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Sunday, August 31, 2008 @ 12:12 PM♥

By: Jolinda =D

In 1964, Singapore experienced racial riots which resulted in 36 people dead and 560 others injured. Outbreaks of violence among racial groups are often causes by lack of understanding among each other, creating suspicion and unhappiness among the people.

A series of riots took place in Singapore during two seperate periods in July and September between two races, Chinese and Malay in 1964. Different political approaches of the State of government in Singapore and the Federal government in Kuala Lumpur caused a strain in their relationship. The two governments disagreed on the approach to govern their people, the Federal government believed in communal politics where special rights were given to the majority race. They approach to win the majority race in Malaysia, the malays. On the other hand, the Singapore government believedin non-communal politics in which all races should be equally represented and given equal opportunities. Due to this difference, some extreme members of the Federal government carried out activities to encourage negative feelings towards Singapore government.

A fight broke out due to the distrust among people between the Malays and Chinese in Singapore. The fight erupted into a series of island-wide race riots. To restore peace, Federation called in troops to maintain law and order. Other than the conflicts between the Indonesian Confrontation and race riots, the Federal government of Malaysia and the State government of Singapore also disagreed over economic matters.

The conflict worsen in 1964 when the People's Action Party (PAP) participated in the Federal Election in Malaysia. The PAP approach to Malaysian politics and everyone would be given equal rights and privileges. The malays in the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) felt threatened. Leading to an anti-PAP campaign organised by some UMNO leaders. The UMNO leaders emphasize proverty of the Malays who lived in Singapore. The UMNO arouse feelings of dissatisfaction among Singapore malays towards the PAP by claiming that the resettlements project were to uproot the Malays from their traditional homes such as Kallang River and West Coast although some Chinese resident will be affected, when the resettlement and redevelopment programme was portrayed.

The UMNO spread the an anti-PAP campaign by using the Malay newspaper, Utusan Melayu, claiming that 3,000 Malay families were affected by the resettlement and the PAP government did not bother the Malays in Singapore. In fact, out of the 2,500 resettled families only 200 were Malays. An earlier meeting was held by the UMNO and the Malays before the meeting of the government and the Malay organisations to explain its politics, addressing any unhappiness the Malays have. The tension between the organisation rose, stirring anger in the Malays. Race riots continued even though the government promised the Malays that theris economic and social positions will be improve through education and training. In addition, the involvement of Chinese secret societies in the riots also increased the level of violence.

The first race riot occurred on 21 july during a Malay procession that marked Muhammad's birthday, causing death and injuries. About 25,000 Malays gathered at Padang, Singapore to celebrate the Prophet Muhammad's birthday. After the speeches, the procession went on to Geylang. A group of dispersed was asked to rejoin the procession by a policeman but instead the group attacked the policeman. This incident led to a race riot after the group of Malays attacked Chinese passers-by and spectators. At about 5:00pm, reports of this riots issue begans between Kallang and Geylang Serai. 4 people were killed, 178 were injured and damages of property. on the first day of riot. A curfew was declared at 9.30 p.m. to restore order.

After the curfew was lifted at 6 a.m. the next morning, the conflict grew even more tense, and another curfew was imposed - only lifted for short periods for people to buy food. On 2 August, 11 days after the first day of riot, the curfew was completely lifted. Effort were made to call for calm. After the riots, community leaders from the various racial groups set up a community called "goodwill". The main job of these leaders was to help restore peace and harmony between the Malays and the Chinese by addressing the concerns of the residents. About 3,000 were arrested, 256 people for possesion of dangerous weapons, including 600 secret society members and the rest were arrested for violating the curfew. 23 people lost their lives and 450 people were injured during the July riots. There was significant damage to property and vehicles.

On 3 September, a second race riot occurred just a month after the first riot. This time, a Malay trishaw-rider was found murdered at Geylang Serai and his attackers were believed to be a group of Chinese. Another curfew was imposed in the neighbourhoods of Geylang, Joo Chiat and Siglap to follow order. Under the presence of troops and the imposing of curfews, these tensions eventually eased after a few days. In this incident 13 people lost their lives, 106 people were injure and 480 people were arrested.
Both Malaysia and Singapore have attributed the September riots to Indonesian provocateurs. It was the Konfrontasi period and 30 Indonesian paratroopers had landed in Labis, Johor on 2 September.

Leaders in Malaysia and Singapore were surprised by the rapid increasing of racial violence and both sides made frequent appeals for calm. During the riots, large number of arrests was made under the Internal Security Act (ISA), for those involved in subversion and rioters who were members of secret societies. This helped to contain the violence, especially during the September riots. ISA remains in force in Malaysia and Singapore is used to counter potential threats of communism or racial and religious violence.The riots exposed serious racial tension and the fear of further violence contributed to Singapore's secession from the Federation of Malaysia in 1965, when both sides were unable to resolve their disputes.

Jol's reflection:
Singapore, not only made up of one person, one race but it is made up of many people, different races. To build a better nation, everyone's effort is important, everyone must be united.

The pledge

(English translation)

We, the citizens of Singapore
pledge ourselves as one united people,
regardless of race, language or religion,
to build a democratic society,
based on justice and equality,
so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and
progress for our nation.

(Malay version - original)

Kami, warganegara Singapura,
sebagai rakyat yang bersatu padu,
tidak kira apa bangsa, bahasa, atau agama,
berikrar untuk membina suatu masyarakat yang demokratik,
berdasarkan kepada keadilan dan persamaan
untuk mencapai kebahagiaan,
kemakmuran dan kemajuan bagi negara kami.

(Chinese translation)

我们是新加坡公民，
誓愿不分种族、言语、宗教，
团结一致，
建设公正平等
的民主社会，
并为实现国家之幸福、繁荣与进步，
共同努力。

(Tamil translation)

சிங்கப்பூர் குடிமக்களாகிய நாம் இனம்,மொழி,மதம்
ஆகிய வேற்றுமைகளை மறந்து ஒன்றுபட்டு,நம் நாடு
மகிழ்ச்சி,வளம்,முன்னேற்றம் ஆகியவற்றை அடையும்
வண்ணம் சமத்துவத்தையும்,நீதியையும்
அடிப்படையாக கொண்ட ஜனாயக
சமுதாயத்தை உருவாக்குவதற்கு
உறுதி மேற்கொள்வோமாக

SINGAPORE, THIS IS WHERE WE BELONG!