§ Mr. Gammansasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies on what grounds it was decided to withhold from the Malayan Governors the pre-war power to compel the registration of secret societies.
Mr. Creech JonesThere is no foundation for the suggestion that powers were withheld. In Singapore the pre-war legislation is in force, with an amendment which allows the Governor in Council to make orders excluding political associations from the operation of the Ordinance. In the Malayan Union (now the Federation of Malaya) after the liberation, the Government, with my approval and on the advice of the Advisory Council, enacted an Ordinance218W removing the requirement that every society must apply and be accepted for registration before it could function lawfully, and giving the Governor (now the High Commissioner) in Council power to declare any society unlawful. I am informed that in practice this has proved generally as effective as the pre-war legislation.