Episode 47: The 1964 Political Riots

Singapore has never had a race riot - so why do we call the riots of 1964 “race” riots? In this episode, PJ Thum explains how the elections of 1963 and 1964, the starkly divergent political circumstances north and south of the causeway, and most of all the contradictions inherent in how Malaysia had been constructed, led to the outbreak of riots in Singapore in 1964, and why they should be properly termed “political” riots. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit Support the show at

You can listen to Episode 47: The 1964 Political Riots online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Episode 47: The 1964 Political Riots is an episode from The History of Singapore by The History of Singapore.

This episode is 00:39:22 long.

This episode was published on Sep 23, 2016.

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