Lessons from Maria Hertogh Riots (11 Dec 1950)

Remembering the Maria Hertogh riots 11 December 1950

Seventy-one years ago, riots broke out in Singapore #OnThisDay over the custody battle of a 13-year old girl, Maria Hertogh. Maria was born to a Dutch-Eurasian Roman Catholic family and put in the care of a family friend, Che Aminah, during World War II. Maria was raised by Aminah as a Muslim and renamed Nadra binte Ma’arof. After the war, Maria and Aminah lived in Aminah’s hometown in Terengganu, Malaya. At this time, the Hertoghs returned to the Netherlands and decided to search for Maria. Upon locating her, they launched a legal effort to reclaim her through the Dutch authorities. Eventually, the courts awarded custody of Maria to her birth parents, and Aminah had applied to appeal against the decision. There was contention over whether Maria was given to Aminah for adoption or just to be looked after temporarily.

The case was covered extensively by local and international newspapers. However, some newspapers sensationalised their coverage and others used the custody battle to push their own agendas or those of their backers. Their articles deliberately presented a biased selection of facts and information in order to sway the opinion of their readers and to divide the public — portraying the case as a religious issue between Christianity and Islam.

This built-up tension exploded when the colonial court swiftly dismissed Aminah’s appeal on 11 December 1950. Demonstrations outside the Supreme Court building grew hostile and turned into a riot, which spread outwards across the island. The three days of violence that followed left 18 dead, 173 injured with widespread destruction of property. During this period, Maria left Singapore with her birth mother to the Netherlands. Singapore was put under lockdown until law and order were restored by noon on 13 December 1950.

The riots reveal the potential harm that can come from sensationalised and distorted information. Today, with the speed at which social media spreads news, hostile entities may use it as a rapid means to sow discord within and between communities — this has upped the stakes. Now, it is even more necessary to be critical about what we see, read, and hear, and more important that we strive to understand and communicate with one another better.

(📷: Muslim demonstrators shouting slogans in front of the Supreme Court during the Maria Hertogh riots / Kenneth Chia Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore)

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