WaybackWire

KUALA LUMPUR, Wednesday.—Dato Syed Ja’afar Albar resigned today as Umno Secretary-General over the separation of Singapore.

He handed it in this morning, after a long talk with Tun Abdul Razak yesterday. The Tunku accepted it and named Inche Musa Hitam, former Political Secretary to the Minister of Transport, as acting Secretary-General.

At Umno headquarters he greeted many foreign reporters with: “Gentlemen, I have good news for you. The ultras are going out.”

“The reason for my resignation is because I am not in full agreement with the Tengku in his decision to separate Singapore from Malaysia, and to save the Tengku and the Government from embarrassment I took this unpleasant action,” he said.

He learnt of the agreement at an Umno executive council meeting on Sunday and missed Monday’s vote in the House.

“What I am afraid of is that Singapore might become a centre for subversion,” he said.

In a statement, the Tunku said he wrote his letter to the Deputy Premier, Dr. Toh, to stress how grave things were, thinking it would be shown only to colleagues. “I can assure all the people that I am not weakening or dying, nor am I any less competent to run the administration of this country now than before.”

“To put it simply, I had to be firm but fair,” the Tunku said.

SINGAPORE, Wednesday.—The Foreign Minister, Mr. S. Rajaratnam, said today: “We have no intention of allowing the bases for any aggressive purposes against Indonesia or any friendly country.”

Highly authoritative sources in Djakarta said Indonesia would not object to foreign bases in Singapore used solely for defence. But Dr. Subandrio said: “If Singapore is a military base which is hostile toward us, it would be difficult for us to recognise it.”

Indonesia’s Defence Minister, General Nasution, said: “So long as the colonialists still maintain their military base in Singapore we remain determined to crush it.”

Lord Head, the British High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur, said Britain’s defence treaty with Malaysia must be renegotiated, as Kuala Lumpur and Singapore have agreed to a treaty on external defence. “Assuming that there are no changes in policy and there are no other consequences, it would be only a re-writing of the agreement.”

Of the split, he would say only that “we had prior information”.

In London, Mr. Wilson said Britain would go on supporting Malaysia against confrontation.

Mr. Lee, to ITN: “Peace treaty? We are not at war: President Sukarno and me.”

SINGAPORE, Wednesday.—The new Finance Minister, Mr. Lim Kim San, quashed reports of trade barriers against Malaya. “That has never been in our mind. Far from trying to cut the economic ties, we want to bring the two territories closer together economically.”

Answering Kuala Lumpur’s worries, he said some restrictions, such as on rubber tyres, protect Singapore industries and affect other countries too. An economic council will be set up.

Import quotas on 31 items also cover goods made in Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak, said the Controller of Imports, Mr. A. V. Cordeiro.

Income tax changes may lift the extra burden the Central Government put on salary earners. “Any change we make, however, will be in the next fiscal year,” Mr. Lim said.

Sydney consultants Vaughn and Associate Proprietary Limited announced three industries worth $45 million: a zinc oxide plant, a poultry plant with a feed mill and a heavy engineering plant, starting within a year.

SINGAPORE, Wednesday.—“Singapore citizens at present holding Malaysian Passports can continue to hold and use them until they expire or are replaced by Singapore Passports,” the Government said.

Provisional Singapore passports are being prepared. Malaysian missions will do Singapore’s passport and visa work, and Britain has been asked to help elsewhere.

Malaysians living here need not take out Singapore identity cards, the Registry of People said.

Ships calling here should fly the Singapore State flag as courtesy flag, though lacking one is no discourtesy, said the Director of Marine, Capt. J. A. L. Pavitt.

Mr. Rajaratnam gives up Culture for foreign affairs. “Inche Othman Wok has therefore taken over as Minister for Culture as well as for Social Affairs,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.