- The insensitivity of the judge
- The aggressiveness of the media
The judge was insensitive tot the Muslims as he dismissed the court appeal in less than 5 minutes. He was also insensitive as he placed Maria Hertogh in Roman Catholic Home even though she have been brought up as a Muslim. Also, the judge was insensitive as he only applied the Dutch law and ignored the Muslim law under which Maria was married to a Malay teacher when she was 13 years old. The insensitivity of the judge caused the riots to break as the Malay people felt that the judge was biased and did not respect the Malay's beliefs. By dismissing the appeal within 5 minutes, the people felt that their law and wishes were not respected. Also, by only going with the Dutch law, the Muslim people felt that it was unfair to them. This caused them to riot.
However, the aggressiveness of the media is also responsible for the outbreak.of the riots.
The media reporting was very aggressive as they made footages of Maria praying to the statue of Mother Mary when she was placed in the convent. They covered the news very widely and created a lot of public interest and awareness on this issue. Also, the newspapers wrote conflicting stories about Maria. While the Malay papers wrote that she was unhappy and wanted to be back with Che Aminah, the Eurasian paper wrote the opposite. The media caused the riot to breakout through its provocative pictures and articles. When the Muslims saw the pictures of Maria whom had been brought up as a Muslim kneeling before the statue of Mother Mar, it obviously stirred up the feelings of the Muslim. It also stirred up very strong religious sentiments of the Muslim. Also, by actively covering the issue, public awareness of this matter was greatly increased. This thus made it very easy for the masses to mobilized and riot.
