Note to all visitors...some images, photos may be missing!

Blogger is temporary experiencing some technical glitch.

Many bloggers are currently reporting that photos and images from their blogs
have vanished!
That includes MY blog too....!
I have reported the issue to Blogger Help Forum and will patiently await their
solution to the problem.

So if visitors do not see any photos here and there....don't worry.
We are aware of the glitch and hope it will be only temporary.

Regards

Unk Dicko

Fess Parker.....Daniel Boone TV theme song

Ps: Do remember to turn off the music on my Jango jukebox first.

Otherwise a double sound is the result.

Remembering FESS PARKER....as Davy Crockett

Over the last decade and more, many celebrated Hollywood stars known to people of my generation have sadly passed on. Some were legends in their own right. Others will always be remembered or associated with a particular person or role they portrayed in their film that stood out so well that it was indeed very difficult to separate the actor from the legend he was portraying on TV or in the movies.

Think of the musical "The King and I" and Unk Dicko always see bald-headed Yul Brynner's face in his mind's eye. Think back to the days of Tarzan and Jane with all the swinging from tall vines to taller vines, accompanied by the dreaded sounds of the "tom-tom" drums somewhere in dark Africa and I can only see Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan-like face. No doubt, there were maybe 5 or 6 actors who had played that role before, all reasonably good-looking but not one of them except for Weissmuller, had that "perfect" look of what Tarzan should look like.

It's kind of hard to explain but I suppose Walt Disney himself exemplified this talent for spotting best when he first laid eyes on FESS PARKER and exclaimed, " That's our Davy Crockett ! "
And millions upon millions of Americans kids who grew up from the mid 50's and 60's clearly loved Fess Parker in his portrayal as Davy Crockett and later as Daniel Boone with his raccoon top.

An entire generation in America after the tiredness of the Wars were in search of National heroes to revitalise and guide their new-found consciousness. Hollywood and the movie industry were the perfect channels to recapture the imagination of the American people, especially the young.

As for me, Fess Parker became my hero figure in the form of Crockett and Boone since the 60's.

He embodied everything that is good...fighting for survival, for justice, for good over evil.

He has remained a hero for me to this day. His memory will always remain.

R.I.P

I leave you with this original "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" sung by Fess Parker himself.

We used to sing it in our younger days ( I still sing it today!).

Ps: Do remember to turn off my Jango Jukebox before playing this video.

Otherwise you will have double sounds.

Maria Hertogh saga ...part 5

Photo: Maria Hertogh arriving at Schipol Airport, Netherlands

The Aftermath
In the aftermath of those dark and terrible days, the police detained 778 people for investigation
into their involvement in the riots and the killings. One of those detained was Karim Ghani the Muslim activist from Rangoon. Of these number 200 were later charged. Only 100 were convicted while 5 rioters were sentenced to death for "wanton killing".
However the 5 condemned persons were not hanged and had their death sentence commuted to life imprisonment. For this escape of the hangman's noose they had the Tunku to thank.
On 25 August 1951, Tunku Abdul Rahman ( who would be the 1st Prime Minister of the new Federation of Malaya later) became President of UMNO...a Malay/Muslim political party in Malaya. He set out to try to save the 5 condemned men by first gathering enough support from the Muslim population and then pressured the British authorities to commute the sentences. The British were on the tail end of their far-east rule and realised that their time was coming to a close. They did not relish leaving behind grim memories. So Tunku won the day.

The Commission of Inquiry ( source: Wikipedia )
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 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 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 criticised the colonial government for its poor handling of the situation.
Present day Government of Singapore also attributed 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. It also cites the incident as a case for placing a certain degree of governmental control on the media, especially when racial or religious issues are implicated.

Epilogue ( Source: Wikipedia )
On the night the riots broke out, Maria Hertogh 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, an offshore island 4 miles south of the main island of Singapore. The next day, Maria and Adeline Hertogh departed for the Netherlands by aeroplane. After landing in Schiphol Airport, they quickly proceeded to the Hertogh home on the outskirts of Bergen op Zoom.
At first, Maria could only talk to her mother, the only one in the family who understood Malay. She demanded rice with every meal, resenting the western diet. She continued to say 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 until she was proficient enough to attend a local convent school. She also began to attend Mass with her family. Back in Singapore, Aminah and Mansoor had apparently given up hope of retrieving Maria after leave to appeal to the Privy Council was not granted. Earlier interest of the several Muslim groups involved had also gradually died down.
On 20 April 1956, Maria was married to Johan Gerardus Wolkefeld, a 21-year-old Dutch Catholic. On 15 February 1957, she gave birth to a son, the first child of ten. However, Maria did not seem to be contented. As she told De Telegraaf, she often had rows with her mother, who lived near by. She also said she still longed for her Malayan homeland. Johan and Mansoor began corresponding. In letters both expressed wish for Maria to travel to Malaya to visit the aged Aminah, but such trip was never made due primarily to financial difficulties. Aminah died in 1976.
The life story of Maria took another dramatic turn on 16 August of the same year, when 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 cafe bar. The trio bought a revolver and recruited a fourth accomplice to carry out the actual murder. However, the latest member got cold feet and gossiped about the murder plan. The police quickly learnt of it and arrested all four conspirators.
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.

Death
On 8th of July 2009, Maria Hertogh died at her house in Huijbergen at the age of 72. The cause of her death was the Leukemia from which she had been suffering.


Maria was raised as a Muslim in Kemaman, Trengganu.
Photo: Her schooling days ( girl circled)

Above : A news report from long ago

Above: A more recent report.

Al Mansor Adabi
As mentioned in my earlier blogpost, Mansor Adabi passed away on 15 October 1988 from a heart attack. He was aged 60. At the time of the story in 1950, he was then a trainee teacher attached to Bukit Panjang Government School having been posted to the school in 1948.

He was born in Kelantan and had his early schooling there. During the War while Singapore was under Japanese occupation, he went to a school called Sihan-Gakko. After the War ended, he continued his schooling in Victoria School, Singapore. Mansor was a scout and later as a teacher became a scoutmaster of Victoria's famous " 6th Arrow Scout Group ".

That was my direct link to dear Mansor as I played an almost similar role to his in the same Scout Troop, same alma mater.

Unk Dicko first met him from the early 1960's.

In all the years I knew him, I found him to be unbelievably soft-spoken, mild mannered, gentle

and highly regarded by one and all ...in short, a perfect gentleman. He carried himself very well and as far as I know, did not allow the past saga of 1950 to weigh him down.

In those early days, his family lived at Kampong Wak Tanjong where many Malays used to live.

I know that kampong well as it was not too far from where I used to grow up in Siang Lim Park, Geylang. That kampong is no longer existing today.

Mansor's father was the well-known writer and nationalist...A Kadir Adabi.

His mother was Che Wok Adabi, an old friend of Che Aminah ( Maria's foster mother ).

Mansor was later married to Zaiton Juhairi. He had 4 children ( a daughter and 3 sons) and 3 grandkids at the time of passing.

NB: There are 3 more parts after Part 5. Just click on the month of March and Part 6, 7, and the concluding Part 8 is there.

Happy Reading!

Unk Dicko

The Maria Hertogh Saga...part 4

The large crowd outside the Court on 11 Dec 1950

In the weeks prior to the Final Court Hearing to consider the appeal against the earlier N0vember 20 verdict tensions were starting to rise day by day. The increasingly sensational news stories and reports by various newspapers added more fuel to the already over-heated atmosphere. Many of the stories did nothing more than incite anger and hatred among the Muslims against the Europeans who were largely Christians. The stage was set for a final showdown. Everything depended on the outcome of the Court hearing.

Above: The news and pictures published in foreign papers

The Final Hearing - 11 December 1950

Long before the Court session started,the large crowds gathered. They were mainly Malays, Indian Muslims and Indo-Muslims, many carrying flags and banners bearing the crescent logo. They were well-organised and were prepared for a long session.

The Hearing began sharp at 12 noon....and within just 5 short minutes, it was OVER! The legal appeal was completely thrown out....just like that! Everyone outside was shocked.The brevity of the hearing convinced the crowd that the colonial legal system was biased against Muslims.

The uncontrollable crowd erupted. The seemingly peaceful crowd broke up into mobs of rioters who began to attack Europeans and Eurasians on sight. They were reportedly joined by Chinese secret society gangs. Buildings were torched and vehicles burnt. The rioting spread to various parts of the island. The police had a difficult time trying to contain the violence. One reason, as later mentioned in the official findings, was that the lower ranks of the force consisted largely of Malay policemen who were sympathetic to the rioters' cause...being fellow Muslims.

The British Military Commander, Major-General Dunlop had to request for urgent help from his Malayan counterpart. The military and police reinforcements came the next day Dec 12 and by noon on December 13 the situation was under control.

What was the damage like?

18 people were killed. They were 7 Europeans, 9 rioters and 2 police officers.

173 people were injured, many seriously.

119 vehicles and 2 buildings were burnt.

To further contain any attempt at violence or revengeful attacks, a 2 week curfew was imposed.

Mansor Adabi and Maria (Nadrah)...part3

During the months before the scheduled Court Hearing on 20 November 1950, Maria was mostly kept away in seclusion, away from the gathering storm clouds outside. News of this dramatic case had circulated worldwide. The media coverage was on a global scale with several countries pledging financial and moral support for those on Mansor and Aminah's side. They saw the saga as part of the historical struggle between the Christian and Muslim world. In fact, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and others declared that, " any further move by the Dutch Government to separate the couple will be regarded as an open challenge to the Muslim world."


The Court Hearing - 20 November 1950
Again, a large crowd had formed outside the courthouse. The session was presided by Justice Brown ( I think he was the Chief Justice T.A. Brown ). Justice Brown had to consider 2 major points of contention:-
1. Was there a proper and legal adoption in the case of Maria ?

2. Was the purported marriage acceptable under the law?

Maria's natural mother Adeline Hertogh flew over from the Netherlands to attend the hearing. All the parties were present including Mansor Adabi, Che Aminah and Maria herself...and their counsels.
Under Dutch laws, the minimum age for a girl for marriage was 16 years.
However, our colonial English law in Singapore then recognised the marriage laws of the subjects' country of domicile. So, Maria being still a 13 year old minor of Dutch citizenship was under Dutch laws.
In the case of Mansor Adabi, an exception to the above could not be made out because Mansor was born in Kelantan and whether he was domiciled in Singapore could not be established. As for Maria the Court could not consider her a Muslim by law, since she was still a minor and therefore her father who had the legal right over her, had the same right to control her religion.
Her father, who was a Roman Catholic, had stated that he would never have allowed her to convert to Islam.

The Court Verdict
1. The short-lived marriage was overruled.
2. The Court awarded custody of Maria to the Hertoghs. Maria was ordered to be returned to
her natural parents with immediate effect.

Below....from the pages of Wikipedia...a detailed account describing the scene from the Court verdict of 20 November 1950 to early December 1950, before the Final Hearing and the riots.

Stay at the convent ( source: Wikipedia )
When policewomen came to take Maria away, 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,

held back a crowd of several hundred.

The car delivered Maria to the Roman Catholic Convent of the Good Shepherd in Thomson Road. Mrs. Hertogh stayed at another address for a few days, from where she visited Maria daily, before moving in to 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 falsest step, the spark that lit the fuse of the subsequent riots.
First and foremost, the press was not barred from entering the convent grounds. Nor were they

restricted in any way in their approach to the incident, which had been nothing shy of sensational. On 5 December, the Singapore 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 Virgin 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 organization calling itself the Nadra Action Committee was formally constituted under the leadership of Karim Ghani, a Muslim political activist from Rangoon.

This extreme organization solicited support among local Muslims by distributing free copies of its newspaper, the Dawn (not the Dawn, an English paper published in Pakistan). Karim Ghani had also made an open speech at the Sultan Mosque on 8 December in which he mentioned jihad as a final resort.
In the light of these potent signs of a great disturbance, the Criminal Investigation Department

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 - weak excuses since Maria could be relocated with her mother's consent. Nonetheless, it cannot be said definitively that moving Maria out of the convent at such a late stage could have averted the riots.

There were even more widespread reports in regional and newspapers around the world after the VERDICT was delivered.

Activists and nationalists in Singapore, Malaya and Burma took advantage of the situation in the hope of further weakening the colonial government as they were also fighting for independence for their respective countries.

The FINAL Hearing of the Court to consider the legal appeal by Mansor Adabi and Che Aminah's side was scheduled for December 11 1950.

It was to be a day Singaporeans and Singapore would never forget!

Mansor Adabi and Maria Hertogh (Nadrah)..part 2

For those who are keen on the nitty-gritty details of the Maria Hertogh saga and all the relevant reports, just check them out on the internet. There are countless websites and other links to occupy one for a very long time.
However what I am doing in these posts is providing a recapitulation of the main threads of this enduring story about Mansor Adabi and Maria ( Nadrah) and Che Aminah. Much later, what happened in the aftermath of the wedding, the hearings in November and December 1950, the riots and the ensuing years.

Dramatic turn of events
Mansor and Maria (Nadrah) were married on August 1 1950 as seen in this photo which included Aminah.
After the wedding, Maria returned to stay with Aminah and slightly later, was under the guardianship of the President of Muslim Association ...M.A. Majeed. The marriage was never consummated.

There were some perceptions that the wedding was a manoevre by Che Aminah to prevent the return of Maria to her natural parents...who had served legal notice to return their daughter by August 10.
When the deadline passed with no sign of Aminah or Mansor yielding an inch, the Hertoghs went to court again on 26 August and took out an original summons under the
"Guardianship of Infants Ordinance".
You will recall that Maria was then only 13 years of age...when she married Mansor Adabi. Under European laws this was not legally acceptable. But they were not married under European or even British laws ( Singapore was a British crown colony then)...but under Muslim customs which permitted marriage if the muslim girl had reached puberty by then( as was the case with Maria).
Meanwhile the Hertoghs argued that they were the legal and biological parents of Maria, their daughter, and they would never have given their permission either for her to be converted to the Muslim religion or to be married off at 13.

The first challenge to the 'appropriateness' of the marriage actually came from within the Muslim community itself. On August 10, a Muslim leader wrote to the Straits Times voicing some concerns about the marrying age of such a young girl.
However, he concluded that Muslims would have no objections to such a marriage per se.

The photos showed the scene on May 17 1950 after the High Court ruled that Maria must be returned to her natural parents pending an appeal and a stay of execution for 2 months.

Before the High Court ruling, Maria had made it very clear that she wanted to stay with Aminah and did not wish to be returned to her natural parents.
As Maria and Aminah exited the courthouse via the backdoor, a car from the consulate was waiting to take Maria away. Maria refused to enter the car and clung to Aminah...both shouting in Malay that they would rather kill themselves than be separated. A large crowd had formed outside the court.
It was only after much persuasion that the duo parted in tears and Maria was transported to the Girls Homecraft Centre at York Hill.

Next,the court hearing of 20 November 1950 to deliver its verdict about Maria's custody.
So from August, for nearly 4 months, the whole saga hung in deep suspense.
Tensions were starting to boil and they would explode and culminate in one of the darkest chapters of our history.