Diplomat Says Singapore is Indebted to Israel for Military, Civilian Assistance

The Government of Singapore is “indebted” to Israel for the help it gave that southeast Asian island state in building its”Army, Navy, Air Force and its interracial civilian community centers,” a leading Singapore Jew said at a leadership seminar organized by the American Section of the World Jewish Congress here. The Hon. David S. Marshall, former Chief Minister (Prime Minister) of Singapore and now a member of its delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, referred to assistance given by Israeli officers and civil servants. He said that Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had often likened the position of his state to that of Israel.

Mr. Marshall told the seminar that Singapore’s 600 Jews seek no outside financial help. “But we do need other forms of help,” he said, “to maintain and enhance the quality of religious and cultural activity and to ensure the loyalty of our Jewish youth to the ideals and values of Jewish tradition.” He noted that there is only one rabbi in Singapore, no longer a young man, and he asked for WJ Congress assistance in this field. “I can assure you that we would welcome the establishment of a Jewish center in Singapore to cater to the whole of southeast Asia,” Mr. Marshall said.