MALAYA GROWS UP

New Zealand Listener, Volume 37, Issue 940, 16 August 1957, Page 25

MALAYA GROWS UP

AUGUST 31 marks the beginning of a bold experiment in independence. Almost within the shadow of Communist China, Malaya, a country whose population is nearly half Chinese, is establishing a democratic system of government, helped to independence by the democratic government of Great Britain. ‘On Sunday, August 25, at 9.30 a.m., listeners will hear something about this big occasion when a BBC documentary programme on the independence of Malaya will be broadcast from YA Stations and 4YZ. Narrated by Vernon’ Bartlett, the well-known British journalist, broadcaster and publicist, who has lived in Singapore since he left Britain several years ago, This is Malaya tells of the many races to whom Malaya owes its incomparable colour, its variety and its charm: the Malays themselves, most of them peasant farmers and poor fishermen living in kampongs and villages; the darker Tamils from southern India; the Malayan aborigines of the remote jungle; and the Chinese of the towns who still preserve their own traditions and customs though their roots have struck deep in Malayan soil. The programme includes spokesmen for each

* of these peoples as well as the voice of Tengku Abdul Rahman, the leader wh« brought them together and hopes to se. them build a common nationality.