Post on 21-May-2015
• Attitudes of locals• Behavior of locals towards the British– 1947: Year of Strikes
• Maria Hertogh Riots• Anti-National Service Riots
– Demanded self-government– Formed political parties
• British’s response: prepared Singapore for limited self-government – Rendal Commission
“Conditions are bad. Rooms contain several separate families. Those who cannot share rooms live underneath stairways or in cubicles which are in complete darkness at all hours of the day and without direct contact with sunlight. Many houses have but one water-tap for the whole house and all the inmates share one bucket-type latrine. The dirt and stench are appalling.”
• No longer respected the British – British failed to protect Singapore during WWII
• Locals realize that Asians were capable of ruling themselves (as seen from Japanese Occupation)
• Wanted independence like India, who gained independence in 1947
TIME-OUT• What is communism? • Who are the MCPs?
• A system of organizing the society• Beliefs: Everyone is equal, everyone shares
everything (ideally) • Classless society • There is only 1 political
party
• Are people who believe in the idea of communism
• Are people who WANT communism in their countries
• Formed in 1930• Communists helped British
to fight Japanese --- Earned respect of people in Singapore
• Did not return the weapons• Became a lawful party and
able to organise activities openly
• Aim: • To end British rule and replace with
Communist rule • Method:– Stir up people’s feelings against British strikes
and riots!! – Promised Singapore people a better life after
driving out the British
• Maria Hertogh Riots • Anti-National service Riots • These riots were a way for the locals show
that they were unhappy with the British
individual!• Read the article about Maria Hertogh Riots• Answer these questions: – Who was involved?– When did this take place?– What happened?– Why did it happen?– What were the consequences?
Who was involved: Maria Hertogh; the Malay community; the European community. When did it happen: Dec 1950
What happened?• A Dutch girl, Maria Hertogh even though she was already adopted by a
Malay couple for 8 years, was returned to her Dutch parents. Her marriage with a Muslim was also not recognized. Che Aminah, the Malay woman tried to appeal to the court but was unsuccessful. On the day the appeal was rejected, the Muslims started to riot 3 days of rioting
• Custody battle between Maria Hertogh’s real parents (Dutch) and her adopted parents (Malay).
• The Dutch parents won. • Che Aminah’s appealed but was unsuccessful. • The Muslims started to riot.
Why riots? • The Muslims were angry because they felt
that the British government seemed to side the Dutch parents and were not sensitive to the feelings of the Malay community.
• The Malays felt frustrated and discriminated against, began to riot.
• They wanted to protest against the British.
Consequences of riots • 18 people killed • 173 people injured.• The government had to
enforce a 24-hour curfew for two weeks.
• There was fear and suspicion
Who was involved? • Chinese-educated students
When did it happen?• 13 May 1954
What happened?• British colonial government introduced National
Service. (All males aged 18-20 had to register by May 1954)
• Students gathered in front of the Government House on the 13th May 1954 to protest peacefully (peaceful demonstration) against National Service
• Became a riot when the police were called in to separate the crowd.
Why want to have a peaceful demonstration? • Secondary school students from Chinese
schools were not happy about National Service as it interrupted their education. (Students were mostly 20 years old or above due to WWII)
• Not willing to defend the colonial government • Malayan Communist Party encouraged the
students to boycott National Service.
Police catching secondary school activists
Open Letter to protest against National Service
“The British Emperor madly and meanly imposed the practice of ‘The National Service Registration Bill’ on all of us, what they want is to collect and gather all our innocent youngsters to be their ammunitions, which are to be used by the Imperialism for invading”
(pg. 143)
Consequences• 26 people injured• 48 students were arrested• Chinese students
also became more politically aware.
What is Self-Government? • Government that is controlled by local
representatives
What is limited self-government?• Certain less important areas of government would
be controlled by local representatives (but the important areas such as defense, finance, will still be held by the British government.)
Who takes care of what?
Areas of government under elected local ministers
Areas of government under nominated British ministers
HousingHealthTrade and IndustryEducation
Internal securityExternal DefenceLawFinanceExternal Affairs
• Singapore Progressive Party• Labour Front Party• People’s Action Party
Singapore Progressive Party (SPP) • Formed on 25th August 1947• Lead by: Tan Chye Cheng, John Laycock, N.A. Mallal• Made up of English-speaking upper class professionals ( a
minority among the Singaporeans)• Believed in gradual self-government• First political party that participated in the Singapore
elections in 1948. • Won 3 out of the 6 elected seats in the Legislative Council
Singapore Progressive Party
Labour Front (LF)• Formed in July 1954• Lead by David Marshall, Lim Yew Hock and
Francis Thomas• Comprised of mostly people with low income
and English-educated trade union leaders• Wanted independence immediately• Promised to bring more equality for
Singaporeans within the civil service
People’s Action Party • Formed in Nov 1954• Founded by Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Keng Swee, Toh Chin
Chye, S. Rajaratnam, and K.M. Bryne• Wanted immediate independence• Called for all anti-colonial forces to cooperate in this
struggle• Aimed to win the support of the workers, trade
unions and students in the Chinese schools.
• Stopped communists from using trade unions – British realized that the strikes were organized by
the Communist to create disorder– Passed laws to control trade unions so that unions
were not supporting Communists.
• Prepared Singapore for ‘gradual ‘self-government’– They realized that the people wanted self-
government.
• 1948 Constitution and elections • 1955 Rendel Constitution and elections
• Executive Council– All British
• Legislative Council– 6 to be elected by the
people
• 6 out of 21 people are elected by people
• VERY gradual transfer of power…
• First step towards democracy• Poor attendance ( 13,800 out of 940,000)– Many people not eligible to vote• Only those born in Singapore
– Voting not compulsory
• Only one party took part– Singapore Progressive Party (SPP)
• Results– SPP won 3 out of 6 elected seats in Legislative
Council– Other three seats: Independents**
* Independents: people who stand for elections but do not belong to any political party
• Riots in early 1950s reflected local people’s discontentment
• 1953: British decided to grant more political power to win hearts and minds of locals– The Rendel Constitution (pg. 145)
• Limited Self-Government• Certain powers of government given to
local leaders elected by the people
• 79 candidates contested 25 elected seats in the Legislative Assembly (p. 145)
• Contesting political parties organised campaigns– Focus: Anti-colonialism
• Result: Labour Front was the biggest winner! (Pg. 149)
David Marshall, leader of the Labour FrontSingapore’s first Chief Minister ( p.155)