Essay :)

As a history student, there are times where we wonder why we should learn things that happened in the past. Through this project, I think all of our group members managed to learn the importance of studying History.

l  Study history so that we won’t repeat the same mistakes of the past. Our group chose to do Maria Hertogh Riots as our project topic. The riots took place on 11 December 1950, and lasted till noon of 13 December.    It was caused by outraged who resented the court decision to give the  of Maria Hertogh (or Bertha Hertogh), then 13, to her biological parents after she had been raised as a Muslim under the care of Aminah binte Mohamed, whom she regarded as her mother. 18 were killed, 173 injured and many properties damaged – the worst incident of its kind ever witnessed in Singapore. 

This riots highlighted the insensitive way the media and the British colonial authorities handled religious and racial issues in Singapore . The media ought to restrain and practice responsible writing as their selfish writings had caused misunderstandings . For example, from the Straits Time where S.R Nathan said , "Unrestrained and explosive press coverage of the issue by both the English-language and Malay/Muslim press aroused strong emotions among the Muslims." This shows that the reporters were insensitive and inconsiderate as they still reported the case even though they knew it would agitate Muslims which caused them to start the riot as they were not pleased.

As we all know, Singapore is a multi-racial society, our population is made up of Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians. Hence, what we can learn is that, we should always be sensitive when handling issues between people of different races, and local media should always have discipline in the coverage of sensitive issues. And that is also why government of Singapore instituted legislation against racial discrimination, so as to not repeat the same mistakes of the past. 

Everything repeats itself, study of the past will reveal something in the future.

Just when we started to think that we already achieved racial harmony in Singapore, to everyone’s utmost surprise , Little India Riot took place in Singapore on 8 December 2013, 63 years after the Maria Hertogh race riots.

The riots broke out shortly after a fatal traffic accident between a private bus and a India national, who was lately found out to be the one causing the accident as he, while intoxicated, attempted to board the bus. It caused Indians in Singapore to be angry.

Upon studying the Maria Hertogh Riots, we are now able to understand why the Indian rioters were angry, and local media, unlike past, did not report something which would add fuel to fire. Singapore government also settled this issue maturely within a short period of time without biasing any races .During the riots, it was the British government that handled it inappropriately. For instance , from the Singapore Infopedia ," The British colonial authorities also failed to defuse an explosive situation when emotional reports appeared in the local press of the custody battle accompanied by sensational media photographs of a Muslim girl in a Catholic convent." This shows that the government was incapable in handling the issue when it was their job as a government and it was known that the British did not restraint the reporters from going into the convent to take photographs to agitate the Muslims.  

In conclusion, the media has a great impact and influence on the people. Singapore is a multi-racial country where people of every races can get along and live in peace. We are what we are now as there are many racial riots that teaches Singapore important lessons on racial harmony.

   The Maria Herotgh riots is a case in the 1950s that we should remember. It teaches Singaporeans to live with other races in peace and respect each others' religion and culture. The riots also highlighted the insensitive way the media handled religious and racial issues in Singapore. Therefore, the government instituted legislation against racial discrimination. It became an offence to incite racial and religious hatred in Singapore. The local media exercised greater discipline in the coverage of sensitive issues.  From the riot, Singapore became a more peaceful and stronger nation with the different races living together in peace and harmony.