The Maria Hertogh Riots between ethnic Malays and the European and Eurasian communities in Singapore occurred on 11 December 1950. The riots took place over a period of three days and saw at least 18 people killed and 173 people injured. It was sparked by the controversial custody battle between Maria's adoptive Malay family and her Eurasian parents.
Maria Hertogh, born to Dutch-Eurasian parents in Java, was adopted during the war by an Indonesian Muslim lady named Aminah. When Maria's father was arrested by the Japanese, Maria's mother gave Maria to Aminah to be raised. She was given the Muslim name Nadra. In 1947, Aminah moved to Trengganu with Maria.
After the war, the Hertoghs launched a legal battle for the custody of their daughter after they received information in 1949 of her whereabouts in Malaya. The custody battle attracted intense media attention worldwide. Photographs in newspapers of a Muslim girl in a Catholic convent and claims that she had bowed down to the Virgin Mary affected religious sensitivities and whipped up emotions. The Muslim side was championed by Indian Muslim Karim Ghani. As editor of the Jawi daily, Dawn, Ghani instigated emotions within the Muslim community by publishing controversial reports of the case. He also worked out an extensive plan for 1,500 girls to protest in a procession. Exhortations were made at the Sultan Mosque to wage a holy war to force the return of Maria to Aminah. At the appeal hearing on 11 December 1950, the Judge dismissed Aminah's appeal and custody was given to Adeline Hunter, her biological mother. Upon hearing the judgement, huge crowds outside the court rioted, convinced that the colonial laws, the courts and the legal system were prejudiced against Muslims.
For three days, mobs of Malay and Indian Muslim rioters attacked any European and Eurasian in sight. Altogether, 18 people were killed and 173 were injured. Nine were killed by rioters while the others were killed by policemen. Aside from a Police Inspector and a Special Constable, those killed by rioters had little to do with the Hertogh case and their murder was motivated more by fanaticism and racial hatred.
The Maria Hertogh Riots have indeed sparked several implications on the individuals and the welfare of the society. The riots highlighted the insensitive way the media handled religious and racial issues in Singapore. 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. Such photos would definitely cause discontentment among the Muslims especially, since Maria had been brought up as a Muslim and was hesitant to leave her foster mother initially
The riots have also raised several concerns to the government. Although the rioters were mainly Malays, they included a large number of foreigners including Indian, Pakistani and Indonesian Muslims. In addition, the mainly Malay Police Force appeared to sympathise with the Muslim rioters and displayed some measure of deliberate inaction and defection during the riots. Gurkha Police Riot Squad Detachment. consisting of at least 149 men were unfortunately not utilised and were in fact withdrawn at critical locations. As such, measures carried out to settle the discord between the Muslims and the Christians. The number of casualties thereby increased rapidly since several policemen were biased towards the Malays.
The case of Maria Hertogh has indeed successfully been an eye opener to our society. Being a multi-racial country, it is vital for us citizens to respect the differences in culture and beliefs. taunting and mocking one’s race or religion would only result in disgruntlement, which, if not tolerated could cause chaos in the society.
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