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Tag: Chinese

  • Singapore Ambassador-At-Large: Scrapping CMIO Race Categories ‘May Spark Unease Among Minorities’

    Singapore Ambassador-At-Large: Scrapping CMIO Race Categories ‘May Spark Unease Among Minorities’

    Suggestions to scrap the traditional Chinese, Malay, Indian, Others (CMIO) categorisation may seem viable to young Singaporeans, but it would spark unease among the minority races even today, believes Professor Chan Heng Chee.

    “The majority community doesn’t feel uncomfortable. It’s (with) the minority community (where) you have to keep emphasising it’s equal language, religion, culture (and) race,” the Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday (Oct 4).

    “Every race has the same standing. It is very important going forward.”

    Speaking at the Community Leaders’ Conference, Prof Chan, who was Ambassador to the United States for 16 years, added: “There’s a supra-ethnic identity we all share — we’re CMIO Singaporeans.”

    This umbrella identity is created through housing, education and National Service policies, she pointed out. Singlish, for instance, is a unifying variant of English.

    Taking a question from the floor on youths growing increasingly distant from their roots, Prof Chan acknowledged that young Chinese Singaporeans, for instance, would be “far less Chinese” than their elders.

    But, the CMIO categorisation remains a “signal”, offering assurance to other races that their place in society has not been threatened. A new challenge to preserving racial and religious harmony, however, comes from the inflow of foreigners, she said.

    “Some people say … we’re Singaporean Chinese and they’re PRC (People’s Republic of China) Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese, Taiwanese Chinese. The rift is there,” she added.

    Drawing on her experience in the US, Prof Chan pointed out that while Singaporeans complain about the accents of foreigners, the Americans do not. “The Americans don’t say, ‘You’re speaking Singlish. You’re not one of us,’” she said. “The challenge for us in Singapore is: How do we integrate the new citizens who’ve become part of our ethnic groups, and how do we make them feel Singaporean?”

    Time could be a solution, she suggested. Over time, new citizens would pick up the values here, although she noted that the emergence of social media means they can also keep abreast of news and happenings in their hometown, which could impact integration.

    Should they stick out as a separate community, it could lead to “new cleavages” in society, she said.

    Another participant asked about the increasingly diverse slate of religions in Singapore, and if that changed the “balance” between racial and religious harmony.

    Agreeing that there was increasing religiosity, Prof Chan said: “How do you make sure it does not attack another religion? … This is something that we have to watch out for.”

    She added: “I’ll be quite frank here … it’s live and let live with LGBTs (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender), but it’s going to get more difficult because religious groups have attitudes. But, LGBTs are Singaporeans. How do you deal with that?”

    As for the school environment, the splitting of classes according to pupils’ mother tongue could lead to a situation where students interact primarily within their own races, said Prof Chan.

    “When all those who study Chinese are put in one class, so that their subjects make it easier for them to move around, you only have Chinese friends in your class … I think we could try to change some of that.”

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

     

  • Why Should Singapore’s Prime Minister Be Chinese?

    Why Should Singapore’s Prime Minister Be Chinese?

    Talk of the “rising star” of Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has raised the old question of whether Singapore is ready for a non-Chinese Prime Minister. But why shouldn’t Singapore be ready?

    If Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore Democratic Party captured people’s attention during the general election period, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has undoubtedly emerged as the darling of the post-GE period.

    There’s already a Tharman for PM Facebook page with, at the time of writing, over 760 likes. Reuters did aprofile on him as a “rising star”. As anchor minister of the Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC), his People’s Action Party (PAP) team coasted to victory with almost 80 per cent of the vote, an even better performance than the team in Ang Mo Kio GRC led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

    If Singapore had a more competitive democratic system, Tharman could probably mount a leadership challenge within the party and win power. Yet the matter of Tharman’s suitability for leadership consistently runs into another question (apart from his own apparent unwillingness): is Singapore ready for a non-Chinese prime minister?

    The question was first brought up in the 1980s, when Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew revealed that he had considered then Minister for National Development, S Dhanabalan, to be a worthy successor, only to decide that the country was not ready for an Indian prime minister. This message was endorsed by Dhanabalan himself in 2007, when he said that he was “not saying it’s not possible [to have a non-Chinese prime minister], but I think it will take some time.”

    Current prime minster Lee Hsien Loong reiterated this in 2008 shortly after Barack Obama was voted in as the first black president of the United States of America:

    Will it happen soon? I don’t think so, because you have to win votes. And these sentiments – who votes for whom, and what makes him identify with that person – these are sentiments which will not disappear completely for a long time, even if people do not talk about it, even if people wish they did not feel it.

    Lee now believes there’s more of a chance for a non-Chinese prime minister as Singapore’s younger generations grow more accepting and are more ready to connect across racial lines, although he still notes the need to communicate with voters in Mandarin.

    The question is thus an old one. But it’s high time it got turned on its head: why shouldn’t Singapore be ready for a non-Chinese prime minister? Why shouldn’t we be able to have a non-Chinese prime minister right now (or whenever Lee Hsien Loong steps down)?

    The question about winning votes shouldn’t actually be an issue, seeing that Singaporeans don’t get to vote for the leader of the PAP, and therefore the Prime Minister, anyway. (In fact, most PAP members don’t get to vote for the leader of the PAP either; only cadre members – who are selected by the Central Executive Committee of the party – get to vote on the leadership in the Central Executive Committee.) Singaporeans only get to have a say over whether that candidate gets elected as an MP; once that’s done the leadership of the party is out of our hands.

    In any case, Tharman’s ability to win votes has been amply demonstrated in the recent general election, showing that it is not the ethnicity of the candidate, but the respect that he/she can command, that does the trick.

    The issue of being able to communicate in Mandarin might be more of a consideration. Chinese Singaporeans do make up the majority of the local population, and it would of course be important for the prime minister of the country to be able to connect with his citizens.

    Yet being a Chinese majority country has not stopped Singaporeans from electing non-Chinese leaders before. Singaporeans got to vote in their first general election in 1955, following the Rendel Constitution that gave all local citizens the right to elect the majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly. The Labour Front won enough seats to form a minority government. Their leader, and therefore Singapore’s first Chief Minister, was David Marshall, born to a Baghdadi Jewish family.

    Research by historian Dr Thum Ping Tjin based on the Chinese newspapers of the time shows that despite not being Chinese, Marshall was popular among the Chinese in Singapore, as they felt that he stood for labour rights and freedom from colonialism:

    While the Chinese press avoided endorsing any specific politicians, their editorials and readers’ letters show a clear respect for Marshall. They believed that he understood the Chinese, and felt the Labour Front would represent Chinese working class interests better than the businessmen of the [Progressive Party] and [Democratic Party].

    Throughout Singapore’s history there have been non-Chinese politicians who have managed to connect across racial lines and represent the people’s interests:Devan Nair, S Dhanabalan, Othman Wok and Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam among them. These men stood as candidates even before GRCs – supposedly introduced to help racial minorities get into Parliament – and have arguably done more to prove themselves and convince voters than any Chinese Singaporean former army officer parachuted into parliament on the coat-tails of an established anchor minister.

    Chinese-ness has for years been positioned as desirable, a criteria for success and power. Lee Kuan Yew has been described as a Chinese supremacist who believed that certain “Chinese” traits were crucial to Singapore’s success. Under the government’s CMIO (Chinese, Malay, Indian and Others) system of classifying everyone into neat racial categories, Singapore is an incredibly race conscious country.

    Yet this might not be giving Singaporeans enough credit. As voters, Singaporeans are more than capable of discerning who is or isn’t able to represent their best interests, regardless of the individual’s race. When push comes to shove, what really matters is the person’s ability to prove that he or she is a worthy representative and leader, and that’s a challenge for Chinese and non-Chinese politicians alike.

    It is therefore strange that comments that Singapore is “not ready” for a non-Chinese prime minister is accepted as a reasonable political statement, and not some sort of ahistorical concern trolling.

    Even if Singaporeans are voting along racial lines or according to racist assumptions, then what is needed is not a ruling out of a non-Chinese leader, but to tackle head-on the skewed value judgements and uneven playing fields faced by different racial groups, and to find the common ground and common concerns that Singaporeans have for their country. A prime minister, after all, represents the entire nation, not just the majority.

    Lee Kuan Yew himself said in 1965 that “[t]his is not a Malay nation, this is not a Chinese nation, this is not an Indian nation.” Singaporeans have been reminded of this often this year, the year of the nation’s Golden Jubilee as well as the year of his death. If this is indeed the vision of Singapore that we want to live up to, then there is no reason to doubt our readiness for a non-Chinese prime minister.

    The above article was first published on byline.com .

    Source: www.theonlinecitizen.com

  • She Called Him A Cina Babi. His Reply Was Pure Gold

    She Called Him A Cina Babi. His Reply Was Pure Gold

    One of our team members here at Greater Malaysia stumbled upon this story where an old lady and her daughter was cutting the queue at the express counter in a supermarket. When this happens, the usual response would either be silence or the people in the queue would tell the queue-cutter off and the matter would be resolved. Not this time.

     

    After being told off, she called the netizen who posted this story “Cina b***…” and the story below ensued. We at Greater Malaysia would hope that one day, things like this will be relics of the past and we can all live without prejudice.

     

    Note: The italicised words in the status update below are comments from the editorial team

    Here’s The First Status (With Some Minor Censorship)

     

    See below the photo for the short non-extended status

    Source | Facebook Screengrab

     

    I told off a 40 plus year old malay lady and her daughter (probably in high school) for trying to cut the queue at the express counter in a supermarket. I said “tolong jangan potong queue. Orang lain pun beratur juga.”

     

    Her response:

     

    Cina b***…

     

    Fuhhh! Cari pasal… Soh*****!

     

    Pendek cerita, Abang Shuq kasi settle dan tepukan dari pembeli lain kedengaran sewaktu Abang Shuq meninggalkan cashier. Sekian terima kasih.

     

    P/S: teruk sangat ke my Malay that she thought I was Chinese?

     

    This was the short version of the story, before he added the extended version below due to overwhelming response.

     

    Here’s The Extended Version Of His Status

     

    Due to overwhelming response, here is the

     

    EXTENDED VERSION:

     

    I was the third person from the cashier with at least 10 people in line and this woman and her kid had been standing in the sidelines talking about how the supermarket should have more cashiers open. I was just observing cos I had a feeling that she was gonna cut the line cos she kept creeping closer to the line. True enough by the time I was the at the counter, she made her move.

     

    I politely said to her:

     

    Tolong jangan potong queue, orang lain pun beratur juga.

     

    She gave me a cock stare, took a step back and said those two magical words…

     

    Cina B***!

     

    I was like, “oh no you didn’t b****!” Its on now m***********. You brought this on yourself. Abang Shuq is gonna tear you a new one!

     

    Jilake betul.

     

    Apa akak kata tadi? Cina b***? Cina b*** ya? Memandangkan akak ni tak reti nak beradab, saya harap akak reti baca…

     

    …and I pulled out my IC. (Yes I did. How else was I to prove I wasn’t a b***) Note that the author explains his comments below if you misunderstood his comment about proving he wasn’t a ‘b***’ below.

     

    Reti baca tak? Nama Melayu ke nama Cina?! Tapi pasal orang macam akak yang serupa takde agama, adab macam puaka lah saya nak mengaku orang Melayu pun malu!

     

    Then I turned my attention to the people in the queue:

     

    Perempuan biadap ni nak cuba potong queue, bila saya tegur, dia panggil saya cina b***! Patut buat apa dengan orang macam ni?

     

    I then told the cashier:

     

    Selagi dia tak ke belakang queue awak jangan kira barang dia!

     

    I asked the crowd,

     

    ..fair tak?

     

    Then they started to sound her. She didn’t know what to do and proceeds to say:

     

    Pergi mampos laa korang!

     

    Drops her basket and leaves with her kid. Throughout the whole thing, her kid just kept quiet and kept her head down.

     

    The guy in front of me high-fived me and the queue clapped after me. Abang Shuq dropped the mic and left the building.

     

    Here’s A Note From The Author Of The Status

     

    NOTE: A friend brought to my attention that some have misunderstood when I said “How else was I to prove I wasn’t a b***” when I pulled out my IC to prove I wasn’t Chinese. Its not about race which I’m glad most people understood.

     

    However this does raise a concern. Some of my fellow Chinese Malaysians feel that when the word b*** is mentioned, its referring to the Chinese race. Please don’t feel that way my friends. Its something you shouldn’t associate yourselves with. Only small minded people think this way. I know you’re better than that.

     

    It raises a concern indeed, we are definitely better than that.

     

    Source: http://greatermalaysia.com

  • Chinese Youth In Malaysia Beaten On Bus By Assailants High On Drugs

    Chinese Youth In Malaysia Beaten On Bus By Assailants High On Drugs

    A group of youths, believed to be high on drugs, assaulted a student in a bus on Sunday, China Press reported.

    Teh Kian Wei, 17, said the group of about 10 in their early 20s approached him and his female friend (not girlfriend) on the bus they were travelling in from Batu Pahat back to his house in Pontian, Johor, telling them to “go back to China”.

    He said they were on their way home at around 7.15pm after watching a movie at a mall in Batu Pahat.

    “We were seated in the last row when the youths boarded the bus.

    “They told us that this place was their ‘territory’ and asked us to go back to China,” he said.

    Despite ignoring them, Teh said the group punched and kicked him.

    “One of them even used an iron ring to hit me,” he said.

    He also added that he suffered bruises on his back, shoulder and ears.

    Teh said the bus conductor, who tried to intervene, was threatened.

    “They told the conductor they would beat him up too if he didn’t mind his own business,” he said.

    He added that his watch and a smartphone worth a total of about RM2,000 was snatched from him.

    The driver later sent Teh to a police station to lodge a report and to a government clinic for treatment.

     

    Source: www.thestar.com.my

  • Chinese Embrace Islam But Fight To Keep Names

    Chinese Embrace Islam But Fight To Keep Names

    KUALA LUMPUR – Chinese Muslims converts are baulking at taking Malay or Arabic names upon embracing Islam, claiming the discriminatory practice forces them to abandon their culture and traditions.

    Several Chinese Muslims in Malaysia are fighting for the right to keep their original names, in defiance of the convention of replacing their surname with ‘Abdullah’, in a bid to keep their culture alive.

    “I will not change my ethnicity. I was born Chinese and I will die Chinese, I will not become Malay.

    “I did not want to change my name to show that Islam is a universal religion for all nations, not just for the Arabs or Malays only,” the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association (MACMA) Malacca official Lim Jooi Soon told the BBC in a recent interview.

    Like Lim, several other Chinese Muslims view changing their names to include Arabic or Malay names to be unnecessary as they were adopting a new faith, not a new race.

    “My name may change but my face remains the same. Here, Malaysians say that if someone converts to Islam it means they’re becoming Malay. If I did not change my name, then I remain Chinese,” Ting Swee Keong said, also having kept his Chinese name after converting to Islam.

    Even the practice of celebrating Chinese festivals are at risk, Muslim convert Nur Caren Chung Yock Lan said, despite celebrations like Chinese New Year or Mooncake Festival not being rooted in faith.

    “This cultural celebration does not go against Islamic law; the Mooncake Festival, the Dumpling Festival, the Chinese New Year celebrations, these are more cultural than religious.

    “Judging from history when Saad Ibn Waqas preached in China, he easily accepted the culture since Islam did not kill the culture; the faith changed, not the culture,” she said.

    Although the convention of changing an individual’s name when converting into Islam is not in Malaysian legislature, it is commonly practised by all Islamic authorities, the BBC reports.

    Lim was the first Chinese Muslim in Malaysia allowed to keep his original name, a right he earned after battling Islamic authorities for five years.

    “Five years to talk, debate and discussion, as well as showing strong evidence in favour of me keeping my Chinese name. After that, it made it easy for many people to embrace Islam,” he said.

    “If he gets rid of his surname, it’s as if there is no contact with his family. My second name indicates which generation I belong to and my last name, which is my own, means headed for greatness,” he explained.

    Although MACMA president Professor Dr Hj Taufiq Yap Yun Hin opted for a Muslim name while maintaining his surname and Chinese name upon entering Islam, he urged Islamic authorities to do away with this practice so that those choosing to embrace Islam can still keep their cultural identity.

    “I have also asked the parties related to the registration of the religion that this practice be changed so that the ethnic Chinese are still able to maintain their personal name and their surname if they convert to Islam,” he said.

     

    Source: www.themalaymailonline.com