Episode 19: A Force Awakens

In the aftermath of the 13 May 1954 incident (aka “The “Riot Squad Brutally Beats Up A Group of Unarmed Students on 13 May 1954” Incident), the government insisted on seeing the incident as being about maintaining internal order and security in Singapore. It completely ignored the underlying factors which contributed to the incident, including the long history of discrimination, harassment, and oppression towards Chinese students. In this episode, PJ Thum explores what happened after 13 May; how the government’s refusal to understand the causes of the event radicalised the Chinese students, giving birth to a new force in Singapore’s decolonisation; and how this set the scene for future political upheavals and riots.

Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at patreon.com/pjthum. For all the previous episodes in this series, search for "History of Singapore" on bfm.my.