Annual report on the Malayan Union.

Date:
[1948]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report on the Malayan Union. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    12/234 (page 2)
    9 Population of the main towns of the Federation in September, 1947, was as follows : George Town (Penang) . . . . . . . . 189,068 Kuala Lumpur (Selangor) .. .. .. .. 175,961 Ipoh (Perak) . . . . . . ,. . . 80,894 Malacca (Malacca) . . . . . . . . . . 54,507 Taiping (Perak) . . . . . . . . . . 41,361 Johore Bahru (Johore) . . . . . . . . 38,826 Seremban (Negri Sembilan) . . . . . . 35,274 Klang (Selangor) . . . . . . . . . . 33,506 Alor Star (Kedah) . . . . . . . . . . 32,424 Bandar Maharani (Johore) . . . . . . 32,228 Kuala Trengganu (Trengganu) .. .. .. 27,004 Bandar Penggaram (Perak) . . . . . . 26,506 Telok Anson (Perak) . . . . . . . . 23,055 Kota Bharu (Kelantan) . , . . . . . , 22,765 Immigration. The volume of immigration by direct sea or land entry into the Federation of Malaya is small in comparison with the traffic through Singapore, which must be regarded as the main channel of entry to the country. There is no control of movement between the two territories, and in the absence of such control permission to enter Singapore must be accepted as tantamount to the grant of permission to enter the Federation. No survey, therefore, of the control of immigration into the Federation would be complete, which did not take into account the control exercised in the neighbouring Colony of Singapore. Further, it will under the circumstances be realised that, although the two administrations have each their own separate Immigration Department, those Departments find it necessary to work in the closest collaboration and to adopt, as far as circum¬ stances will permit, parallel lines of policy and procedure. Such collaboration existed throughout the year 1948. Prior to the war, control of alien immigration into Malaya was regulated by means of a monthly quota of immigrants allowed entry. This quota was fixed in accordance with the economic needs of the country at the time. Since the liberation, quantitative control has been superseded by a policy of progressive restriction of immigration on a selective basis, in which both economic and political considera¬ tions play an important part. Control of entry is exercised through the medium of the various immigration, laws and regulations in force, namely the Passengers Restriction Ordinance and Enactment, the Aliens Ordinance and Enactments, and the Passport Regulations. Subject to compliance with the above-mentioned laws and regula¬ tions, the following categories of persons are permitted entry to the country : (i) British subjects and British protected persons in possession of valid British passports. (ii) British subjects and British protected persons, to whom Entry Permits have been issued by the Controller of Immigration, Federation of Malaya, or by the corres¬ ponding authority in Singapore.