“ Izzat and Ahmad do you think tonight's dinner would be a great one? "
" Hmmm.. I reckoned it would be since it's Prophet Muhammads 80th birthday right, Izzat?"
" Don't worry, Ahmad and Yanny. I am sure it would be a better one than last year's. Look! Everyone is busy preparing for the dinner tonight. Even the streets lights are decorated till so grand! So just relax and enjoy the dinner in a jovial mood! "

Izzat, Ahmad and Yanny set off to Padang to celebrate. “I think there are about 25,000 Malays gathering at Padang to celebrate Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday with us too“,said Yanny. All of them were excited about this celebration. They listened attentively to the speeches that Prophet Muhammad made. After the speeches, the procession went on to Geylang.

Along the way, a group that was dispersed was asked to rejoin the procession by a policeman. Instead of obeying the orders, the group attacked the policeman. Izzat, Ahmad and Yanny witnessed it and they were shocked. This incident led to a race riot after the group of Malays attacked Chinese passers-by and spectators.
“ What should we do now?” Yanny shouted.
“ I think we should get out of here as soon as possible” said Ahmad.

The riot started at 5 pm between Kallang and Geylang Serai. A curfew was declared at 9.30 p.m. to restore order, but on the first day of the riot, 4 people were killed and 178 injured.
“ I think they should stop this as more and more people are getting killed” said Yanny.

After the curfew was lifted at 6 a.m. the next morning, the conflict grew even more tense, and another curfew was imposed - only lifted for short periods for people to buy food.
“ We are stuck here and there is nothing we can do. I hope that this riot will end soon” said Izzat.
“ There’s nothing to eat here, we only have a short period to buy food.” said Ahmad.

The curfew was completely lifted on 2 August, 11 days after the start of the riots. After the riots, goodwill committees made up of community leaders from the various racial groups were set up. The main job of these leaders was to help restore harmony and peace between the Malays and the Chinese by addressing the concerns of the residents. About 23 people lost their lives and 450 people were injured during the July riots.
“ 23 people have lost their life while fighting.” said Yanny.

There was significant damage to property and vehicles. About 2,500 people were arrested, including 600 secret society members and 256 people arrested for possession of dangerous weapons. The rest were arrested for violating the curfew.
“The riot has finally come to an end, I hope this will not happen again” Said Izzat, Ahmad and Yanny