Thursday 28 August 2014

Essay

Post-war Singapore represents a interesting period in the history of the nation.There is a great change, of finding an identity, of becoming a nation, of taking charge of our own future. We have to consider the significance.The Maria Hertogh riots started due to many reasons and factors.

Firstly the media have to be responsible for what they report because what they say may cause great commotion, like the Maria hertogh riots, if media are insensitive towards certain issues like religious problems. The reporters reported a photograph of Maria hertogh kneeling in front of a Virgin Mary and this article is one of the main reason why the riots escalated so quickly. This shows that what the media report can cause desire consequences when not reported sensitively. Especially when the media has such a big influence on the society now, the more media should be careful of what they say and report. Therefore we should keep this incident in our mind so as not to commit the same mistake again.



The Mariah Hertogh riots that took place in the 1950s was due to the insensitivity of races towards the Malays, mainly Muslim. The Muslims felt that the Europeans did not show respect for the locals and their religious ways. For example, although it was normal for many Muslim girls to marry at the young age of 13 or 14, the Dutch felt that is was wrong. This resulted in the riots causing 18people to be killed and 173 others injured. In order for this to not happen again, not only the government but the people of Singapore should respect people of other races and religions. Now, we are living in a society of racial harmony but we should not take this for granted and remember the Mariah Hertogh Riots as it serves as a lesson to us to be respectful to others and not offend people of other races and religions in order to have a society of racial harmony.


In 1949, Maria’s mother, Adeline Hertogh came to take her daughter back. However Che Aminah did not want to give her up so the case was brought to the Singapore high court. Maria was returned to her parents in 1950 to her natural parents under court rule. When Maria was 13, she was married to a Malay teacher, as it was normal for Muslim girls to marry at a young age of 13 or 14. The judge did not recognize the marriage as she was under age according to Dutch law. This upset the Muslim community as the Muslim law was not respected. A Muslim leader wrote to The Straits Times, pointing out that although Islamic law permits the marriage of girls starting after puberty (which Maria had reached a year earlier), there were Muslim countries such as Egypt that legislated for a minimum marriage age of 16. He added, however, that it would not be in the interest of "the friendly understanding... between Christians and Muslims" to object to the marriage since it had already taken place. By not being sensitive to the feelings of the Muslim community when they did not recognize the marriage, it sparked the riot. During the battle for custody in November 1950, the court put Maria in the care of a Catholic convent in Thomson road before the verdict came out. According to an official of the Netherlands Consulate-General, such arrangement was because of "greater convenience" while the stay of execution pending appeal was in effect. This shows that the Government was very insensitive towards the Muslims as they did not take into consideration of the feelings of the Muslims by putting Maria in a convent when she was raised as a Muslim girl. This has proved to be a wrong move as it lit the spark the subsequent riots. They should have thought carefully of the consequences before making the decision. 

Therefore, all the above are reasons why the Maria Hertogh Riot should be remembered. We should not do the same mistake again. We have to learn, those who are responsible for this riot and what leads to this riot. 

Thursday 21 August 2014

Sources



b2ap3_thumbnail_maria-2.jpg


"Don't call me Maria," Nadra chidded when i chat with her. "I've done with the Hertogh Family and my real Muslim name is Nadra."

Initially, custody of Maria was given to Aminah. Within four days of the ruling, on 1 August 1950, Maria was married off to Mansoor Adabi, a 22-year-old teacher at Bukit Panjang Government School heading a second-year Normal Class. The marriage of the juvenile 13-year old-Maria was raised in court, at Adeline's appeal for custody over Maria. On 2 December 1950, custody over Maria was gained by Adeline who whisked her to Amsterdam, Netherlands. On 11 December 1950, riots were sparked off over the custodial ruling, resulting in the death of at least 18 people.

For three days, mobs of Malay and Indian Muslim rioters attacked any European and Eurasian in sight. They set up barricades along major roads, set cars and houses on fire and took control of districts in the vicinity of Sultan Mosque, North Bridge Road and Jalan Besar. Rioting was stopped only after two troops of the Internal Security Battalion were called in, supported by several Malays within the troops. Even so, scattered attacks continued over two days. A 24-hour curfew had to be imposed for two weeks before British and Malay troops and the Constabulary regained control of the situation.

The fight for Maria was not just between the two families in court. It was going on outside, between Asians
and Europeans. On 11 December, just before the court made its final decision and Maria was taken to Holland, a riot erupted.

http://www.thesmartlocal.com/read/5-riots-that-rocked-singapore 3rd photo. Five dead, 100 hurt in riot. Pictorial and textual source. taken outside court on December 12, 1950
http://www.thesmartlocal.com/read/5-riots-that-rocked-singapore 2nd photo. No title. Pictorial source. Taken outside court
http://www.hsse.nie.edu.sg/Staff/doreen/dtan/Doreen%20tan/Rukaidah/ 3rd photo. No title. Pictorial source
http://www.hsse.nie.edu.sg/Staff/doreen/dtan/Doreen%20tan/Rukaidah/ 4th photo. No title. Pictorial source. Taken in at Girl's Home
http://www.slideshare.net/missfateha/maria-hertogh-newspaper-articles Newspaper Article on Maria Hertogh
http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_508_2004-12-23.html  Written by Bonny Tan. Maria Hertogh (aka Nadra)
http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_83_2005-02-02.html  Written by Lay Yuen Tan. Maria Hertogh Riots
file:///C:/Users/Alicia/Downloads/A%20Tragedy%20of%20Errors%20(Maria%20Hertogh%20Special).pdf Written by Justin Huang. A tragedy of errors

Monday 18 August 2014

Group Meeting Minutes

1)17 Aug 14
2) 11:30
3) Wes' House
4) Alicia, Wen Yi, Ze Xuan, Wes
5) -
6) Compare and contrast
Alicia and Ze Xuan identified the common criteria for the similarity.
Ze Xuan found both of the evidence. (quote from source)
Alicia elaborate on the evidence.
Wen Yi and Wes identified the common criteria for the differences.
Wen Yi found the evidence and did the elaborate for source B.
Wes found the evidence and did the elaborate for source A.
7) Next meeting in school.

1) 19 Aug 14
2) 2:30
3) School
4) Alicia, Wen Yi, Ze Xuan, Wes
5) -
6) Alicia (Scribe) did the minutes and the rest help to remember the dates.
All took turn to research on the Maria Hertogh sources.
7) Not sure when is next meeting

1) 22 Aug 14
2) 12:30
3) Computer Lab
4) Alicia, Wen Yi, Ze Xuan, Wes
5) -
6) Alicia do the minutes and did the introduction and conclusion of the essay.

Alicia search on Maria Hertogh sources.
Ze Xuan, Wes and Wen Yi did on main idea from the essay each.


Sunday 17 August 2014

Compare and Contrast

SIMILARITY
Both sources, A and B are similar in content about political repression of the British Governor.
Source A says that, "I think you know, when I was first elected and appointed chief minister, I was told I had no office, no clerk, no thambi."
This suggests that someone had persecute towards David Marshall and thus did not provide him with anything when he was selected by the people.
Similarly, Source B states that, "Chinese students ignored the government's official closure of their schools, and in a repeat of the previous year locked themselves into their classrooms, where they established their own revolutionary curriculum.
This suggests that even the students did not bother about the what the governments says and do things in their own way, not caring about the rules made by the governments.
Thus, Sources A and B are similar in content in showing about the political repression of Singapore in 1956

DIFFERENCE
Sources A and B are different in content in about what the different people in Singapore hope to achieve.
Source A states that the people of Singapore wants to have independence.
Source B states that the Chinese students of Singapore wants to have their own education.
 From source A,  it states, "merdeka!"
This suggests that the people in Singapore wanted to achieve independence.
From source B, "Chinese students ignored the government's official closure of their schools, and in repeat of the previous year locked themselves into their classrooms, where they established their own revolutionary curriculum."
This tells me that the Chinese students of Singapore had a riot due to them wanting to have their own educational system.
Thus, source A and source B are different in showing what the different people in Singapore hope to achieve in 1956.