History WA2

“The most important reason for discontent with the authorities in Singapore in the
1950s was that worker’s rights were not being addressed.” How far do you agree
with this statement? Explain your answer.

I agree that the most important reason for discontent with the authorities in Singapore in
the 1950s was that worker’s rights were not being addressed. Despite other factors for
discontent with the government in Singapore during that time, such as unfair treatment
from the government due to religion and lack of understanding from the government,
dissatisfaction with the authorities due to a lack of an address towards worker’s rights
caused a much larger problem for the authorities at the time and was viewed as a big
issue.

People in Singapore were not content with the authorities due to worker’s rights not being
addressed. The Hock Lee Bus Riots were started because SBWU workers went on strike
as they felt they were being treated unfairly, and these issues were not being addressed
by the authorities. They were not guaranteed leave to attend union meetings and felt that
workers from the Hock Lee Bus Employees’ Union had better treatment. Their bus
company fired 229 workers in response, and the fired workers went on strike. The riot
started on 27 April, 1955, and ended on 14 May, with 4 killed and 31 injured. During the
riot, the bus workers also gained support from more than 10,000 Chinese-medium school
students. The government had to help negotiate an agreement between the unions and
the Hock Lee Bus Company, and the dismissed workers were able to return to their jobs.
Despite this, many trade union members continued to suspect the government and
organise rallies and protests. This shows that the workers were dissatisfied with the
government as their rights were not being addressed. The government’s handling of this
riot was also disliked by the British, causing the First Merdeka Talks to fail, which shows
how seriously the British took this issue.
People in Singapore were also discontent with the authorities due to unfair treatment
because of religion. The Maria Hertogh riots in late 1950 began because of the media
portrayal of Maria’s custody case being a religious issue between Islam and Christianity,
and the judge eventually rejecting Che Aminah’s appeal, making Che Aminah’s supporters
believe that the authorities were discriminating against Muslims and siding with Maria’s
Dutch and Roman Catholic parents. Che Aminah’s supporters overturned and burnt
vehicles and attacked Europeans and Eurasians. The riots went on for three days and
ended with 18 deaths and 173 injured. Troops had to be sent and a curfew imposed. This
shows that people were not satisfied with the authorities as they felt that they were being
discriminated against due to their religion.

Lastly, people in Singapore were discontent with the authorities due to lack of
understanding from the government. The Anti-National Service Riots expressed anti-
colonial feelings from Chinese-medium secondary school students. The British passed the
National Service Ordinance in 1953 which required all males aged between 18 and 20 to
register for National Service by May 1954. People who failed to do so on time would be
jailed or fined. Many Chinese-medium secondary school students were unhappy with the
announcement as many of them were of age to attend National Service because the war
had disrupted their studies. Signing up for National Service would interrupt their studies all
over again. Thus, on 13 May 1954, around 500 students held a protest march, and the
authorities sent riot police to the scene. The students and police clashed and the riot
ended with 26 injured. This shows people were unhappy with the government as they felt
there was a lack of understanding from the government in terms of their circumstances.

I agree that the most important reason for discontent with the authorities in Singapore in
the 1950s was that worker’s rights were not being addressed. The Hock Lee Bus Riot
stemmed from bus worker’s discontent that their rights were being looked over, and even
after the riot ended, many workers still continued to rally and protest for their rights, unlike
the other two riots that started with different dissatisfied issues, where the issues were
quickly solved after the riots ended. The government’s handling of the Hock lee Bus Riots
were also taken to issue by the British and led to the First Merdeka Talks failing, which
shows how impactful this riot was and how seriously the British saw this issue of
dissatisfaction from workers due to their rights not being addressed. This shows that
discontent with the authorities in Singapore in the 1950s because of lack of address
towards worker’s rights was more important than the other factors.
(749 words)