Appendix 1 - Ismail's inaugural speech during the general debate at the 12^th Session

Summary

United Nations General Assembly

Twelfth Session

678^th Plenary Meeting

Tuesday, 17 September 1957, at 3 p.m.

New York.

President: Sir Leslie MUNRO (New Zealand).

Agenda Item 25 — Admission of New Members to the United Nations: Admission of the Federation of Malaya to Membership in the United Nations.

78. Mr. ISMAIL (Federation of Malaya): On behalf of the Government of the Federation of Malaya, I would like to express our gratitude to the President and to the other representatives gathered here for their warm welcome. I would like particularly to express our thanks to the members of the delegation of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth countries for the draft resolution which preceded our admission to membership in the United Nations.

79. It is with pride and humility that I speak before you today so soon after the emergence of the Federation of Malaya as an independent and fully sovereign country on 31 August 1957. I speak here today in this, the greatest assembly of nations, as the representative of a small nation, a nation of only 6 million people, living in an area of only 50,000 square miles. The acceptance by the General Assembly of the membership of the Federation of Malaya in the United Nations confers on my country a privilege and a right which we shall cherish. At the same time, it confers on my country, small though it is, a great responsibility which we envisaged when we set out, with determination and singleness of purpose, on the road to independence.

80. Although our material wealth and our standard of living compare very favourably with those of many nations in the world today, as a small nation, our basic strength lies not in these material things, but in the moral character and purposes of our people. We have in Malaya three major racial groups: the Malays, the Chinese and the Indians, who have lived together for generations in peace and harmony.