Singapore

1. My statement this afternoon will be quite short. I propose first of all to refer generally to the situation in South and South-East Asia, and in other parts of the world, as well as to recent happenings and trends, and then to make a proposal or two. I will also mention some of the unfortunate events that have overtaken certain parts of Asia. Then I will refer to the economic conditions of under-developed countries and what should have been done about them. And I will end by saying something of what we in Singapore are trying to do in order to build a democratic socialist State on sound economic principles, with the assistance of the United Nations and for the benefit of the people of our island State. 2. The Singapore delegation welcomes this opportunity afforded to all delegations to express their views on many world problems, problems which the United Nations has been trying to solve since it was founded twenty years ago. That is the reason why my delegation is of the view that all sovereign nations, big and small, should be Members of the United Nations, as they can thereby contribute to this world forum. And that is why also, as soon as Singapore was proclaimed an independent and sovereign State on 9 August 1965, we lost no time in applying for membership of the United Nations. 3. As is well known, Singapore became a Member of the United Nations on 21 September 1965. That day was a proud one for Singapore. Previously it was part of the Federation of Malaysia — as from 15 September 1963 — a nation which was developing fast both economically and politically. Malaysia is a United Nations in miniature, as there are people of many races and religions living in peace side by side. It is a multiracial society. We have Malays, Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Eurasians, Dusuns, LandDayaks, Muruts, Bajaus, and many other races. The rate of development of all the constituent States of Malaysia is not the same. For example, Singapore was advancing at a much faster rate than the rest of Malaysia. And because of this, among other reasons, tensions soon built up, and rather than have a show-down with all the possibilities of upheaval and devastation our leaders decided that the best way was for Singapore to become a sovereign and independent State. There is of course the possibility that at some future date it will become a part of Malaysia again, because of our very close ties, And so it came about that Singapore was proclaimed an independent and sovereign State without the need of having a commotion. We could not get on with the rest of Malaysia, and so we parted company as friends. The proof of this is that Malaysia was the chief sponsor for our admission to the United Nations, not only in the Security Council but in the General Assembly as well. I should also like to take this opportunity of again thanking all members of the Security Council that approved our application for membership. I also thank all Member States that co-sponsored the resolution [2010 (XX)] welcoming our admission to the United Nations. We are the 117th Member of the United Nations; indeed at present we are the very last Member on the list to join the United Nations. But I hope that other sovereign States, especially those soon to become independent, will lose no time in applying for membership of the United Nations at the appropriate time. 4. As a Member of the United Nations, Singapore hopes to join the other nations in their efforts to realize the aims and objectives of the United Nations Charter. For Singapore, the essentials of the Charter are the preservation of peace through collective security, the promotion of economic development through mutual aid and the safeguarding of the inalienable right of every country to establish forms of government in accordance with the wishes of its own people. MyUlountry stands by these three essential principles and will give loyal and unflinching support to the United Nations in its efforts to promote them. We support these ideals because we realize that the wellbeing, security and integrity of our country can be assured only on the basis of these principles. World peace is a necessary condition for the -political and economic survival of small nations like Singapore. We want peace and we want to be left alone in order to pursue our developmental projects unhampered. At the same time, our strategic geographical location is such that we are surrounded by bigger and more powerful neighbours. Because of our strategic position we have attracted the attention of nations that wish to dominate South-East Asia. The British have developed Singapore not only as the commercial centre of South-East Asia but also as a military base for consolidating Western dominance in that region. And now that Singapore is independent, the role of this base must change. For example, we will never permit it to be used for aggression. The base is there with our consent to ensure our own security in an area of increasing military instability. The moment we can be assured of effective alternative guarantees to our security — from that moment foreign control of these bases will cease. 5. Our foreign policy is one of non-alignment. We do not wish to be drawn into alliances dedicated to imposing our way of life on other countries. Friendship between countries should not be conditional on the acceptance of common ideologies, common friends and common enemies. But this does not mean that my country equates non-alignment with indifference to basic issues of what is right and what is wrong, or that it will evade taking a stand on matters which it considers vital lest we displease some friendly nations. Non-alignment is only in regard to narrow" power bloc interests and not in regard to the basic principles embodied in the United Nations Charter. As I have mentioned above, we wish all sovereign countries to be Members of the United Nations and occupy their rightful places on the Security Council. As a non-aligned Asian nation, we hope to be invited to attend the Asian-African Conference scheduled to be held in Algiers on 5 November 1965. If we are invited, our representation will be at the highest political level, especially as this will be the first time that we will be attending as an independent country. 6. The arguments that the People's Republic of China should be a Member of the United Nations are many and compelling. We are well aware of the views of other countries that do not share our line of thinking. But it is a nation of 650 million people. It is also a member of the atomic club. It has shown in many convincing ways that it is sovereign and has full control of the mainland of China, and it therefore has a better claim to sit as a permanent member on the Security Council than Taiwan. 7. The People's Republic of China may be bellicose in its recent statements, but we believe this is because it is not a Member of the United Nations. However, it is also our view that Taiwan should be given the right of self-determination as to whether it wants to join the People's Republic of China op not. Taiwan wishes to remain as a separate State, then it should be admitted as a Member of the United Nations. 8. There is also the question of disarmament. Without the People's Republic of China taking part in the discussions, any agreement would not be of much significance. Only yesterday, Senator Kennedy voiced similar views on the need to have discussions with the People's Republic of China on the disarmament question. He also revealed that the United States and the Chinese are trying to discuss this proposal in Warsaw. Senator Kennedy's views are shared by many other Senators as well. 9. We are convinced that it is better to have the People's Republic of China in the United Nations as this will help to reduce tensions in Asia. The probability of the People's Republic of China, Indonesia and Pakistan forming a group of their own should not be ruled out, and if this happens the rest of Asia will not feel; secure, of its future. We hope that Pakistan will not follow Indonesia and leave the United Nations as it has threatened to do. Additional arguments that the People's Republic of China should be a Member of the United Nations can be illustrated by the recent incident when the late President Kennedy decided to impose a blockade on Cuba at the time the Russians were reported to be building missile bases there. 10. When tensions rose, it was fortunate that both the United States and the Soviet Union were Members of the United Nations, so that the political debate between the United States and the Soviet Union in the Security Council took off a great deal of the heat which had been generated, and thus made it possible for both the late President Kennedy and Mr. Khrushchev to come to a compromise solution. The history of the world might have been different if this incident had happened without the United States or the Soviet Union being Members of the United Nations. 11. Two days ago, in this same General Assembly [1357th meeting], a vote was taken on Southern Rhodesia. The question posed was quite a simple one. And yet the consequences are so vital that it will affect the course of history if allowed to go unchallenged. Here is another African country which has been exploited by a white minority. Because of its rich natural resources white settlers have flocked to it. They exploited its resources and are reluctant to let the people share in the riches. They even went further than this. They took over political control of the country, and when the Africans protested their leaders were clamped into detention camps in the interior of the country in the hope that these people, being out of sight, would be out of mind. But that happened not to be the case. More than 650 such leaders have been placed under detention and they are of course not easily forgotten as they are the country's leaders. 12. Mr. Ian Smith, Southern Rhodesia's Prime Minister, has tried unsuccessfully to negotiate with Mr. Harold Wilson, the British Prime Minister, to be given independence now. But he was told that independence can only be given when the 4 million Africans have been given political freedom to decide their destiny as against the 250,000 white immigrants. Both the large British political parties have endorsed Mr. Wilson's stand. This is of course to their credit. But in the meantime IanSmithhas returned to Southern Rhodesia and promised the white minority independence by Christmas. This is in defiance of the British warning that such an act would be treated as an open rebellion and would involve both the white and the black people in untold suffering and bloodshed. It may also plunge the world into war. When the General Assembly came to vote on the draft resolution calling upon the United Kingdom to do its utmost to prevent a unilateral declaration of independence by Southern Rhodesia, the count was 107 for the motion, 2 against, with 1 abstention. Clearly, the vast majority of the representatives of the world were in favour of the resolution [2012 (XX)]. 13. On the question of Cyprus, we are grieved to note that this question has yet to be resolved despite several efforts being made by the United Nations to bring peace and order to the Island, My delegation hopes that a formula can be worked out to the satisfaction of all concerned. The sooner the conflict can be resolved, the quicker it will be possible for the people of the Island to return to normal life. 14. It is ironical that Asia, as the oldest continent of the world, is plagued with all kinds of trouble. We have the Indonesian confrontation of Malaysia; we have the needless killings in Viet-Nam and, more recently, the war between India and Pakistan. We hope that the United Nations can find a satisfactory solution to all these problems as soon as possible. And lately there is the reported upheaval and bloodshed in Indonesia. Unlike Europe, which has apparently fought all its wars and is thoroughly sick of fighting — so much so that they are thinking of a more affluent and more flourishing society through trade and industry, transcending national barriers — we in Asia are still fighting it out, burdened as we are with huge populations, illiteracy and grinding poverty. But however disappointing it has been to those.who seek the ideal world, these developments have given corroboration to the way of democratic socialism. For us in Asia, and even more so in Africa and Latin America, the acute pressures and conflicts of mass poverty, hunger and despair in the midst of plenty are a constant incitement to sudden and violent revolution. 15. Those who want a social revolution without destroying individual human values find that this setting makes the task an intensely difficult and delicate effort. If we approach Asian problems of poverty and under-development through the rosy spectacles of the Western European socialists, we are sure to fail. This is where the United Nations and its several agencies can do and are doing a wonderful job of economic and social development. 16. The situation in South Viet-Nam has degenerated into naked brutality between competing power blocs. Both sides are fighting in the name of freedom and liberty. We know that what is happening there is not quite right. We know that if the Communists are able to advance their frontiers to envelop South Viet-Nam it will be only a matter of time before the same process of emasculation by military and political techniques will overtake the neighbouring countries. We in Singapore are only too well aware of this. And, because of recent events there, the United States has found it necessary to bring in massive military power in order to prevent the overrunning of South Viet-Nam by the Viet-Cong. But there has recently appeared a perceptible change in the non-military aspect of the fighting. From talk of unconditional negotiations, with the hope that negotiations may lead to a neutral South Viet-Nam, there has emerged a willingness to talk of peace without preconditions. However, national prestige and suspicion are so far proving to be barriers to the commencement of talks. 17. As Asians, we must uphold the right of the Viet-Namese people to self-determination. As democratic socialists, we must insist that the Viet-Namese have the right not to be pressured through armed might and organized terror and finally overwhelmed by communism. So we must seek a formula that will first make it possible for the South Viet-Namese to recover their freedom of choice, which at the moment is limited to either communist capture or perpetual American military operations. Then, after the South Viet-Namese are able to exercise their collective will without duress from either side, ultimately — be it after five, ten or twenty years — they must have the right to decide their final destiny; whether or not they choose to be reunited with North Viet-Nam, and on what terms. 18. I now come to the economic conditions in Afro-Asian countries in general. Because of huge populations, high birth-rates, illiteracy and grinding poverty, in addition to political instability, this area faces many problems. Our region is for the most part composed of primary producing countries whose exports to the more advanced and industrialized nations are fetching less and less in terms of real value. The same is true of Africa, as mentioned by the representative of Ghana [1346th meeting]. The result is that these countries have to export much more of their primary products now if they wish to import the same quality of capital goods as they did only a few years ago. This point has been echoed and re-echoed several times already at this session by my fellow Afro-Asian representatives as well as at the Rome Conference only recently. It is a real cause of hardship and grievance to many under-developed countries which have made real and sincere efforts to advance themselves and their peoples. So far, nothing appears to have been done by way of redress. Let it not be said that, with the end of political subjugation, the under-developed countries are facing a new kind of threat — that of economic exploitation. There is much that the advanced nations can do by way of fairer trading practices before it is too late and before the aggrieved nations have taken up difficult positions. A lesson should already have been drawn from the political problem that we are facing today. 19. So much for the economic picture in general. Now I should like to say something about Singapore's economy and the many industrial undertakings there for the benefit of its people. Singapore lives mainly by trade. Its port is the fifth largest in the world and it is the principal commercial and entrepôt centre serving the countries of South-East Africa. This has been achieved over the last 150 years through sweat and toil. We are still working hard to build a more just and equal society, We realize that no one owes us a living. On the other hand, we do expect other countries, especially the larger industrialized nations, both in Europe and in America, to be more realistic in their trading policies towards the under-developed and economically weaker countries before it is too late and before these countries have lost faith in their fellow human beings. 20. Sinagpore's entrepôt trade is not sufficient to sustain its economy. In order to cater for the needs and to cope with the employment problems of its growing population, a dynamic programme for rapid industrialization has been launched in the last few years. In these efforts, Singapore has benefited from the generous assistance provided by the United Nations under the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance and the regular programme, as well as the Special Fund. The implementation of our rapid industrialization was assisted by two United Nations survey missions in 1960 and 1961. One mission was for a comprehensive survey of the industrial possibilities, and the other for a feasibility study of developing iron and steel industries. The Economic Development Board project is the direct outcome of the recommendations from the United Nations survey. It has been set up with a capital of $100 million to provide financial, entrepreneurial, technological, engineering, management, accounting and other assistance and facilities to new and existing industrial units. Assistance is also being provided under the OPEX and Funds-in-Trust. In many of these fields, the Economic Development Board has turned to the United Nations and obtained the experts it required. 21. The Singapore Government is giving every encouragement in the setting up of pioneer industries. Already 301 pioneer products, covering the whole range of manufacture, with a capital outlay of $300 million, are being manufactured at the Jurong Industrial Estate, which was established in 1961 under the direction of the Economic Development Board. These industries will provide jobs for 20,000 when in full production. Their annual output is estimated at about $560 million. The contribution to the national income will be around $110 million per annum. 22. Because of the high birth-rate, which was in the region of 3.6 per cent per annum, many social problems had to be solved. More schools, more hospitals, more houses and more of everything have to be provided. The Housing and Development Board continued to build at the fast rate of one flat every forty-five minutes in 1964 and thereby completed 45,000 units under the First Five-Year-Building Programme. An additional 50,000 units are due for completion under the Second Five-Year-Building Programme. 23. At the same time that these problems were being solved the root causes which gave rise to such problems were also being tackled. The Singapore Government encouraged the Family PlanningAssociation, with financial and other subsidies, in its work to educate the people in the advantages of small family units. After a few years of sustained efforts in this direction we are glad to announce that the birth-rate has fallen by 1 per cent to 2.6 per cent per annum. I think this is a very commendable achievement in any Asian country. And with the reduction in the birth rate it will mean that more capital and energies can be released for more profitable use in the industrial and developmental fields. Our attention has also been drawn to the report of the Consultative Committee on the Asian Development Bank. Singapore, besides being an entrepôt and commercial centre, is also a financial centre for the South-East Asia region. This report therefore interests us a great deal. We have already approached the United Nations and the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East to consider Singapore as the logical site for the Asian Development Bank. We understand that a committee of this bank will soon be touring the various countries which have offered a site for the hank in order to make investigations and recommendations. 24. These are some of the problems facing the Afro-Asian countries. They stem from political subjugation and economic exploitation. They give rise to social and other problems which are the result of political and economic enslavement. These are vast problems Indeed which have accumulated over the centuries and which we are trying to solve in a few years only. They tools for their achievement are few and meagre and the Secretary-General is doing a heroic job with available resources. Yet the problems cry out for more and more urgent attention. And even before these, can be attended to, other problems have in the meantime been added to the list. These problems are stupendous, and unless a really big effort is made on a scale comparable with its magnitude I do not see how we can achieve a solution when we are really scratching the surface. No doubt the United Nations and its several agencies are doing a fine job. But more funds and more imaginative efforts and planning are called for if we are going to make a success of it. We must be braver and more resourceful than we have been so far, and I hope the United Nations will not be found wanting in the tasks it has to face. 25. This is my first session at the United Nations General Assembly and I find it very engrossing and very full of hope. I am quite sure that many representatives, especially those from small countries, feel the same as I do. In conclusion, may I join the long list of distinguished representatives who have congratulated Mr. Amintore Fanfani on his election to the Presidency of the General Assembly, an occasion which was highlighted by the visit to the United Nations of His Holiness Pope Paul VI on 4 October of this year, a visit which has proved to be most beneficial indeed. I am also confident that under Mr. Fanfani's able leadership this session of the Assembly will be equally successful. And now that Mr. Fanfani is still ill In hospital, we all hope that he will recover soon and be able to take up his duties as President of the Assembly as soon as possible.