Good though the British are at coming up to scratch,
it was almost-too much to expect that the letter to the Straits Times criticising Mr. Malcolm Macdonald for appearing at a concert without his dinner jacket shquld have been signed (as in fact it was) " Disgusted." The resultant' controversy is in the best Imperial tradition and should add materially to the bustle and confusion coincidentally caused in Singapore by the Swimming Club's decision, by a one-vote majority, to admit non-Europeans to membership. Sartorial problems are always liable to bedevil life in the outposts of Empire. During the last war a considerable diversion of high-level effort was caused at • the Headquarters of the Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia, by the problem of the Wren's arms. It was a stand- ing order throughout the Command that shirt-sleeves should be worn rolled down and buttoned at the wrist, as a precaution against mosquitoes. It was easy enough for the A.T.S. and the W.A.A.F–to carry out this order, but it was impossible for the W.R.N.S., because their tropical rig had short sleeves. From an anti-malarial point of view the whole thing was slightly academic, since in the evenings many of the ladies wore dresses which put them at the mercy of the insect world, but at one period this inter-service anomaly appeared regularly on the agenda of the Supreme Commander's daily conference. I can't remember what the final ruling was.
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