This is a brief introduction of the Anti-NS Riots that happened in 1954.
1954 National Service Riots or Anti-National Service Riots was a riot that broke out in Singapore in May 1954 involving a number of Chinese Singaporean students.
In 1954 the British colonial government in Singapore passed the National Service Ordinance, requiring all males aged between 18 and 20 to register by May 1954 for part-time National Service. Those who failed to register would be either jailed or fined. Thousands of secondary students from Chinese schools - many of whom were 20 years old or above as their education had been disrupted by World War II - were influenced by communist ideals and unwilling to defend the colonial government. On the first day of registration, very few students from Chung Cheng High School and The Chinese High School turned up.
On 13 May 1954, 500 students gathered in front of the Government House (present-day Istana) to present their petition to the Governor. Soon the peaceful demonstration turned into a riot when the police were called in to disperse the crowd. The police and the students clashed. About 26 people were injured and 48 students were arrested.
First, our main idea is, "Those who do not know the past are doomed to repeat it" by Camus. To prevent history from repeating, we must learn and remember about it. Singapore is a multi-racial society with the Chinese being the majority race, if Chinese Singaporeans decide to riot again, the scene would be terrible. Seeing that a majority of Singaporeans are Chinese, it is best to remember Anti-NS riots to prevent another riot.
Secondly, we should remember the Anti-NS riots as they will be based on the decisions we make now. If decision makers do not consult history, they make decisions without all of the facts, which is how history repeats. If our government do not know about the Anti-NS Riots, they would not know what would happen if they ignore the Chinese' needs again. Then, they might repeat their own mistakes. We should all learn from our mistakes and know not to repeat them. It may be a damage to Singapore's reputation if there is another major riot since it is famous for being a multi-racial society.
Lastly, we need to remember to help us understand how our nation, our home came to be. Without the Anti-NS riots, the current government would not understand why the Chinese decided to riot. If we are ignorant of the contemporary and historical experiences of a variety of cultures, then we cannot hope to understand why people, communities or nations behave the way they do or make the decisions they make. However, if we choose to learn and know about our history (Anti-NS riots), we would understand. We would understand why they chose to riot. We would learn from our ancestors and understand. Since we understand, history will then not repeat.
Another main idea is that we should not discriminate against any race or anybody. From source 2 , it shows that the government discriminate against the Chinese by not giving them as many money to run the school as the English-based schools. The government also did not offer as many rewards and opportunities as the other schools, even if the school deserved it, showing that the government preferred the English-based over the Chinese schools. Even though students are also local, they are not given a possible highest education. They 'were very unwilling to defend the colonial government'. This all constitutes one of the many reasons why the Anti-NS riots happened. if the government had not discriminate against the Chinese-educated, perhaps such a misfortune would not had happened. therefore we should not discriminate any races.
One last main idea is that we should all work towards a peaceful solution to any conflict, not justify our means by violence. From Source 4, the Chinese students were at first seeking a peaceful solution to the NS conflict, even though they gathered a lot of people, they were merely trying to show the government the voices of dissent coming from the local Chinses-educated. However, the government not only did not regarded the student body with the appropriate respect and regard, they also caused a huge violent outbreak between the two parties. If they had not done this, the issue might have been resolved without any casualties. Therefore, we should remember this violent incident and work towards to a peaceful solution at any conflict, not resolve them by using violence.
There is a collective wisdom that we deprive ourselves of when we refuse to look back.
We should never discriminate.
Violence is never an option.
This is why, we should remember Anti-NS riots.
