Maria Hertogh Riots

The riots broke out over the custody battle of a 13 year old girl,Maria Hertogh.Maria Hertogh was born in Java in 1937 to Dutch Catholic parents.When her parents were imprisoned during the Japanese Occupation,Maria came under the care of a Malay woman,Che Aminah and her husband.They brought her up as a Muslim and named her Nadra.In 1949,Maria's mother,Adeline Hertogh,came to claim her daughter back.Maria's case was brought to the High Court in Singapore and she was placed under the care of the Social Welfare Department.In May 1950, the court ruled that Maria should be returned to her natural parents.Che Aminah opposed the decision and sent an appeal.Two months later,the court returned Maria to Che Aminah.Under Che Aminah's care,Maria went through a marriage ceremony with a malay teacher.She was 13 years old then.In November 1950,the battle for the custody continued.The court ruled that Maria should be returned to her natural parents.The judge announced that the Dutch law did not recognise Maria's marriage as she was under-age abd her natural father's consent was not obtained,this upset the Muslim community,they felt that the Muslim law was not respected.

SINGAPORE PROGRESSIVE PARTY

The Singapore Progressive Party was the only political party that took part in the 1948 election.
The Singapore Progressive Party was formed on 25 August 1947
Led by three London University Lawyers:Tan Chye Cheng,John Laycock and N.A.Mallal
Made up of English-speaking upper-class professionals
First political party that contested Singapore elections
Believed in gradual self-government
Later merged with another political party to form the Liberal Socialist Party

World War 2

Local people were concerned with their livelihood,some were thinking about the future of Singapore.Their attitude towards the British government had changed. Since the British ruled Singapore for a century and failed to protect it,they should leave Singapore..This change in their political attitudes was also partly due to external events.Many countries under colonial rule had gained independence. One country that succeeded in achieving independence in 1947 was India,the largest colony of the British Empire.The influence of this external events increased the local people's desire to govern themselves.In 1948,elections were introduced for the first time and the British allowed some locals to be elected into the Leagislative Council.For the first time,the people had some choice in deciding who was going to represent them in the government.

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The returning of the British on 5 September 1945 did not mean an instant return to a better life for the people.There was peace,but the people were still not free from hardships.People were jobless and living in poverty.A severe shortage of food,water,electricity and housing were resulted.People lived in slum conditions. Diseases were common due to overcrowded living conditions,poor sanitation and lack of health services.British attempted to solve the problems and put Singapore back on its feet,but these efforts were inadequate.The difficult living conditions in the post-war period explained why there were waves of Strikes and work stoppages by thousands of workers from the port,factories,transport and business companies after 1945.Strikes took place year so often in 1947 that it was remembered by many people as the year of strikes.More than 300 strikes by almost 70,000 workers were held in the year alone.These strikes became worse with the involvement of the Malayan Communist Party[MCP].The Communists stirred up people's feelings against the British through the trade unions.The British government realised that the strikes were organised by the Communists to create disorder,they passed laws to control trade unions.From 1947 onwards,all unions had to register with the government.

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To solve the food shortage,British had to clear the harbour so that ships transporting foodstuffs could enter the port.Docks were repaired,warehouses were constructed to store commodities that were brought to the port.British decided to ration the amount of food given to each person. Restaurants were opened to sell food at a reasonable prices.Food supplies were slowly increasing when trade links between Singapore and other countries re-established.The war destroyed many houses,making thousands of people homeless.Rents were very high because of shortage of houses.People who could not afford the high rent had to live in small,overcrowded cubicles and squatters.A law on rent control was introduced to stop landlords from raising rents to force tenants out.Some flats were constructed to alleviate the problem of housing shortage.

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Streets were filthy,unlit and unsafe particularly at night.Prisoners-Of-War were put to work to restore electricity,gas and other essential services,and repair the water mains.

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Chinese became victims of Japanese atrocities.Japanese perceived Chinese as a threat to their rule because when Japan invaded China in 1937,they met with strong Chinese resistance,including those from outside China.Singaporeans faced severe food shortages during the Japanese Occupation.Because Singapore's entrepot trade was disrupted,available resources were used to support Japan's war efforts in other parts of Asia.
Rationing was introduced for sales of essential items like rice,salt and sugar.Many people lived in poverty and suffered from malnutrition and diseases.Foodstuffs like rice,salt and sugar were sold at high prices in the black market.People of Singapore resented Japanese rule.Anti-Japanese groups formed to fight against Japanese.Malayan Communist Party formed Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army to fight against the Japanese in the Malayan Jungle.
Another Group aimed to help the British recapture Malaya and Singapore from the Japanese was Force136.This secret organisation to gather information about the Japanese and organise sabotage activities.Members were trained in India and sent secretly to Malaya to help the MPAJA in its fight against the Japanese.One of the leaders was Lim Bo Seng,a businessman who was arrested for his anti-Japanese activities.
After atomic bombs were dropped on 6 and 9 August 1945,shortly the Japanese surrendered.The British troops returned to Singapre on 5 September 1945,huge crowds gathered at the Padang and cheered for the return of the British.In the Municipal Building,Japanese signed the surrender document which was accepted by Supreme Allied Commander for SouthEast Asia,Lord Louis Mountbatten.
A provisional government called the British Millitary Adminstration which took charge of governing Singapore.It faced a difficult task of rebuilding of the country and maintaining law and order.People faced many problems in post-war Singapore such as overcrowded living conditions,poor sanitation,lack of health services and unemployment.However,the most serious problem were shortage of food and lack of housing.There was also shortage of water and electricity and telephone services were disrupted.