self-expression and self-government in the territories and not restrain or restrict them by tedious prohibitions and by assuming too geat an authority over them.
I conclude therefore, not only by approving this final step, but wishing the Federation the best of luck and success in the days to come. I have great faith in some of the leaders, whom I know. I believe that they are tolerant and that they respect the principles of democratic government and I am certain that they will try to implement these principles in this great association which they are creating.
- 2.7 p.m.
Mr. Graham Page (Crosby) in this debate, the House has had the benefit of a wealth of experience from those who
