CO537-4075 — Page 62

GOVERNMENT.

13

10.

FORM

OF

Lt. Gen. Percival.

Page.

Para.

2

4

20

96

93

683

94

686

"The form of Government of Malaya was probably

more complicated and less suited to war conditions than any other part of the British Empire."

"Clashes of interests naturally occurred followed very often hy long delays due in part to the complicatel form of Government." "I feel bound to recort as a result of my experiences in Malaya that the Fighting Services throughout suffered from this lack of a strong and centralized alministration able and ready to take prompt decisions and vigorous action".

"It would in my opinion have been of great assistance if there had been a single commander over all the Fighting Services an¬ the Civil Administration. I and my staff

would then have been much freer to concentrate on operations." 11

Air Chief Marshal Sir R. Brooke-Popham.

32

147

"The appointment of a Military Governor might have been desirable for Singapore Island Auring the later stages, but I was of the opinion that such an appointment for the whole of Malaya at the start of the war was not a practical preposition. The main reason was that the organization of the Colony, with the Felerated and Unfederated States, was very complicatel and that it was not a

practical proposition for anyone to take over at short notice.

Air Vice Marshal Sir P. Maltby.

4

19

59

628

陷

** *

"There were eleven separate provincial Government Authorities in Malaya concerned with the acquisition of lan l; negotiations with each had to be separate. In the earlier stages, lelay occurred owing to misunderstanding of the landi acquisition legislation; emergency powers of acquisition were invoked and this source of delay ceased.

later

"The complicated alministrative machinery in Malaya, which comprised numerous States with varying constitutions, was slow to produce results. Speed was further handicappe by the multiplicity of nationalities - Chinese, Malay, Indian and European who populated Malayn and whose interests and outlook varied widely. "ett. !

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