Lordships' House to-day. I beg to move.
Moved, That the Bill be now read 2a.—(The Marquess of Lansdowne.)
12.41 p.m.
LORD SHEPHERD My Lords, I am sure the House will be grateful for the manner in which the noble Marquess has introduced this Bill this morning. We have no criticism of the fact that the Bill comes at this late stage; we fully appreciate the circumstances that have caused this; but I feel there is some regret that this Bill, as in another place, should have been introduced on a Friday. The House, naturally, on these days is sparse, our Benches in the main are empty, and I should not have thought that this was the manner in which either House would wish to consider what is an historic Bill.
It is strange that this small Bill of five pages, six clauses and three Schedules 941 should open the way to the creation of a new nation. My Lords, this Bill is the key. All the protections that were desired by the States, by the Federation of Malaya and the State of Singapore, are included in this document. It is a formidable document, as the noble Marquess said, and those who have some knowledge of the negotiations will understand the amount of dedicated work that was put in, not only by the Minister but by the many officers in the various countries and we are very grateful to them.
Praise obviously must be given to Mr. Duncan Sandys, the Minister for the Commonwealth and for the Colonies. He, particularly in the last stages, brought considerable drive to bring about a conclusion. But I think it is right that in this House we should pay a special tribute to two of our own Members: in the first instance, the noble Marquess, who for a considerable time, was Chairman of the Inter-governmental Committee that was set up to negotiate and to bring this Bill to fruition. I think he brought the right and only character that would have been acceptable in-South-East Asia, a character of patience and of mastery of the gentle word. These are vital characteristics for negotiations in Malaya. I suggest, too, that we should pay a tribute to the noble Earl, Lord Selkirk, High Commissioner in Singapore and Commissioner General for South-East Asia. I have heard from my friends in Singapore great tributes not only to him but also to his wife for the way they have smoothed over some of the misunderstandings and some of the strain that existed when he went out there and which grew up as these negotiations proceeded. Therefore, we are grateful to both of the Members of this House.
Perhaps one of the two main actors in this matter is our very old friend—and I think we can refer to him as "our very old friend"—the Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of Malaya. He is already a man of great stature and a respected Prime Minister of the Commonwealth. As the noble Marquess has said, it was he who made the declaration that a Federation of Malaysia should be created. This was not a new conception—there had been much talk about it over many years—but it needed a man of his stature and his leadership to make this possible. In my view, this Federation could not have 942 been created at the suggestion of the United Kingdom; it had to come from the people themselves. I think we must recognise, too, that under his leadership the Federation of Malaya has made a number of concessions which took a good deal of heart-searching to make.
I think a very special word of appreciation should be given to Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, the Chief Minister of Singapore, the other main actor. He had the most difficult task and most difficult road to tread. He believed in federation but he had first to create the political climate in the State to make that possible. There were many fears, in bringing what is largely a Chinese population into the Federation, that they would be dealt with more hardly by the predominantly Malay rulers of Malaya; but, by great determination and considerable political ability, he created the climate for federation in Singapore. As we have heard from the noble Marquess, a referendum was held which was overwhelmingly in support of the Federation. I think we should give great credit to Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. He has achieved considerable concessions for the State, and, in his way, too, he has had to make some sacrifices, but he has brought it through and it is now acceptable.
