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TRANSCRIPT OF SPEECHES MADE AT A RECEPTION GIVEN BY THE

PRIME MINISTER, MR. , AT SRI ON 21ST

OCTOBER, 1965, IN HONOUR OF THE TRADE UNION DELEGATES

FROM AFRO-ASIA, YUGOSLAVIA AND MALTA.

MR. LEE KUAN YEW

Your Excellencies, distinguished friends from Afro-Asia, Yugoslavia and

Malta, ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure this evening to be able to welcome our friends from

so many other parts of the world and to wish them a happy stay not only in

Singapore but in what I hope will be the other half of their sojourn in South-East

Asia -- the peripheral regions around .

They have come at an interesting moment in our development from a

colonial territory to a state in a federal, independent monarchy on to a unitary

republic. And, as they will see from the newspapers, sometimes the most

innocent things about anthropology, sociology, how man advances from the

different stages of social organisation -- from Adam and Eve, if you like if you

are a Christian, or from other Darwinian forces if you are not a Christian -- but

lky\1965\lky1021.doc 2 whether you are a follower of Rousseau or whether you are a follower of Karl

Marx, there is no doubt whatsoever that men develops in gradual stages.

One of the stages is where they have got hereditary chiefs. And I am sorry to say that what I thought was an innocent aside on the development of man became the subject of unhappiness and a lot of diplomatic activity.

However, I can assure them that like them in Afro-Asia, we are also learning how to be independent. And as I read my daily newspapers, I have come to the conclusion that one the pre-requisites of independence is how to prepare for your Chancery being burnt down and arrange for your second-hand cars to be burnt down with it and preferably, all your valuables moved out of the household and then claim full damages for brand-new cars, brand-new furniture, brand-new fittings and everything else! And of course inevitably, all civilised nations now having vented their wrath, find great pleasure in paying full compensation for it!

But you see, our police are so efficient this side of the Causeway that I really am perplexed how we are to graduate to that stage! You know, I read about it from time to time: so and so burns down embassy in such and such a place; ambassador narrowly missed being beaten up alive by the mob. Then lo

lky\1965\lky1021.doc 3 and behold, within 12 hours afterwards, in the corresponding capital, similar trials and tribulations for the representative of the host country in the other part of the world.

My problem is ... I inherited a police force from the British which is run on very straightforward lines. And they are told to shoot at all rioters regardless of the slogans they are chanting. So, you see, it is quite a difficult problem: how to arrange these things!

Supposing something happened ... Supposing, for instance, we were to send a mission to Leopoldville in the Congo and let us assume that a reactionary

Tshombe regime which fortunately is no longer part of the Congo Government -- were to arrange for something unfortunate to happen to our property and to our personnel, and let us assume that the Congolese Government has got property and personnel here, and we would like to reciprocate the honour .....! You see, it is very difficult because you have then to call your Commissioner for Police aside and to tell him, “Well look, these chaps who have got the special red arm-bands

.... Well, they will be chanting these slogans .... Never mind whether they break the law or not ... Just, you know, also keep on firing generally into the air and, if possible, just in the direction in which the chaps who are chanting the slogans are going for.”

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So, you see, that is how we graduate to nationhood! And it is all very sad and very dismaying. But never mind ...

I have read since Friday the proceedings of the Conference, and I felt a little bit boosted up. I said to myself, "Here is a group of men who, in their individual countries, spend their lives boosting up a lot of fervour -- revolutionary fervour -- in order that their workers will be better off." And, here, thousands of miles away from their respective bases in Africa and Asia .... I am using the word `base' here now in a completely neutral sense. All I mean is you have a base where you set up camp and you leave your base; it has got nothing to do with missiles and launching-pads and so on .... I read about this every day in my

Monitoring Digest: what the other parts of the world are saying about bases ...

But their bases, as they say, are "mental" bases... And they have become mental cases!

But I felt uplifted. I said to myself, "Here I see something sane and rational; a desire, a compassion for human beings, whatever their colour, whatever their creed, whatever their language, whatever posterity holds for them". And I felt encouraged that we were able, in a small way, to play host to a gathering of people who placed humanity and the future of the human race and,

lky\1965\lky1021.doc 5 in particular, our part of the human race -- Afro-Asia -- between them comprising half, more than half the human family'....

I think there is some hope ...

I am not necessarily exclusive, that I therefore say non-Afro-Asians have no contribution to make. In fact, I am quite sure they have. What I am particularly interested in is to see that Afro-Asians so comport themselves and so direct their policies that the rest of the world inevitably finds a climate of opinion building up in which any policy which militates against the interests of half or more than half of humanity in Afro-Asia will find a cold reception for their views, their attitudes not only in Afro-Asia, but throughout the world. So it is -- whether it is Rhodesia or whether it is tribal chiefs or maharajahs or what have you: as far as our sentiments and our sympathies are concerned, we are natural Afro-

Asians. This is important.

I am quite sure nearly 50 guests from Afro-Asia should be able to feel it.

Like a water-diviner: you can walk around, you hold a stick in front of a man and if the thing moves, then you know he is a natural Afro-Asian.

I claim to no genius, but I was brought up in an atmosphere which made it inevitable that I should be an Afro-Asian. I loathe colonialism; I loathed the

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Britishers who lorded it over me; I fought them, I hate them; in the end, I beat them. But in the process, I learnt to respect them.

And just as well, because we should never under-rate our enemies.

A Chinese proverb says "zhijizhibi, baizhanbaisheng" :

"Know yourself, know him ; One hundred battles, one hundred victories". The corollory is also true: "Know yourself; under-rate your enemy; one hundred battles; great calamity all-round!"

So you see, whether it is Rhodesia ... Naturally, we say, UDI is bad; therefore, non-recognition." It is impossible for us to say, "This is your colony; do what you like with it. It has got nothing to do with us." How can we say that? We were a colony yesterday. Supposing other chaps had said to Britain,

"Yes, Singapore is your colony; do as you like to them." What would the world have owed us? Nothing. But fortunately for us, the world was not like that!

There were lots of natural Afro-Asians.

But of course, now we have a lot of poeple acquiring or wanting to acquire the accoutrements of being an Afro-Asian. I say, "Never discourage them. It is

lky\1965\lky1021.doc 7 good. Better an unnatural Afro-Asian trying to become an Afro-Asian than an outright stooge blatantly and bizarrely acting out his role as a stooge!"

So you see how happy I am this evening to be able to welcome so many guests from Afro-Asia to bear witness that small though we may be, dominated as we may be by three air bases and one naval base, the spirit in us is free. There is enough robustness, vitality and verve not just in a few of us but in our people to stand up, to speak our minds for ourselves, to determine our destiny for ourselves insofar as we can in an ever-shrinking world, a world in which independence and inter-dependence between powers and nations is a very real and vital factor in our survival.

And finally, ladies and gentlemen, may I ask you to drink a toast to our friends from Afro-Asia, from Yugoslavia and from Malta.

I don't know whether Russia is part of Afro-Asia or whether it is not, but I am in favour of more and more of the Afro-Asian spirit -- even by those who are not real and natural Afro-Asians, even by those who do not belong geographically to Africa or to Asia. Because I say this is something worth building up: a climate of opinion which begins to treat you and me, whether you are white with blonde hair, whether he is brown with grey hair, whether he is

lky\1965\lky1021.doc 8 black with black hair, or whether I am yellow with brown hair or brown-black hair -- we are human beings.

We did not ask to be born, but we are here, and we intend to have a satisfying life for ourselves and our people as the rest of humanity.

To Afro-Asia and our friends!

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

MR. C.V. DEVAN NAIR:

Comrade Prime Minister, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Those who have attended the conference of the NTUC and the

International Labour Seminar now in session of the Singapore Conference Hall would have been impressed by the richness and variety of the cultures, the languages represented there.

We are not a homogeneous group meeting at Singapore Conference Hall, and to reply on behalf of the seminar to the Prime Minister's address, we will

lky\1965\lky1021.doc 9 have not one but three persons: one, a French-speaking Afro-Asian; secondly, an

English-speaking Afro-Asians; and thirdly, a Japanese-speaking Afro-Asian.

I have the pleasure to call on brother Babadi Camara of Guinea to say a few words.

BARBADI CAMARA OF GUINEA: (Translation in English from French)

Mr. Prime Minister of Singapore and members of the Government, ladies and gentlemen,

In the name of the participants of the Afro-Asians Seminar, I am honoured

to bring you the most sincere gratitude for this marvellous reception you have just

given us.

Our joy this evening is immense because you have just given a very great

honour to us and to the great Afro-Asian family. We pray you, Mr. Prime

Minister to see here the expression of our very great gratitude. We want to thank

the members of your Government and the members of your family.

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Mr. Prime Minister, the gesture you have just made shows your determination and your consecration to the great Afro-Asian faimly so that it may live for the peace, happiness and prosperity of our people.

Long live the State of Singapore!

Long live the Afro-Asian friendship!

Long live the Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew!

MR. DEVAN NAIR:

Before I call on brother Suzuki of Japan, I would like to say that when we talk about "Afro-Asia" here, we also have in our midst a brother from Yugoslavia and a brother from Malta who, though geographically they may not be in Afro-

Asia, spiritually they are very much here with us.

Brother Suzuki from the "SOHYO", Japan.

MR. S. SUZUKI OF SOHYO OF JAPAN: (Translation from Japanese into

Englilsh)

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My dear Mr. Prime Minister,

First of all, I thank you very much for your kind invitation to such a wonderful party this evening. And taking this opportunity, I would like to express my cordial gratitude for having been given the opportunity to meet representatives of the Trade Union Movement in Afro-Asian countries, and have talks, sitting at one table under initiative of the Singapore National Trade Union

Congress and with the co-operation of the .

We can say that the international exchange of experience is very important. But I think it does not mean that an experience in a foreign country should be modelled after. Namely, I believe it means that no one can thrust his experience on to others. I am convinced that we may expect a genuine and a lasting co-operation only by standing on the basis which I have just mentioned.

The first step of international co-operation is to understand, mutually, the differences of social conditions, religious and so on, and to pay respect to each other.

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With his spirit (?), the present Afro-Asian Workers’ seminar is proceedings very successfully without demanding for a forced (?) consensus of the various opinions and demanding for the common task of Afro-Asian workers.

I believe this seminar will make a great contribution to the development of international solidarity of Afro-Asian workers.

I would like to express my appreciation again for the very great effort of the leaders of the National Trades Union Congress in organizing such a Seminar, and I wish all the leaders of the Singapore Government and the National Trades

Union Congress including Mr. Prime Minister further success in your work.

Thank you very much.

SPEECH BY MR. M.E. JALLOW OF GAMBIA, WHO SPEAKS ON BEHALF

OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING AFRO-ASIAN DELEGATES ATTENDING

THE RECEPTION.

Comrade Prime Minister, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen:

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Now that I have come to take advantage of the great honour which has been bestowed on me of addressing you on behalf of our English-speaking colleagues from Africa and from Asia, I find myself so overwhelmed not only by your unfailing Singapore hospitality in so far as the continuous assault on our digestive systems is concerned, but also the endless lights which, for a man like me, makes me feel already very fat-headed because never in my life have I ever been give so much publicity -- television, radio...... !

But to us a Africans, it augurs something very important and very encouraging. It proves beyond doubt that Afro-Asian solidarity, which for a long time has remained an idea floating in the minds of different people in different parts of Africa and Asia, can indeed become a reality; because not only have we been able to work together in a Seminar where the participants came from different countries with different backgrounds, different ideological convictions: we have also found one characteristic in the people of Singapore; that is, in spite of the fact that it is a small place, in spite of the fact that it is so very far from

Africa, we found a characteristic which is African, that is, limitless hospitality.

We also found that, never mind the size, never mind whatever difficulties you may have, there is that endless determination to go forward, to progress, and to create a better life for the people of Singapore.

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This is a feeling which is pervading all over Africa and Asia today, and it is a great sign which is bringing so much hope to humanity as a whole because our success in Afro-Asian solidarity, how far we succeed in bringing about understanding and co-operation between Africa and Asia, the fate of mankind depends on it, because this is that part of the world which is peaceful in the sense that it is unarmed. The little armies which different nations have in these days of nuclear, missiles and so on mean nothing. We are basically unarmed nations.

So, if we can get together and assert ourselves, we shall have taught humanity a new lesson: that humanity needs peace to achieve progress.

We are proud to say that for some of us whose first contact with Asia is

Singapore, what we have seen here is a guarantee that our success is certain.

Afro-Asian solidarity will grow from day to day and I am certain that as the years go by, we shall teach our brother human beings in other parts of the world how to live, how to live in peace.

So we take this opportunity in thanking you all not only our friends in the

NTUC, but even the taxi-drivers and everybody because even though, at times, they did not know us, they were very kind and very courteous -- which is a characteristic not only of this part of the world, but also of Africa, and which is another sign for the future of this place.

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Thank you very much. We shall always remember Singapore with gratitude and with happiness.

Thank you very much.

21st October, 1965.

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