| History of Singapore |
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 Singaporeportal |
The 1969 race riots of Singapore were one of the two riots encountered in post-independence Singapore. The seven days of communal riots from 31 May to 6 June 1969.
| History of Singapore |
|---|
| |
| Singaporeportal |
The 1969 race riots of Singapore were one of the two riots encountered in post-independence Singapore. The seven days of communal riots from 31 May to 6 June 1969.
The precursor of the 1969 race riots can be traced to the 13 May Incident in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya in Malaysia. It was triggered by the results of the 1969 Malaysian general election, which were marked by Sino-Malay riots unprecedented in Malaysian history – 196 people were killed and over 350 injured between 13 May and 31 July. The real figures could be much higher than officially revealed. The Malaysian government declared a state of emergency and suspended Parliament until 1971. [1]
The disturbances had nothing to do with Singapore but there was an inexorable spillover of the communal violence in Malaysia into Singapore. The 1969 riots occurred not long after the earlier communal riots in 1964. It was said that the 1964 racial disturbances in Singapore contributed towards the eventual separation of Singapore from Malaysia on 9 August 1965. The hysteria that United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) itself generated over its desire to assert Malay dominance ( Ketuanan Melayu ) in Singapore had its effect in heightening the suspicion between Malay and Chinese in Singapore. [1]
The dissatisfaction of the Malays over their social and economic condition and the fear that the Malays regarded as indigenous ( Bumiputra ) ownership would be lost, led to the 13 May disturbances. [1]
Rumours began to spread in Singapore about Malay atrocities against the Chinese in Malaysia. People also talked indignantly about the partiality of the Malaysian Armed Forces in dealing with those suspected of involvement in the rioting; Chinese that were caught were severely punished on the spot and these rumours aggravated tension in Singapore. [2]
The Internal Security Department or ISD, together with the police, helped contain a volatile situation. Sino-Malay tensions surfaced again in Singapore in 1969 following the outbreak of the 1969 racial riots in Malaysia after the general election. Many incidents of Sino-Malay clashes erupted and the situation was brought under control following security sweeps by the police and armed forces throughout Singapore. The vigilance of the security forces in Singapore and the persistent efforts of ISD officers in making island-wide coverage contributed to the return of normalcy in Singapore. [3]
After 1971, when all had settled down, the Malaysian government was able to follow an affirmative action policy marked particularly by the New Economic Policy (NEP) favouring the Malays. To this day, there is still an unease about the potential of violence as the power struggles between groups continue. [4] In April 1987, four silat (martial arts) experts were arrested by the ISD for actively spreading rumours of impending racial clashes on or around 13 May 1987 (on the 18th anniversary of the May 1969 race riots in Singapore and Malaysia). [3]
The 13 May incident was an episode of Sino-Malay sectarian violence that took place in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, on 13 May 1969. The riot occurred in the aftermath of the 1969 Malaysian general election when opposition parties such as the Democratic Action Party and Gerakan made gains at the expense of the ruling coalition, the Alliance Party.
General elections were held in Malaysia on Saturday, 10 May 1969, although voting was postponed until between 6 June and 4 July 1970 in Sabah and Sarawak. This election marked the first parliamentary election held in Sabah and Sarawak after the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
PAP–UMNO relations refers to the occasionally-turbulent relationship between the People's Action Party (PAP), the governing party of Singapore since 1959, and the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the leading party of the Barisan Nasional coalition which has governed Malaysia from 1955 to 2018 and since 2020. The two parties' relationship has impacted Malaysia–Singapore relations given the countries' geographical proximity and close historical ties.
The following lists events that happened during 1964 in Singapore.
Operation Lalang was a major crackdown undertaken by the Royal Malaysian Police from 27 October to 20 November 1987, ostensibly to prevent the occurrence of racial riots in Malaysia. The operation saw the arrest of 106 to 119 people—political activists, opposition politicians, intellectuals, students, artists, scientists and others—who were detained without trial under the Internal Security Act (ISA). It was the second largest swoop in Malaysian history involving the ISA since the 13 May riots 18 years earlier. It also involved the revoking of the publishing licenses of two dailies, The Star and the Sin Chew Jit Poh and two weeklies, The Sunday Star and Watan.
The 1964 race riots in Singapore involved a series of communal race-based civil disturbances between the Malays and Chinese in Singapore following its merger with Malaysia in 1963, and were considered to be the "worst and most prolonged in Singapore's postwar history". The term is also used to refer specifically to two riots on 21 July 1964 and 2 September 1964, particularly the former, during which 23 people died and 454 others suffered severe injuries.
The National Principles is the Malaysian declaration of national philosophy instituted by royal proclamation on Merdeka Day, 1970, in reaction to the 13 May race riots, which occurred in 1969. The incident proved at that time that Malaysian racial balance and stability was fragile. Immediately thereafter, the Malaysian government sought ways to foster unity among the various races in Malaysia. Therefore, the National Principles were formed.
Tun Dr. Ismail bin Abdul Rahman was a Malaysian politician who served as the second Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from September 1970 to his death in August 1973. A member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), he previously held several ministerial posts.
"Pendatang asing", "orang pendatang" or "pendatang" is a common Malay phrase used to refer to foreigners or immigrants; "pendatang asing" literally means "foreign comer" or "foreign immigrant". Although most frequently used to refer to foreign immigrants, especially illegal immigrants, pendatang asing has been used by some politicians in Malaysia as pejorative way of addressing non-Bumiputera Malaysians.
Tan Chee Khoon was a major figure in Malaysian politics from 1959 to 1978, at one point being nicknamed "Mr. Opposition" for the outspoken views he presented in Parliament. He was the official Leader of the Opposition in Parliament from 1964 to 1969. Although he was originally a leader of the Labour Party of Malaya and the Socialist Front coalition which Labour had joined, Tan later co-founded Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan)
Harun bin Idris was a Malaysian politician and the 8th Menteri Besar of Selangor. Apart from his career in politics, Harun Idris was heavily involved in sports particularly organising the Muhammad Ali vs Joe Bugner fight in Kuala Lumpur as well as overseeing Malaysia and Selangor football teams' most successful periods. Harun was the president of the Football Association Selangor from 1961 to 1983 and was the manager of the Malaysian National team in the 1972 Olympics. Harun is widely acknowledged to be responsible for unearthing some of Malaysia’s best talents such as Santokh Singh, Soh Chin Ann and even the late Mokhtar Dahari.
During the 1960s in Malaysia and Singapore, some racial extremists were referred to as "ultras". The phrase was most commonly used by the first Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, and other leaders of his political party, the People's Action Party (PAP), to refer to Malay extremists. However, it was also used by some members of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) — the leader of the Alliance coalition governing Malaysia – to refer to Lee instead, as Lee was perceived to be a Chinese chauvinist himself.
Kampung Baru or Kampong Bharu is a Malay enclave in central Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. One of the most valuable tracts of land in the capital, it has been estimated to be worth up to US$1.4 billion.
This article lists important figures and events in Malaysian public affairs during the year 1969, together with births and deaths of notable Malaysians. Race riots following the general election of 10 May led to the dissolution of parliament and an interim legislative council being put in place.
Singapore, officially the State of Singapore, was one of the 14 states of Malaysia from 1963 to 1965. Malaysia was formed on 16 September 1963 by the merger of the Federation of Malaya with the former British colonies of North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore. This marked the end of the 144-year British rule in Singapore which began with the founding of modern Singapore by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. At the time of merger, it was the smallest state in the country by land area, but the largest by population.
Kuala Lumpur is the largest city in Malaysia; it is also the nation's capital. The history of Kuala Lumpur began in the middle of the 19th century with the rise of the tin mining industry, and boomed in the early 20th century with the development of rubber plantations in Selangor. It became the capital of Selangor, later the Federated Malay States, and then Malayan Union, Malaya and finally Malaysia.
Anti-Malay sentiment or Malayophobia refers to feelings of hostility, prejudice, discrimination or disdain towards Malay people, Malay culture, the Malay language or anything perceived as Malay.
May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969 is a book published in 2007 and written by activist and scholar Dr. Kua Kia Soong on the 13 May Incident of 1969. It was published by the human rights group Suaram on the 38th anniversary of the worst racial riot in Malaysian history, which took place mostly in Kuala Lumpur. The official death toll was 196, but independent reporters and other observers estimated up to ten times as many people had died. Three quarters of the casualties were Chinese Malaysians, and 6000 of them were left homeless after fires.
The Federal Reserve Unit, or better known by the abbreviation as FRU, is a riot control force and a paramilitary special response team that can be deployed at any time to engage in any emergency or public unrest in Malaysia.
The 2001 Kampung Medan riots is a sectarian violence between the Indian and Malay that initially began in a small village of Kampung Medan located in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. The riot then further escalated and spread all the way through Kampung Gandhi, Kampung Lindungan, Kampung Datuk Harun, Taman Desa Ria and the surrounding of Jalan Klang Lama. The racial crisis then spread all the way through Petaling Jaya, Jalan Gasing, Kelana Jaya, Sungai Way, Bandar Sunway and Puchong. The riot started from 4 March until 13 March 2001. Photographs in Malaysiakini's possession are gruesome evidence of the extensive hurt, both physical and emotional, inflicted by the clashes. The three weeks of tension resulted in the deaths of 6 people, and left over a hundred people with severe wounds, ranging from head injuries, broken bones, to slashes and hacked off limbs. Four hundred people were detained.
