More Sources for Riots

							•   A morning like any other.
•   Almost...
•   17-year-old Wong Hon Sum, in his all-white school unform, flung his school bag over his shoulder
    and climbed onto his bicycle. He cycled to school to save 10 cents on bus fare. School was
    Chung Cheng High School in Goodman Road (Katong area). It was a Chinese middle school, and
    Wong was a student in lower Sec 2. But not for long...
    A Singapore Traction Company bus in 1956. Fares then cost only 10 cents.
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•   Something was brewing among the students -- and things were about to come to a head.
•   The students were primed and ready. In the weeks leading up, they had many meetings, some
    lasting one hour, some up to three hours each.
•   At a lunch-time meeting the day before, they had decided to send a petition to the then British
    Governor in Singapore, Sir Robert Black.
•   The students wanted the Government to repeal the ban on the Singapore Chinese Middle Schools
    Students' Union imposed in September. Many were also unhappy as they felt the British did not
    support Chinese education.
•   The Government viewed such student protests with strong disapproval. They condemned the
    meetings as illegal.
•   What will tomorrow bring?
•   The storm breaks
•    Oct 10, 1956
•   The Government arrested two boys and a girl and expelled 142 students from eight
    Singapore Chinese schools. Two teachers from Chung Cheng High School were
    sacked.
•   The students took action. The boycott started at 4 pm. The students refused to
    continue their lessons, although the afternoon session usually ended at 5.30 pm.
    Teachers failed to restore order and they left, leaving the students in control.
•   Students gathered in Chung Cheng High School and Chinese High School to stage
    their protest. At Chung Cheng, Wong joined about 3,000 others for a sit-in.
•   Now 58, and the owner of a curio shop, Wong says in Mandarin: "We were led by
    students from the upper secondary classes. They would stay back after school to talk
    to the other students about politics and why they opposed the government.
•   "It seemed that at least 90 per cent of the student population were drawn into the
    student activities. We had activities such as picnics in the countryside. Through such
    get-togethers, the student leaders spread their ideas and thoughts and told other
    students how they could give their support to their activities.
•   "At that time, we students were not satisfied with the government's educational
    policies. Eventually, we decided to boycott classes."
•   Full of youthful vitality, Wong answered the call to protest.
•   "At that time, we were still under the British. So our feeling was that we were working to help
    Singapore achieve independence. We felt we were opposing the control of the British. At the
    same time, we also felt that the British establishment was trying to destroy Chinese education.
    Everyone thought in this way and so it became a unifying point for us to rebel against British
    dominance."
•   Wong says the Japanese Occupation also aroused nationalistic feelings in the students.
•   "When Japan invaded Singapore, we saw that the British was no longer invincible. We Asians
    could also defeat the Westerners. In the past, people used to think the British were the most
    superior. Japan needed only 69 days to move from north Malaya to Singapore. Singapore was
    said to be the most impregnable fortress in Southeast Asia. Yet, it was conquered by Japan within
    a short time.
•   "Now, we felt we too had the ability to gain our independence. We need not have to rely on British
    control. So after the war, many Asian countries became independent."
•   Peer influence also played a part.
•   "We were all very young and xue qi fang fang (full of enthusiasm and energy). When we saw what
    the other students were doing, if we didn't follow, we would be seen as luo hou (backward).
•   "At that time, we students also didn't place much importance in English. As a result, our English
    was not so good. Then, if you spoke in English, others would deride you, say you fang yang pi
    (literal translation: give off Western fart). Later, when we realised that English was important, we
    could not catch up."
• Within the fenced compound, life took on a routine of daily chores,
  exercise and group discussions for Wong and the other students.
• Wong did go home for "a while". But, like the other students, school
  was where he ate and slept for "almost a month".
• "My parents didn't go (to school) because they were running a
  business and were very busy. But they let me join the activities,"
  says Wong.
• Once the sit-in started, the teachers did not come to school
  anymore. The students had the run of the place.
• "The whole school was taken over by the students. Two schools,
  Chinese High and Chung Cheng, gathered (for the boycott). Other
  schools also joined us. Chung Hwa Girls' High School went to
  Chung Cheng. Nan Chiau Girl's School and Nanyang Girls' School
  went to Chinese High."
• What is it like to live in school and share chores?
•   The Chung Cheng protest did not last long.
•   On Oct 25, the police moved into Chung Cheng. Outside the school, a scuffle between leftist elements and the
    police took place. Chaos spread like fire island-wide.
•    Click to listen to Wong's recollection in Mandarin:
    "It (the chaos) was ju lie (intense), especially in Chinatown, where many Hokkiens and Teochews lived. Cross
    Street and Boon Tat Street were the most chaotic. When the Gurhkas ran by, residents cooked pots of boiling
    water and heaved the pots of scalding water out of the windows on the policemen. Hen feng kuang (Very mad)."
•   The students were prepared for the police.

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•   Says Wong: "The police went into the school compound one midnight. But we were prepared for such an
    emergency. The students broke into groups and left the school on selected routes, according to our contingency
    plans. I went to Kuang Hua in Guillemard Road.
•   "I was not involved in any scuffle, although there might have been some fighting in the other groups. It was dark as
    we quietly made our way to the school to wait. We didn't stay in the school for long, only a few days, before our
    leaders gave the signal to disperse to prevent further trouble.
•   "After a few weeks, when things went back to normal, I went back to school."
•   "... It (the sit-in) was a kind of silent protest on our part."
    -- Wong on his participation in the 1956 boycott. But he did not support the 1961 exam boycott. Wong says it could
    not succeed.
•   1960 was a year of extensive educational changes introduced by the new
    PAP-led (People's Action Party) government.
•   The Chinese middle school's system was changed.
•   Wong graduated in 1960 and was out of the next major student upheaval --
    the 1961 exam boycott.
•    Click to listen to Wong in Mandarin "When I was in school, our protest was
    not just driven by the left. We also had the support of our parents and the
    masses. That's why it became a mass protest so quickly and spread so
    rapidly throughout Singapore.
•   "But during the Sec 4 exam boycott, such a large-scale protest was no
    longer possible. The PAP had built up its support base, and the left no
    longer wielded the same level of influence as in the past. Moreover, now the
    parents did not support the boycott. As a result, the exams boycott failed to
    rouse the rest of Singapore into mass protest.
•   "To us, the PAP was elected by the people. Its policies were part of the
    changes that came as we moved towards independence."
•   "We were together
    everyday and there were activities such as debates,
    dance classes and picnics. Many students liked this sort
    of communal living and so we stayed on."
•   Relaxing over a cup of fragrant jasmine tea, Wong recalls those days in school.
•   On classes:
    "We broke up into groups during study hours. The more senior students spoke to the rest of us about current affairs, local and abroad, especially
    about the developments in Communist China. They also disseminated banned texts, such as books on Chinese Communist martyrs." On debates:
    "We had many debates to discuss the ideas, concepts and problems mentioned in the texts. Several classes would be combined for these sessions
    as the leaders wanted to listen to different views. These sessions could become very intense as the speakers got more vocal." Wong's day:
    Click for a report on the students' time-table

•   Woke up at 7am
•   Breakfast of tea and biscuits
•   Morning exercise
•   Classes
•   Lunch
•   Afternoon siesta
•   Dinner
•   Campfire
•   Bedtime
•   On sleeping quarters:
    "We slept in the classrooms. We arranged the chairs and desks together. Some would sleep on the desks, others took the chairs. Usually, each class
    had about 40 students. But not all the students joined the sit-in.
•   There was enough room for everyone. We were a co-ed school. The boys and girls slept in different classrooms.
•   "Uncomfortable? No. At home, I slept on wooden boards. In those days, there was no Dunlop mattresses for us. Supporters sent us blankets, so we
    used those to keep warm at night."
•   On wake-up call:
    "We were disciplined. We got up on our own each morning without prompting."
•   On luggage:
    "I packed a few items like shirts in my school bag. When my clothes got dirty, I washed them, just like all the other students."
•   On food:
    "Everyday, we ate da wo fan (literal translators: rice in big pots) together. We took turns to go to the canteen for meals...
•   "Food was simple, just vegetables and maybe a bit of pork. Most of us didn't eat that well at home either. People like the Hokkiens and Teochews ate
    even more simply than the Cantonese.
•   "I remember seeing stacks of food, like rice and noodles, all stored in the canteen. Of course, you wouldn't find titbits there!" (laughs).
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•   On responsibilities:
    "The heavier responsibilities, such as cooking, were shouldered by those students who were more involved in the organisation of the movement.
    Many students, like myself, were less involved. We usually just helped with light chores such as arranging the tables and chairs and fetching plates
    during meal times."
•   On student guards:
    "Our school had three gates. One was closed off. We took turns to stand guard at the other two. I also did a bit of gate duty. The student guards were
    relieved every few hours.
•   "When a student wanted to leave, the guard simply asked which class he was from. It was not very rigorous checking. Anyway, after a while, we all
    knew each other and there was never any trouble coming or going.
•   "The students did not carry any weapon, nor were there any barricades except the school fence, as we felt there was no need. Concerned parents and
    well-wishers such as trade union members often visited us."
•   On night: