When was maria hertogh born

Meanwhile, the British employed strategies to maintain order following the riots. They did this by obtaining intelligence on activities in Malayan political groups that promoted independence in the wake of the riots, and also through a propaganda-driven, public display of respect for the Muslim community. 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 natural father, a rather minor and technical detail but apparently significant enough under the circumstance.

Both Aminah and Maria were overjoyed. The marriage could have been a manoeuvre by Aminah to prevent further attempts by the Hertoghs to get back their daughter, as Maria returned to live with Aminah after the wedding night and the new couple never consummated their marriage. Whether such speculation was true was unimportant in the subsequent development of events, in which Maria, a willing bride nonetheless, became the central figure. The first challenges on the appropriateness of the marriage actually came from the Muslim community.

On 10 August a Muslim leader wrote to The Straits Times, pointing out that although Islamic law permits the marriage of girls starting after puberty which Maria had reached a year earlier , there were Muslim countries such as Egypt that legislated for a minimum marriage age of He added, however, that it would not be in the interest of "the friendly understanding The latter view was held by the Muslim population at large, albeit in a more antagonistic mood against the Dutch and Europeans at large.

Meanwhile, the Hertoghs had not given up legal pursuit to retrieve their daughter. Only a day after the marriage, Aminah received the Hertoghs' representative lawyers from Kuala Lumpur. The lawyers deliver a letter demanding the return of Maria 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 plaintiffs against Aminah, Maria and Mansoor, who were all made defendants.

The hearing did not begin till 20 November. For four months the matter hung in suspense. During this time, Maria rarely left her residence in the house of M. Majid, then president of the Muslim Welfare Association, because in her own words, she attracted "too much attention".

Nevertheless, media coverage on the incident had grown to a global scale. Letters from Muslim organisations in Pakistan 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 and as far as Saudi Arabia. The hearing finally opened, and Maria's natural mother, Adeline Hertogh travelled down to Singapore to attend.

The judge, Justice Brown, delivered the verdict two weeks later. The marriage, instead of resolving the dispute, had instead complicated it.

Justice Brown had two issues on his hand, namely the legality of the marriage and the custody of Maria. He held that the marriage was invalid because:. 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 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. 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.

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 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.

An appeal was immediately filed and so Maria returned to York Hill for temporary shelter. At York Hill, Maria stayed for two more months. The verdict was eventually overruled. Maria returned to Aminah.

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Outram Secondary School's th Anniversary Celebrations. In his letter to then Colonial Secretary W. Blythe, Blades pointed out that the articles and images in the newspapers had distressed the Muslim community and suggested that Maria be moved from the convent to a non-Christian institution.

However, Blythe believed that such action was not necessary. The articles were also aimed at recruiting Malay policemen to the action committee's cause.

These calls were ignored by demonstrators on the day of the hearing. The demonstrators carried a green flag bearing a crescent and star as well as banners with slogans calling for the removal of Maria from the convent. The officer in charge of policing the Supreme Court that day, E.

Linsell, turned the procession back, but the group returned from the direction of High Street. Thereafter, the demonstration gathered pace and by noon, the crowd had swelled to between 2, and 3, By then, Linsell had called for reinforcements in the form of a Gurkha riot squad of 48 men, which formed up in front of the Supreme Court.

He also handed the policing of the Supreme Court over to K. Velge, an officer of the Singapore Volunteer Corps , and assaulted him.

Velge retaliated by firing three shots, wounding two of the assailants.