The 1964 Race Riots were a series of riots that took place in Singapore during two separate periods in July and September between Chinese and Malay groups. The first incident occurred on 21 July during a Malay procession that marked Muhammad's birthday. In total, the violence killed 36 people and injured another 556. About 3,000 people were arrested. The riots are also known as the Prophet Muhammad Birthday Riots, 1964 Racial Riots, and 1964 Sino-Malay Riots. At that time, Singapore was a state in the Federation of Malaysia.
On 21 July, 1964, about 25,000 Malays gathered at the Padang, Singapore to celebrate the Muslim prophet Muhammad's birthday. After the speeches, the procession went on to Geylang. Along the way, a policeman asked a group that was dispersed to rejoin the main procession. Instead of obeying the orders, the group attacked the policeman. This incident led to a race riot after the group of Malays attacked ethnic Chinese-Malay passers-by and spectators. The riots were reported to have started at about 5:00 p.m. between Kallang and Geylang Serai. The government declared a curfew at 9.30 p.m. to restore order, but in the first day of rioting, four people were killed and 178 injured.
After the curfew was lifted at 6 a.m. the next morning, the conflict grew even more tense, and another curfew was imposed - it was only lifted for short periods to allow people to buy food. The curfew was not completely lifted until 2 August, 11 days after the start of the riots.
After the riots, goodwill committees were set up made up of community leaders from the various racial groups. The main job of these leaders was to help restore peace and harmony between the Malays and ethnic Chinese by addressing the concerns of the residents. About 23 people were killed and 450 people were injured during the July riots. There was significant damage to property and vehicles.
The government arrested about 3,000 people, including 600 secret society members and 256 people charged with possession of dangerous weapons. The rest were arrested for violating the curfew.
Causes
Different reasons have been cited for the riots. Malaysia Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak blamed ethnic Indonesian and Communist provocateurs.
On the other hand, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and several foreign observers attributed the riots as the result of agitation by Syed Jaafar Albar and other elements of the ultra-nationalist faction in United Malays National Organization (UMNO).
The riots occurred during the period when the People's Action Party (PAP) and UMNO relations were severely strained after the PAP challenged the UMNO in the March 1964 Malaysia federal election. PAP ran on the campaign slogan of Malaysian Malaysia. In addition, analysts suggested the participation of Chinese secret societies in the riots increased the level of violence.
The Malaysia Racial Riots, based mostly in Kuala Lumpur, occurred five years later on 13 May 1969, also following an election, one in which racial tensions were fed.
On 21 July, 1964, about 25,000 Malays gathered at the Padang, Singapore to celebrate the Muslim prophet Muhammad's birthday. After the speeches, the procession went on to Geylang. Along the way, a policeman asked a group that was dispersed to rejoin the main procession. Instead of obeying the orders, the group attacked the policeman. This incident led to a race riot after the group of Malays attacked ethnic Chinese-Malay passers-by and spectators. The riots were reported to have started at about 5:00 p.m. between Kallang and Geylang Serai. The government declared a curfew at 9.30 p.m. to restore order, but in the first day of rioting, four people were killed and 178 injured.
After the curfew was lifted at 6 a.m. the next morning, the conflict grew even more tense, and another curfew was imposed - it was only lifted for short periods to allow people to buy food. The curfew was not completely lifted until 2 August, 11 days after the start of the riots.
After the riots, goodwill committees were set up made up of community leaders from the various racial groups. The main job of these leaders was to help restore peace and harmony between the Malays and ethnic Chinese by addressing the concerns of the residents. About 23 people were killed and 450 people were injured during the July riots. There was significant damage to property and vehicles.
The government arrested about 3,000 people, including 600 secret society members and 256 people charged with possession of dangerous weapons. The rest were arrested for violating the curfew.
Causes
Different reasons have been cited for the riots. Malaysia Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak blamed ethnic Indonesian and Communist provocateurs.
On the other hand, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and several foreign observers attributed the riots as the result of agitation by Syed Jaafar Albar and other elements of the ultra-nationalist faction in United Malays National Organization (UMNO).
The riots occurred during the period when the People's Action Party (PAP) and UMNO relations were severely strained after the PAP challenged the UMNO in the March 1964 Malaysia federal election. PAP ran on the campaign slogan of Malaysian Malaysia. In addition, analysts suggested the participation of Chinese secret societies in the riots increased the level of violence.
The Malaysia Racial Riots, based mostly in Kuala Lumpur, occurred five years later on 13 May 1969, also following an election, one in which racial tensions were fed.
