Here Is A Video..

Here Are Some Pictures Of The Riot

Cause of Riot

The fact that Che Aminah did'nt get custody over Maria was not as aggrevating compared to what they came across an article in the newspaper. The constant battle attracted the media's attention and they followed the family closely. When Maria's natural and adoptive parents were fighting for custody over her, she was sent to a Catholic home. Newspapers wanted to get the best coverage of the story in English, Malay and Tamil and entered the convent to take pictures of Maria. On one such occasion, they took a picture of Maria praying to the virgin Mary. This angered the Muslims more as they felt that the British did not repect them and thus they put her in a convent. As Che Aminah appealed a second time to gain custody over Maria, large crowds gathered outside the High Court for the verdict on 11 December 1950. However, the judge rejected the appeal within five minutes. The Muslims were left feeling betrayed my the British as they felt that they were supporting the Dutch. This bulit in frustration caused Che Aminah's suppoters to riot against the British. This lasted for three consecutive days before it was finally brought to order.

The Custody Battle

In 1949, the High Court in Singapore was brought in and they placed Maria under the care of Socail Welfare Department.

In May 1950, the court ordered the Maria was to be returned to her birth parents. Che Aminah was not happy with this as over the years she and Maria had become very close and they did not want to leave each other.
Therefore, Che Aminah opposed the idea and sent and appeal. After two months, the High Court returned Maria to Che Aminah.Four days after winning the appeal, Che Aminah got Maria married to a Malay teacher when she was only thirteen years old.

In November 1950, both sides were still fighting for custody over Maria. This time, the court again decided that Maria belonged with her biological parents and did not recognise her marriage as she was under-aged and her natural father's consent was not given. This angered the Muslims as they felt that their law was not given importance too.

Background Information

Maria Hertogh was born to Dutch-Eursian parents. During World War II Maria's was  captured by the Japanese and Maria's mother, Adeline, gave consent for Maria to stay with a Malay woman named Che Aminah. Soon, Adeline was captured but the Japanese too.

Che Aminah took Maria in and brought her up as a Muslim and gave her a Muslim name, Nadra. In 1947 she brought Nadra to Malaysia

After a few years, Maria's real parents came back, searched relentlessly, found Che Aminah and asked for Maria but Che Aminah reufused and claimed that Adeline had given her for adoption. They then came back to Singapore and fought for the custody of Maria through the government.

What was the Maria Hertogh Riot?

The Maria Hertogh riot was between two ethnic groups - the Malaya and the European that took place on 11 December 1950. The riot spread over a period of three days and had 18 people dead and 173 people injured. The riots were caused by a  controversial custody battle between Maria's European biological parents and Malay adoptive parents.