How did the local people respond to the British Rule after World War 2?

Done by: Charlotte Chua (6) Khairulhariza(20) Nur Hazirah(29)

Nur Naazilah(30) M.Shalini(32)

Condition of Singapore in1945

Lack of jobs and povertyShortage of food, water, electricity

and housingDiseases due to overcrowded living

conditions, poor sanitation and lack of health services

How did the local people respond to British rule after World War 2?

Organised StrikesStaged Riots Maria Hertogh RiotsAnti-National Service RiotsDemanded Self GovernanceFormed Political Parties

The year of strikes

Strikes occurred due to the difficult living conditions

More than 300 strikes occurred in 1947 by almost 70, 000 workers

Strikes were started by the communists. It got worse after the involvement of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP)

What DID the communist do?

The communists stirred up people’s feeling through the trade unions

They blame the British for all the Post-war troubles

Encouraged people to join communist-controlled trade unions to fight for better working conditions

and higher pay

Protest Against NSOn 13 May 1954 500 students led a protest against National

Service Government House(Istana)Riot Squad stepped in and the event turned

violent.26 people were injured, 48 students

arrested(mostly chinese studentsThe Chinese students felt that it was unfair

to them, as they saw no future in the British-ruled state.

They were under the influence of the Malaya Communist Party

In the end National Service was introduced in 1967

The Riots In Early 1950’s(Maria Hertogh,Anti-National Service)

• Maria Bertha Hertogh was born toDutch-Eurasian parents• Parents imprisoned; Maria came under

custodyof Che Aminah brought her up as a muslim named Nadra• When her original mum wanted to claim her

back,Che Aminah made it a court case. The court ruled that she had to be returned to her parents.

The Riots In Early 1950’s(Maria Hertogh,Anti-National Service)

• After Che Aminah appealed, the court gave Nadra back To her.• Nadra underwent a marriage(only 13 then)

with teacher, but dutch law did not recognise it.• This caused an uproar in the Muslim

Community as they felt that the court was prejudiced against them and then they started rioting.

How the British governed

The people thoughtSome were concerned about their

livelihood while others feel that it was time for the British to leave as they had failed to protect Singapore

Some also felt that since other countries had gained independence, why not Singapore?(Eg. India)

So the British called for change.

The first Legislative Council

• The SPP worked closely with the British Government to fight for equal treatment for both local and european civil servants.• They also introduced proposals to provide

financial security for workers in their retirement or for those who were no longer able to work.• Not popular with Chinese-educated• Pro-British and believed in gradual self-

government

1st Elections

In 1948, Elections were introduced and the British allowed some Locals to be elected to the Legislative Council

People who share similar ideas on a running of a country should form a political party

Then this groups would promote themselves through rallies, speeches etc;

Then, residents are allowed to vote and the party with the most numbers wins.

Democracy The elections did not really help British as

not many people took part in it as only Singaporeans are allowed to vote.

Also, only one party took part in the 1948 elections, the Singapore Progressive Party(SPP)

SPP won 3 out of the 6 Seats, the other 3 were won by Independents

A Mere 13 800 people voted out of a population of 940 000, this was partly because many were not eligible to vote(only those born in Singapore could vote)

The 2nd Elections

Rendell ConstitutionIn 1955 the Rendell Constitution came

into effect(although proposed in 1953) It was a comission led by British Diplomat

Sir George RendelIt gave the local population more power

to determine the government but the colonial administration still held most of the authority over internal matters.

Areas The elected Local Ministers handled: Housing, Health, Trade, Industry and Education

It was an important step to full self-governance.

The Two Political Parties-Labour Front

Formed in July 1954Led by David Marshall, Lim Yew Hock

and Francis ThomasComprised of mostly low income and

English-educated trade union leadersSupported immediate independencePromised to bring about more equality

for Singaporeans within the civil serviceCalled for the extention of Singaporean

citizenship to China born inhabitantsPromoted the introduction of

multilingualism

The Two Political Parties-People’s Action Party(PAP)

Established on 21 November 1954Founded by Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Keng

Swee, Toh Chin Chye, S Rajaratnam, K M Byrne

Demanded immediate independenceFelt a strong political organisation was

needed to exert pressure on the BritishCalled for all anti-colonial forces to co-

operate in this struggleAimed to win the support of the workers,

trade unions and students in the Chinese Schools

1955 Elections79 Candidates, 25 elected seats in the

legislative assemblyThey made house to house visits to garner

votesDistributed newspapers and pamphletsOrganised ralliesGave Speeches to win the people’s supportThe Elections mainly focused on anti-

colonialismSucceeded in making ordinary people

believe that they could put an end to British colonial rule.

Situation of 1955 ElectionsThe electoral fight was on .The people of Singapore were

treated to a performance of the antics of political parties

It was as if the party that could shout the loudest would be the most convincing.

Polling Day160 000 People votedResults: -Labor Front -10 seats -SPP – 4 -AP – 3 -PAP – 3 -Independents - 3 -Democrats – 2

David Marshall – First Chief Minister(as his party won the most seats)

Brief history of The;Legislative councilJudiciary BranchExecutive council

1946-1948The Singapore Colony Order-in-

Council of 1946 to 1948, provided for a partly elected Legislative Council of 6 non-officials elected by adult British subjects.

In this first Legislative Council election of 1948, only British subjects were allowed to vote. Eligible voters had to register themselves as voters

1955The first Legislative Assembly

election was a lively affair. Automatic registration expanded the number of voters and for the first time it included a large number of Chinese

1959Singapore attained full self-

government. The Legislative Assembly election was won by the People's Action Party (PAP) and PAP's party leader, Lee Kuan Yew, became the first Prime Minister

1963Singapore was allocated 15 of 127

seats in the new federal legislature and retained her own legislative assembly and executive government. The Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore (State Constitutions) Order-in-Council was enacted to effect this change in status. On 16th September 1963, the Malaysian Proclamation announced the merger of Singapore with Malaysia

1965The Independence Act was

passed by Parliament to provide for the continuity of the existing laws and the adoption of some provisions of the Malaysian Constitution after Singapore left the Federation of Malaysia.

1984A constitutional amendment was

passed in 1984 to ensure that there will always be a minimum number of members from the opposition parties

allowed the best "losers" (maximum of 6) from among the opposition candidates in a General Election (based on percentage of votes cast), to sit in Parliament as a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament.

1988to introduce group representation

constituencies (GRCs) in the General Elections. In a GRC

1990President based on the

recommendation of a Special Select Committee, NMPs serve the function of presenting independent and non-partisan views on policies

1991The Constitution was amended to

provide for a directly-elected Head of State who would be provided with veto powers to safeguard Singapore's foreign reserves, ensure the integrity of the public service and to act as a check on certain powers of the Government.

Judiciary BranchBranch of the government that

interprets lawdetermines whether acts are

under the law and pronounces them

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