Social Studies for 1A and 1B

Hi 1A and 1B!

What have we done so far for social studies?

Last week, we looked at how Singapore was occupied by the Japanese during World War II, from 1942 to 1945. During this period of time, the Singaporeans were tortured and treated badly. Life was very hard and Singaporeans became very unhappy.

The Japanese left Singapore in 1945 and the British returned. Before the Japanese Occupation, the British promised to protect Singapore at all costs but the British eventually abandoned Singapore. Therefore, while the people are happy that the British returned and the Japanese have left, they wanted to govern Singapore for themselves.

These information can be found in page 19 to 24 of your textbook.

Here is a video that shows how hard life was during the Japanese Occupation. Watch it from 5.20minutes onwards.



This next video is the next part of the show and shows you how the Singaporeans celebrated when the British came back. It also shows the strikes and protests and explains well why the Chinese School Students were unhappy.



This leads us to what we have done today. Refer to page 25 to 30 of your textbook for today's unit. Today, we looked at how the Singaporeans tried to take over control of Singapore from the British. Before we think of how they tried to take over control, we should consider why they want to take over Singapore. After the Japanese have left Singapore, the problems that were created during the war remains. There was a lack of food, housing, jobs and schools. The people in Singapore felt they will be able to help themselves more by forming their own government.

Some groups of people used violence to try to gain control of Singapore while some used peaceful methods. The Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Party (MPAJA) was a group which used violence. The MPAJA was formed during the Japanese Occupation, by the Communists, to fight against the Japanese. After the Japanese left Singapore, the MPAJA turned their attention to chasing the British out of Singapore. To do so, they organised strikes and protests by stirring up unhappy feelings amongst the workers and the Chinese school students. These protests and strikes often ended badly with people getting injured or killed. One example was the Hock Lee Bus Riots in 1955. A curfew was implemented by the British after that to maintain control.

Other groups tried to gain control through peaceful methods. They formed political parties and negotiated with the British the terms for self-government. Political parties are groups of people who share the same beliefs and aims. The British thus realized that they could no longer control Singapore and decided to let Singapore hold elections to choose our own leaders.

To gain support, these groups had to carry out door-to-door visits and rallies. This is in hope that the people vote for them on election day. Two main political parties at that time were the Labour Front Party and the People's Action Party. The Labour Front Party was first headed by Mr David Marshall who left Singapore after failing to convince the British. Mr Lim Yew Hock then took over leadership of the Labour Front Party. The People's Action Party was headed by Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

Next week, we will look at the results of the elections and also Singapore's progress after the elections. Please feel free to comment if you have any questions to clarify with me. Hope this helps! =)