Commenting on the Singapore race riots which began on 21 July 1964, SMU Associate Professor of English Literature Kirpal Singh said, “When the riots became quite nasty, we started having our own vigilantes… we wanted to signal to everybody that we were in unison.” For many, these race riots fostered a new sense of solidarity and resolve across all of Singapore’s diverse ethnic communities. “I think the untold story of the racial riots is that there were a lot of people who were acting in very good honourable ways and saving people who went way beyond their own kind.”