Essay

Riots in 1950s and early 1960s

Remembering 1950s and 1960s today, it seems far from us young teenagers, but for our older generations, they surely would not forget the riots. 1950s and early 1960s, a period of time when Singapore struggled to be independent, and riots were not uncommon. We should remember these years as the riots caused a great impact on Singapore and we should learn from them in order to not repeat those unpleasant times. There were a few significant riots such as the Maria Hertogh Riot, the Hock Lee Bus Riot and the National service riot.

Singapore is multi-racial society, the harmony between the different races is very important and the current peace is extremely fragile. One wrong comment or insult can cause outrage and aggression between the races. A very serious riot involving different races is the Mariah Hertogh riot that happened on 11 December 1950. The riot was about the custody of Maria, who was a Dutch-Eurasian but was raised as a muslim because she was left with a Malay lady, Aminah, during the World War II.  It was a riot that happened due to poor management of the situation by the government , who greatly angered the Muslims, thus causing them to riot.Two Europeans, two Chinese and a Eurasian were fatally injured and more than 100 people - Europeans, Eurasians, Chinese and Indians - were wounded in the Muslim rioting . Riots like these can have serious consequences and we should never repeat them. this riot clearly tells us that we should always respect and remain harmonious with all different races, and that cases like these have to be approached with utmost delicacy. This is still important in the present Singapore and we should always keep it in mind.

The Hock Lee Bus Riot is another important riot to learn from .On April 23, 1955, workers from Hock Lee Amalgamated Bus company and some Chinese students began to go on strike. The workers from the Singapore Bus Workers Union protested against long hours, poor benefits and working conditions.On 12 May 1955 a major riot broke out. 4 people were killed and 31 injured in the violent and bloody riot. This tells all of us that we should not forget to treat working people like bus drivers fairly and give them decent wages. It is due to their hard work that we are able to travel quickly and easily to different places. Treating them fairly will also help maintain peace in the country as people will not riot and create havoc if they are happy with their work. Riots concerning workers can be serious because there is a large number of working people in Singapore and if everyone were to riot, there may be serious casualties. The same still applies in Singapore today, in fact everywhere else too and if we do not continue to treat workers equally, history might repeat itself thus we have to remember them.

The national service riot is also important in the history of Singapore. This riot broke out in May 1954, which involved a number of Singaporean Chinese students. We learn from this riot that we cannot depend on others to defend our country. Also, it is important that we do not to discriminate other races as it may result in riots and protests. In the national service riot, the chinese feel that the government is biased towards other races, in terms of job and education opportunities. This is why when the British introduced National Service, the Chinese were reluctant to serve them. They didn’t want to serve the British who did not look after their welfare and interests well enough. Hence they vent their anger through violence. In Singapore today, if the government did not treat the different races equally, riots may occur any time.

Chinese middle school riot is another significant riot in the history of Singapore. This riot happened in 24th October 1956 and resulted in 13 people killed and more than 100 injured. It happened after the resignation of David Marshall. Lim Yew Hock, the next Chief Minister announced that the Singapore Chinese middle School Students’ Union (SCMSSU) would be closed down because of the communist activities. In the riot, students gathered and camped at Chung Cheng High School and The Chinese High School. They sat-in over two weeks, organising meetings and holding demonstrations. We should always remember this riot as this is our school's history and we should preserve what we have now!

And last but not least is the race riots that happened in 1964. The 1964 race riots was a series of riots that took place in Singapore during July and September, between Chinese and Malay groups. This riot in total caused 36 deaths and injured another 556, about 3,000 people were arrested. Through this riot, we should learn that reacting sensitively to race issues is very important. It is never easy for different races to live peacefully together in a country. Our forefathers risked their lives for us today, so we must cherish this peace and harmony between different religions and races and not to take it for granted.

Peace is very important in a country, these riots have undoubtedly left deep marks on Singapore’s history and the people who had experienced it. It is vital that we do not let history repeat and always stay united together as a country, never to let racial and religious differences cause any form of conflict or social unrest. We have to always be sensitive towards each other in whatever we do and say because social peace and harmony can never be taken for granted. Hence, it is important for us to keep remembering the 1950s and 1960s.