The real battle in Malaya has always been " for
the hearts and minds of the people," to quote General Templer. The-- enemy has had three main assets: first, the active Communists above and below ground; second, the heterogeneous character of the people whose hearts must he captured:. third, their political apathy, reinforced by the fact that the wealthiest of them, the Chinese community, have for generations been excluded from civic life. The proposal, therefore, that has ' just been made by an official committee in Kuala Lumpur for a large elected clement in the federal Legislative Council is as much a • part of the campaign against the Communists as the armoured cars of General Templer's bodyguard. Is --or ought to be; for the only way to-create a nation is to give the people a taste of responsible nationhood, and real responsibility has been sadly lacking in the Malayan diet in spite of the village councils and the self-governing municipalities which have been introduced in the last few years. In the municipality of Kuala Lumpur, for instance, often quoted as an example of the civic progress which is the declared aim of the High Commission, there is a population of nearly 300,000 and an electoral roll of 7,000. Universal franchise for federal elections on a national scale would be a great advance. it is difficult to see why the majority of the official committee " would prefer at the outset to have approximately fifty per cent. of the council elected, leaving on one side the Speaker and ex officio members," and why it has taken so long to..produce so modest a recommenda- tion. If it is because of the emergency, the reply must be that there is still an emergency. And why did the majority consider that no purpose would be served by laying down a time-table at this stage ? Is there, then, time to burn ?
Previous page
