Mahmud Awang
Singapore
“I would like to express my view that the progress achieved in our Republic has necessitated an increase in the membership of Parliament. We are well aware that we will have to face trials and tribulations not only from political Parties in Singapore, but also from outside political ideologies, in order to fulfil the needs of our people.”
“As one concerned with the liberty of the individual as well as the security of the Republic, and as one who is desirous of seeing that the rule of law is not defeated by its very provisions on procedure, I would not hesitate to give my wholehearted support for these changes in the law.”
“I think this is the most important recommendation of the Commission. And my friends say that we can include Indonesians in the definition of "Malays". This is very complicated indeed. Perhaps this Malay organisation considers that the Malays should be limited to citizens only. Let us take the citizens of Brunei and Sarawak. I am a Malay.”
“: (1) To use the strike weapon in good faith; (2) To use it as a threat; (3) To use it to topple the Government. We must be able to distinguish between these three factors. If we choose to use the strike weapon to raise the living standard of the workers, we can use it by all means, no matter what happens.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the vote for the Housing and Development Board should not be made disappointing by the Government. For example, applicants who wish to get one-room flats urgently have been offered two-room flats by the Board which they do not want and which they cannot afford to rent.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head 10 be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead 101. Mr Speaker, Sir, in this vote I would like to know, firstly, why there is a delay in the payment of the uniform allowance to the People's Defence Force volunteers.”
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Every one of 103 lines we hold for Mahmud Awang, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 3 of 3.
“We believe they are not fighting for the people of the country. They are fighting for their own self-interests. They are different from the leaders of Singapore. We fight for the people of this country, no matter where we are from or what we get. We do not have the intention of becoming representatives of the people in order to increase our prestige and self-interest. This is far from it. I do not know. Because of this, the Government of Singapore has regrettably introduced the work permit scheme, which will be carried out soon. This was not our original desire, but it has been introduced because of those people who do not have the best interest of the people at heart. Because Singapore wishes to survive, and must survive, it must see that the people from other States who are offered jobs here must give their best services to this country. Although we are only a small island, we are prepared to work hard for the prosperity of the State. For that reason, people from other countries come to this place to earn their living which is better than in their own countries. We do not grudge them that provided they do useful service. But we are not prepared to shoulder the responsibilities which should rightly be borne by neighbouring countries. Because of this, we have to find ways and means by which the livelihood of our people can be safeguarded. Every effort is being made to bring about a Common Market, but unfortunately no agreement has been reached in the interest of the people of the respective countries. Although these neighbouring countries pay no attention to the welfare of their citizens, we on our part have not given up hope; we hope that something good may turn up for the good of all. We hope they will realise that our efforts are for the benefit of us all.”
“Perhaps one of the reasons why the Barisan Sosialis have been absent since 8th December, is that they still fear what will happen to their friends and our neighbours. They will join together sometime later. However, let us see what are our responsibilities to this country. No matter who our enemies are and what their parties are, so long as we are ready to do our duty to our people in achieving a multi-racial society, we can live happily. I say so, Mr Speaker, because every community, not only in Singapore, but also in the world, must co-operate with one another, co-operation between one country and another. In other words, if our country wants to survive, the people must co-operate with one another so that the country can progress. So is our relation with other countries. We are not like the Barisan Sosialis who are by themselves. "If we rule the country, we can prosper." That is the wrong view. We have reckoned that if we want to live, we should co-operate with one another. Until today, we believe and hope that our neighbouring countries will give their services to the people of Singapore and we will also give our services to the neighbouring countries. It is so because, as I have said, countries must have relations with one another. There are leaders who do not believe that a multi-racial society can survive. They think that just because a country is independent, it can live in peace and prosperity without co-operating with other countries. We believe that world opinion will not agree with that. By such stupid actions, the result would be that the people of Singapore, including myself, who come from neighbouring countries, would become the victims. We as leaders of the State should not be afraid of any political Party. We should be courageous.”
“Mr Speaker, today is the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the Yang di-Pertuan Negara for his Speech on 8th December. Since then until today, we have not seen a single Barisan Sosialis Member present. The reason why the Opposition Barisan Sosialis could not attend since the 8th of December is that they have nothing to debate in this Assembly for the benefit and welfare of the people in Singapore. We have read in the papers that the Barisan Sosialis say they have boycotted the Assembly today. In my view, they are neglecting their responsibilities of giving their views as representatives of their constituencies. Their constituents had hoped that they could put forward their views and difficulties. The people of Singapore are now aware that they are being cheated by the Barisan Sosialis. As we know, it is the same as the Member for Hong Lim who had neglected his responsibilities. Therefore, in the by-election, the voters chose a Government Member. We are prepared at any time - when we face the Communists, communalists and colonialists - to come here to give our opinions and views for the benefit of the people of this country. We have fought them since 1961. We opposed them when they said that we had sold out the people of Singapore and that merger was not right. As a result of these actions, they co-operated with outsiders to crush what we had done from 1961 to 9th August, 1965. However, Singapore has been pushed out of Malaysia and the Barisan Sosialis say that the independence of Singapore is not true independence. We do not understand their intentions. We have said before, in our campaigns for merger, Malaysia, the 1963 elections and the by-election at Hong Lim, that the Barisan Sosialis have foreign masters.”