ETL 201: Selected History Topics

Georgina Michelle George

National Institute of Education

Name: Georgina Michelle George

Student Number: 020065B24

Program: Dip Ed General

Tutor: Dr. Blackburn

Oral History Assignment: The Maria Hertogh Riots

Date of Submission: 18th October 2003

Title: The Maria Hertogh Riots; Tensed Week At The Little Convent

Introduction

Born on 24th March 1937 to Catholic Dutch parents, Maria Huberdina Hertogh was the third daughter of Mr and Mrs Adrainus Petrus Hertogh. She was caught in a custody battle between her Catholic biological parents and her Muslim foster mother. What started out as a custody battle in late 1949 later became bloody and chaotic leaving 18 dead, 173 injured and nearly 200 vehicles burnt or damaged.[1]

There are differing accounts as to how Maria came under the care of her Muslim mother. The Hertogh’s version is that, Che Aminah (the foster mother) was a friend of Maria’s mother Mrs Hertogh and maternal grandmother Nur Louise. While Mrs Hertogh was in her third day of confinement having delivered her 6th child, Che Aminah had asked for Maria to stay with her for three days. That was the last Mrs Hertogh saw her daughter. She was taken into a Japanese intern camp while she cycled into Bandeong (a village in Java, the then Netherlands East Indies) in search of Che Aminah and Maria. Her husband who was a Sergeant with the Netherlands East Indies Army was earlier made Prisoner of War by the Japanese. When the war ended, the Hertoghs searched for their daughter but it was in vain. They returned to Holland.

Che Aminah’s version is that Maria was given to her willingly by Mrs Hertogh for adoption as she was no child of her own from both her marriages. The adoption was supposed witnessed by Mrs Hertogh’s brother, Soewaldi Hunter, on 15th November 1942. However, there were no legal documentation for the adoption as it took place during a chaotic time in history: the Japanese occupation.[2]

Maria was spotted by chance by British Administrative Officer in her village in Kemaman, Terengganu. He later alerted the Dutch Consulate in Singapore on the missing Dutch girl who was being looked after by a Malay women. The legal custody battle then took place in Singapore as it housed the Dutch Chancellor.

There were 2 rounds of legal battle, both in favour of the Hertoghs. In the first battle, Maria was placed in the York Hill Home for girls whilst pending for appeal from her foster mother. Che Aminah finally won this appeal and Maria was returned to her.

Barely a week after being returned to her foster mother, the Hertoghs made an appeal. Mr Hertogh swore to bring Maria back home to Holland. The second round of proceedings begin and this time it was all to the Hertoghs’ favour. Whilst awaiting the execution of appeal, this time Maria was placed in the Roman Catholic Convent of the Good Shepard for a week.

I interviewed my neighbour, Mrs Molly Clarke nee Tan, to get her personal insights to the riots. She lived in the convent that housed Maria Hertogh and her biological mother Adeline Hertogh for a week before they went back to Holland amidst the religious riot.

Background of Interviewee

Mrs Clarke is the daughter of a wealthy Chinese rubber plantation owner. She lost her mother in the war and her father later remarried. At the demand of her step-mother, she was sent to a “boarding school” in Singapore to study. This school was the Convent of the Good Shepard which still stands at Thomson Road. Mrs Clarke was sent to the home when she was about 12. Five years later, she met Maria Hertogh, although through unfortunate circumstances. [3]

Throughout the interview, she was full of expressions as she recalled the most tensed week in the convent and the story of Maria Hertogh.

Maria Hertogh, the Dutch

Maria Hertogh was born in 1937 in Java, the Dutch East Indies. [4]Mrs Clark recalls that Maria’s parents were kept as Prisoners of War during the Japanese Occupation in 1942.In his book Tangled Worlds: The Story of Maria Hertogh, Ted Hughes reports that while Maria’s father was held Prisoner of War, Mrs Hertogh was kept at an intern camp for travelling without a border pass to get into Bandeong. Mrs Clarke was told by her friends that Maria was given to her Muslim nanny Che Aminah to be looked after during the time her parents were away. However, this is not really concrete as till today the accounts of the circumstance under which Maria ended up living with Che Aminah remains unclear.[5]In his book The Nadra Tradegy, Haja Maideen asserts that Che Aminah was neither a nanny nor a servant of the Hertogh’s. She in fact came from a respected middle class family in Kemamam, Trengganu, Malaya.

According to Hughes, Che Aminah was a family friend of Mrs Adeline Hertogh and her mother (i.e Maria’s maternal grandmother, Nor Louise). Mrs Hertogh was a Eurasian of Scottish and Indonesian Eurasian parentage. Mrs Hertogh herself was born a Christian and was “adopted” by an Indonesian Muslim and thus later adapted Islam. Later she converted willingly when she married Mr Hertogh, Maria’s father.

Mrs Clarke is certain that Maria was “given to be looked after” to Che Animah when she was about 6 years of age. While most reports are not certain of the age Maria started living with Che Aminah and have put a rough estimation of about 5 to 6 years old, Hughes claims Maria was about 3 or 4 months short of her 6th birthday when she went to live with Che Aminah.

Mrs Clarke’s recollection of Maria was that of a beautiful, blue-eyed, blonde European teenager who dressed in Tudung (headscarf worn by Muslim women for religious purposes) and Baju Kurung (traditional Malay outfit)when Maria first came to the convent.

Maria Also Known as Nadra the Muslim

Mrs Clarke recalls that Maria had a Malay name and she practiced Islam. She prayed 5 times a day while she was at the Good Shepard Convent. Many reports confirm that Maria also went by the name of Nadra Binte Ma’arof. Hughes further confirms this and the fact that Maria was circumcised about a year after she started living with Che Aminah. She was referred to by her Malay name and grew up a devout Muslim complete with the tundung. Maria could hardly speak a word of English by the time the legal custody battle was going on.

Even whilst she was placed in the convent, she at first wore a Baju Kurung. She looked weird as she was predominantly white but her influences were typically Malay. She could not even use a fork and a spoon at meals in the convent and she made a fuss before she ate demanding for halal food.[6]Mrs Clarke recalls that for the time she was there, all food brought into the convent was halal to pacify the angry teenager.

Mrs Clarke recalls that Maria was “quickly married off” to a Malay school teacher when the Court of Appeal returned custody of Maria to Che Aminah. Her husband, Mansoor Adabi, was a 22 year old English Language teacher at Bukit Panjang Government High.[7]The wedding took place on August 1st 1950, just 3 days after the Court Of Appeal ruled in favour of Che Aminah. Maria was only 13 at the time of her wedding which was solemnized by a Kathi, a Judge in Muslim Affairs. [8]

The Tensed Week At The Convent.

On December 2nd 1950, Justice Brown ruled that Maria be returned to her biological parents. He also made null the Muslim marriage uniting 13 year old Maria and 22 year old Mansoor Adabi.[9]

That day, Maria and Mrs Hertogh were brought to the Good Shepard Convent directly from the High Court. As Che Aminah appealed against the ruling, Maria was not to leave Singapore until a decision was made about the former’s appeal. Therefore she was housed at the Catholic Convent at the approval of her real mother.

Maria was screaming and crying in Malay for Che Aminah. The girls at the convent were instructed not to leave their dormitories on the second floor for fear of their safety while Maria was housed there. Maria was given a special room which she shared with her real mother. Sister Clumbers, the nun who brought Maria to the convent, had carefully thought out safety precautions predicting the riots that would take place as Maria’s story made headlines in the local newspapers. She arranged for the British Army to guard the convent. She refused any dealings with the local police force as the force was made up of mainly Malay men.[10]Hughes further confirms that the Commission of Inquiry acting on Maria’s case “found many instances of “deliberate inaction” by the Malay Police” in the wake of the riots.[11]

For the next 8 days, all recreation activities outside of the convent were limited. A small handful of girls were allowed out into the open. From her dormitory, Mrs Clarke could see large groups of Muslim men chanting their prayers, calling the ruling an unfair one against Muslims. She added that there was a curfew implemented.

Mrs Clarke recalls there were many reports in the newspapers about fanatic Muslims attacking White people or anyone who looked European. A white Catholic priest was attacked with broken bottles whilst he was driving. The riots that week left 18 people killed (the priest being one of them)[12], 173 people injured and 200 vehicles burnt or severely damaged.[13]

On the 11th of December the Supreme Court heard the appeal was heard. Maria did not go to court that day. The appeal was thrown out of court thereby giving full custody to the Hertoghs. Mrs Clarke recalls that all hell broke loose. 72 arson cases were reported, among them the Cold Storage and the Singapore Traction Company.[14]The Malay rioters had the support of the Indian Muslims and the Pakistanis Muslims. The Commission of Inquiry certainly did not expect such a frantic mob.

For Mrs Clarke and the rest of the girls (Maria inclusive) in the convent, it was the most terrifying day of their lives. The rioters tried to march into the convent premises but were unsuccessful due to the heavy British Amy security.

According to Mrs Clarke, late that night (the wee hours of December 12th), Maria and Mrs Hertogh under the tight security of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Gurkha Contingent, Maria and her mother left for the KallangAirport. However, through my readings, I found that Maria and her mother were actually taken to the off-shore St John’s island by motor boat where they waited for about 3 to 4 hours before their KLM flight was due to leave for Amsterdam.[15]

The rioting continued into December 12th and 13th. The situation returned to normal on the 14th of December. Thereafter, many were arrested by the Riot Investigation Unit and charged. A total of 700 arrests were made. [16]

Life After The Battle

Mrs Clarke recounts that Sister Clumbers later went to stay in Sri Lanka for three months to allow matters in Singapore to cool down. Later at an annual old girls’ gathering, Sister Clumbers told the girls that Maria was married to a certain Dutch called Gerard. Hughes confirms this further adding that she had 13 children with her Dutch husband Johan Gerardus Wolkenfeld before she finally divorced him.[17]

In Conclusion

Through this oral history project, I discovered a lot of sensitive issues in the Maria Hertogh case. It was my pleasure doing the interview with Mrs Clarke and I feel contended knowing that I have a link to the past living next to me, such people are hard to find! The books alone can not provide us with the view of the man in the streets. I’ve also learnt to read historical accounts from various sources critically and with a questioning mind. Most importantly, I have learnt that there always more than a version to a story and never to be completely taken in by anyone’s account of a historical happening be it first hand experience.

Profile Of Interviewee

Name of Interviewee: Molly Clarke nee Tan

Nationality: Sinaporean

Occupation: Housewife

Age: 70 (as in NRIC)

Place: Mrs Clarke’s home

Duration: About an hour

Language: English (mostly Singlish with lots of colloquial terms)

Excerpts of the Interview.

Certain parts of the interview were left out as there was a considerable amount of repetition. Due to the sensitive issue of the topic, some comments made by the interviewee were indeed too insensitive to publish, as such I have omitted those as well. Items in bold denote me, the interviewer.

How did you get to stay in the Convent?

My mother was killed by the Japanese soildiers in our rubber plantation. Then my father remarried and our step-mother a Cantonese teacher did not like me and Sally (her sister). So my father got no choice send us to a boarding school. Last time we consider the convent a boarding school. Last time we call the Good Shepard Convent ah, now call Marymount Convent. Still there. Thomson road.

You met Maria Hertogh?

Ya she was there for a week after Sister Clumbers our matron got involved in the matter. Maria’s mother wanted her to stay at a Catholic place since she was a Catholic. Maria is a baptized Catholic you know. So Sister Clumbers decided to help lor. There was no other convent at that time also.

By the reports that I have read, I must ask you, when you saw Maria did you feel as if she was indeed European or Malay?

Wow! She was a pretty girl you know that Maria. She was beautiful. She got blue eyes like my Sera (Mrs Clarke’s grand-daughter) and she had the fairest skin of an ang moh. To me she looked European. Nobody will say she Malay. But she look very weird when she first came to the convent. She wear a baju kurung and tundung. I never read papers at that time but Sally (Mrs Clarke’s sister) will tell you that Maria was always photographed in traditional Malay outfit throughout the court case.

You didn’t follow the story in the newspapers?

That time I only interest in sewing. I don’t read. Anyway, in the convent we also don’t get newspapers everyday. When the caretaker buy then we read lor. Sally like all these. I sit down and sew then she will read to me.

What do you recall about the newspaper stories that Sally read to you?

When Aminah won the first appeal, she so smart she quickly get this small girl married to an old man. Not really old man la but 2 times her age. He was a teacher. But you know, not once in the convent she asked for that man. She only ask for her Malay mother. That one I remember very well because just a few days before only she won the appeal.

Then there were lots of pictures about the riots. So many cars burnt down. About 20 people I think were killed. The Muslim fanatics even came chanting their prayers to our convent. Scary that one!

Tell me more about the situation at the convent that week.

Actually Maria was brought straight from the convent together with Sister and her mother. But before that Sister is very intelligent, she arrange for the British army to guard the convent all around la. She don’t want the police because most of the police all Malay. They purposely won’t take action because the judge rule not in their favour. Then after she arrange security for us, then she told us that this girl Maria will be staying with us. None of us must disturb her. We also not allowed to talk to her or ask her anything. We mind our own business lor. Then some of the free time also suspended because scared of problems outside. We have two dormitories. One upstairs and one down stairs. We had all our meals upstairs. For 2 days we were not allowed to leave the second floor. Got curfew also lor.

Was Maria a friendly person?

Aiyoh that girl! She gave Sister Clumbers and all the nuns a headache! She cry cry and cry. Then she keep screaming in Malay. You won’t believe, the other mother bring her up until the girl don’t know English! Then she also throw tantrums because she want the Malay mother. Then food also she don’t want to eat. She want halal food. Then we all that week ah, all food halal lor. They scared to spark off more riots.

I can’t say if she friendly. We are not allowed to talk to her and that time we are all afraid of the nuns. The convent is like military you know. Must follow instructions. Very strict. Tough life. Like or don’t like can’t say anything.