THE PAST IN THE PRESENT : MEMORIES OF THE 1964 'RACIAL' RIOTS

Abstract

The 1964 "racial" riots are a prominent event in Singapore's history. They are often cited officially but rarely discussed by the Singaporean community. This study aims to examine the riots and its impact today from a sociological perspective of collective memories. Halbwachs (1950), Mannheim (1952) and Foucault (1972) provide the theoretical orientation to the study of the popular collective memories of my informants, the examination of intergenerational transmission of memories as well as the passing on of feelings, thoughts and opinions and the analyses of discourse which determines the centre authority of the discourse for shaping memories. The construction and reconstruction of the riots can be observed through a comparison of official memory to popular collective memories. The narrative structure of the official memory provides a one-sided picture of chaos, violence and fighting, between Malays and Chinese, spread over the entire island. Contrastingly, many frames of remembrances are elicited as popular collective memories recall localized skirmishes, harmonious relations and co-operation between ethnic groups. Additionally, the cause of the riots are interpreted through the social frameworks of the ethnic groups, resulting in a plethora of interpretations that differ between the Malays, Chinese and Indians. "All rulers needed an interpretation of the past to justify the authority of their government ... The past has always been the handmaid of authority" (Kaye 1996: 14). Thus the racial riots have been interpreted and defined by the state through a multiracial discourse, accepted and appropriated by the people to large extents. The past is used to justify and legitimize the ideology of multiracialism and its social policies. Thus the state has a vested interest in transmitting their interpretations of the memory of the riots to the younger generation in order for the political discourse to be meaningful and effective. This form of "ideological engineering" (Fentress and Wickham 1992: 132) has taken on a further emphasis in National Education - the latest educational programme for secondary and tertiary levels. Thus those in power are able to reconstruct the memories of the past and disseminate it to the people through the media and education. However, as long as people still remember, interpretations will still continue. Although the riots occurred more than thirty years ago, it has not been forgotten. The past still lives in the present because it has a purpose and it has implications for the next generation.