Chapter 7: How Did the People in Singapore Respond to British Rule after WWII? Flashcards
What is the difference between Democracy and Communism?
Political difference - For democracy, country can be governed by multiple political parties. However for Communism, The country can only be governed by one political party - The communist party
Economic difference - For Democracy, industries and land is owned by private enterprises or people who try to make profits. However Communism means that the government will allocate land or goods according to the peoples needs
Explain why did the British grant Singapore full internal Self-governance?
Second Merdeka Talks. Lim Yew Hock showed a greater willingness to comprimise as compared to David Marshall. The British wanted to mainntain control of Singapore’s internal security due to the communist threat. The second Merdeka Talks succeeded in securing full internal Self-government for Singapore.Singapore would be granted self-governance due to Lim Yew Hock’s ability to manage the Chinese Middle School riots, the British granted control over external threats to the Labour Front government. This meant that SG gained greater politcal autonomy over its governance.
Chinese Middle School Riots. Lim Yew Hock was seen as decisive in the managing of riots and the threaat of communism. Lim Yew Hock’s actions in the riots the LF appearer to be “running dogs” of the British in the eyes of the locals. Singaporre would be granted self-governance becaause Lim Yew Hock proved to be more decisive in managing internal threats in his successful management of the threat of communism and the Chinese Middle School students. The British were thus more willing to grant Singapore more political freedom.
Explain why British did not grant Singapore full internal Self-governance under David Marshall’s governance.
Why did the Maria Hertogh Riots happen?
The role of the media: The English papers were about Maria smiling and kneeling in front of the statue of Virgin Mary but the Malay papers always reported an abused Maria. This contrast in news sparked increased tensions between Malays and the European communities.
Religious tensions: The British were insensitive towards the Muslim religion needs and did not show respect to them.
Explain how PAP got elected to govern Singapore during 1959 elections.
Explain how housing challenges were successful in British winning local support.
As much housing has been destroyed during the Japanese Occupation, the living conditions of the locals in Singapore became very cramp and houses became too little to support the growing population. Hence, when the British provided low-cost housing to accommodate the locals, the SOL and QOL of the locals increased and thus the British were successful in winning local support.
How did the influence of communism affect British concerns of its colonies like Malaya and Singapore
British were afraid of the domino effect, if surrounding Asian countries became communist, British feared that the people of Singapore and Malaya would get influenced by the countries and in turn become communist themselves
Why did the National Service riots happen?
Disruption of the studies of the students. The Chinese feel that it was a way of fighting the communists in
Malaya and it interrupts their education.
What did the MCP do from 1930-1948
1948- MCP murdered 3 European rubber planters, which led to SG and Malaya to be placed in the state of emergency
1942-1945 - MCP created MPAJA. It originally resisted British rule but was forced to cooperate with British to get rid of the Japanese.
Describe how the British took advantage of the food shortage problems to win the support of the locals
With the increasing population of Singapore, food was in short supply after the war. In addition, neighbouring rice-producing countries did not have enough rice to export to Singapore. Hence, wartime food rationing continued. Malnutrition became widespread and wages could not keep up the rising food prices. Hence, the British established People’s Restaurants to the provide affordable meals, increasing the availability of meals for locals, increasing the QOL and SOL of the locals and gaining support from them.
Why were the locals more involved in governing Singapore?
Explain how did the ability to manage the industrial unrest in Singapore led to a success of getting local support in Singapore.
The poor working and living conditions led to a wave of strikes during the post war period
Explain how did the ability to manage the industrial unrest in Singapore led to a success of getting local support in Singapore.
The poor working and living conditions led to a wave of strikes during the post war period and many workers that went on strike were members of trade unions and the British suspected there to have communists that participated in the strikes, they passed laws to monitor the trade unions membership so they could not use their funds to organise strikes and protests and this led to increase in law and order in Singapore and more platform for workers to fight for better working conditions and higher pay, thus gaining local support.
Explain what factors led to political awakening in SG
- Japanese occupation
- India getting independence
- Communism in China - Many people who live in Singapore were Chinese
