Category: Singapuraku

Top 5 Non-Muslim Terrorist Groups In The World

Suffice to say, for the past few days, the spotlight has been on Muslims and Islam in Singapore and around the world. It began with Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam warning that isolationist religious tendencies will lead to a more fragmented and divided Singapore. We were told how greater religious conservatism, if left unchecked, could undermine the racial and religious harmony here.

Before the dust settled on the debate on K Shanmugam’s speech, we learnt yesterday about the repatriation of 27 Bangladeshi nationals. They had subscribed to violent, radical ideology espoused by extremists preachers like Anwar Al-Awlaki. They wanted to carry out armed jihad overseas, including in their own country, Bangladesh.

And so, the spotlight just gets brighter. Muslims just can’t catch a break, can we?

We cannot emphasise enough that Islam is a non-violent religion which preaches tolerance and respect of others. These “Muslims” who carry out violent jihad are also in the minority. There’s more than 1 BILLION of us but there’s less than 100,000 who are, in a word, terrorists. Do your math.

Sometimes, the world forgets that there are other terrorists enemies out there who are non-Muslims. We think it is time to remind the world that terrorist organisations comes in all shapes and sizes and religious beliefs.

We bring you the top 5 non-Musim terrorist groups in the world today:

1 Forcas Amardas Revolutcionarias da Colombia (FARC)

In English, FARC refers to The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. It is a guerilla movement believed to have been formed in 1964 a a result of the liberal-conservative conflict in the country. FARC based itself on communist ideology and sought to protect farmers against capitalist privatisation of their land and other natural resources in Colombia. These days however, FARC is more widely-known for its involvement in the illicit drug trade. Besides making money from narcotics, they also make money from extortion, kidnapping and illegal mining with its operational theatre spanning many countries South America. Needless to say, the members have eraned themselves a reputation as violent terrorists, with their use of paramilitary tactics, bombings, murders and assasinations, to protect and expand their interests.

2 The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)

The Lord’s Resistance Army is a terrorist organization operating in parts of Uganda, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and parts of Southern Sudan. Not only is it classified as a terrorist organisation, the movement is also known as a cult led by its charismatic leader, Joseph Kenny. The group started out with noble objectives of creating a peaceful and prosperous Uganda. Now, they carry out murder, child sex slavery, abductions, mutilations, and the recruitment of child soldiers with impunity. During its reign, LRA is belived to have been responsible for about the death of 2,300 people, the abduction of thousands of others and the displacement of many in the central regions of Africa.

3 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)

No this is very different from the Workers’ Party that we have in Singapore. PKK was a student-led initiative; it was formed in 1978 and sought to achieve cultural and political rights and self-determination for the Kurds in Turkey. The group is now based in Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan while it operates in Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq. Guess what? PKK and the Kurds in general, are not fancied by IS.

4 Naxal / Naxalites

The Naxalites is a Maoist rebel group closely associated with the Communist Party Of India. Many states in the country have fallen to the expansionist ambitions of this group. Like the LRA and FARC, the Naxalites also began with the aim of protecting the rights of the workers. They even had support from Mao Zedong in China! The group began to grow rapidly; even university students were dropping out of school to join them. State action in the 1970s crippled the group’s activities but it remains a thorn in the side of the Indian government. They countinue to kill civilians and government security personnel. In recent times, Dr. Manmohan Singh, branded the group as the “biggest threat to national security” in India.

5 The Irish Republican Army (IRA)

The Irish Republican Army was founded in 1913 to wage a war of indepence against the British. Like many of the other terroriss groups above, the IRA was very adept at guerilla warfare. The end of the war caused a divide in the IRA between the Irish National Army faction which supported the treaty, and the other members, who remain commited to to the ideology of the IRA. In the ensuing civil war, IRA suffered massive casualties and eventually lost the war. It has however continued to exist. It harbours ambitions to overthrow the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, in order to establis an Irish Republic. It is not averse to carry out assasinations and car bombings, to strike fear and impose its political will on others.

So there you have it, the top 5 non-Muslim terrorist groups in the world. Terrorists really do come in all colours, creed and religious beliefs.

Give Muslims a break!

Sources: Perfect Insider, Listovative

January 21, 2016
Kind souls that hails from Bangladesh

Let us remember the acts of kindness shown by our Bangladeshi friends
1) APRIL 2015: Two foreign workers from Bangladesh, Mr P. Muthukumar, 24, and Mr S. Shanmuganathan, 35, saved a toddler, Naureh Fitria Auni, whose head was stuck in between a horizontal metal pole of a drying rack and the balcony of the second-storey flat in Jurong East. This incident surely would have faced a different outcome without the bravery of our Bangladeshi friends.

2) OCTOBER 2013: Four Bangladeshi workers helped two people trying to escape a fire get down from the parapet of their Ang Mo Kio flat. They were given the Public Spiritedness Award by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) for their quick thinking and selflessness.

3) SEPTEMBER 2000: When three Bangladeshi workers saw fire raging through a block at Telok Blangah Crescent, they rushed to the block and pulled 10 residents to safety. They carried the elderly residents out of their flats and down seven storeys before dashing back up the stairs to save more people. Total disregard for their own lives in order to save people they do not know.

4) NOVEMBER 2015: Heroic Bangladeshi worker disregards own safety to rescue cat drowning in canal. While others stood and watched, unsure of what to do, the heroic worker just jumped into the canal to rescue the cat.

Kudos to these ordinary men, but extraordinary heroes!

Reader Contribution

January 20, 2016
27 Bangladeshi Nationals Working In Singapore Repatriated, Group Planned To Carry Out Violent Extremism In Other Countries

The Internal Security Department has arrested 27 male Bangladeshi nationals working in Singapore, who were planning to take part in extremist activities in other countries, including their homeland of Bangladesh. No terrorist acts were planned in Singapore, the authorities said.

The 27, all working in the construction industry in Singapore, were arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) between Nov 16 and Dec 1, 2015, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Wednesday (Jan 20). All but one have been repatriated to Bangladesh, with the last set to be repatriated after serving a jail term for attempting to illegally leave Singapore.

Of those arrested, 26 were members of a closed religious study group that supported the armed jihad ideology of terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, said the MHA. The 26 subscribed to extremist beliefs and teachings of radical ideologues like Anwar al-Awlaki, the ministry added, referring to an Al Qaeda-linked extremist teacher who was killed in Yemen in 2011.

The remaining Bangladeshi national was not a member of the group, but was found to be in the process of becoming radicalised and was supportive of extremist preachers, and also possessed jihadi-related material, the MHA said.

“The group members took measures to avoid detection by the authorities. They shared jihadi-related material discreetly among themselves, and held weekly meetings and gatherings where they discussed armed jihad and conflicts that involved Muslims. They also carefully targeted the recruitment of other Bangladeshi nationals to grow their membership,” said the ministry in its press release, which listed the names of all 27.

GRIEVANCES AGAINST BANGLADESHI GOVERNMENT

A number of the group members admitted that they subscribed to the belief that they should participate and wage armed jihad on behalf of their religion, MHA said. Several of them contemplated travelling to and participating in armed jihad in the Middle East.

Some of the group members supported the violent actions of extremist groups that killed Shi’ites because they considered Shi’ites to be “deviant”, the authorities said.

These Bangladeshi nationals also bore grievances against the Bangladeshi government over its actions against some Bangladeshi Islamic groups and leaders, according to the press release.

The Dhaka government has cracked down on militants in the Muslim-majority nation, blaming Islamist political opponents for instigating violence in the secular nation, and recently upheld the death penalty for a top Islamist party leader for war crimes committed decades ago.

Those arrested in Singapore had been encouraged by their leaders to return to Bangladesh and wage armed jihad against the Bangladeshi government, said the MHA. They had also sent monetary donations to entities believed to be linked to extremist groups in Bangladesh.

A significant quantity of radical and jihadi-related material including books and videos, as well as footage of children undergoing training in what appeared to be terrorist military camps, were recovered from the possession of the group, said the ministry.

Several members also had a shared document containing graphic images and instruction details on how to conduct “silent killings” using different methods and weapons. For example, a copy of one of the documents, seen by Channel NewsAsia, bore the title “Techniques of Silent Killing” in English, and contained a step-by-step illustrated guide on how to stab a seated man.

REPATRIATED

MHA said that the Work Passes of the Bangladeshi nationals have been cancelled, with 26 of them repatriated to Bangladesh where the authorities have been informed of the circumstances of their repatriation.

The remaining Bangladeshi national is currently serving a jail sentence in Singapore for attempting to leave the Republic via “illegal and clandestine means” after learning about the arrests of his fellow group members, the authorities said. He will be repatriated to Bangladesh upon completion of his sentence.

“The Government takes a very serious view of any form of support for terrorism and will take firm and decisive action against any person who engages in any activity in support of terrorism. Foreigners are guests of our country and they should not abuse this privilege and use Singapore as a base to import their own domestic political agenda and carry out activities in pursuit of such an agenda,” said the Home Affairs Ministry.

“In the same way, foreign religious speakers who propagate divisive doctrines which could lead to mistrust, enmity and hatred among local religious groups and undermine Singapore’s social cohesion are not welcomed and will not be allowed to operate in Singapore.

“Any person, foreigner or otherwise, who engages in any activity that is inimical to Singapore’s national security and racial and religious harmony will be firmly dealt with under the law.”

Anyone who knows or suspects that a person has been radicalised, or is engaging in extremist activities or propagating extremist teachings, should promptly inform the Internal Security Department at 1800-2626 473 or the police by calling 999, said the MHA.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

January 20, 2016
AWARE: Legal, Societal Discrimination Leaves LGBT People Vulnerable To Abuse

I read with dismay that a man extorted large sums from a male teacher by threatening to reveal their sexual relationship to the Ministry of Education and the teacher’s school (“Man pleads guilty to extorting S$197k, gifts from male teacher he had tryst with”, TODAYonline, Jan 12).

These criminal acts were carried out by an unscrupulous individual. But he was enabled by the atmosphere of secrecy that our society has collectively imposed on LGBT people.

While any married person might fear exposure of adultery, the teacher in this case faced further vulnerability because of the legal, societal and institutional discrimination that treats same-sex relationships as invalid and shameful.

Section 377A of the Penal Code stigmatises sexual activity between men, LGBT people are not protected against employment discrimination, and same-sex relationships are routinely censored from media representation.

As long as we demand that these relationships stay furtive, the people in them will remain vulnerable to abuse.

Indeed, the prevalence of sexual blackmail was cited by British parliamentarians in the 1960s as one reason for decriminalising homosexuality.

The experience of the Sexual Assault Care Centre (SACC) at the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) reveals a similar disturbing issue: Section 377A can discourage some men from reporting sexual violence against them to the police.

They fear that in describing the sexual assault or their interactions with their attackers, they will reveal that they have, themselves, violated Section 377A, and thus be, themselves, subject to police investigation.

Most people face great social and emotional barriers to reporting sexual assault.

For some, Section 377A adds the fear that the authorities will treat them not as the victim of a crime, but as a perpetrator.

The Government’s position that the law will not be proactively enforced does not adequately allay this concern.

Individuals are understandably nervous about whether such a stand will truly override the weight of the written law, which plainly says they have committed a crime.

Moreover, for someone who has faced a potentially traumatic sexual assault, even if he is not subsequently prosecuted, the prospect of police investigations for an alleged crime can be enough to deter reporting.

His attacker is, therefore, never held to account.

The extortion case and SACC’s experiences show some of the great human costs of a supposed moral stance against homosexuality.

As long as our society continues to discriminate against LGBT people, we will aid and abet their abuse.

The opinion by Jolene Tan, Programmes and Communications Senior Manager, Association of Women for Action and Research, was published in Voices, Today, on 19 Jan 2015.

Source: www.todayonline.com

January 20, 2016
Zulfikar Shariff: Malays’ Non-Confrontational Attribute Prevents Them From Raising Discrimination Issues More Frequently

When we raise issues of discrimination in Singapura, one common response from non-Malays (usually Chinese) is that…

“It cannot be true. Why have I not heard of this before? I know some Malays and they did not tell me this.”

There are several obvious reasons.

1. You may know them but you do not really get to know them. They do not share with you.

2. You are actually not interested to know. You just want to defend the system.

3. You do not understand the culture and interaction style of the Malays.

The Malay culture seeks to avoid conflict. They do not like confrontation.

If saying something may make someone else uncomfortable they will rather keep quiet.

Some accuse Malays of “Tidak apa” attitude. This attitude is actually born out of their desire for peaceful relations.

Two of the main characteristics of Malay interaction are musyawarah and muafakat, usually translated as consultation and consensus building respectively.(Haacke, 2003, p. 4).

However, while these words are translated into English, what they mean have not been fully understood.

They mean much more than their translations.

They miss the subtleties of musyawarah and muafakat as social and political traditions.

Muafakat, which is a desired outcome of musyawarah, exists in the Malay social interaction as part of budi(Chong, 2012, p. 34). Budi in turn, is a key concept of Malay culture, and forms “part of the ethnic “self-image” of the Malay “bangsa, nation, race’”(Goddard, 2000, p. 87).

Wan Norhasniah Wan Husin(cited in Chong, 2012, pp. 10-11) identify budi as a social norm that encompasses the Malay world from the Peninsula to Sulawesi, Borneo and the Malay groups in the Philippines.

It refers to the Malay mode of social interaction that emphasizes harmony, good treatment of others, kindness and peaceful relations(Chong, 2012, p. 10; Goddard, 2000, p. 87).

According to Dahlan, ‘‘budi is composed of virtuous qualities such as hemah tinggi (generosity), hormat (respect), ikhlas (sincerity), mulia (righteous), timbang rasa (considerate), jaga hati (caring), budi bicara (discretion)…’’

He further notes that ‘‘the budi thinking man is never direct and forthright in his ways: his ways are subtle…to be blunt, direct and forthright especially if the end result is negative…is considered rude and out of tune in the Malay polite system…

Hence a budi thinking man is by nature polite and conflict-avoiding’’(cited in Paramasivam, 2007, p. 95) .

Muafakat can then be understood as the outcome of a social tradition that forms the Malay self-image which emphasizes virtue, subtlety, discretion, harmony and peaceful relations. It is not simply consensus building. Decision making has to lead to contentment and peaceful acceptance of every party involved.

Muafakat, musyawarah and budi are part of the Malay identity. It is so strongly held that it is one of the most defining attributes.

And the Malays expect a similar response. They expect those they interact with to similarly show these characteristics they hold as important.

And when they stop showing these characteristics, it is a sign that for them, the relationship may be over.

And do not expect anymore muafakat or budi from them.

References:

Acharya, A. (2003). Democratisation and the prospects for participatory regionalism in Southeast Asia. Third World Quarterly, 24(2), 375-390.

Chong, J. W. (2012). ” Mine, Yours or Ours?”: The Indonesia-Malaysia Disputes over Shared Cultural Heritage. Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, 27(1), 1-53.

Goddard, C. (2000). ” Cultural Scripts” and Communicative Style in Malay (” Bahasa Melayu”). Anthropological linguistics, 81-106.

Haacke, J. (2003). ASEAN’s diplomatic and security culture : origins, development and prospects. Richmond: Routledge.

Paramasivam, S. (2007). Managing disagreement while managing not to disagree: Polite disagreement in negotiation discourse. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 36(2), 91-116.

Source: Zulfikar Shariff

January 20, 2016