Maria Hertogh Riots

The Maria Hertogh Riots took place in December 1950. Europeans were brutally attacked or killed, many cars and buses were burnt too. About 18 people were killed and 173 were injured during the riot. The muslims felt that the British were biased towards the Dutch and that the Muslim religion was not respected.
The Maria Hertogh Riots clearly showed that the people in Singapore were getting upset with the British rule and more people are pressing for self independence. It also expressed the importance of racial harmony and how all races should be treated equally and any form of racism should not be tolerated.
The British were losing the people's respect as they proved to be poor leaders, making it a step closer towards indepwndence for Singapore.

Difference between Internal Self-Government and Limited Self-Government

The change between Limited Self-Government and Internal Self-Government was an important step towards independence foe Singapore. Here are the structures of each constituition:

Limited Self-Government:
  Executive Council 
    -Head of state-British Governor
    -3 British ministers
    -Chief minister
    -6 local ministers
  Legislative Council
    -25 elected members
    -7 nominated members

Areas of responsibility:
Trade and industry, Health, Education and Education

Internal Self-Government
  Executive Council
    -Head of state-Yang di-Pertuan Negara
    -No British minister
    -Prime minister
    -All ministers were locals
  Legislative Council
    -51 elected members
    -No nominated members

Areas of responsibility:
Trade and Industry, Health, education, Housing, Law and Labour, Finance
Shared area of responsibility: Internal security

The change of no more British officers and the Head of State was a major change as there were no longer any British officers in the government, removing British influence. Moreover, there were more areas of responsibilities, such as Law and Finance. In the Legislative, more members were elected. (51, as compared to 25 in 1955)

Malayan Emergency

The Malayan Emergency was a guerrilla war fought between the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) and commonwealth troops. It broke out in 1948 and ended in 1960. Their aim was to turn Malaya in to a communist country. The MCP was an outgrowth of the anti-Japanese guerrilla movement which had emerged during the Second World War. Singapore was affected as it ran a high risk of turning into a communist country as the labour unions were controlled by communist. They were responsible for the violent riots that took place, challenging the pro-democratic parties such as PAP. Moreover, the communists won the support of many Chinese in Singapore, making them numerically strong. The MCP needed these supporters to act as their spies, provide them with a supply of food, etc.