SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia Vol. 25, No. 2 (2010), pp. 288–91 DOI: 10.1355/sj25-2g © 2010 ISEAS ISSN 0217-9520 print / ISSN 1793-2858 electronic Colonialism,฀ Violence฀ and฀ Muslims฀ in฀ Southeast฀ Asia:฀ The฀ Maria฀ Hertogh฀ Controversy฀ and฀ its฀ Aftermath.฀ By฀ Syed฀ Muhd฀ Khairudin฀ Aljunied.฀ London,฀ New฀ York:฀ Routledge,฀ 2009.฀ 185฀ pp. Placed฀ outside฀ Singapore฀ historiography,฀ Khairudin฀ Aljunied’s฀ work฀ on฀the฀aftermath฀of฀the฀Maria฀Hertogh฀controversy฀would฀have฀been฀ solid฀ but฀ unremarkable.฀ It฀ would฀ seem฀ logical฀ yet฀ unimaginative฀ to฀ follow฀ the฀ trails฀ of฀ colonial฀ correspondence฀ to฀ piece฀ together฀ British฀ attempts฀ to฀ reimpose฀ order฀ on฀ a฀ shaken฀ city฀ state,฀ rebuild฀ their฀legitimacy,฀and฀prevent฀further฀instances฀of฀mass฀violence฀from฀ occurring.฀ No฀ less฀ than฀ what฀ an฀ established฀ global฀ power฀ would฀ be฀ expected฀to฀do,฀one฀would฀think.฀But฀as฀an฀addition฀to฀the฀emerging฀ corpus฀of฀“new฀histories”฀of฀postwar฀Singapore,฀Colonialism,฀Violence฀ and฀ Muslims฀ in฀ Southeast฀ Asia฀ offers฀ a฀ provocative,฀ if฀ still฀ underconceptualized,฀ new฀ way฀ of฀ approaching฀ the฀ making฀ of฀ modern฀ Singapore. It฀ is฀ testimony฀ to฀ the฀ magnetic฀ grip฀ of฀ the฀ Hertogh฀ riots฀ on฀ the฀ collective฀ memory฀ of฀ Singaporeans฀ that฀ Aljunied฀ himself฀ did฀ not฀ begin฀ his฀ doctoral฀ research,฀ upon฀ which฀ his฀ book฀ is฀ based,฀ with฀ the฀ intention฀of฀studying฀the฀aftermath;฀his฀governing฀desire฀initially฀was฀ to฀study฀the฀complex฀set฀of฀causes฀which฀had฀led฀to฀the฀violence,฀as฀ previous฀ commentators฀ had฀ done.฀ Aljunied’s฀ encounters฀ in฀ the฀ field฀ —฀his฀rebuff฀by฀the฀gatekeepers฀of฀the฀Singapore฀archives,฀his฀reading฀ of฀ the฀ wider฀ literature฀ on฀ mass฀ violence,฀ and฀ most฀ importantly฀ the฀ trails฀which฀the฀colonial฀records฀led฀him฀—฀shifted฀his฀approach฀from฀ the฀ prelude฀ to฀ the฀ event฀ to฀ its฀ epilogue.฀ In฀ doing฀ so฀ Aljunied฀ has฀ framed฀a฀new฀research฀question฀and฀made฀an฀important฀contribution฀ to฀ Singapore฀ historiography. In฀ traversing฀ a฀ well-trodden฀ path,฀ Aljunied฀ identifies฀ four฀ causes฀ of฀ the฀ riots:฀ the฀ circulation฀ of฀ radical฀ ideas,฀ the฀ socio-economic฀ marginalization฀ of฀ the฀ Malay-Muslim฀ community฀ in฀ Singapore,฀ the฀ sensationalization฀ of฀ the฀ Hertogh฀ court฀ case฀ by฀ the฀ press,฀ and฀ the฀ inept฀ handling฀ of฀ the฀ controversy฀ by฀ the฀ largely-Malay฀ police฀ force฀ and฀its฀European฀superiors฀(p.฀5).฀Aljunied฀does฀not฀attempt฀to฀weigh฀ the฀relative฀importance฀of฀the฀causes฀but฀discusses฀them฀economically฀ 06b฀Sojv25n2฀Bk฀Reviews.indd฀฀฀288 9/16/10฀฀฀10:45:08฀AM Book Reviews 289 (critics฀would฀say฀perfunctorily)฀in฀the฀first฀chapter฀of฀the฀book.฀He฀ then฀moves฀on฀to฀the฀bulk฀of฀his฀thesis฀on฀the฀entanglements฀between฀ the฀ British฀ regime฀ and฀ Muslim฀ community฀ as฀ both฀ sides฀ responded฀ to฀ the฀ riots฀ in฀ their฀ own฀ ways. The฀aftermath฀is฀covered฀in฀five฀neat฀(perhaps฀too฀neat)฀and฀richly฀ detailed฀ chapters,฀ which฀ roughly฀ move฀ from฀ more฀ immediate฀ and฀ reactive฀ measures฀ to฀ policies฀ of฀ wider฀ and฀ more฀ ambitious฀ impact.฀ The฀ chapter฀ titles฀ are฀ taken฀ from฀ the฀ five฀ forms฀ of฀ colonial฀ policy,฀ and฀ although฀ Aljunied฀ maintains฀ an฀ intention฀ to฀ tell฀ the฀ story฀ of฀ how฀Muslim฀subalterns฀utilized฀the฀“weapons฀of฀the฀weak”฀(p.฀5),฀he฀ succeeds฀better฀in฀certain฀sections฀than฀in฀others.฀In฀the฀first฀chapter฀ on฀ British฀ proscription,฀ Aljunied฀ unravels฀ its฀ coercive฀ dimension฀ and฀ abuse฀ of฀ power.฀ This฀ presents฀ history฀ empathetically฀ from฀ the฀ Muslim฀ perspective฀ but฀ does฀ not฀ necessarily฀ accord฀ them฀ agency.฀ The฀second฀chapter฀on฀surveillance฀highlights฀the฀excessive฀paranoia฀ of฀ the฀ colonial฀ mind;฀ in฀ the฀ narrative,฀ the฀ British฀ emerge฀ as฀ both฀ hard-headed฀ and฀ somewhat฀ inept฀ rulers. The฀ third฀ chapter฀ on฀ self-criticism฀ exposes฀ the฀ limited฀ nature฀ of฀ the฀ investigations฀ made฀ to฀ apportion฀ responsibility฀ for฀ the฀ riots.฀ Here,฀one฀realizes฀how฀well฀Aljunied฀has฀departed฀from฀the฀customary฀ fixation฀ with฀ the฀ causes;฀ in฀ discussing฀ the฀ 1951฀ Report฀ of฀ the฀ Commission฀of฀Inquiry,฀a฀key฀document฀on฀the฀causes;฀Aljunied฀has฀ rightly฀treated฀it฀as฀a฀discursive฀part฀of฀the฀British฀policy฀of฀restoring฀ their฀political฀legitimacy.฀With฀the฀fourth฀chapter,฀the฀book฀begins฀to฀ explore฀ the฀ reconstructive฀ side฀ of฀ the฀ British฀ response฀ by฀ examining฀ attempts฀ to฀ rebuild฀ the฀ collaborative฀ political฀ and฀ social฀ networks฀ which฀ had฀ served฀ them฀ well฀ before฀ the฀ riots.฀ Aljunied฀ shows฀ how฀ the฀ colonial฀ regime฀ necessarily฀ built฀ on฀ the฀ autonomous฀ work฀ of฀ community฀ leaders฀ and฀ organizations,฀ which฀ accords฀ some฀ degree฀ of฀ agency฀ to฀ non-governmental฀ actors.฀The฀ most฀ important฀ chapter฀ perhaps฀ is฀ the฀ final฀ one฀ on฀ reform,฀ where฀ Aljunied฀ discusses฀ British฀ measures฀to฀restructure฀the฀police฀force฀and฀better฀manage฀the฀social฀ issues฀ of฀ education,฀ marriage,฀ and฀ adoption฀ of฀ children. In฀focussing฀on฀the฀British฀and฀Muslim฀responses฀to฀the฀Hertogh฀ riots,฀ rather฀ than฀ the฀ causes,฀ Aljunied฀ has฀ attempted฀ to฀ decentre฀ 06b฀Sojv25n2฀Bk฀Reviews.indd฀฀฀289 9/16/10฀฀฀10:45:08฀AM 290 Book Reviews “crisis”฀as฀a฀defining฀trope฀in฀the฀historiography฀of฀postwar฀Singapore.฀ As฀he฀rightly฀points฀out,฀the฀violence฀of฀1951฀has฀become฀an฀integral฀ part฀of฀the฀“moral฀panic”฀posture฀and฀discourse฀of฀ethnic฀governance฀ in฀ present฀ day฀ Singapore฀ (p.฀ 1).฀ His฀ emphasis฀ on฀ the฀ aftermath฀ highlights฀ instead฀ the฀ theme฀ of฀ change฀ and฀ continuity฀ which฀ is฀ a฀ better฀ fit฀ for฀ explaining฀ Singapore’s฀ momentous฀ postwar฀ history.฀ The฀ riots฀ precipitated฀ important฀ changes฀ in฀ the฀ course฀ of฀ colonial฀ governance,฀some฀in฀the฀social฀arena;฀this฀demands฀that฀the฀historian฀ crosses฀ over฀ from฀ political฀ to฀ social฀ history,฀ as฀ Aljunied฀ has฀ done฀ in฀ the฀ crucial฀ final฀ chapter฀ on฀ reform.฀ Aljunied฀ also฀ demonstrates฀ how฀ the฀riots฀helped฀define฀the฀political฀careers฀and฀perspectives฀of฀Tunku฀ Abdul฀ Rahman฀ and฀ Lee฀ Kuan฀ Yew,฀ and฀ social฀ and฀ political฀ life฀ in฀ Singapore฀ and฀ Malaya฀ in฀ general฀ (pp.฀ 129–30).฀This฀ underlines฀ the฀ historical฀continuities฀between฀the฀late฀colonial฀and฀early฀post-colonial฀ periods,฀which฀in฀some฀important฀ways฀ought฀to฀be฀viewed฀as฀a฀single฀ continuous฀ era฀ of฀ political฀ and฀ societal฀ transformation. At฀ the฀ same฀ time,฀ the฀ theme฀ of฀ change฀ and฀ continuity฀ suggests฀ that฀the฀concept฀of฀the฀aftermath฀is฀inadequate฀for฀fully฀understanding฀ the฀ Hertogh฀ riots.฀ The฀ “aftermath”฀ still฀ stands฀ in฀ the฀ shadow฀ of฀ the฀ causes,฀ limited฀ to฀ the฀ period฀ immediately฀ after฀ the฀ event,฀ while฀ its฀ stories฀ are฀ primarily฀ told฀ from฀ the฀ British฀ vantage฀ point.฀ Although฀in฀organizing฀his฀chapters฀Aljunied฀appears฀to฀privilege฀the฀ reconstructive฀ policies,฀ he฀ does฀ not฀ undertake฀ to฀ further฀ assess฀ their฀ respective฀importance.฀More฀importantly,฀the฀Hertogh฀controversy฀can฀ have฀ consequences฀ which฀ lay฀ beyond฀ the฀ temporal฀ and฀ conceptual฀ frames฀of฀the฀aftermath฀and฀beyond฀the฀contiguous฀British฀archives.฀ The฀book,฀for฀instance,฀would฀do฀well฀with฀a฀concluding฀chapter฀on฀ how฀the฀riots฀have฀come฀to฀attain฀their฀iconic฀status฀in฀contemporary฀ Singapore. One฀may฀complain฀that฀it฀is฀possible฀to฀attach฀too฀much฀significance฀to฀a฀singular฀event.฀It฀is฀insightful,฀however,฀to฀re-examine฀the฀ landmark฀events฀of฀postwar฀Singapore฀not฀solely฀as฀crises฀as฀an฀earlier฀ generation฀ of฀ scholars฀ has฀ done,฀ but฀ as฀ triggers฀ for฀ transformation฀ and฀ catalysts฀ for฀ change.฀ This฀ will฀ tell฀ us,฀ as฀ Colonialism,฀ Violence฀ and฀Muslims฀in฀Southeast฀Asia฀has฀done,฀something฀about฀the฀nature฀ 06b฀Sojv25n2฀Bk฀Reviews.indd฀฀฀290 9/16/10฀฀฀10:45:08฀AM 291 Book Reviews of฀ governance฀ in฀ Singapore฀ and฀ the฀ weight฀ of฀ the฀ colonial฀ legacy.฀ The฀five-pronged฀British฀response฀to฀the฀Hertogh฀riots,฀covering฀the฀ major฀policy฀areas฀of฀concern,฀provides฀a฀foretaste฀of฀the฀comprehensive฀ planning฀ and฀ making฀ of฀ post-colonial฀ Singapore฀ in฀ subsequent฀ decades.฀The฀partial฀failure฀of฀the฀response,฀too,฀offers฀an฀important฀ insight฀ into฀ how฀ subalterns฀ and฀ minorities฀ confronted฀ the฀ emerging฀ contours฀of฀modernity฀in฀the฀postwar฀period.฀In฀this฀light,฀Aljunied’s฀ effort฀ is฀ deeply฀ original฀ in฀ widening฀ the฀ terms฀ of฀ historical฀ inquiry฀ and฀ seeking฀ a฀ new฀ path฀ into฀ the฀ city฀ state’s฀ recent฀ past. LOH Kah Seng Loh Kah Seng is a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. 06b฀Sojv25n2฀Bk฀Reviews.indd฀฀฀291 9/16/10฀฀฀10:45:09฀AM