Chapter 8

Okay people one more chapter to go alrite.Its either you break it or make it.

Now if remember in chapter 7 Labour front won the most number of seats.One of the reasons was due to a charismatic leader,David Marshall.Okay lets learn about him as he was the first chief minister of Singapore

David Marshall(the files)
-Led the new Labour Front in 1954
-Became the first chief minister in April 1955
-Resigned from the post in June 1956
-Founded worker's party
-Died in 1995
(End of files)

What did Labour Front Government do to push for internal Self-Government?

Let's recall LF won 10 out 25 seats.If my is good that isnt the majority.What did they do?

-LF formed a coalition governemnt with the Alliance Party.

What did the British think of David Marshall:
-They considered him a figurehead.
-They did not treat David marshall proper respect

So in  nutshell, we can say Marshall was not favorable among the British and his government did not receive, full british .

Next post:
Riots again.

Summing up chapter 7

I know  havent been posting lately but i am back ok so relax.

How did the locals respond to british rule?
-Organised Strikes
-Staged riots
-Locals demanding for self government
-Formed political parties

British response
-Prepared Singapore for limited self-government

Riots:
Maria Hertogh riots:
Causes:
-British insensitivity towards muslims
-British siding the dutch
-Media taking pictures of different emotions shown by Maria

Anti-National service:
Causes:
-Chinese schools student were aged between 18-20 years and older.
-Education was disrupted due to WW2

1955

Unlike the election in 1948,more political parties emerged.
Two of these parties stood out,People's Action Party(PAP) and Labour Front(LF)

Now lets look at the features.

PAP:
-Demanded immediate independence
-Anti-Colonial

LF:
-Immediate independence
-Bring out more equality for Singaporeans
-Extend citizenship for China-born inhabitants
-Multilingualism.

1995 Elections:
-79 candidates competed for 1 out of 25 seats.

What did the parties/candidates do to win people's attention:
-House-to-house visits
-Distributed newspaper and pamphlets
-Organised rallies
-Gave speeches to win support

One main focus that was common was ANTI-COLONIALISM.

Results:
LF---------------------------->10 seats
SPP--------------------------->4 seats
Alliance Party------------------>3 seats
PAP--------------------------->3 seats
Democrats--------------------->2 seats
Independents------------------->3 seats

LF won the most seats.LF impressed many people due to their strong anti-colonial stand.

Chief minister--->David Marshall(LF)

One of the things LF did:
Charismatic leader David Marshall would go around in a van with a speaker and voice out their ideas.
He also held speeches and made sure when he talked about anti-colonial rule he made sure that the British at a nearby cricket club could hear him.

RENDEL CONSTITUTION

Okay lets move on to Rendel Constitution.

After the riots it was seen how the British decided in 1953 to grant more political power.This was to win the hearts and minds of the locals.

The Rendel Constitution was led by,Sir George Rendel(a british diplomat)

The Rendel Constitution recommended limited self-government.

It proposed that certain powers of government be given to local leaders who were elected by the people.

British government------->Governor---------->Council of ministers---------->Legislative Assembly

Council of ministers:
-MADE UP OF:
-6 elected ministers----->Appointed from the 25 non-officials
-3 nominated ministers--->British officials
-Chief minister(Appointed from the 6 ministers)

Legislative Assembly:
-25 non-officials
-4 non-officials(nominated by the Governor)
-3 British officials(nominated by the governor)

What areas of government was under the local ministers?
-Health
-Housing
-Trade and Industry
-Education

The British was in charge of:
-Internal security
-External defence
-Law
-External affairs
-Finance

Wondering why Singapore did get internal security,external defence,law,external affairs and finance?

Well here are the possible reasons:
1.British had more experience
2.British did not feel secure with the locals taking over

This  was an important step to full self-government.

Anti-National Service riots.

Okay we are done with Maria Hetogh Riots time for Anti-National service riots.

Who started the riots?
-Chinese-educated students

Why did they start it?
-It started after the government introduced National Service.

National service requirements?
-All males
-Aged between 18-20
-If not registered the offenders would be jailed/fined

The reasons why national service was disliked:
-Majority of the pupils in Chinese schools were 20 years old and above.
-Due to World War 2 their education was disrupted.
-Students were not willing to defend colonial government(Remember locals were anti-colonial)

Now let's look at what they did:
-13 May 1954
-->more than 1000 students gathered at the Government house(The Istana)
-->Presented their petition to the Governor

In the end
--------------------->26 were injured
--------------------->48 students were arrested

Thats the end of the Anti-National Service Riots.Okay next up is the Rendel Constitution.

The Riots

Alright i think this part on the chapter i shall try to break it down the best that i can.

In the early 1950's 2 big riots broke out which were the,Maria Hertogh Riots and the Anti-National Service riots.

Most probably these topics will come out in our SBQ/SEQ question so i shall break it down so that its easier for you to take in.

Maria Hertogh Riots(The gist):

The Maria Hertogh riots all started with a custody battle for a 13 year old girl.The fight was between 2 families,Maria's biological family and her foster mother.This battle soon became bigger with two countries fighting to have custody of her.

That was the gist of the riots.Now i shall move on to the causes of the riots.

The causes:

1.British were insensitive towards the muslim community

2.British sided with the Dutch

3.The media toying with the emotions of different communities

Now i shall write about the acts done that led to these causes

Acts that occurred:

1.1. The British placed Maria into a convent during the custody battle even though she was raised as a muslim

1.2. The British rejected the married between Maria and Mansoor Adabi.Reason being Adrianus Hertogh,Maria's father did not give his permission to Maria to be married nor become a muslim.Maria aswell was under aged to be married,although at that time 13 years old was a common age for muslim girl to be married.

2.1. The British were close allies to the Dutch.After arguing about the ownership of Singapore,the dutch and british have built strong and close ties.The consequence of going against the dutch could be great.

2.2. Both the Muslims and the dutch had fund-raising to fight for the custody of Maria.The British stopped all fund-raising among the muslim community but did seize the fund-raiser that took place in Holland.

Okay for number 3 i shall use an analogy.

We have Miley Cyrus.A Teenage magazine and a Tabloid magazine.Now media in the teenage magazine is trying to get photos of when Miley is doing good things.The Tabloid magazine on the other hand wants to get negative photos of her.Both of these magazines have to look for the right time,the right place  to take the photo.

Now back to history:

Miley Cyrus--->Maria Hertogh

Teenage magazine--->European newspaper

Tabloid magazine---->Malay newspaper

-The european newspaper needed to take photos when Maria was happy in the convent

-The muslim newspaper needed to take photos when she was upset in the convent

-These photos toyed with the emotions and angered the different communities.

Alright so now all theses events led to the riots.The rest you all know.Next post will be about anit-national service riots

New government structure

This is what the new structure will be:
British government in London---->Governor--->Executive council--->British Officials
                                                                  --->Legislative council--->13 non-officials->6 elected  by people
                                                                                                                        -->4 nominated by governor


So let's look at the non-officials:


-There are 13 non-officials.
-6 of which are voted by the voters of Singapore.


After the 1948 elections it was obvious that Singapore Progressive Party won the elections.Reason being is that they were the only party that participated in the elections.


What did SPP do for us when in the Legislative council:
-Fought for equal treatment for both locals and European civil servants
-Proposed financial security for workers whom retired or cannot work anymore


Okay that's all about government next up is about the riots.Keep on going people we are almost finishing