Kreta Ayer incident

On 12 March 1927, a clash in the Kreta Ayer neighbourhood between police and largely Hainanese Kuomingtang supporters revealed the strength of leftist influence on the local Chinese population. A memorial service at Happy Valley to mark Sun Yat-sen's death was followed by a procession of Chinese, many of which were young Hainanese Kuomintang members. They crowded Kreta Ayer and sparked disturbances which ensued into a conflict with the police. The police fired into the mobs, killing six people. In the days that followed, incendiary reports by the Chinese led to further riots and agitation until late May 1927.

Context
In the 1920s, the rise of nationalism and the development of Kuomintang (KMT) branches overseas impacted the ideological thinking of local Chinese, particularly the working-class Hainanese. In early March 1927, moderate Cantonese leaders from the Thong Yan Club and Hokkien representatives from their community made requests for holding a memorial service on the occasion of Sun Yat Sen's second death anniversary. Noting the potentially volatile nature of such a service, permission was granted on condition that there would be no processions or speeches. The police was also put on alert, although only five constables were put on location so as to avoid provocation.

Event
The memorial service began in the afternoon of 12 March 1927 at Happy Valley Amusement Park at Tanjong Pagar. Hundreds of Chinese, mainly Hainanese and Cantonese, with a few Teochews and Hokkiens, filed past photographs of Dr Sun.

However, the Hainanese soon became unruly. A Malay policeman attempted to handcuff one of them but was instead assaulted. The crowd, swelling to 1,000, began to proceed down Maxwell Road toward Kreta Ayer, raising the KMT flag and distributing anti-imperialist pamphlets. The procession became violent when it attacked a trolley-bus which drove into their midst. The bus was driven towards the Kreta Ayer Police Station where there was a violent confrontation with the police firing shots, killing six and wounding 14.

Pamphlets and rumours thereafter, believed to be incited by the KMT supporters, led to a boycott of the British owned Singapore Traction Company resulting in empty trolley buses for several months until the boycott petered out around May. Riots also occurred in People's Park and the military had to be called in.

Significance
The incident, referred to by the Chinese media as the Incident of National Memorial Day, led to the colonial authorities hardening their stand against the KMT movement in Malaya. Night schools which generated KMT propaganda were raided and at least five of these schools declared unlawful.

However, the successful tactics of the anti-imperialists' propaganda, using pamphlets and youths to stage protests to weaken the influence of the Chinese merchant leadership, were soon adopted by subsequent generations of leftist Chinese in Malaya.



Author
Bonny Tan



References 
Ku, H. T. (1976). Kuomintang's mass movement and the Kreta Ayer incident (1927) in Malaya. Singapore: Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Graduate Studies, Nanyang University.
(Call no.: RSEA 322.4209595 KU)

Mulliner, K. (1991). Historical dictionary of Singapore (p. 81). Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57003 MUL) 

Tanjong Pagar: Singapore's cradle of development (pp. 99-103). (1989). Singapore: Tanjong Pagar Citizens' Consultative Committee.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 TAN)

Yong, C. F. (1990). The Kuomintang movement in British Malaya, 1912-1949 (pp. 88-89). Singapore: Singapore University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 322.4095951 YON)



The information in this article is valid as at 1998 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Politics and Government>>National Security>>Civil Unrests>>Riots
Events>> Historical Periods>>Founding of Modern Singapore(1891-1941)
Riots--Singapore
People and communities>>Social conflict>>Riots
People and communities>>Social groups and communities

Librarian Recommendations
>> Kreta Ayer Road


All Rights Reserved. National Library Board Singapore 2004.