In your opinion, what could have prevented the Maria Hertogh riots in 1950? Give at least 2 suggestions.
♥ Friday, July 20, 2007 // 6:48:00 PM
In my opinion, I think that the British should be more responsible in handling this case. They should not just push Maria Hertogh to the family that appealed for her. They could observe which family would treat Maria Hertogh better and which family has a better background for Maria to live in. And not just think that Maria should return to her biological parents. This would make people think that the British were on the Dutch's side, causing a riot to break out. This would also make the Malay family angry because they had brought Maria up for many years and suddenly her biological parents turned up, wanting her back. I think its a little ridiculous. Next, I think that they should not leave Maria in the convent. She grew up with a Malay background. She probably knew nothing about other religions. So putting Maria into a convent would make her feel uneasy. But Maria was too young to make decisions, hence, she could not decide on what she want. Thus causing her to be pushed here and there. This would also cause Malays to be displeased. The Malays would definitely not want their family to go into a convent. This would also cause the Malays to be unhappy and want to protest against it. In conclusion, I think that the British did not bother much about this case. They just see things on its surface and did not really check into the problem. From this, I think that the British is very irresponsible. They should really think of Maria's feelings. They should also spare a thought for the Malays. Just because the Dutch family are her biogical parents, it doesn't mean that they should have the custody of Maria. If the Britich were to be more thoughtful, they riots could have been prevented.
