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To address the grievances of the Malays, Lee held a meeting with the various Malay organisations on 19 July. This angered UMNO, as it was not invited to attend this meeting. In that meeting, Lee assured the Malays that they would be given ample opportunities in education, employment and skill training for them to compete effectively with the non-Malays in the country. However, PM Lee refused to promise the granting of [[Special Rights of the Malays|special rights for the Malays]]. This meeting satisfied some Malay community leaders and agitated some, who had the view that the needs and pleas of the Malays were not being heard.<ref name=":2" /> The [[Singapore Malayan National Committee]] was one group that was not convinced of PM Lee's promises. In order to rally the support of the Malays to go against the PAP government, leaflets containing rumours of the Chinese in Singapore trying to kill the Malays were published and distributed throughout the island on 20 July 1964. The spread of such information was also carried out during the procession of [[Milad al-Nabi|Muhammad's birthday]] celebration, triggering the riots.
As a form of retaliation and to further incite the conflict between the Malays and PAP, UMNO called for a meeting,
Former Minister for Social Affairs [[Othman Wok]] wrote in his autobiography that he had come to know from one of the reporters from the ''Utusan Melayu'' that the latter had known about the potential riots even before their outbreak, which raised official suspicions that UMNO leaders might have orchestrated the riots.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=Never in my wildest dream|last=Wok|first=O.|publisher=Singapore National Printers|year=2000|location=Singapore}}</ref> Othman also makes references to some key political meetings that took place between the Malay community in Singapore and politicians in Singapore to express their grievances. Accounts from the meetings{{Citation needed|date=December 2018}} indicate that the Malays in Singapore had no major grievances and that UMNO's Secretary-General Syed Ja’afar was responsible for instigating them.<ref name=":4" /> Some of the matters brought up by the Malay community included infrastructural issues that Malay schools faced and these issues were contrary to what the UMNO and ''Utusan Melayu'' had portrayed.
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On 21 July 1964 afternoon, about 20,000 Malays representing the different [[Islam in Singapore|Muslim organisations in Singapore]] had gathered for the procession to begin to mark the birthday celebrations of Muhammad. The procession started at Padang and was planned to end at the Jamiyah Headquarters located at Lorong 12, [[Geylang]] area.<ref name=":3" /> The dominant narration of the July 1964 Racial riot on public forums and history textbooks is simplified and remembered as a riot that involved 20,000 Chinese throwing bottles and rocks at the Malays at the Padang. In reality, some scholars<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |chapter= Winning and losing Malay support: PAP–Malay community relations |editor= Barr, M. |editor2= Trocki, C. A. |title= Paths not taken: Political pluralism in post-war Singapore |last= Rahim |first=L.Z. |publisher= NUS Press |year=2008 |location= Singapore |pages= 95–115}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite book |title= A moment of anguish: Singapore in Malaysia and the politics of disengagement |last=Lau |first=A |publisher= Times Academic Press |year=2000 |location= Singapore }}</ref> argue that the bottles and rocks being overthrown{{Confusing-inline|reason=|date=December 2018}} and clash with a Malay policeman who tried to restrain the Malays were not the reasons for the cause of the riots. But rather, part of the reasons could be also attributed to the distribution of [[Leaflet (information)|leaflets]] to the Malay community before the start of the procession by a group named ''Pertobohan Perjuangan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapore''.<ref name=":6" />
The leaflets instigated anti-Chinese and anti-PAP sentiments among the Malays as it called for a greater union of the Malays to oppose and wipe out the Chinese as they were believed to be starting a ploy to kill the Malays.<ref name=":5" /> SUMO's ([[Singapore Malay National Organisation]]) Secretary-General [[Syed Esa Almenoar]] had given a fiery speech on the need for the Malay community to fight for their rights instead of giving a religious and non-political speech.<ref name=":4" /> This further heightened the suspicions that the Malays had toward the PAP and the Chinese community. The procession was being led by [[Yang di-Pertuan Negara]], [[Yusof bin Ishak]] and other PAP political leaders such as Othman Wok.<ref name=":4" /> The procession went along [[Arab Street]], Kallang and Geylang areas. The riots occurred around 5 p.m., where a few Malay youths were seen to be hitting a Chinese cyclist along [[Victoria Street, Singapore|Victoria Street]], which was intervened against by a Chinese constable.<ref name=":6" />
The riot saw serious damages to the private properties, loss of lives, and injuries sustained by the citizens. According to the reports from the police force, a total of 220 incidents were recorded with 4 people being killed and 178
Political leaders of both Malaysia and Singapore, [[Tunku Abdul Rahman]] and Lee Kuan Yew, each led national radio broadcasts and
The racial riots subsided by 24 July 1964, as the number of communal clashes reported was reduced to seven cases. On 2 August, the imposition of the curfew since 21 July was completely lifted and the high police and military supervision removed.<ref name=":6" />
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=== Principles of multiculturalism and multiracialism ===
The July 1964 racial riots played a significant role in shaping some of Singapore's fundamental principles such as multiculturalism and multiracialism once it had gained independence from Malaysia in 1965. The [[Singapore Constitution]]
=== Internal Security Act ===
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