the hock lee bus riots (12 may 1955) - hsse home page · web viewas such, on that fateful day,...

NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

NATIONAL INSTITUE OF EDUCATION

CTL 202: SELECTED HISTORY TOPICS FORPRIMARY SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHING

A tranquil little kampong amidstthe racial riots in 1964.

Is it possible?

Name : Tan Ser Yunn KevinNIE Student Number : 047150B08Email : [email protected] : 90992254Course Code : CTL202Course Title : Selected History Topics for Primary Social

Studies Teaching Tutor : A/P Karl Hack

CTL202: Selected History Topics for Primary Social Studies TeachingA tranquil little kampong amidst the racial riots in 1964. Is it possible?

A tranquil little kampong amidst the Racial Riots in 1964. Is it possible?Written by Tan Ser Yunn Kevin

For this assignment, my original intention was to interview my grandmother who

had came to Singapore as a child bride 60 plus years ago and had also gone through the

Second World War. However, as she was reluctant to recall life during those years, I had

to approach my father, Mr Tan. However, I was pleasantly surprised during the interview,

as he had painted me a totally different picture of the racial riots from the one that I had

anticipated.

In his fifties and speaking to me in predominantly English with some Mandarin

and Hokkien phrases in between, he related to me that he was only 13 years old during

the time of the racial riots. At that time, he was living a Chinese kampong somewhere in

the North-Eastern part of Singapore, near to the presently Hougang Avenue 10. As the

occupants of his kampong were all Chinese, the racial riot was almost a non-event for

him, other then the inconvenient of having to stay at home for a few days. But, at the

same time, he also revealed that people in his kampong was still affected to a certain

extent as they did organised vigil at night to kept watch “just in case”.

Background

On 21 July 1964, a riot broke out during the celebration of the Prophet

Muhammad birthday’s procession. In all, it claimed a total of 23 lives and 454 injuries 1.

1 Albert Lau. A Moment of Anguish – Singapore in Malaysia and the Politics of Disengagement (Singapore: Times Academic Press, 1998) p. 175

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In addition, “some 3,568 persons were arrested, 715 of them charged in court and another

945 placed under preventive detention”2.

So what could have cause such devastating a riot? There were many possible

reasons, as Malaysia’s and Singapore’s government were not on good terms during that

time. However, most people would state that the despatching of UMNO’s Secretary-

General Syed Jaafar Albar to Singapore could be the spark to the riot as “he tried to instil

a more rabid nationalism into the [UMNO’s] branch leaders and this eventually led to

demands… for privileges and safeguards equal to… Muslim peoples of the Malay

States”3 . This was flatly refused by the then Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Lee Kuan

Yew who only wanted to give concession “in the field of education”4. “[S]o racial

tension, deliberately exacerbated by members of a strong anti-Malaysia underground

movement, bubbled dangerously just below the surface”5 and it finally reared it’s ugly

head on the 21 July 1964.

As such, on that fateful day, “an estimated 20,000 Malays and Muslims”6 were

“gradually passing through Kallang, an area dominated by Chinese population”7 when the

riots broke out. There were different claims to the cause of the riots as both Mr Lee Kuan

Yew and Mr Abdul Razak had offered various reasons that ranges from the hitting a

Chinese Federal Reserve Unit officer by a group of Malay youths, the throwing of a

2 Albert Lau. A Moment of Anguish – Singapore in Malaysia and the Politics of Disengagement (Singapore: Times Academic Press, 1998) p. 1753 William Shaw. Tun Razak – His Life and Times (Kuala Lumpur: Longman Malaysia Sdn. Berhad, 1976) p. 1744 C. M. Turnbull. A History of Singapore 1819-1975 (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1977) p. 2915 William Shaw. Tun Razak – His Life and Times (Kuala Lumpur: Longman Malaysia Sdn. Berhad, 1976) p. 1746 Albert Lau. A Moment of Anguish – Singapore in Malaysia and the Politics of Disengagement (Singapore: Times Academic Press, 1998) p. 1627 National Archive Singapore. “Trials & Turbulences in 1964”, http://www.knowledgenet.com.sg/singapore/SG/NR/NRTNT001.asp?next=0

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bottle at the procession crowd or even to the Indonesian sponsored agitators who stirred

up the riots. However, those claims would still not have initiated the riots if the Malay

and Chinese did not have that underlying distrust among each other. Therefore, the

various reason could just be a spark that actualise and manifested the riots itself.

With the inception of the first case of riot, it spread rapidly to many areas of

Singapore. And at the end of the first day, “220 incidents had been reported, 178 persons

had been injured… and 4 had been killed”8.

The scales of the riots was scattering so quickly that Singapore military forces and

even the British military forces were activated. Curfews were also implemented to

control the riots and it was finally lifted completely only on 2 August, 11 days later when

the situation calmed down. It was so devastating that Mr Toh Chin Chye described it as

“unprecedented in the history of Singapore”9.

In the North-Eastern Part of Singapore

In Albert Lau’s book, “A Moment of Anguish – Singapore in Malaysia and the

Politics of Disengagement”, he has given a very detail description of the riots and it’s

locations. From the description, it was observed that the troubled areas started from

around the Southern part of the island which included “Arab Street, Victoris Street, North

Bridge Road etc.” all the way to the East part of the island which encompasses “Geylang

and Chai Chee, Joo Chiat etc.10

8 Albert Lau. A Moment of Anguish – Singapore in Malaysia and the Politics of Disengagement (Singapore: Times Academic Press, 1998) p. 1699 Ibid p. 17510 Albert Lau. A Moment of Anguish – Singapore in Malaysia and the Politics of Disengagement (Singapore: Times Academic Press, 1998) pp. 164-173

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This seems to be consistent with the description of Mr Tan that the North-Eastern

side of the island is indeed spared from the direct impact of the riots. In fact, Joe Yeoh, in

his comic book “To Tame a Tiger – A Singapore Story”, actually printed that “The

violence spread to other parts of Singapore and although communal temperatures rose

several degrees, the vast majority of Chinese and Malay neighbours protected each

other.”11 It was echo again in a website called Little Speck as it mentioned that “In many

kampongs, Chinese and Malay residents protected each other from disorderly elements

from outside their kampongs?”12.

This seems to show that there were still rational Singaporean among some of the

more “ hot headed” one, as portrayed in most of the books, even though they are often

“forgotten”. The adults in the kampong of Mr Tan further illustrated the point by forming

groups to safeguard their kampong instead of joining in the riot themselves. They did not

agree with the ideology of the rioters but for the safety of the their families members,

decided to “take matters into their own hands”.

It was also interesting to note that Mr Tan pointed out that there was no police or

army personnel to be seen in the kampong during that period of time. It was a bit weird as

if no “official forces” were presence in the kampong, how were they to know if there

were riots around that area? Unfortunately, searches in the library and books did not

really reveal any clue to this aspect of the riots.

11 Joe Yeoh. To Tame a Tiger – The Singapore Story (Singapore: Wiz-Biz, 2000)12 Little Speck. “Singapore: July 21, 1964 Racial Riots”, http://www.littlespeck.com/ThePast/CPast-64riots-640721.htm

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Interaction between the races

Next, Mr Tan stated that he had got almost no contact with member of the other

races during that era. Even if he sees them on the way to school, they would just walk

past each other. The non-interaction between the youth seems to suggest a segregation of

the Singaporean by races in certain parts of the island. As they did not see the need to

interact with each other, misunderstandings could easily occur and Mr Syed Jaafar Albar

could just be the person who make the most out of this gap in communication.

The PAP government realised this after the riots and Mr Othman Wok, Minister

for Social Affair in the 1960s mentioned that

“[s]oon after the riots, we decided on a housing policy to mix the

races together in the Housing Board flats. The experience of

Geylang Serai and Joo Chiat showed that if the communities

were left apart, there will be endless problems”13.

Duration of the Riots

In Mr Tan’s account, He mentioned that the riots caused him to be ground at

home for a few days. There seems to be a slight discrepancy in his account of the

duration of the riots as compared to books and researches. As mentioned earlier, the

curfews were completely lifted on the 2 August 1964 but according to National Archives

Singapore, “[s]chool holidays were bought forward a week earlier and term resumed on

17 August instead of the original date of 27 August”14.

13 Ravi Veloo. “The Story of Singapore’s Race Relations as seen through the eyes of Othman Wok”, http://ourstory.asia1.com.sg/independence/ref/race.html14 National Archives Singapore. “Trials & Turbulences in 1964”, http://www.knowledgenet.com.sg/singapore/SG/NR/NRTNT001.asp?next=0

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This discrepancy could be due to Mr Tan’s self admission that he could not

remember the exact detail of the riots as he was only 13 years old at that time. The time

issue could be insignificance as critical issue here is that there are indeed pockets of

peace among the unrest during the racial riots.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Singapore is a small country made up of people from different

races and belief. The racial riots in the 1964 taught us a painful lesson that we should

never take racial harmony for granted. Recent terrorist crisis had once again reminded us

of the delicate social fabric of our society. Our ex-Prime minister, Mr Goh Chok Tong

reminded us that “those who lived through [the riots] had been convinced of the

overriding importance of racial tolerance and harmony and this had helped shape

Singapore into what it was today”15. As such, we should start inculcating the importance

of “preserv[ing] racial and religious harmony”16 to our future generation so as to ensure

that similar incident do not ever occur in Singapore every again.

15 Walter Fernandez. “Riots ‘helped shape S’pore’”, http://huaren.org/diaspora/asia/singapore/id/070898-1.html16 Ministry of Education. “Six messages of National Education”, http://www1.moe.edu.sg/ne/AboutNE/SixMsgs.html

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Bibliography

1. Alex Josey. Lee Kuan Yew – The Crucial Years (Singapore: Times Books

International, 1997)

2. Albert Lau. A Moment of Anguish – Singapore in Malaysia and the Politics of

Disengagement (Singapore: Times Academic Press, 1998)

3. C. M. Turnbull. A History of Singapore 1819-1975 (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford

University Press, 1977)

4. Joe Yeoh. To Tame a Tiger – The Singapore Story (Singapore: Wiz-Biz, 2000)

5. Little Speck. “Singapore: July 21, 1964 Racial Riots”,


6. Ministry of Education. “Six messages of National Education”,


7. National Archives Singapore. “Trials & Turbulences in 1964”,


8. Ravi Veloo. “The Story of Singapore’s Race Relations as seen through the eyes of

Othman Wok”, http://ourstory.asia1.com.sg/independence/ref/race.html

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9. William Shaw. Tun Razak – His Life and Times (Kuala Lumpur: Longman

Malaysia Sdn. Berhad, 1976)

10. Walter Fernandez. “Riots ‘helped shape S’pore’”,


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Transcript for the oral interview project

Profile of the IntervieweeName of Interviewee : Mr Tan S. K.Age : 54 years oldNationality : SingaporeanOccupation : Taxi-driverLanguage Spoken : English, Mandarin and HokkienVenue : Mr Tan’s living room

How old were you when this happened?

I was 13 years old when the riots happened. That was many many years ago. Can’t even

remember much liao.

Where were you living then? What is the ratio of the ethic groups in your kampong?

Well, at that time, I was living in a kampong… let me see… it’s should be where the

current Hougang Ave 10 is now. It was a small Chinese Kampong and there was no

Malay or Indian in my kampong.

Where were you studying at that time?

Monfort Missionary School. It used to be somewhere in Upper Serangoon. I have to walk

to school every day.

What is the racial combination of the school?

The school has some Eurasians and a lot of Chinese. Yeah, there were also some Malay

and Indians but their number is very small.

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Did you get to talk to them?

Not really. Cause they are not in my class.

Can you tell me how is your relationship with members of the other races before the

riots?

The other races? You meant the Malays and the Indians? … I did not really know

anybody from the other races other than the Eurasian in school. The Malays and the

Indians are in other classes. As I lived in a Chinese kampong, all of us are Chinese. If we

need anything, we just go to the only provision shop in the kampong. It sold almost all

the things that we need. As such, I did not really have a chance to talk to other races. The

closest I came into contact with Malay students is when we walked past each other when

we were going to school. They were from other villages. But it’s just walked past. We

didn’t talk.

Not even once?

Well, at that time, I did not see the need to talk to them. Therefore we still did not talk to

each other.

How did you know of the riots?

One day, I was informed that as there are some riots, I did not have to go to school. Can’t

really remember who told me that but I think it should be some adults. But know that I

did not have to go to school for quite a few days.

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Can you remember more about the person who told you about the riots and what

was told to you?

(After a long pause) I can’t really remember. It’s really a long time ago. Think it’s riots

from some kampongs. The Chinese and the Malays were fighting with each other. That’s

all I know.

How did you feel? How did you react?

Actually, I did not feel anything, as I was only 13 years old. I only knew that I did not

have to do to school that’s all. However, the only difference was that I was told to stay at

home and not allowed to go out. Not even out of the door. In fact, it was very boring for

me.

What about the kampong? Is there any fighting?

No. Actually, everything is the same. It’s like normal in the day. The only difference is

that we get to hear news from the adults that there are riots going on and the Chinese and

the Malay are fighting. Therefore I was supposed to stay at home and not go out. Oh

yeah, just remembered that at night, can see some of the kampong people taking turns to

keep vigil. They said just in case the neighbouring Malay kampongs… just in case lah.

You meant that only your kampong people keep watch at night? Is there any police

or soldiers coming to your kampong to protect the kampong?

No leh. Every thing is very quiet and peaceful. Nothing ever happen during the riots

period. Nothing. No one came. The adult just take turn every night to keep watch.

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Is there anything you would like to add to the riots?

No. That’s all lah. No more.

I give permission for this work to be digitally stored and made available by NIE for educational and research purposes. Date: 22 October 2004

Signature: Tan Ser Yunn KevinPreferred Contact: [email protected]

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the hock lee bus riots (12 may 1955) - hsse home page · web viewas such, on that fateful day,...

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