80th Anniversary Commemorative Book - Singapore Manufacturing ...

Manufacturers grappled with rebuilding theirbusinesses. Employment was scarce andworking conditions appalling. Workers’ discontentculminated in a series of strikes in 1947 causingmassive stoppages in public transport and otherservices.By late 1947, the economy began to turn around,bolstered by a growing demand for tin and rubberaround the world. However, it would take severalyears before the economy returned to pre-warlevels.Chinese students being rounded up by thepolice during the 1954 Chinese MiddleSchool Student riots.The discontent continued well into the 1950s. In 1954, the Chinese MiddleSchool riots broke out, fueling the tension between the local Government onthe one hand and on the other, students from The Chinese High School andother Chinese-medium schools, who were joined by unionists who wereregarded as having communist sympathies. In May 1955, the Hock Lee BusRiots broke out, in which four people died.The 1958 worldwide trade recession also affected local manufacturers’efforts to rebuild their businesses.Politically, Britain’s failure to defend Singapore had destroyed its credibilityin the eyes of Singaporeans. The decades after the war saw a politicalawakening amongst the local populace, which led to the formation of severalpolitical parties, one of them being the current ruling People’s Action Party(PAP).The British Government, on its part, was prepared to introduce selfgovernancefor Singapore and Malaya gradually. On 1 April 1946, the StraitsSettlements were dissolved and Singapore became a separate CrownColony with a civil administration, headed by a Governor.The first Singaporean elections were held in March 1948, as the Britishgradually ceded their political reins to the locals. A general election for a fullyelected Government was held on Saturday, 30 May 1959.34 Braving the Turbulence 1932 – 1965