§ 80. Mr. Rees-Williamsasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why the rice ration in Penang is only threequarters of that in Singapore; and what action he is taking to remove this inequality.
Mr. Creech JonesThe reason is that, mainly for geographical reasons, the large population of Singapore has less opportunity to buy locally produced foodstuffs than the population of Penang. However, I hope that before Christmas it will be possible to increase rations slightly throughout Malaya and, as part of the plan, it is intended to bring the Malayan Union scale up to the Singapore scale.