Singapore’s struggle to achieve internal self-government in the period 1945-1959 had its costs. Was it worth it? Give 2 reasons to support your stand.

In my opinion, I think that the costs for achieving internal self-government were worth it. If the leaders of Singapore had decided to just let the British govern us, Singapore would probably not be what it is today.

At that time, the British were ruling the people of Singapore. They believed that they could govern the people well, but some problems occurred that made the people of Singapore think that people of Singapore could gain internal self-government.

Firstly, in April 1955, the Hock Lee Bus Riots occurred. Workers from the Singapore Bus Workers Union (SBWU) went on strike, as they wanted better pay and working conditions. Instead of listening to the workers, Hock Lee Bus Company dismissed 229 workers.
Another strike that occurred during this period was the Anti-National Service Riots. The Chinese-educated students started these riots when the government introduced National Service. It requires all males aged 18-20 to register for National Service, and those who failed to would be jailed or fined. The Chinese thought that joining National Service would disrupt their studies as it was already interrupted by the war. Thus, they gathered together to present their petition to the Governor, but it broke out into a war when the police were called to disperse the crowd.

In the Anti-National Service Riot case, the British decided to call in the police to disperse the crowd. It was not said whether the students ended up presenting their petition at all. However, the fact that the police were called in tells us that the British Government did not give the students a chance to speak up and discuss the problem properly.

In both cases, the strikes/riots started because the people of Singapore were dissatisfied with the Government, and thus they decided to riot. It showed that the British were not capable in attending to the needs of the people.

Secondly, I find that the British were somewhat biased towards other races. In the Maria Hertogh Riots, the people found that the British were biased towards the Dutch. It might not be so, but many of them thought that way and since they were people of Singapore, they might not like a biased government to govern their country.
Also, Chinese schools were not given grants just because they were thought to have bred anti-British feelings.
Many people were sure to have been discriminated by the British, so maybe they were determined to gain internal self-government and could rule the people by themselves.

Thus, it was definitely worth it.