Malaysia: Amok But Not Asunder

It was the Prophet's 1,394th year to heaven, and the Malay Silat of Singapore were bursting with birthday fervor. The Silat are Moslem warriors who wear black sarongs and practice a karate-like form of combat. About 100 of them brought up the rear of a procession as it made its way last week from Singapore's rambling old cricket field through the center of town, when a Chinese traffic cop ordered them to tighten their ranks so as not to obstruct traffic. A few of the Silat knocked him flat, and in an instant the rest of the Malay crowd reminded everyone that amok is a Malay word.

Quick Retaliation. Screaming "Pukul China!" ("Strike the Chinese!"), the Malays descended thousands strong into Singapore's Chinese neighborhoods, burning cars, hurling motor scooters into drainage ditches, smashing shop windows, and trying the keen edges of their parangs on Chinese throats.

The Chinese were quick to retaliate. Abetted by members of the Triad Society, an illegal but ill-contained gang of Chinese extortionists, pimps, gunmen and gamblers, they took advantage of a break in the hastily imposed curfew to murder a few Malays. One had his head shattered by a hammer, another was scalped by the ragged edge of a broken bottle, and an Indian photographer was found with a cargo hook in his forehead. Before the week was out, 21 Chinese and Malays were dead, 454 injured, and the handsome, prosperous city itself had temporarily become a ghost town. Armored cars carrying cops and troops whispered through Singapore's old colonial arcades over streets covered by a snowfall of broken glass.

Rumahs Were Rife. Singapore's violence has its roots in old racial antagonisms. When Sir Stamford Raffles founded the colony in 1819, there were virtually no Chinese on the sultry island. But since the native Malays were indolent, the British encouraged diligent, apolitical Chinese to come aboard, and today the city-state's population is 74% Chinese. The Malays kept to themselves in their rustic kampongs (villages), jammed into smelly, unlighted thatch-roofed rumahs, which were rife with disease.

Wealthy Chinese, on the other hand, built villas, staffed them with servants and concubines, and took charge of Singapore's economy with little opposition. With an annual per capita income of $450, Singapore today is the wealthiest city in Southeast Asia. But the Malays simply said "Tida apa" ("It doesn't matter"), and rationalized their lowly condition with the help of the Koran, which they interpret as condemning commercial endeavor. As a result, the Malays are largely chauffeurs, street cleaners, firemen and cops, while the bulk of the Chinese are shopkeepers or larger entrepreneurs.