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Maria Huberdina Hertogh (born ''Huberdina Maria Hertogh''; 24 March 1937 – 8 July 2009), also known as Bertha Hertogh, Nadra binte Ma'arof, Nadra Adabi or simply Natrah, was a Dutch woman of Eurasian descent and Malay upbringing. She is notable for being at the centre of the
Maria Hertogh riots Maria Huberdina Hertogh (born ''Huberdina Maria Hertogh''; 24 March 1937 – 8 July 2009), also known as Bertha Hertogh, Nadra binte Ma'arof, Nadra Adabi or simply Natrah, was a Dutch woman of Eurasian descent and Malays (ethnic group), Malay ...
when she was a young girl. She was born to Dutch Roman Catholic parents in
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
(then part of the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
). During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, her parents were imprisoned by the Japanese and she was given to a Malay
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
, Che Aminah binte Mohamed, and raised as a Muslim under the name Nadra. After the war, Maria’s biological parents sought to reclaim her and a custody battle ensued between the Hertoghs and Che Aminah. The British colonial court in
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
ruled in favor of the Dutch parents in 1950, ordering that Maria be returned to them. The court's decision was seen as an insult to
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, since Maria was taken from a Muslim home and forced to leave her faith. A protest by outraged Muslims escalated when images of her were published showing her kneeling before a statue of the
Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
and
Saint Blaise Blaise of Sebaste (, ''Hágios Blásios''; martyred 316 AD) was a physician and bishop of Sivas, Sebastea in historical Lesser Armenia (modern Sivas, Turkey) who is venerated as a Christian saint and martyr. He is counted as one of the Fourteen ...
, leading to riots that took place between 11 and 13 December 1950 in Singapore. 18 people were killed and 173 injured; many properties were also damaged.


Birth and baptism

Huberdina Maria Hertogh was born on 24 March 1937 to a Dutch Catholic family living in
Cimahi Cimahi () is a landlocked city located immediately west of the larger city of Bandung, in West Java Province, Indonesia and within the Bandung Metropolitan Area. It covers an area of 42.43 km2 and had a population at the 2010 Census of 541 ...
, near
Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...
,
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
, then a part of the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
(now
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
). Her biological father, Adrianus Petrus Hertogh, came to Java in the 1920s as a
sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...
in the
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (; KNIL, ; ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The KNIL's air arm was the Royal Netherl ...
. In the early 1930s, he married Adeline Hunter, a Eurasian of
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
- Javanese descent brought up in Java. Maria was
baptised Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...
in the Roman Catholic Church of Saint Ignatius at Tjimahi on 10 April by a
Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...
.


Early life

At the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Adrianus Hertogh, a sergeant in the
Dutch Army The Royal Netherlands Army (, KL) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised making the Dutch standing army one of the ...
, was captured by the
Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...
and sent to a
POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...
camp in Japan, where he was kept until 1945. Meanwhile, Adeline Hertogh stayed with her mother, Nor Louise, and her five children, among whom Maria was the third and youngest daughter. On 29 December 1942, Adeline gave birth to her sixth child, a boy. Three days later, Maria went to stay with Che Aminah binte Mohammad, a 42-year-old Malay woman from
Kemaman Kemaman (Terengganu Malay: ''Kemamang'' or ''Mamang'') is a district in Terengganu, Malaysia. Kemaman District is bordered by Dungun District to the north and the state of Pahang to the south and west. It is the southern gateway to the state of Te ...
,
Terengganu Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu) is a sultanate and States and federal territories of Malaysia, federal state of Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l-Iman (c ...
,
Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
(now
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
) who was a close friend of Nor Louise.


Adeline Hertogh's version of events

According to Adeline Hertogh, in testimony given in evidence before the court at the hearing in November 1950, she was persuaded by her mother after the birth of her sixth child to allow Maria to go and stay with Aminah in
Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...
for three or four days. Consequently, Aminah arrived on 1 January 1943 to fetch Maria. When the child was not returned, Hertogh borrowed a bicycle on 6 January and set out to retrieve her. She claimed that she was stopped by a Japanese sentry on the outskirts of Bandung as she did not possess a pass and was therefore interned. From her internment camp, she smuggled a letter to her mother, requesting for her children to be sent to her. This Nor Louise did, but Maria was not among them. Hertogh asked her mother to fetch Maria from Aminah. Her mother later wrote and told her that Aminah wanted to keep Maria for two more days, after which she herself would bring the child to the camp. However, Hertogh did not see Maria throughout her internment. After her release, she could not find either Maria nor Aminah.


Life with Aminah

Upon arriving with Aminah, Maria was given the name Nadra binte Ma'arof. For unknown reasons, her new family moved to
Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
for a period before moving back to Bandung, where Aminah worked for the Japanese military police as an
interpreter Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...
until the end of the war. Aminah moved back to her hometown of Kampung Banggol in
Kemaman Kemaman (Terengganu Malay: ''Kemamang'' or ''Mamang'') is a district in Terengganu, Malaysia. Kemaman District is bordered by Dungun District to the north and the state of Pahang to the south and west. It is the southern gateway to the state of Te ...
,
Terengganu Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu) is a sultanate and States and federal territories of Malaysia, federal state of Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l-Iman (c ...
. By then Maria was the same as any other Malay Muslim girl of her age: she spoke only Malay, wore Malay clothes, and practiced her religion devoutly. Maria had an adoptive elder sister of Japanese descent, Kamariah Mohd Dahan, whom Aminah had adopted in
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
when she lived there with her husband.


Custody battle

In 1945, with the end of World War II, Sergeant Hertogh was released and returned to Java and reunited with his wife. The couple stated that they inquired about Maria, but could find neither her nor Aminah. They returned to the Netherlands after requesting the Dutch authorities in Java and Singapore to search for the child. Investigations were then made by the
Red Cross Society The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the world's largest group of non-governmental organizations working on humanitarian aid, is composed of the following bodies: *The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), is an indep ...
, the
Royal Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army (, KL) is the Ground warfare, land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised making the Dutch standing a ...
, the Indonesian Repatriation Service, and local police. Finally, in September 1949, Aminah and Maria were traced to the
kampung A kampong (this term is in Za'aba Spelling, ''kampung'' in both modern Malay and Indonesian) is a term for a type of village in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and a "dock" in Cambodia. The term applies to traditional villages, especi ...
in which they were living. Negotiations were opened to retrieve Maria in early 1950. The Dutch Consulate offered $500 to make up for Aminah's expenses in bringing up the girl for eight years. Aminah rejected the offer. Attempts were then made to persuade Aminah to travel with Maria to Singapore in April to discuss the issue with the Dutch Consul-General; Aminah again refused. The Consulate then applied to the
High Court of Singapore The High Court of Singapore is the lower division of the Supreme Court of Singapore, the upper division being the Court of Appeal of Singapore, Court of Appeal. The High Court consists of the Chief Justice of Singapore, chief justice and the ju ...
on 22 April for Maria to be delivered into the custody of the Social Welfare Department, pending further order. The Chief Justice heard the request the same day and approved the application '' ex parte''. The next day, an officer from the department served the order to take Maria from Aminah's custody, and Maria was then placed in the Girls' Home at York Hill. From this point on, Maria made it clear that she wanted to stay with Aminah and did not wish to be returned to her natal parents. Aminah contended that Adeline had given Maria over to her willingly, and this was supported by the testimony of Soewaldi Hunter, Adeline's elder brother, who bore witness to the adoption. However, after a 15-minute hearing on 19 May, the High Court ruled that the custody of Maria be granted to the Hertoghs. As Aminah and Maria exited the court via the back door, a car from the consulate was waiting to take Maria away. Maria refused to enter the car and clung on to Aminah, both shouting in Malay that they would kill themselves rather than be separated. A large crowd quickly formed around the commotion. It was only after much persuasion that Aminah agreed to enter the car together with Maria and pay a visit to her lawyer, who explained that Maria had to be given up until an appeal was made. The duo then parted in tears, with Maria returned to the convent for temporary safekeeping. Maria stayed at the convent for two more months under a further order from the Chief Justice pending appeal, which was filed on 28 July. The verdict was an overruling of the earlier decision; aside from the ''ex parte'' order to hand Maria to the Social Welfare Department, the Appellate Court found ambiguity in the Dutch Consul-General's representation of Maria's natal father. Both Aminah and Maria were overjoyed.


Controversial marriage

On 1 August 1950, Maria was married by way of a ''nikah gantung'' (to be consummated when both parties were of age, valid under
Islamic law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...
) to 21-year-old Mansoor Adabi, a Kelantan-born teacher-in-training at the Bukit Panjang Government School. The marriage was later speculated to have been a manoeuvre by Aminah to prevent further retrieval attempts by the Hertoghs; Maria returned to live with Aminah after the wedding night, and the marriage was never consummated. Because the marriage had been solemnised in Singapore, which was at that time under British rule, British law controlled the validity of the marriage rather than Malayan law. The first challenges on the marriage's validity came from within the Muslim community. On 10 August, a Muslim leader wrote to
The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...
, pointing out that although Islamic law permits the marriage of girls starting after
puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a female, the testicles i ...
(which Maria had reached a year earlier), there were Muslim countries such as
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
that legislated for a minimum marriage age of 16. He added, however, that it would not be in the interest of "the friendly understanding... between Christians and Muslims" to object to the marriage since it had already taken place. The latter view was held by the majority of the Muslim population, albeit in a more antagonistic mood against the Dutch and Europeans at large.


Second appeal

Meanwhile, the Hertoghs had not given up legal pursuit to retrieve Maria. Only a day after the marriage, Aminah received the Hertoghs' representative lawyers from
Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...
. The lawyers delivered a letter demanding Maria's return by 10 August, failing which legal action would be taken. Believing that the marriage settled the matter, Aminah and Mansoor both ignored the deadline. The Hertoghs did not. On 26 August, an originating summons was taken out, under the Guardianship of Infants Ordinance, by the Hertoghs as
plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...
s against Aminah, Maria and Mansoor, who were all made
defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one juris ...
s. The hearing proceeded between 20 and 24 November. For four months, the matter hung in suspense. During this time, in order to avoid public scrutiny, Maria rarely left her residence in the house of M.A. Majid, then-president of the Muslim Welfare Association and Adabi's foster father. Nevertheless, media coverage on the incident had grown to a global scale. Letters from Muslim organisations in
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
promising financial and other help arrived, some going so far as to declare any further move by the Dutch Government to separate the couple as "an open challenge to the Muslim world". Pledges of aid also came from Maria's native
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
and as far as
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
. The hearing finally opened, and Maria's natal mother, Adeline Hertogh travelled down to Singapore to attend. The judge, Justice Brown, delivered the verdict in the case entitled ''Re M. H. Hertogh, an Infant: Hertogh v. Amina binte Mohamed and Others'' two weeks later. The marriage, instead of resolving the dispute, had instead complicated it. His judgment stated ''inter alia'': #That "after a most careful consideration of all the evidence which bears upon this marriage, the age of the child, the opportunities which she had of knowing Mansoor, and the date of the marriage in relation to the date of the Court of Appeal decision, I am compelled to the conclusion that this purported marriage was a manoeuvre designed to prejudice these proceedings, which is discreditable to all concerned. In saying that, I wish to make it clear that I am satisfied that the child was neither forced nor tricked into it." #That "following the rule in ''Sottomayor v. De Barros (No. 2)'', the validity of a marriage celebrated in Singapore between persons of whom the one has a Singapore, and the other a foreign, domicile is not affected by any incapacity which, though existing under the law of such foreign domicile, does not exist under the law of Singapore." #That nevertheless "Maria's incapacity o contract marriageunder the law of her (father's domicile), admittedly Holland, to contract the marriage, since she was under age, existed also under the law of Singapore." #That "since her father had not waived or by his conduct abrogated his legal right to control the religion of his child and had not consented to her becoming a Muslim, whatever the child may say and whatever ceremonies and teaching she may have undergone, she is not in the eyes of this court a Muslim." #That "therefore the purported marriage was void." Having over-ruled the purported marriage, Justice Brown went on to deal with what he described as the "most difficult" question of custody. He noted that his duty to the law required him "to have regard primarily to the welfare of the infant". He believed this meant that he not only had to consider the current wishes of Maria, but also her future well-being. He stated:
"It is natural that she should now wish to remain in Malaya among people whom she knows. But who can say that she will have the same views some years hence after her outlooks has been enlarged, and her contacts extended, in the life of the family to which she belongs?"
He also noted that whatever the details of the contested initiation of the custody at the end of 1942 might be, Adrianus Hertogh had not been part of it and had not abrogated his parental rights. He therefore awarded the custody of Maria to the Hertoghs and ordered that she should be handed over to her mother with immediate effect.


Stay at the convent

When police came to take Maria, she wept and clung to Aminah and Mansoor. Aminah fainted on the spot and a doctor standing by had to attend to her. Mansoor advised Maria to concede for the time being and promised that he and others would carry on the legal fight. Thus Maria allowed herself to be brought away into a car. Outside, the police, including a
Gurkha Contingent The Gurkha Contingent (GC) is a line department of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) consisting primarily of Gurkhas from Nepal, who are meticulously recruited by the British Army under the purview of the Government of Singapore. The contingen ...
, held back a crowd of several hundred. The car delivered Maria to the Roman Catholic Convent of the Good Shepherd, run by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, at Thomson Road. Mrs. Hertogh stayed at another address for a few days, from where she visited Maria daily, before moving into the convent herself. According to an official of the Netherlands Consulate-General, such arrangement was because of "greater convenience" while the stay of execution pending appeal was in effect. But it proved to be the spark that lit the fuse of the subsequent riots. The press was not barred from entering the
convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...
grounds. On 5 December, the '' Singapore Tiger Standard'' published on its front page a photograph of Maria standing holding hands with the Reverend Mother. There were several more pictures on page 2, under the headline: ''Bertha knelt before heVirgin Mary Statue''. The Malay press retorted. The '' Utusan Melayu'' published on 7 December three photographs of Maria weeping and being comforted by a nun, as well as articles about Maria's "lonely and miserable" life in the convent. These pictures, whether presenting Maria as happy or sad, mostly showed Maria surrounded by symbols of Christian faith. The Muslims, who looked upon Maria as one of their own, were deeply offended by such pictures, not to mention the sensational reports, some of which explicitly labelled the case as a religious issue between Islam and Christianity. On 9 December, an organisation calling itself the Nadra Action Committee was formally constituted under the leadership of
Karim Ghani Karim Ghani () was a politician in South-East Asia of Indian origin. Before the Second World War Karim Ghani was a parliamentary secretary in Burma under Dr. Ba Maw, who was the first Burma Premier (1937–1939) and head of State of Burma from 19 ...
, a Muslim political activist from
Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...
. The Committee solicited support among local Muslims by distributing free copies of its newspaper, the ''Dawn'' (not the ''
Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...
'', an English paper published in Pakistan). Karim Ghani had also made an open speech at the
Sultan Mosque Masjid Sultan, also referred to as Sultan Mosque, is a widely known religious landmark in Singapore. This mosque, which can be found in the Kampong Glam district at the intersection of North Bridge Road and Muscat Street, is highly significant in ...
on 8 December in which he mentioned
jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...
as a final resort. In the light of the mounting backlash, the
Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes criminal investigation, detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is disti ...
sent a memo to the Colonial Secretary suggesting moving Maria back to York Hill to avoid further inciting Muslim anger. The Secretary did not agree on grounds that he had received no such representations from Muslim leaders, nor did he have the authority to remove Maria without further court orders. It cannot be said definitively that moving Maria out of the convent at such a late stage could have averted the riots.


The riots and subsequent trials

The appeal hearing opened on 11 December. Maria stayed at the convent and did not attend. Since early morning, crowds carrying banners and flags with
star and crescent The conjoined representation of a star and a crescent is used in various historical contexts, including as a prominent symbol of the Ottoman Empire, and in contemporary times, as a national symbol by some countries, and by some Muslims as a sym ...
symbols began to gather around the
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
. By noon, when the hearing eventually began, the restive crowd had grown from 2,000 to 3,000 in number. The court threw out the appeal within five minutes. The brevity of the hearing convinced the gathering that the colonial legal system was biased against Muslims. The riots erupted. The riots continued for three days and a curfew was imposed for two weeks. The mob, largely consisting of Muslims, moved out to attack any
European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...
s and even Eurasians in sight. They overturned cars and burnt them. The police force and its lower ranks largely consisted of Malays who sympathized with the rioters' cause and were ineffective in quelling the riots. By nightfall, the riots had spread to even the more remote parts of the island. Help from the
British military The British Armed Forces are the unified military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping e ...
was enlisted only at around 6:45 PM. Major-General Dunlop promptly deployed two internal security battalions while calling in further reinforcements from Malaya. Meanwhile, various Muslim leaders appealed over the radio for the riots to cease. Reinforcements arrived early on 12 December, but riotous incidents continued on that day. The troops and police only managed to regain control of the situation by noon on 13 December. In total, 18 people were killed, among whom were seven Europeans or Eurasians, two police officers, and nine rioters shot by the police or military, 173 were injured, many of them seriously, 119 vehicles were damaged and at least two buildings were set on fire. Subsequently, two weeks of 24-hour curfew were imposed, and it was a long time before complete law and order were re-established. After the riot, the police set up a special investigation unit that detained 778 people, among them Karim Ghani. Out of these, 403 were released unconditionally and 106 were released on various conditions (they generally had to report to the police station monthly and adhere to a curfew after dark). The police eventually brought rioting charges against 200 people, of whom 25 were acquitted, 100 were convicted, 62 were referred to the Enquiry Advisory Committee and seven were brought to trial at the
Assize Court The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ...
for wanton killing and five of them were subsequently sentenced to
death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...
on the
gallows A gallows (or less precisely scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sa ...
. One of the five that was sentenced to the
gallows A gallows (or less precisely scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sa ...
was A.K.S. Othman Ghani, a respected Indian businessman from
Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
. On 25 August 1951,
Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman (8 February 19036 December 1990), commonly referred to as Tunku, was a Malaysian statesman who served as prime minister of Malaysia from 1957 to 1970. He previously served as the only chief minister of Federation of Malaya ...
, who would later become the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, took over as the president of
UMNO The United Malays National Organisation ( abbrev: UMNO; , PEKEMBAR) is a conservative, Malay nationalist political party in Malaysia. As the oldest national political party in the country (since its inception in 1946), UMNO has been known as ...
, a Malay-centric party. He immediately set out to save the five on death row. Having garnered support from the Muslim population, Abdul Rahman placed pressure on the authorities, who finally gave in. The British government was expecting their role as the colonial master to end very soon and did not wish to leave behind grim memories. The death sentences for all five were commuted to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
.


Aftermath of the riots

A Commission of Inquiry was appointed by Governor Franklin Gimson. It was headed by Sir Lionel Leach, a member of the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...
. The Commission placed large blame on the police command for not having anticipated the violence from many indicators between 2 and 11 December. Furthermore, when the riots first started, the police failed to act promptly to disperse the crowd. The
Gurkha Contingent The Gurkha Contingent (GC) is a line department of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) consisting primarily of Gurkhas from Nepal, who are meticulously recruited by the British Army under the purview of the Government of Singapore. The contingen ...
standing by was not put into action, while too much dependence was placed on Malay policemen, many of whom defected or at least hesitated to carry out their duties. The
British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...
criticised the colonial government for its poor handling of the situation. The present-day
Government of Singapore The government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of Singapore, Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to consist of the President of Singapore, President and the Executive. Executive authority of Singapore is vested in the Presi ...
under then-Prime Minister
Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...
also attributes the tragedy to the insensitivity of the colonial government towards the racial and religious feelings of the locals. It cites the incident as a vital lesson learnt in the importance of racial and religious understanding and harmony, as well as a case for imposing a certain degree of government control on the media, especially when racial or religious issues are implicated.


Leaving for the Netherlands

On the night the riots broke out, Maria was moved out of the convent, where the rioters tried twice to march on and were only kept back by the police. Plans were made at York Hill to receive her but she was instead sent to
Saint John's Island Saint John's Island ( ), also known as St John's, is an island in the Straits of Singapore located 6.5 km off the southern coast of Singapore. With an area of , it is the largest of the Sisters' Islands Marine Park, Marine Park islands wh ...
, an offshore island 4 miles south of the main island of Singapore. The next day, Maria was taken by Adeline to the Netherlands by aeroplane. After landing in
Schiphol Airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport (, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands, and is one of the major hubs for the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municip ...
, they quickly proceeded to the Hertogh home on the outskirts of
Bergen op Zoom Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the Brabantian dialect, local dialect) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southwestern Netherlands. It is located in the Province ...
. At first, Maria could only talk to Adeline, the only one in the family who understood Malay. She demanded rice with every meal, resenting the western diet, and continued to perform her Muslim prayers five times a day. In addition, a policeman in plain clothes was assigned to escort her whenever she left the house, for fear of possible kidnappers who might take her back to Singapore, following reported sighting of "oriental strangers" around town. The house was also placed under surveillance. Slowly, Maria began to adjust to her new environment. A nun came to the house daily to teach her
Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...
until she was proficient enough to attend a local convent school. She also began to attend
Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
with her family. Back in Singapore, Aminah and Mansoor had apparently given up hope of retrieving Maria after leave to appeal to the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...
was not granted. Earlier interest of the several Muslim groups involved had also gradually died down.


Second and third marriages

On 20 April 1956, Maria married Johan Gerardus "Joep" Wolkenfelt, a 21-year-old Dutch
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. On 15 February 1957, she gave birth to a son, the first of ten children. However, Maria did not seem to be contented. As she told ''
De Telegraaf ''De Telegraaf'' (; ) is the largest Netherlands, Dutch daily morning newspaper. Haro Kraak,Gaat Paul Jansen de crisis bij De Telegraaf oplossen?, ''de Volkskrant'', 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015. Paul Jansen has been the editor-in-chief since ...
'', she often had rows with Adeline, who lived nearby. She also said she still longed for her Malayan homeland. Johan and Mansoor began corresponding via letters. Both expressed a wish for Maria to travel to Malaya to visit the aged Aminah, but such a trip was never made due primarily to financial difficulties. Aminah died in 1976 and Mansoor would die of a heart attack in 1988. On 16 August 1976, Maria found herself on trial in a Dutch court charged with plotting to murder her husband. She admitted in court that she had been thinking about leaving her husband but was afraid to start divorce proceedings in case she lost custody of her children. She came into contact with two regular customers at her husband's café bar. The trio bought a
revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...
and recruited a fourth accomplice to carry out the actual murder. However, the last member got cold feet and gossiped about the murder plan. The police quickly learnt of it and arrested all four conspirators. At her trial, Maria was quoted as saying: "I was a slave in my own home. I lived in a prison. I was not allowed to do anything. Joep ohankicked up a row even if I went to drink a coffee somewhere." In her defence, Maria's lawyers brought up her background, which the court acknowledged. With this in mind, and because the plot was never executed and there was no proof that she offered any inducement to the other three, the three-man bench acquitted Maria. Meanwhile, Maria had also filed for divorce on the grounds of the irreparable breakdown of her marriage. Several days before Christmas 1979, Maria married, for the third time, one of her co-conspirators, Antonius Christianus "Tom" Ballermans. Their domestic life was happy at first; however, three years into the marriage, Ballermans' behaviour became troublesome and worrying. He'd started drinking in excess. Suspicious, Maria followed him to a cafeteria, where she discovered he was having an affair. They would divorce in 1983.


Fourth marriage and moving to the US

After her divorce from Ballermans, Maria moved to Zuidsingel, a neighbourhood not far from
Bergen op Zoom Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the Brabantian dialect, local dialect) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southwestern Netherlands. It is located in the Province ...
. There, she reconnected with an old friend who offered her employment at her Indonesian food stall at a night market. In early 1984, she was admitted to hospital due to a stroke resulting from blocked arteries. After being kept for a week, she was discharged and returned to her job at the stall. It was at this stall that Maria met Benjamin Leopold Pichel, a naturalised Dutch citizen of Indonesian descent. Pichel was originally from
Jakarta, Indonesia Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
and a sailor by profession. That same year, they married and on 15 September 1984, emigrated to the United States, intent on opening an Indonesian restaurant there. They elected to settle in
Lake Tahoe, Nevada Lake Tahoe (; Washo: ''dáʔaw'') is a freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the Western United States, straddling the border between California and Nevada. Lying at above sea level, Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America, ...
. Lacking employment authorisation from the
Immigration and Naturalization Service The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was a United States federal government agency under the United States Department of Labor from 1933 to 1940 and under the United States Department of Justice from 1940 to 2003. Refe ...
, Maria could only work ill-paid odd jobs such as a babysitter or a chambermaid. In March 1989, Malaysian journalist Fatini Yaacob, along with two of Maria's children, flew to Lake Tahoe to interview her for the ''Dewan Masyarakat.'' Yaacob informed her that the Terengganu State Government, under the leadership of Tan Sri
Wan Mokhtar Ahmad Wan Mokhtar bin Wan Ahmad (21 March 1932 – 21 September 2020) was a Malaysian politician who served as the 11th Menteri Besar of Terengganu. In office for 25 years, he was the longest-serving head of the Terengganu state government (1974 - 199 ...
, had offered her a parcel of land in
Kemaman District Kemaman (Terengganu Malay: ''Kemamang'' or ''Mamang'') is a district in Terengganu, Malaysia. Kemaman District is bordered by Dungun District to the north and the state of Pahang to the south and west. It is the southern gateway to the state of Te ...
if she wished to return home to Malaysia. Maria declined, citing her trauma from the riots and fearing her safety. However, on 29 January 1998, Maria did return to Kemaman for
Hari Raya Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide because it marks the ...
and reunited with Kamariah, as well as paying her respects to Che Aminah's grave. It was their first meeting in 48 years; unfortunately, it would be the only time they were able to see each other again before Kamariah died of leukemia. Sometime between 2001 and 2003, Maria left Pichel and returned to the Netherlands, settling in
Huijbergen Huijbergen is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Woensdrecht, about southeast of Bergen op Zoom, close to the Belgian border. History The village was first mentioned in 1264 as in Huybergen. T ...
. The two officially divorced in 2004.


Death

On 8 July 2009, Maria died of leukemia at her house in Huijbergen at the age of 72. She donated her body to scientific research. In 2014, Singaporean channel
Channel NewsAsia CNA (an initialism of Channel NewsAsia) is a Singapore-based multinational news channel owned by Mediacorp, the country's state-owned media conglomerate. The network is broadcast in Singapore on free-to-air terrestrial television and Mediacorp ...
, in cooperation with Monsoon Pictures, broadcast a five-part documentary about the tumultuous era of the 1950s and 1960s in
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
called ''Days of Rage''. In part, it featured the Maria Hertogh riots, including exclusive interviews with Maria herself and Kamariah prior to their deaths. Maria's son and two daughters spoke about witnessing their mother's frosty relationship with Adeline, and her struggle to come to terms with her painful childhood. Her son testified that she was not happy and felt betrayed. The siblings also paid a visit to Kemaman and met several elderly ''kampung'' residents who remembered the young Maria, then known to them as Nadra. In an interview sometime before her death, which was featured in ''Days of Rage'', Maria had once said she despised her natal mother for forcibly separating her from her adoptive mother. Rokayah Yusof (Kamariah's daughter and therefore Maria's adoptive niece) stated that during the 1998 visit, Maria still spoke Malay fluently and that she'd missed all the traditional Malay snacks when she celebrated Hari Raya together with Kamariah, whom Che Aminah adopted in Tokyo where she lived with her lecturer husband before Aminah returned to Malaya. Rokayah, who was 68 years old when she spoke about the visit in 2015, added that Maria had visited the grave of Che Aminah during her visit and even after the death of Maria, Maria's children maintained contact with her and her own children. Additionally, Maria had also been evidently unhappy in her life in the Netherlands, "a far cry from the kampong life she had enjoyed".


See also

* 1969 Race Riots of Singapore *
1964 Race Riots The 1964 race riots in Singapore involved a series of communal race-based civil disturbances and racially-motivated violence between the Malays and Chinese in Singapore following its merger with Malaysia in 16 September 1963, and were co ...
* List of riots in Singapore


Notes

#If and only if both conditions were met could the
Muslim law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
practised in Singapore be applied to the case, which would render the marriage valid. #Karim Ghani was arrested along with several members of the Nadra Action Committee and held at the detention camp on
Saint John's Island Saint John's Island ( ), also known as St John's, is an island in the Straits of Singapore located 6.5 km off the southern coast of Singapore. With an area of , it is the largest of the Sisters' Islands Marine Park, Marine Park islands wh ...
for 15 months under Emergency Regulation 20 for his part in the riots before being released on grounds of poor health. #Family tree o
Johannes Gerardus Wolkenfelt
Maria and their ten children.


References


Further reading

* *Fatini Yaacob, magazine – Dewan Masyarakat published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Malaysia – Februari-Mei, 1989 (the long interview with Maria Huberdina Hertogh @ Bertha @ Nadra was done in Lake Tahoe, Nevada United States of America, Mac 1989) * * ''broken URL'' * Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied, ''Colonialism, Violence and Muslims in Southeast Asia: The Maria Hertogh Controversy and Its Aftermath'', London: Routledge, 2009. * * Fatini Yaacob, book – "Natrah: Cinta, Rusuhan dan Air Mata, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia", year 2010, / * Fatini Yaacob, book – "In The Name of Love – Natrah", Institut Terjemahan Buku Negara (now ITBM),2011,
YouTube Story of a Nation – Maria Hertogh

YouTube Message from Maria Hertogh a.k.a. Nadra


at "Headlines, Lifelines" website of the National Educational Multimedia kit for schools (c) Singapore Press Holdings. First published in ''150 years of the Straits Times (15 July 1845–1995)''. * In Dutch language, an ''Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau'

of select news photos of the events published in the Netherlands * Maria Hertogh, returned to Malaysia in 1999 aged 63, for a Dutch TV documentar

* Singapore Media Development Authority and Christopher Chew'
Monsoon Pictures Pte Ltd
are developing an English language film ''"The Jungle Girl"'' aka ''"Nadra"'' (period drama) with screenwrite
Sarah Lambert
Lantern Pictures, Australia. *''Maria Hertogh''
950 Year 950 ( CML) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: A Hamdanid army (30,000 men) led by Sayf al-Dawla raids into Byzantine theme Anatolia. He defea ...
''Malayan Law Journal (MLJ)'' 215;
951 Year 951 (Roman numerals, CMLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * King Berengar II of Italy seizes Liguria, with help from the feudal lord Oberto I. He reorganizes the territorie ...
''MLJ'' 164. {{Authority control 1950 riots People from Cimahi Riots and civil disorder in Singapore Religiously motivated violence in Malaysia History of Singapore Ethnic riots 1950 in Singapore Religious riots Converts to Roman Catholicism from Sunni Islam Dutch people of Javanese descent Dutch people of Scottish descent Dutch Roman Catholics Indonesian Roman Catholics Indo people Javanese people Indonesian people of Malay descent Indonesian people of Scottish descent Indonesian people of Dutch descent Indonesian former Sunni Muslims Anti-Catholic riots December 1950 in Asia