From this history project and research, we've learnt about the differences in society in he past and present.
It was different last time.People did not have equal rights and were not treated fairly due to language,race or religion.We learnt that it is important to work together as one and everyone do deserve equal treatments.
Through the various riots , Maria Hertogh , hock lee bus riots and the racial riot which we have also researched on for various sources , we can learn that it is always the different view of various groups of people that results in the riots. As they were unwilling to compromise , they resulted in the fight for their own rights , for example the Hock Lee bus riots and also the racial riots.
For the Maria Hertogh riot , it is mainly on the insensitivity of people , the insensitivity of the things people said like the reporters without thinking if what they had said would have affected the people involved, including Maria,her foster parents and Che Aminah,as well as even the public who could have and did felt offended.The media,instead of helping to calm the locals down,added oil to the fire and made things worse.In fact,the media caused more people such as the local malays to be involved and hence resulting in the riot.We also learnt that Maria herself did not want to go back to her foster parents as she felt that she was never loved by her foster parents,that's why they gave her away.She also mentioned that she was not the boy they wanted in the Maria Hertogh documentary filmed in 2009.
We learn that it is important to work together as one and everyone deserves equal treatment.We should learn and respect the other cultures as well an not be racist,this way,we will not offend other races and people resulting in unhappiness.We also learnt that we can live in peace and put everything else aside to build a democratic society
base on justice and equality so as to achieve happiness prosperity and progress for our nation.From this, we can also learn that we have to compromise with each other in order to achieve a decision where both party agrees with so that riots can be prevented and also to achieve peace and equality that both ideas from both parties are used and both parties have rights of their own.
With the example of David Marshall and his political dispute with the other members of parliament including the British ,we can learn that trust is a very important thing. As the British did not trust David Marshall , they turned his idea down as they did not trust him and did not believe in his abilities,in what he could really do. For instance , if they had trust among themselves , there might be more possibilities in their partnership and the ideas that David Marshall had might also be carried out , leading a better future for Singapore.
From the hocklee bus riots,we learnt that the life of the workers were tough as they had to work for very long and tiring hours just to get a minimal pay every month to support themselves.Also,we learnt that life was unfair in the past that those chinese educated were not treated fairly as those who were english educated,such that even with the same qualifications and positions in a company,the chinese educated one would be paid lesser than the english eductaed. The government also funded the English schools more than the chinese schools, with Chung Cheng being one of them in the past.The bus drivers were not respected as well,when they asked for more pay and better living conditions,they were just bluntly ignored hence resulting in the strike.
