MALAYA

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27987, 6 June 1956, Page 3

MALAYA

Sir, —ln dubbing the terrorists as “the Malayan liberation army,” “J.S.” clearly implies that the Malayans are enslaved to the British. He also makes the implication that the British have exploited the natives and their resources. If he means the tin resources of Malaya, then he ought to deplore the way we exploit the Maoris when we dig West Coast coal or cut Westland timber: but if he means the Malayan rubber resources, then he must be reminded that rubber trees, far from being native to the country, were raised in London and taken to Malaya by the British. I have a friend in Singapore who sends me local papers. Would it surprise “J.S.” to learn that the Malayans are praying to the British to remain? They know only too well that the “liberation army” works for a foreign minority which aspires to the fruits of BritishMalayan toil.—Yours, etc.. J. HARTLEY. June 3, 1956.

Sir. —I would comment on Ralph S. Wheeler’s letter in the words of Douglas .A. Hyde: “The Communist world which is their aim will not be a more humane one. for they have shown themselves prepared to use every, sort of inhuman method to get it. Experience in the Communist countries shows that they continue to use such methods after the revolution—as one might expect, bringing suffering to millions. They cannot be expected, once they* have achieved power, to cling, through thick and thin, to an ideal and put it into practice when they claim that nothing is of lasting worth, that there are not eternal truths.” —Yours, etc.. D. DAVEY. June 5, 1958.