The Malaysians—II SINGAPORE AND MALAYA “NOT UNDER-DEVELOPED”

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31042, 23 April 1966, Page 16

The Malaysians—II SINGAPORE AND MALAYA “NOT UNDER-DEVELOPED”

(Bu a reporter of “The Press” who recently visited South east Asia on the inaupural flight of Air New Zealand.J The obvious prosperity, thriving trade, and high standard of living in Singapore and Malaya came as a surprise to those New Zealanders and Australians on the Air New Zealand inaugural flight to Singapore who were visiting those countries for the first time. The New Zealand Government continues to speak of “aid to the under-developed countries of South-east Asia.” and much of New Zealand s aid is directed to the Malayan peninsula. But the term “under-developed is resented by many inhabitants of the legion.

To the average New Zealander, the phrase, “underdeveloped countries of SouthEast Asia” conjures up visions of poverty. Singapore and Malaysia are not povertystricken, though it is true that the country's economic resources are not fully developed. Nor, for that matter, are Canterbury’s farming resources fully developed—but no-one suggests that Canterbury farmers are povertystricken.

The people of Malaya, in particular, dislike the term “under-developed" as applied to Malaysia. Malaya (but not the Borneo states of Malaysia) has the highest living standard of any Asian country except Japan. “We are a developing country—not an underdeveloped one,” said a newspaper executive. “There is a subtle difference. We do not like being termed an undeveloped country.” Plenty Of Cars The New Zealanders in the party left their country with the announcement of a 15 per cent import cut in cars to find new cars of every make crowding the roads in Singapore and Malaya—and thousands of latest model cars from Britain, Japan, Europe and the United States for sale at low prices in magnificent showrooms and garages in Singapore, Johore, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang.

The plethora of products for sale in the shops, particularly in the free ports of Singapore and Penang; the skyscrapers in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang; the luxurious private homes in the better class suburbs of Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang, and the University of Malaya buildings and campus at Kuala Lumpur (superior in design and layout to those at Ham) all underlined the fact that Singapore and Malaya are wealthy countries —although their wealth may not be as evenly distributed as in New Zealand. The people of Singapore and Malaya are extremely well off by Asian standards, although the common people do not live so well as most New Zealanders. It is not for New Zealand, of course, to prescribe how Malaysia’s national wealth should be distributed. But it is quite proper for New Zealand, a donor country under the Colombo Plan, to study the distribution of incomes in countries which receive such aid—if only to ensure that the form of aid is most appropri-

ate to each country's needs. To this reporter it appeared that all sub-standard living conditions in Singapore and Malaya could be eliminated if incomes were more evenly distributed than at present. Education and Housing The two greatest needs in Singapore and Malaya are better education opportunities, and better housing for lower-paid workers. The New Zealand aid for Malaysia, under the Colombo Plan, has been largely directed towards helping education. The agriculture faculty buildings at the University of Malaya, for instance, were paid for by New Zealand. Some members of the teaching staff are New Zealanders and Malayan students are amongst those who come to New Zealand under the plan.

This type of aid is not only assisting the new nation but—just as important—it is genluinely appreciated by the Malayans. New Zealand has a good public image in Malaya, primarily because it is a small country and its “colonisation” has been in small islands, such as the Cook group, remote from Malaya. New Zealand would be unwise to give either Singapore or Malaysia straight-out gifts of money with no directions about how it was to be spent —even if we could afford to do that. The Americans are learning, sadly, that pouring money into a country just because it is under-developed is a form of charity which, while accepted initially with gratitude, does not endear later the giver to the recipient.

Malaya and Singapore are building huge satellite towns to house the swelling population and to re-house persons in slum areas which are being pulled down. However, better education and better housing are creating economic problems for both countries, particularly Singapore. The higher - educated workers have to be found suitable jobs, and the betterhoused workers require more wages to pay the rent. In both countries, industry is largely based on cheap labour. The industries are not highly mechanised, let alone automated. Labour is cheaper than machinery. Employers fear that higher wages demanded by their better educated workers will lead to higher costs and dearer products which will be harder to sell on world markets.

Textile Tariffs

In Singapore, for example, the Government has introduced quotas and tariffs on textiles imports. This protection for textile industries within the republic is to create more jobs for the republic’s increasing work force. Singapore will become less and less of a free port. The industries as yet are very small, apart from shipbreaking. Factories are small, even by New Zealand standards. The situation is similar in Malaya, where both the tin-mining and rubber industries are based on cheap labour. In Malaya another problem is emerging: the drift of workers from the country to the towns. Although a satellite town to accommodate 100,000 people has been built outside Kuala Lumpur, there are more persons poorly housed in the area this year than there were last. But the housing of workers in multi-storey, air-

conditioned flats creates problems of rent in relation to wages. The traditional Malay house is built on stilts, with numerous windows with shutters left open except in the monsoon rains. It needs no air • conditioning and snakes and insects can be easily kept out—the car goes underneath the house. The New Zealand observer may be excused for asking if packing the people into multi-storey flats, where airconditioning is practically essential, is such real progress from either the economic or the environmental point of view. Ravages Of Climate The climate is such that unless concrete buildings are carefully maintained exteriors rapidly become tattered, and the occupants, by custom, will have crowded, unsanitary ' open markets whether they live in a concrete or natural jungle.

The replacement of traditional Malay houses —built of woods and thatch from the jungle—would seem to be much more easy and less costly. If the multi-storey flats were to be neglected because of a slump or war. they would deteriorate almost as quickly as the traditional houses, and require much more effort and money to replace.