The May 13th incident happened mainly in KL area, my father in law was the 60s version of me back then and witnessed it while both in KL and then subsequently he came back to JB where the Johore royalty put a firm stop to any attempts to incite racial violence.
You seem to have superbly selective memory, in the same era, these were the riots that happened in Singapore. The May 13th riot in KL spilled over to Singapore and resulted in 4 dead and 80 wounded.
The list of riots in Singapore is a list of riots which happened in Singapore from 1950s to 1960s.
December 11, 1950 - Maria Hertogh riots
May 13, 1954 - 1954 National Service Riots
May 12, 1955 - Hock Lee Bus Riots
1956 - Chinese middle schools riots
July 21, 1964 - 1964 Race Riots
1969 - 1969 Race Riots of Singapore
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Race_Riots_of_Singapore
History
The precursor of the 1969 race riots can be traced to the May 13 Incident in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya in Malaysia. It was triggered by the results of the General Election, that were marked by Sino-Malay riots unprecedented in Malaysian history — 196 people were killed and over 350 injured between May 13 and July 31. The real figures could be much higher than officially revealed. The Malaysian government declared a state of emergency and suspended Parliament until 1971.[1]
The disturbances had nothing to do with Singapore but there was an inexorable spillover of the communal violence in Malaysia into Singapore. The 1969 riots occurred not long after the earlier communal riots in 1964. It was said that the 1964 racial disturbances in Singapore contributed towards the eventual separation of Singapore from Malaysia in August 1965. The hysteria that United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) itself generated over its desire to assert Malay dominance (Ketuanan Melayu) in Singapore had its effect in heightening the suspicion between Malay and Chinese in Singapore.[1]
The dissatisfaction of the Malays over their social and economic condition and the fear that the Malays regarded as indigenous (Bumiputra) ownership would be lost, led to the May 13 disturbances.[1]
