Challenging Days
In the 1950s, Singapore was a deeply divided society filled with tension and anxiety. While everyone was recuperating from the hardships left by World War II, internal struggles caused the British Government to declare Singapore as an ongoing state of ‘emergency’.
Flooding
To make matters worse, the people had to cope with harsh elements of the climate and environment. Due to a combination of heavy and prolonged rains, high tides, and the lack of flood control in 1954, Singapore experienced the worst flood in recorded history. The impact of the floods was further exacerbated by the government’s resettlement plans and weaknesses in the infrastructure.
Water Floods
Potong Pasir turns into a waterway. 1951. Photograph. The Straits Times.
More than 30 hours of heavy rain cut off 1,000 people living in Potong Pasir as the water level rose to 1.2m. Places were only accessible by boat.
Lim Lan San. A flood in Geylang Serai (1930s). Photograph. Collection of National Museum of Singapore. Gift of TLC Lim Eng Lian.
Floods were a frequent occurrence in 1954 whenever there were heavy showers. Residents would bring their outdoor furniture to the second floor, while waiting for the flood to subside.
More than 10,000 people were displaced. The places most affected were some of the poorest kampong communities on the city’s north and easatern fringes such as Potong Pasir, Braddell Road, Lorong Tai Seng, Geylang Serai, and Bedok. Hundreds of thousands of straits dollars were put in for immediate disaster response, medium-term rehabilitation, and long-term improvements to mitigate the floods.
Fires
Kampongs have a long standing history with fires, largely due to their flammable structures. Before the devastating fire of 1961, Kampong Bukit Ho Swee and two other kampongs in the area already suffered a large-scale fire in 1934 and another fire in 1959 which occurred in neighbouring Kampong Tiong Bahru.
Bukit Ho Swee Fire
Low fire hydrant pressures and congestion of Kampong Bukit Ho Swee. 1961. Photograph. Item from collection of National Archives of Singapore.
Luck was not on the firefighter’s side when trying to put out the fire in Kampong Bukit Ho Swee. Low pressure from fire hydrants and congestion of people posed problems.
Bukit Ho Swee Fire. 1961. Photograph. Item from collection of National Archives of Singapore.
Due to the raging blaze of the Bukit Ho Swee fire, the homes and livelihoods of 16,000 were taken away. Four people also lost their lives in the incident.
The Bukit Ho Swee fire in 1961 spread like wildfire to the other nearby areas, claiming four lives and causing great destruction. It razed a school, a coffee mill, two oil mills, two junk shops, two tyre shops, three timber yards, three workshops and 2,800 homes. About 16,000 people were left homeless with meagre belongings. Many livestock such as chickens and others perished in the fire which left the local economy in shambles.
Bukit Ho Swee Fire. 1961. Photograph. Item from collection of National Archives of Singapore.
After the fire, the site was visited by Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Yusof Ishak to assure residents that the Government is taking immediate action to arrange for new homes.
The final nail in the coffin was in 1968, where another fire which started near the location of the 1961 fire wiped out the rest of Kampong Bukit Ho Swee.
Tan Choo Kuan. Rebuilding Bukit Ho Swee. 1962. Object Size: 27.2 x 37.3 cm. Ink on paper. Item from collection of National Museum of Singapore. Gift of Ms Tan Teng Teng.
A drawing by Tan Choon Kuan depicts the squatter settlements that unfortunately were lost due to a second fire in 1968. This led to the construction of high-rise public housing.
A Spirit Challenged
Aside from natural disasters, the kampong spirit was also shaken up by an outbreak of communal riots in 1964. The riots refer to two different series of race riots which involved the clashes between the Malays and Chinese that occured when Singapore was part of the Federation of Malaysia.
The first series of riots started during a Muslim procession that was held to celebrate the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday while the second series of riots occurred after a Malay trishaw rider was killed in Geylang Serai. The riots caused many deaths, injuries, people being arrested and massive damage to private and public properties especially the Geylang Serai area.
Racial riots in 1964
Lee Kuan Yew walking alongside Tengku Abdul Rahman. 1962. Photograph. Item from collection of National Archives of Singapore.
The walk filled with hope for Singapore on the merger with Malaya soon became one that caused various communities to be shaken up and torn apart in the following years.
Opening of Geylang Serai Market. 1964. Photograph. Item from Roots.sg collection of National Heritage Board. Ministry of Information and the Arts Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore
The Malay street hawkers were excited to move into their stalls. All excitement turned into fear of being attacked as opening of the market coincided with the Communal Riots.
These riots occurred against the backdrop of the rising political tensions between the People’s Action Party government in Singapore and the Alliance Party government in Malaysia led by the United Malays National Organisation due to the result of the electoral competition.
Voices of Geylang Serai residents on the racial riots. 1964. Photograph. Item from Roots.sg collection of National Heritage Board.
Amidst immense fear and uncertainty amongst the people due to the racial riots, the government pledged to help victims to restore their confidence in the government’s leadership.
These unprecedented challenges in the 1950s to 1960s indeed tested Singapore’s sense of community and mutual helping, encouraging us as a nation to come out of these ‘Challenging Days’ in solidarity.