VISIT TO SOUTH EAST ASIA 1968
S[ NGAPORE
Speech by the Prime Minister, Mr. John Gorton,
at Banquet given by Mr. Lee Kuan Yew JUNE 1968
Mr. Prime Minister, Mrs. Lee, Distinguished Guests Ladies and
Gentlemen: May I start, Sir, by thanking you for the honour which you;
do my country today, through me, by extending this State banquet to us.'
It is an honour the more appreciated because we feel, as later I shall take
more time to explain, that you are an example to the area of the world in
which you live and that you, and we together, may perhaps with the other
countries in the region, if they follow this example, bring not only to you,
not only to us, but to all of us in this region a stability you want, an
opportunity for. progress you want and we want, and by doing so contribute
more than we can contribute in any other way to the peaceful progress of
all of the nations so close and so neighbourly around here.
This is not the first time that I have been in Singapore. Indeed,
it is not the second, third or fourth time. But on the first timeJ. was here,
things were not so peaceful here as they are now. Because on that occasion Si
Singapore was under attack, was under threat of conquest, and indeed, was
subjected to aggression. And those of you in this room who lived through
that period of time, will know what this meant to individuals in Singapore.
And will know what it meant to the opportunity given to individuals or rather
denied to individuals in Singapore to be the arbiters of their own destiny,
to be the deciders of their own fate.
One of the objectives which we must seek in the whole of this
region and by this region I mean not only Malays, Sin gapore, Indonesia,
Australia or New Zealand but other countries including Vietnam.. one
of the objectives we must seek is to see that that kind of aggression does
not succeed in denying to the citizens of any particular area the right to be
arbiters of their own destiny. And that this is of as much importance to us
in Australia as it is to you, let me illustrate, by saying this.. a little less
than a week ago I was in Darwin, one of our northernmost Australian cities,
and as I stood there, I was closer to Saigon, and was closer to Singapore,
than I was to the southern regions of Australia in Hobart, in Tasmania. There
are no longer these great geographical divisions there used to be. There are
no longer these great differences in time and in travel that there used to be.
We are getting closer and closer together in point of time; we are getting, I
hope, closer and closer together in point of understanding. / 2
You spoke, Sir, of expecting from Australians a hard-headed
appreciation of where Australian interests lie. I think it is natural and right
that this should be so, for the first duty of any government of any nation is to
look after and to advance the interests of those people whom that government
governs. You, I think, have the same approach. But this doesn't mean that
either country, ours, or yours, or any other country in the region can be
unconcerned with the interests of the neighbouring countries, because that
very hard-headed appreciation of which you spoke must lead one to the
conclusion that the ultimate interests of any country in a region can only
properly and fully be served if the progress, the stability, the economic
viability of the neighbouring countries are also served. For otherwise, there
is always a potential threat.
The future of this region, as you said, Mr. Prime Minister, is
likely to be shaped by the answers, as yet unknown, to the questions which you
posed. Some of them will be answered relatively soon; some of them will
take a longer time to answer. But some of them are at this very moment being
hammered out, or at least the initial steps to hammer them out are being taken,
at the Five-Power talks occurring in Kuala Lumpur; Five-Power talks which
are, as I suspect, only the precursors of discussions between the Five Powers,
but which are at least starting now and which regarding what you have said from
a purely military standpoint, are the beginning of trying to get the answers to
some of the imponderables which you have posed to us. And I think I should
say no more on that, than that these talks are progressing and that as the
answers come from them so the future course of events is the more likely to
be properly assessed. But stability won't depend merely on these kind of talks. In the
long-range, stability will rather depend on the economic progress which the
various governments of this region can secure for their peoples, and this, in
turn, will depend on the dedication of such governments to the interests of all
their peoples, not just that section which forms the governing class. It will
depend also on the administrative capacity of these governments to translate
their intentions into accomplishments, for only in that way will the peoples of
the nations in this region feel an identification with the governments who rule
their nations and swing * in behind those governments to help themselves and
sacrifice and work to see that a government in which they bd ieve will bring
to them the benefits that sacrifice and work will ultimately bring. That, I
think, will * be the abiding basis for security and stability in this region; which
is not to say, Sir, that it will be the only basis.
And I say, with genuine belief as far as I am concerned, that
here in this city state, perhaps the inheritor of the tradition of Venice, and
perhaps a city state destined to hold longer than did Venice that leadership
in this part of the world, you have provided a shining example of what a
government concerned with advancement of its peoples can do. You have
shown what a government which has skilled and devoted public administrators
can achieve, and the loyalty and support which such a government can generate
in the people it rules. / 3
It fills me, Sir, with respect and envy to think that a
government is able, at an election, to win every seat.. to win every seat
on its record, and I have no doubt that every seat was won on your record.
I think that the drive, the energy, the hard work, the initiative which you
have shown, the realization you have shown of the possibilities inherent in a
private enterprise system damped down by government to see it doesn't
become an exploited system, guided by government to see that its energies
are pulled into channels which are designed for the public good, but not
overseen in every detail of its work by government and by bureaucrats
have achieved what this city state has, in fact, achieved.
I hope that this example which I have called a shining example
will be able to be emulated by all the countries in this region, because I am
sure that ifit is, then the worries one has of subversion, of terrorism, Qf
infiltration will be so minimal that they will not any longer pose a significant
threat. And because if it is, then I feel that the other major threat that might
hang over the region, that of an organized invasion, would run so counter to
world opinion that it would have no chance of achieving what it set out to do.
So these are the abiding things on which the stability and security and progress
and prosperity of this region must be built.
Of course going along with them, especially in the initial stages,
must be some significant capacity to reinforce * what one is doing with the
military arm. But, Prime Minister, I know that you and I have the same
ultimate goal, the same ideal of what might be achieved, and I know that you
and I both realize the inherent difficulties which w ill need to be overcome and
the slow progress which will necessarily be made, because these new worlds
cannot, be built and varnished and brought. new into being in a day..
But knowing this, I assure you, Sir, of this: we stand ready,
in my own country, to endeavour to play our part in a co-operative enterprise
with you to bring about what I believe we want, and we expect, and I have no
doubt that we will get. And just as you have pointed out that we have reached
the stage now in history as a result of hard work and endeavour over 200 years,
and have in front of us the future because we must look to that and not to the
past so I believe if you and we and the other nations of this region can achieve
this administrative capacity, can use aid from whatever source it comes and
see that it is used to the utmost benefit of all the people and is not wasted, then
those 200 years of which you spoke are but a prelude.
Mr. Prime Minister, I am reminded of this saying: " All of
the pas * t is prelude", which has been irreverently translated as meaning, " You
ain't seen nothing yet". Really, I think this is true, be cause casting one's
mind forward, and we can only do it for ten years, for a decade, but tryirg to
cast it forward further still it is possible to envisage here, not in Singapore,
here in this region, in Australia, in New Zealand, in Singapore, in Indonesia,
in Malaysia and in bordering countries, a technological base, and education
and administrative capacity, which will enable each to develop and advance in
peace and in progress. / 4
That, Sir, I think, you and I would seek to see achieved and
that, Sir, while * we each hold our respective positions, we will work to see
achieved. I hope that not only will my wife and I return here to see you, but
that you will come to see us, for the invitation for you and your wife, Sir,
stands open for as long as you are the Prime Minister of Singapore, and a
private invitation stands open if you ever cease to be Prime Minister.
Thank you.
I,