Singapore, Sept. 26.
have just concluded the big race' meeting of the year here, and our Legislative Council has just met fand discussed the Budget. It might seem that between the two occur-Fenees there was no connection, and yet both stressed the bounding prosperity that is gradually returning to Malaya, It is roughly estimated, for example, that' "considerably "more than half a million dollars was me vested on the last day of the race meeting." But the totals are even more staggering than is that figure. Says a local paper: "It has been cal culated that the total amount, invest fed by the public on the totalisator fand cash sweeps on the tve days of the meeting was in the neighbour~ hood of one and @ quarter million dollars, Add this to. the official gute of $373,000 invested on the unlimited Sweeps and you have a total public Investment of more than $1,800,000, of which the Government's Share, in' the form of tax, is some-"thing between $10,000 and" $80,000.
jo better evidence" the paper add: could be forthcoming. surely th prosperity is returning to Malaya...
And that this was officially deemed to be the case was clearly seen from perusal of the Budget statistics Fecently published. We had expect-oda deficit of five million dollars fand the deficit was not throe mil-Ions, and this apparently leaves us alli with a surplus of about $65,250,- '001 "So that there is really nothing, very much to worry about down here just at present, though our cautious and conservative legislators fare not going to spend any money foolishly." Money, however, is going to be spent in one way or another. There is a proposal to extend the Singapore Harbour and to give us much better facilities than we enjoy at present, and the effect of these changes will be appreciated by all travellers in a year or two... 'Then we going to launch out into a very tly and very necessary sewerage scheme, for which our municipality' Intend to raise a loan of some eight million dollars. In addition. to. this we are building a new prison which Is to be the last word in prisons, and there are numerous public works being. undertaken which will soon make of Singapore a. city that can hold its head high among cities of the Far East. What a pity that we have not even one hotel that can bein to equal some of your Shanghai Palaces! Two other facts about finance may be of interest. Our nove lroulation has increased during this far by nearly three million dol and this is one of the best indic tions of the gradual return to. prosperity that we can have. Add to this that our foreign trade for the. first half of the year amounted to $804,- 106,000 and you can regin to visualize something of the effect that the world boom fs having in this little country. present we have something like 3800 rickshaws, and a great how! Jot protest has gor: up from the singapore Rickshaw Owners' Asso-lation about the possible abolition lof the vehicle from our streets. The possibility of the quota being cut down to 3,000 in 1996 is viewed with dismay for "not only one quarter of the men in the trade would be deprived of their livelihood, but the Public would suffer" we read. "The other reason for maintaining the resent quota is that, in spite of signs of a returned prosperity to Malaya, conditions are not yet such that the coolies could earn a living otherwise." Of course, ina few years this city will be similar to Tokyo where the rickshaw has most ceased to exist, but while we fare going through the reducing stage is bound to be unpleasant for the people affected.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.