By: Harshith Chinni, a HISTOYOUTH Writer
Singapore is a small city-country situated in Southeast Asia. With high regard towards social inclusivity, acts of racism and bigotry are rare in this country. However, in 1964, a significant event shook pre-independent Singapore to its foundations. The cause of 46 deaths, 560 injuries, and more than 5,000 people arrested, the event led to the dismissal of Singapore from Malaya (Malaysia). This was the 1964 Racial Riots.
On a sunny afternoon of 21 July 1964, around 20,000 Malays from different Muslim organizations had gathered for a procession at Padang to mark the birthday celebrations of Prophet Muhammad. The procession was to end at Lorong 12 in Geylang. They were singing and waving banners while passing by Kampong Soo Soo (present day Kallang Road) when a glass bottle was hurled onto the crowd, injuring someone.
This led to angry exchanges between the Malays and Chinese, and as news spread, the tension proliferated. Punches, stabbings, and hurling bottles were a common sight that fateful day. Military reinforcements had to be called in to soothe the tension. An islandwide curfew was imposed from 9.30pm to 6am the following day, but was futile as 24 more incidents of the same nature were reported.
Following the July riots, the Singapore government requested that the Malaysian federal government appoint a commission of inquiry to investigate the causes of the riots. However, this request was denied by the Malaysian government on the grounds that such inquiry will not serve any useful purpose.
Several explanations have been put forth to explain the causes of the July riots. Malaysia’s then Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak believed that the riots started spontaneously after a Chinese individual threw a bottle at the procession –an act that angered some Malays who then assaulted the Chinese individual. A Chinese constable who tried to stop the assault was himself attacked. Some Malays then started overturning stalls as they ran towards Geylang Road. Tun Razak and other Alliance leaders also considered the possibility that Indonesian and communist agents could have been involved in encouraging the riots, though they believed that the People’s Action Party’s (PAP), a major conservative centre-right political party, alleged poor treatment of Malays in Singapore played a large part in provoking the event.
The explanation offered by Lee and the PAP government was that the riots were pre-planned and provoked for political reasons by Malay UMNO activists led by Ja’afar Albar. PAP leaders claimed that the attack on the constable had occurred near the PAP contingent in the procession so that blame could be laid on the PAP for starting the riots. They also pointed out that leaflets with racially charged content had been distributed and racially inflammatory speeches were made by Malay opposition figures at the Padang before the start of the procession.
The 1964 race riots played a pivotal role in Singapore’s expulsion from Malaya and its independence a year later in 1965. Communal politics was often the central theme of Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman's speeches, and he often pointed the finger at the PAP leaders and Lee Kuan Yew for interfering in his political party's decisions and for contesting Malaya's federal elections advocating for a non-communal politics. Furthermore, Tunku Abdul Rahman's encouragement of racial tension and anti-PAP sentiments among Singaporean Malays made it difficult for the PAP to work with UMNO to forge good relations.
Since 1997, the 21st July has been marked as Racial Harmony Day to remember the events that took place that day. Students are reminded that social division weakens society, and that race and religion will always be potential fault lines in Singapore’s multi-racial society.
Works Cited
Han, Jamie. “Communal Riots of 1964.” Infopedia, eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_45_2005-01-06.html. Accessed 24 June 2023.
"1964 Race Riots in Singapore." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Jun. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_race_riots_in_Singapore. Accessed 24 Jun. 2023.
“Racial Riots (1964 and 1969).” SG101, www.sg101.gov.sg/social-national-identity/examples/racialriots. Accessed 24 June 2023.
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