Colonialism, violence and Muslims in Southeast Asia: The Maria Hertogh controversy and its aftermath By SYED MUHD KHAIRUDIN ALJUNIED London and New York: Routledge, 2009. Pp. xx+ 189. Maps, Plates, Notes, Bibliography, Index. Adrianus Petrus Hertogh and Adeline Hertogh, Maria Huberdina Bertha Hertogh's Catholic parents, could never have imagined that circumstances during the Japanese Occupation in lava would catapult their daughter into political controversy during the post-war era of decolonisation. When the Japanese occupied Java and took the Dutch Adrianus as a prisoner of war, his wife--who had five other children to look after--allowed their family friend Che Aminah, who was a Muslim, to take care of Maria, who was nearly five years old at the time. Che Aminah later moved to Singapore with Maria. When the war was over, Adrianus began to claim back his daughter through the Singapore courts. The ensuing legal tussle was not only between the Hertoghs and Che Aminah, but also drew in Muslims and Christians, the British and Dutch governments, and political parties and social groups in England, the Netherlands and elsewhere. The tug-of-war over Maria culminated after the High Court of Singapore ordered Maria to be restored to her biological Christian parents whereas Maria had been brought up as a Muslim. It was worsened by the fact that Maria, who was by this time 13, was betrothed to a 21-year-old Malay Muslim. This was highly contested by the Dutch authorities. The court order and the manner in which Maria was taken away angered the Muslim community, resulting in an outbreak of riots in mid-December 1950 in Singapore during which 18 people were killed and 173 injured. The targets of the riots were Europeans and Eurasians. The author of this book skilfully connects the riots, popularly known as the Maria Hertogh Controversy, with colonialism and the British failure to understand matters concerning the Muslims under their administration. The British had underestimated the religious force that was to bring together multiethnic Muslims even in absence of formal leaders, not only in Singapore, but also in peninsular Malaya, Indonesia, other parts of Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East. Hence the Controversy gained international coverage and responses. The failure of the British administration in Singapore to handle the situation effectively was heavily criticised by the home government, as well as by other political and social organisations and individuals in England and in the colonies. The Singapore police force was mainly blamed for its failure to stop the riots. However, it was argued that there was also a lack of coordination among the various administrative agencies and a lack of seriousness on the part of the Governor's office. Even the judiciary was perceived to be rather partial in their hurried judgement over the issue of adoption and marriages between people of different religious affiliations, especially when one party was Muslim. …