What were the consequences of the riots?

Altogether, 18 people were killed and 173 were injured. Nine were killed by rioters while the others were killed by policemen. Thus, a Police Inspector and a Special Constable, whom killed by rioters had nothing got to do with the Hertogh case and their murder was caused by racial hatred.

The riots shows the incorrect way of how the media handled religious and racial issues in Singapore.

Although the rioters were mainly Malays, there is also a large number of foreigners including Indian, Pakistani and Indonesian Muslims. Added to this, mainly, Malay Police Force sympathise the Muslim rioters and thus did not treat them harshly during the riots.

It became an offence to have racial and religious hatred in Singapore. The local media exercised greater discipline in the coverage of sensitive issues. National integration and nation-building took top priority in the formulation of government policies.

By Hafizah