Oral History Report
Topic: 1964 Racial Riots in Singapore
Interviewee: Mr Ng, a retired Police Detective working during the time of the riots
Introduction:
The topic chosen is about the 1964 Racial Riots that happened in Singapore. The main
races involved in the riots were the Malays and the Chinese. This essay will look at the
three aspects of the riots according to the interviewee, Mr Ng, and compare them to the
facts that were recorded by Historians or Newspaper Articles to see if there is any
information that is not being recorded or added on to the point of these records. It will be
followed by an evaluation made on the interview and interviewee.
When and how the Riots occurred
According to Mr Ng, the riots occurred on the day of Prophet Mohammad’s birthday
where the Malays gathered to stage a procession. He claimed that it started from the
Sultan Mosque in Victoria Street. According to records1, it was stated that a crowd as
many as 25 thousand Muslims gathered at the Padang for a speech before setting off.
They went down St Andrews Road, Beach Road, Arab Street, Victoria Street, Kallang
Road, reaching Lorong 12, Geylang. This does add on to the accounts of Mr Ng as he
describes the scenario at Kallang and Geylang where he was situated at that time.
Detailed descriptions provided by Mr Ng further showed how the Malays stirred up
trouble there. History reports the scenes that were also described by Mr Ng of glass
1
http://www.pap.org.sg/Party_History/Timeline_of_Singapore_and_Party/1960s/1960.shtml
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bottles being thrown down and cars being overturned. He added something that was not
seen in the records though, that of Chinese hawkers having their stalls turned over and
getting beaten up. The spread of the violence was also one point that was brought up. Mr
Ng claimed that the Chinese jumped into action in Chinatown. This is also stated in
history facts that around evening time, places like Chinatown, Tanjong Pagar, Arab Street
and North Bridge Road2. There were also the chilling accounts of people who were
beaten to death if they were not fast enough to run away from the chaotic situation and
the facts show that 4 were killed and 178 injured that fateful day.
Why the riots happened
According to the interviewee, there were two main causes of this outbreak. Firstly is that
of the tension of ties between Indonesia and Singapore. History accounts have ruled this
to be one of the factors too. Even then ruling Tunku Abdul Rahman condemned
Indonesia as a possible catalyst of starting the riots at that time. Indonesia, at that time
had wanted to gain Sarawak and Sabah in East Malaysia then and was very much against
the formation of Malaysia (with Singapore)3. Indonesia’s plot was described by Mr Ng as
one that was ‘riding on the waves’ of the then high racial tensions in Singapore. This
proves to be somewhat true as Historians have recorded that stirring up trouble abroad,
especially the near by areas of the Malaysian Straits would turn Indonesians away from
the mess and corruption of their own country and government. Hence, Indonesia was
truly ‘riding the waves’ to such tensions. Therefore, the main focus of ‘blame’ could be
on what Mr Ng had mentioned about Ministers ( from UMNO) stirring up emotions of
2
3
http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/sierra/singapore1964.htm
http://ourstory.asia1.com.sg/merger/merger.html
2
the people, even using the mode of newspapers to bring propaganda across. These
accounts are all stated in history where UMNO held talks in Singapore somewhere
around the time before the riots broke out. On 12 July, UMNO secretary-general, Syed
Jaafar Albar, urged Malays in Singapore to fight against the unfair treatment put upon
them by the PAP. The newspaper that helped spread this propaganda was one that was
owned by distinguished UMNO members. The Utusan Melayu(newspaper) joined in the
UMNO members call to the Malays in Singapore to fight for their rights and even
accused the PAP for trying to divide the Malay community and humiliate them4. The
racial riots prove to be one that was moved by the politics of that time as even another
political party, the Malayan Chinese Association came into the pictured and preached of a
Singapore that was for the prosperity of the Chinese only. That heated things up even
more as they presented the idea of Chinese chauvinism in Singapore. With all these
happening in the political arena, it spread to the citizens and extremists rose from within
to get the fire starting of yet another riot in Singapore. Hence, though Mr Ng did not
elaborate much on the reasons for the riots, he did mention the key points of what had
provoked such a reaction of Malays in Singapore and with the research of history, it has
shown that it all started in the political arena.
Curfews
The curfews stated by Mr Ng still saw some coming out into the streets and try to cause
trouble. It is stated in records that about 45 curfew breakers were jailed. However,
according to Mr Ng, the lock up at that time was much too full to contain any more
people and they had to disperse any crowds that were out during the time of curfew. This
4
http://mahadare.tripod.com/1964.html
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could have been more than the 45 people recorded5. Another point shared by Mr Ng
which is not seen in records is that the Chinese were more cooperative when it comes to
obeying the curfew and that more Malays were out trying to get into and create more
trouble again. Mr Ng also gave an account which was definitely not stated in records, that
of Tun Razak allowing alleged rioters scot free though much evidence were against them.
This is the very own testimony of Mr Ng and cannot be proved by the reports of history.
Tun Razak was the Deputy Prime Minister at that time, holding much power and
position. From what was said of Tun Razak, it seemed that he was one who stood by the
Malays and not for justice. Much of what had transpired in this situation cannot be
proven by history records though.
Evaluation of Interview
The majority of the interview with Mr Ng had reflected the facts of what had happened
on that fatal day of the 21st of July 1964. Though some details were left out, especially on
the part of why the riots took place, yet it was still the surface of what was brewing
behind the scenes which Historians have recorded down. Much of it transpired from the
political arena and hence influenced the people then. However, part, which I felt was of
much importance, cannot be proven to be true is about the personal experience of Mr Ng
with then DPM Tun Razak. This is an important factor as it would show to what extent
the Malay government side their own people at that time. Also being unable to prove
were the actual number of people who defied the curfew laws as no certain records were
kept. Therefore, much of what had been personal experiences of Mr Ng has no historical
backing to it. Yet, I feel that these are the most valuable as it is a personal testimony of
the times through the eyes of a responsible police detective that was frustrated by the
5
http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/sierra/singapore1964.htm
4
system of governing. Even in his closing speech, Mr Ng aired his views that had the
Chinese been in control at that time, this matter would not have been dragged on for
weeks and that a proper arrests on the culprits would have been done. Hence, there is a
sense of injustice that could have affected the point of view of Mr Ng about the way the
Malay leaders side their own race. This could have lead to a possible discrepancy when
discussing about how the racial riots came about. Mr Ng himself too, could be one that
sided his own race and taken that point of view from that time.
Conclusion
Much has been learnt from this oral history assignment as I got the privilege to look at
the racial riots from the police point of view. Though some information were not able to
be proved by historical reports, yet the personal testimony of Mr Ng shed new light on
what had transpired at that time and how it affected the people and even the police force
at that time. Oral history does provide a fresh insight to events in history where even the
most accurate of historical records cannot offer. It is an insight to the human emotions of
the times that past through the years and events.
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References
http://www.pap.org.sg/Party_History/Timeline_of_Singapore_and_Party/1960s/1960.sht
ml
http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/sierra/singapore1964.htm
http://mahadare.tripod.com/1964.html
http://www.1upinfo.com/country-guide-study/singapore/singapore33.html
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Oral History Transcript
Subjects involved: Jasmine (Interviewer)
Mr Ng (Interviewee)
*Interview was conducted in Mandrin.
Biography
Name: Ng Siang Kim
Sex: Male
Age (Present):
Year of Birth: 1936
Place of Birth: Singapore
Dialect: Teochew
Jasmine (J) : Mr Ng, I heard that you were a police officer at the time of
the 1964 Racial Riots in Singapore. What post did you hold in the police
academy at that time?
Mr Ng (N): I was a police detective at that time and had a team under me.
My team and I were a assigned to Geylang Serai at the time of the riots and
patrolling the streets during curfew time.
J: How did the racial riots come about at that time?
N: There were many factors that led to the breaking out of the riots at that
time. One factor was of course the high tensions between the then merge
Malaysia and Singapore. The Malaysians always thought that Singapore had
too many Chinese and the leaders and newspapers in Malaysia were stiring
up the Malay community there. Another factor was also from Indonesia.
Indonesia wanted very much to merge with us at that time but we chose to
go with Malaysia. Therefore the government of Indonesia was very unhappy
about that and there were some extrimist who sent people over to Singapore
to stir up some trouble. The riots were a wave that they could ride on to
create some trouble here.
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J: So Indonesia had a part to play in this too did they? Do you still
remember when it first started?
N: That day was the birthday of Muhamad and the Malays staged a
procession from Sultan Mosque which is in Victoria Street. I believe it was a
Friday. Actually, they had it all worked out already, the procession down to
Kallang and then to Geyland Serai, and their intended purpose to start a
commotion. It was very chaotic as the police had no inside information to
what was going to happen. The procession began to take a violent turn when
they reached Geylang. There, glass bottles were thrown from windows and
injured the people in the procession. The crowd was upset and then started
turning over cars and setting fire to them. The Malays living in that area then
came out from their houses to join in the rest and they started to beat up
Chinese hawkers. The poor hawkers were running for their lives. Whoever
the Malays caught, they beat til they were dead.
J: Did the Chinese send any of their own people to the scene then?
N: As I said, the Chinese knew nothing about what was happening. But after
they heard about it, the Chinese at Chinatown started to take action and
made their way down to Geylang. We caught as many as we could and by
that night, the lockup was full. The Police Force had very few Chinese at
that time and though help was sent from Malaysia, the Light Unit and Jungle
Unit, most of them were Malays and they sided their own race. It made work
at that time more difficult.
J: So you are saying that there was corruption in the Force at that time?
N: Well, you can say that too. I remember my team and I caught a band of
eight Malays who possessed weapons as they were walking down the streets
during the time of the curfew. We even found that they hid many Kris and
weapons in a drain nearby at Geylang. We rounded them up and took them
to the station and to my supervisor. My supervisor then refered the case to
the then minister for internal home affairs, Tun Razak. Tun razak in turn told
my supervisor to let them off. When my supervisor disagreed with him, Tun
razak told him in Malay that he was being silly because the land, country
and people belonged to the Malaysian government and it is no use to
disagree with him. So we had to release them, These people were really
arrogant and demanded that my team and I send them back on our patrol
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cars as it was curfew time and they should not be roaming the streets. It was
really very frustrating for us all at that time.
J: I see. How about the curfew time? Were there still people coming out?
N: Yes, some still did defy the law. However, as the jail was already full at
that time, we had no choice but to just bring them back to the station,
interrogate them for a while and then send them off with a warning.
Sometimes, we did not even have the space for that and had to disperse
crowds that gathered in the streets and tell them to go home.
J: Were there more Chinese coming out during that time or more Malays?
N: The Chinese were more 'obedient' to the law and I saw less of them.
However, the Malays still came out in packs but were soon dispersed by the
police.
J: How long did it take for the riots and commotion to die down?
N: It took about a few weeks until everything was under full control. But
really, if we had Chinese Ministers taking care of this affair at that time, it
would not have taken so long and perhaps it would not have been so chaotic.
J: I see. Well, thank you Mr Ng, for sharing your experience.
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