July Riots
On 21 July 1964, about 25,000 Malays gathered at the Padang, Singapore to celebrate Muhammad's birthday. 212 Muslim organisations participated in the rally. By 1 pm on 21 July 1964, 25 thousand Muslims gathered on the Padang. At 2 pm, the Yang di-Pertuan Negara, Singapore's head of state, made a formal address. Muslims were urged to follow Islamic teachings and be "patient, forebearing and industrious". At 3:30 pm, the crowd was supposed to form a celebratory procession from the Padang to St Andrews Road, Beach Road, Arab Street, Victoria Street, Kallang Road, and eventually to Lorong 12, Geylang.
After the speeches, the procession of Malays went from the Padang and headed to Geylang. Along the way, a few Chinese onlookers jeered or threw items like bottles at the Malay marchers who had been shouting "God is great" and other Islamic slogans loudly. A small group of marchers broke away from the procession. A policeman asked members of the small group that dispersed to rejoin the procession. Instead of obeying the orders, members of that small group attacked the policeman.
The riots were reported to have started at about 5:00 p.m. between Kallang and Geylang Serai, near the former Kallang Gasworks. The government declared a curfew at 9.30 p.m. to restore order, but in the first day of rioting, 23 people were killed and 454 injured.
The curfew was lifted at 6 a.m. the next morning. However, with the situation remaining tense, the curfew was reimposed. It was only lifted for short periods to allow people to buy food. The curfew was not completely lifted until 2 August 1964, 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. 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.
Read more about this topic: 1964 Race Riots In Singapore
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