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PUBLIC PECORD OFFICE
Reference -
C.O.882/12
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON,
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BF REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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Translation of His Highness the Yang di Pertuan Besar's speech at the opening ceremony of the State Council on Thursday, the 25th February, 1932.
It is a very great pleasure to me to preside in this assembly to announce that His Excellency the High Commissioner has set in motion a policy of enlarging the powers of the Council of this State. There is no dissolution of the Federation, but as far as possible the State will deal with affairs which rightly belong to it.
Let it be understood that the Council of Yang di Pertuan Besar and Undang will have power to cancel, or to moderate, or to amend, or to approve the decisions of the Lower Chamber.
It is certain that this State for a very long time has been a Malay State, which belongs to the Malay people. It has become rich and populous, day by day the number of its inhabitants has increased. The State has been entered by people of all races, who have come to the country to engage in the work of their trades and pro- fessions. The wealth of the State has been won by people of all races. For this reason let it not be forgotten that on all Departments of State there is laid the binding obliga- tion of showing consideration for the Malay race who are the owners of the country.
Further, I believe that all the members of this Council will become a strong sup- port of the prosperity of this State, because they have all alike obtained the advantage of all the profit which has arisen from their industry and business within the territory of this State.
Now the power of assistance given to the Lower Chamber will not permit them to interfere in questions of Malay custom and the Mohammedan religion, but it will be concerned with all affairs connected with economic interests in the way of trade and agriculture, and anything which promotes the wealth of the State and the security of its inhabitants.
Speech made by the British Resident, Negri Sembilan, at the Opening of the new State Council.
MEMBERS OF THE STATE COUNCIL,
I Do not know whether I can call you honourable, because the style to be adopted by the members of these new Councils is still under consideration. The address delivered by His Excellency the High Commissioner at the Durbar of Rulers at Sri Menanti on 18th August, 1931, was published, and I presume you have all read it. His Excellency then said that what was intended to be a federation had developed into something very like an amalgamation.
The change of policy is intended, while preserving the federation, to restore to each of the four States a considerable measure of independence in matters which are essentially State affairs.
2. The Constitution of Negri Sembilan differs widely from that of the other 3 States of the Federation.
It is now based on the agreement between His Highness the Yang di Pertuan Besar of Sri Menanti and the four Undang of Sungei Ujong, Jelebu, Johol, and Rembau dated the 29th April, 1898.
This agreement was intended to restore the old Constitution which had broken down, and to reconstitute and reunite Negri Sembilan as a confederation under the presidency of the Yang di Pertuan of Sri Menanti, who from 1898 onwards las again been styled Yang di Pertuan Besar of Negri Sembilan.
3. The four Undang are not merely Chiefs like the Major Chiefs of the other Malay States, they are Rulers within their respective territories, and their position as such has been recognized by the British Government.
4. It would obviously be very difficult to have a Legislative Council in which His Highness the Yang di Pertuan was President, while the Undang sat as members side by side with the ordinary Official and Unofficial Members.
In fact it would not be workable. For this as well as for other reasons it was the wish of His Highness and the Undang themselves that they should not sit in this Council, and that the, Resident should preside in it.
5. The old State Council will still remain unchanged except that the Chinese unofficial member who sat in it has now been transferred to this Chamber.
The old State Council has changed its name to Majlis Mashuarat Keadilan dan Undang, which is equivalent in English to Council of Yang di Pertuan Besar and Undang.
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That Council will exercise the powers vested in the State Council by various Enactments. Questions connected with the Mohammedan religion, Malay custom, e.g., the working of the Customary Tenure Enactment, the reservation and alienation of land, and the appointment of Malay Chiefs and officers will be reserved to that Council.
6. This Council will be mainly a legislative body, though matters of adminis- tration may also be discussed, and questions asked, and Unofficial Members will have full opportunity of giving their advice and criticism.
7. The first task which I shall ask you to consider will be the adoption of Standing Orders. In my view, and in that of His Highness and the Undang, it would be best to adopt a simplified form of the Standing Orders used in the Federal Council. Mr. E. B. Williams, who is a member of this Council in the absence of the Legal Adviser, will assist us in this matter.
8. His Highness and the Undang will have the power of reconsidering all matters discussed and all legislation passed in this Chamber and of rejecting or sug- gesting amendments thereto. Any such amendments when adopted will be intro- duced into this Chamber.
9. It is obvious that the development of this Council must proceed slowly. His Excellency the High Commissioner stated at Sri Menanti "I am anxious that no false step should be taken through undue haste. Each stage in the process of decentralization must be carefully thought out." The precise details of the working of the Council of Yang di Pertuan Besar and Undang still require a little further consideration.
Laws, however, will be enacted by His Highness the Yang di Pertuan Besar by and with the advice and consent of the State Council.
10. One of the matters on which the Government of Negri Sembilan will want unofficial advice is the question of the Health Boards Enactment. It is proposed that this Enactment should be repealed, mainly because neither Government nor the Estates are in a financial position to operate. It has, however, been suggested that the Bystem should be continued by a State Enactment in Negri Sembilan, and this is one of the questions on which your advice is wanted.
11. In the working of this Council we must be guided largely by experience. The reorganization of the State Council in two Chambers is intended among other things to provide a means whereby questions which are peculiarly the concern of the Malay Rulers of this Malay State can be reserved for the consideration of His High- ness and the Undang, while in this Chamber the representatives of the chief com- munities, whether Malay or non-Malay, will have an opportunity of discussion and of offering advice and criticism in matters which affect their interests.
12. The official members at present are those whose Department most closely concern the welfare of the State, namely, Land, Medicine and Health, Public Works, Forest and Agriculture.
13. We are as you all know only too well in the depths of an unprecedented economic depression. We have nearly reached the limit of taxation which the country can stand. The revenue is still declining and further retrenchment is inevitable.
One of the ways in which Unofficial Members can help most at the present time is by impressing on the members of their respective communities that the Government like themselves is exceedingly short of money.
Expenditure on new schemes and projects, however desirable in themselves, is impossible at present. We shall have to be content in some things with a lower standard of efficiency than that to which we have become accustomed.
14. In conclusion I express the confident hope that as the working of these Councils develops, and as we learn by experience the best way of doing their work. we shall show that the people of the State generally, whether Malays or other races, will have no reason to feel that the new Constitution involves any reduction whatever of the security which they have enjoyed under the old. I trust also that these Councils will give yet another illustration of a thing on which we all pride ourselves, namely the harmonious and friendly co-operation of all races for the common good. Negri Sembilan is first of all a Malay State and such it must always remain, but that is no reason why people of other races, who have done so much for its develop- ment should not be called into its counsels, and take an increasing interest in its affairs.
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