234
PECORD OFFICE
Reference
iC.O.882/12
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE RE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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as follows regarding the positive remedial measures recommended in the Final Act of the Bangkok Conference :-
Recommendation No. 2.-The measures referred to have been adopted in Sarawak for some time.
Recommendation No. 4.-Medical and Health Services have been extended and facilities offered to addicts in order to wean them from the opium habit; the. response, however, has been very disappointing.
In this connexion the following information is furnished by the Principal Medical Officer, Sarawak :-
(a) Cases treated at the General Hospital, Kuching :-
1929
1930
1931
40 cases with three relapses, who returned for further
treatment.
45 cases with one relapse, who was readmitted. Two died of intercurrent diseases. One was dis- charged at his own request, and one absconded.
19 cases of these, five died of intercurrent diseases. (b) A generous diet is provided, containing white rice, fresh fish, beef or pork,
fresh vegetables, and bananas or oranges.
(c) As an antidote atropin-bromide mixture is given as a routine measure.
The average duration of the course is four to five weeks..
2. The replies of the Sarawak Government to your despatch No. 41 of the 16th April* were forwarded in my Borneo (Sarawak) despatch No. 31 of 14th July, 1932.†
14012/33 [No. 6].
SIR,
I have, &c.,
C. CLEMENTI,
British Agent for North Borneo and Sarawak.
No. 46.
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.
MALAY STATES.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE.
(Confidential.)
(Received 27th February, 1933.)
[Answered by No. 48.]
Government House, Singapore, 30th January, 1933.
I HAVE the honour to refer to your Straits Settlements despatches No. 147 of the 16th April, 1932, ‡ antl No. 235 of the 20th June, 1932,§ on the subject of the Agreement and Final Act of the Bangkok Opium Conference.
2. On the 5th October, 1932, I telegraphed to you as follows:—
"Your telegram 19th September, 139. No Malay State need be excluded under Article 5 of the Agreement. Further consideration of Resolutions con- tained in Final Act is required before detailed reply can be sent to your despatch of 16th April, No. 147."
3. With regard to Article II of the Agreement, entry of minors into chandu retail shops is already prohibited by law in the Straits Settlements and in all Malay States except Trengganu, where, however, a prohibition to that effect is included in a draft Enactment now in course of preparation.
4. As to prohibition of minors from smoking opium, it would clearly be impossible to enforce this. Even if the necessary inspecting staff were available, the prohibition would be ineffective without a system of house-to-house visitation which would be an unjustifiable intrusion into the privacy of many Chinese households. Further, I am advised that little smoking of chandu by minors exists. On the whole, therefore, I am not in favour of legislation on these lines.
5. As regards Article IV, your Confidential telegram of the 14th September and mine of the 17th September, 1932,¶ refer to the supply of prepared opium by
* No. 34.
† No. 40.
‡ No. 33.
C. 92881/32 [No. 21]: not printed.
§ C. 92871/32 [No. 32]: not printed. TC. 92881/32 [No. 23]: not printed.
67
the Monopolies Department of the Straits Settlements to Hong Kong, and details are now being arranged direct. North Borneo will similarly begin to draw its supply of chandu from Singapore early in 1934.
6. Turning to Resolution No. II of the Bangkok Conference, a system of licensing and rationing is now being tried at Christmas Island. It is too early to predict whether the experiment will be a success, and, in any case, the conditions in that island are so different from those in the rest of the Straits Settlements and in the Malay States that I fear not much can be learned from it by way of analogy.
7. The illicit traffic which exists in Singapore constitutes a serious obstacle to any such system, and always will do so until effect is given to Resolution No. I in the countries concerned. The rest of Malaya is not affected to the same extent by the illicit traffic, and, in the Federated Malay States at any rate, the improvement in the system of registration which it is proposed to introduce should provide a possible basis for a system of rationing.
8. In paragraph of your despatch No. 147 you wrote that Resolution No. III calls for no comment, as the registration system is already in force in Malaya. It must, however, be admitted that that system has to a great extent been ineffective. It is a registration of purchasers rather than a registration of smokers, and, while the statistics collected show accurately enough the total amounts of chandu purchased, the number of purchasers registered and the amount purchased by each, they are of little value as regards the question of individual consumption. There is at present no limitation to the amount which any individual may purchase in a day: the only existing restriction is that no person is allowed to have in his possession more than a certain quantity at any time. Proposals are now before me for the limitation of individual daily purchases. I have little doubt that this step, recommended by the Standing Advisory Committee
on Opium, will be taken by the several Administrations concerned, and an advance will
thus be made in accordance with the spirit of the Bangkok Conferefice.
9.
I appreciate your recognition of the progress which has been made in Malaya along the lines suggested by Resolution No. IV. Efforts for the development and extension of this work will not be relaxed.
10. Your wishes in regard to a single Annual Account for the whole of Malaya and a single Annual Report for submission to the League of Nations (Resolution No. V) will be borne in mind.
11. With regard to Resolution No. VI, I gather that it is desired that imprisonment without the option of a fine should be the normal punishment for the organizers of the illicit traffic. This would require amendment of Section 12 of Straits Settlements Ordinance No. 117 (Chandu Revenue), and of the corresponding Enactments in the Malay States. I do not regard such amendment as essential, for in practice all bad offences are punished by imprisonment, with banishment to follow. I should be glad, therefore, if you would inform me if you consider it essential to amend the law in this respect.
12. With regard to Resolution No. VIII, I agree that Malaya might well take the lead in calling the next Conference, at a reasonable interval after the Bangkok Conference. Such meetings are productive of good, if not held too frequently, and in the intervals of exchange of information and reports, in which the Malayan Govern- ments already participate, serves a useful purpose.
13. With regard to Resolution No. IX, the question of the curing of addicts is a vexed one and not free from difliculties. I enclose a memorandum by the Acting Director of Medical and Health Services which deals with this question and also with the problems raised by Resolution No. X. I attach also a memorandum by the Govern- ment Analyst dealing with the question raised by Resolution No. X and also with the matter of dross raised by Resolution No. VII. The Chairman of the Standing Opium Advisory Committee informs me that one of his colleagues on the Committee, Dr. Chen Su Lan, who has for many years taken a lively interest in anti-opium measures, has a scheme for the curing of addicts, and I propose to invite him to confer with the Medical Authorities of the Straits Settlements regarding it.
I have, &c.,
1
C. CLEMENTI,
Governor.