§ Mr. Sharpasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will give details of the British Far Eastern Broadcasting Service, including the centres of operation, the countries served, and the approximate number of British staff employed.
Mr. McNeilThe British Far Eastern Broadcasting Service comprises a studio centre and short-wave transmitting station, broadcasting for seven and a halt hours a day, operated by the Foreign Office, in the Colony of Singapore. Its purpose is to give objective news and to explain the British standpoint to foreign countries in South East Asia. In consequence, its programmes (consisting largely of relays from the B.B.C.) are designed for reception by Asiatic audiences in Burma, Siam, French Indo-China and the Netherlands East Indies. There are thirteen United Kingdom British subjects and two Australians; in addition, there are some fifty-five British subjects normally resident in one of the Asiatic Dominions, Singapore or the Federation of Malaya.