Cablegram 272 CANBERRA, 20 May 1948
Formal note regarding scholarships referred to in my telegram No.
263 has been airmailed to you. [2] It is now desired that this should not (repeat not) be delivered but that fuller particulars relating to the plan should be conveyed by Mr. Macmahon Ball on his arrival.
You should inform the Government to which you are accredited that Mr. Ball has been specially chosen by the Government to make this visit because it attaches the greatest importance to close relations with the Governments and peoples of this area. He is fully familiar with Australian policy and will take the opportunity of discussing matters of mutual interest with the Government of Malaya while he is in Singapore. He will be accompanied by Mr. D. McNicol of the Department of External Affairs and Mr. V.G. Harris of the Commonwealth Office of Education. The delegation will arrive at Singapore by special R.A.A.F. plane on 2nd June and will leave on 6th June.
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1 similar cablegrams were dispatched to posts at Bangkok, Nanking and Manila on the same day and to Batavia the following day.
2 The note set out the conditions and benefits of the scholarship program.
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[AA:A1838/278, 381/1/3/1]