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Tag: Halimah Yacob

  • Damanhuri Abas: The Reserved Malay EP Irony – Malay Votes Do Not Matter

    Damanhuri Abas: The Reserved Malay EP Irony – Malay Votes Do Not Matter

    With Mr Salleh Marican coming forward and putting his hat in the ring, we may have a contest for the upcoming EP in September. There are sceptics commenting since he made the announcement but he had previously indicated well in advance his willingness to respond to the PM’s call for capable Malays to come forward to meet the call to serve the people.

    In fact, I was present at the Reach session when Mr Salleh Marican was the first to speak to the government panel comprising of Dr Yaacob Ibrahim and Mdm Rahayu Mahzam. He expressed his disappointment to them about the change to the financial requirement from 100 million paid up capital to 500 million equity shares company. He indicated then that this change would affect his chance of serving which he was seriously considering when the EP was made exclusive for Malays.

    However, he clearly is determined by still coming forward and willing to make the pitch to convince the EP committee to qualify him possibly on the third equivalent route.

    He mentioned his strength of being a businessmen thus comfortable with big numbers as his company is worth at least 200 million in equity shares. Thus he has a valid reason to be heard fairly by the committee on his other credentials that would compensate for not exactly meeting the minimum financial requirement for the job. On that note alone, we should give him a chance to make his case before the committee.

    The Malay community is still hoping likewise for more potential candidates with credentials to offer themselves as a possible EP. The value of a contest should not be underestimated.

    The word on the ground is a great sense of disappointment among the Chinese majority who felt this reserve EP is undermining their believe in the ‘system’. Their reaction however is mix from out right condemnation and a desire to cast a protest vote possibly through spoiling them to voting in any other non-government candidate.

    Among the Malays they are similarly mix about the EP as they never see this anywhere in the community’s priority to do list for the government. The mainstream media nonetheless as expected has gone into overdrive since the announcement for a reserve EP was made. The picture coming from them is the general support and gratitude of the Malay community towards this initiative by the government. The more realistic ones see this as a desperate manoeuvre to stop the potential victory of Dr Tan Cheng Bock at the polls if it was an open election. This group would likely cast a vote for the non-government candidate.

    In all honesty, the Malay vote ironically do not really matter much as it is a low percentage. The swing will be to see where the supporters of Dr Tan Cheng Bock and Mr Tan Jee Say cast their votes. They are clear defined blocks that may determine who wins. The PAP block are quite predictable and from what the last EP showed its about 30-40% at most. So there are 60-70% potential vote eagerly waiting to be cast against the PAP/government candidate. All is not lost people. Let this EP be a healthy contest for a better deal to the people to check this government. So let the contest begin.

    #PE2017 #MalayPresidentforSingapore

     

    Source: Damanhuri Bin Abas

  • 575 Needy Muslim Families Get Help At Ramadan Event

    575 Needy Muslim Families Get Help At Ramadan Event

    Close to 600 families received cash and vouchers worth over S$200,000 at the Muslim Converts’ Association of Singapore’s Ramadan Zakat Disbursement ceremony yesterday. The 575 recipients included the low-income, the elderly and those with chronic diseases.

    For the first time in the association’s annual drive, which began more than 20 years ago, beneficiaries also received sponsored items from corporate donors, such as Zac Butchery and Al-Wadi Restaurant, as well as actor Suhaimi Yusof. The items included turkey ham, dates and tea.

    The guest of honour, Speaker of Parliament and Member of Parliament (Marsiling-Yew Tee) Halimah Yacob, said the institution of zakat was “well-organised and strong” in Singapore. Zakat is the obligatory act of almsgiving and is one of Islam’s pillars.

    “People are brought together through the sharing of wealth, while at the same time performing their Islamic duty,” she said.

    “Today’s event reminds us of the strong spirit of charity and unity among Singaporean Muslims. This innate sense to help one another is not only nurtured in Islam; it has always been part of the values upon which the Singaporean community builds itself.”

    The recipients, 103 of whom are converts to Islam and 472 of whom were born into the religion, each received S$255 from the zakat and NTUC FairPrice vouchers of S$110 from fidyah, which are religious donations made when a fast is broken.

    They said the money will come in handy for groceries and medical expenses. “This zakat can help me a lot. I can buy (household items and use it) for my children’s school fees and maybe new clothes for Hari Raya,” said Mdm Peng Hui Mei @ Nur Ain Peng Abdullah, 43, whose three children are aged nine to 21. The patient service associate at a public hospital said it was her first time receiving zakat.

    Father-of-five Jeyaseelan @ Abdul Ghani, 47, said his wife has been on kidney dialysis for almost 12 years and that doctors have said her heart is failing. His three elder children in polytechnic help by working part-time, and the Uber driver said he was also grateful for the support of staff at the Muslim Converts’ Association of Singapore, or Darul Arqam Singapore, who inform him of avenues of financial assistance.

    Mdm Halimah, who has been suggested as a potential candidate for the Presidential Election in September, shook hands and mingled with the recipients, but did not speak to reporters. She has so far kept mum on the coming election, which is reserved for the Malay community, and on the likelihood of her candidacy.

     

    Source: http://www.todayonline.com

  • How Can Indian-Muslim Halimah Yacob Run For EP Reserved For Malay Community?

    How Can Indian-Muslim Halimah Yacob Run For EP Reserved For Malay Community?

    Yesterday (1 Jun), ST published a news report stating that PAP MP and Speaker of Parliament, Halimah Yacob, is widely considered a front runner for the forthcoming Presidential Election.

    It will be the first election reserved for candidates from the Malay community, following a recent review of the constitution.

    According to the amended Singapore Constituion Section 19B, the Presidential Election will be reserved for a community if none of its members has held office of President for 5 or more consecutive terms.

    “19B (1) An election for the office of President is reserved for a community if no person belonging to that community has held the office of President for any of the 5 most recent terms of office of the President.”

    Sub-Section (6) defines a community:

    “(6) In this Article, “community” means —
    (a) the Chinese community;
    (b) the Malay community; or
    (c) the Indian or other minority communities;

    ‘person belonging to the Chinese community’ means any person who considers himself to be a member of the Chinese community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Chinese community by that community;
    ‘person belonging to the Malay community’ means any person, whether of the Malay race or otherwise, who considers himself to be a member of the Malay community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Malay community by that community;
    ‘person belonging to the Indian or other minority communities’ means any person of Indian origin who considers himself to be a member of the Indian community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Indian community by that community, or any person who belongs to any minority community other than the Malay or Indian community;”

    Now, notice that in the case of Malay community, there is an addition clause added – “whether of the Malay race or otherwise”.

    In other words, you don’t have to be a person of Malay race to be considered part of the Malay community. Persons of other race can also be considered part of the Malay community, presumably as long as he or she is a Muslim.

    Halimah is an Indian Muslim

    Take Mdm Halimah for example, she is actually not a Malay as her father is of Indian origin.

    This was disclosed in an ST article in 2013 when Halimah was selected to be the new Speaker of Parliament after the former one, Michael Palmer, resigned from politics due to his marital affair with a PA woman.
    ST did a write-up to feature Halimah (‘A strong advocate for workers, women and minorities‘, Jan 2013):

    In the article, it mentioned: “Her (Halimah’s) Indian-Muslim father was a watchman who died when she was eight years old.”

    In fact, news of Halimah becoming Singapore’s first woman speaker also made its way to India. The Hindu described her as an “Indian-origin politician” (‘Indian-origin politician to be Singapore’s first woman speaker‘):

    So, what all this means is that in the coming Presidential Election which is reserved for the Malay community, a non-Malay person who is a Muslim can also contest.

    If Halimah, an Indian Muslim qualifies as part of the Malay community, then a Chinese Muslim, for example, can qualify too.

    —
    Source: Facebook

     

    Source: www.theindependent.sg

  • Prominent Malays Named As Potential Candidates For Elected President

    Prominent Malays Named As Potential Candidates For Elected President

    Mr Mohamed Salleh Marican’s declaration of his interest in running in the upcoming presidential election is not a total surprise.

    As a prominent, successful Malay entrepreneur, his name is among several talked about in recent weeks as a possible presidential hopeful for the September election.

    Meanwhile, two other figures seen as potential candidates – former minister Abdullah Tarmugi and Bank of Singapore chief executive officer Bahren Shaari – told The Straits Times they were not keen on standing for the election.

    Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob, 62, who is widely considered a front runner, did not respond to queries from The Straits Times.

    Mr Mohamad Salleh, explaining his intentions, told The Straits Times in an e-mail yesterday: “I believe I have done well for myself in business and would like to step up and give back to society in a much larger way.”

     

    When contacted, two other prominent individuals from the Malay community touted as potential candidates confirmed they were not eyeing the election.

    Mr Bahren, 54, told The Straits Times in an e-mail: “I am humbled to have my name mentioned as a potential candidate for this year’s presidential election by various media. It is always a privilege and honour to serve the nation.

    “At the moment, my focus is on growing the business of Bank of Singapore with my team and deriving the synergies from our recent acquisition of the wealth and investment management business of Barclays Bank PLC.”

    Mr Abdullah, 72, said it is “unlikely” he will run in the election.

    “I had considered contesting earlier and many had in fact encouraged me to do so. But it is unlikely that I will contest. I have my reasons,” he said, declining to elaborate.

    Other names that have been mentioned include Mr Shafie Shamsuddin, 46, the chief executive officer of PT Trans Retail, which operates Carrefour supermarkets in Indonesia.

    Mr Shafie, who could not be reached for comment, was named outstanding overseas chief/senior executive of the year at last year’s Singapore Business Awards.

    He is the first non-Frenchman named in 2011 as an executive director of the global supermarket giant Carrefour, taking charge of talent management and organisational development.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Damanhuri Abas: Reserved Elected Presidency In September A Foregone Conclusion

    Damanhuri Abas: Reserved Elected Presidency In September A Foregone Conclusion

    The death of Othman Wok being a trusted Malay of LKY’s era will invite some controversy. The State assisted funeral, the ongoing tributes on TV and the press are expected. The Govt must surely remember and celebrate the Malay man that became the face they wanted for the community.

    His passing is not planned but may be a timely coincident in light of the upcoming Malay reserved Presidential election scheduled in September. Rumours are going around that the choice is between Halimah or Zainul. Either one will soften the Malay ground which may not in truth be as eagerly embracing the idea of a Malay President, not under the circumstances it did. On paper Halimah may offer additional appeasement value being the first woman President, a Malay and a Tudung wearing one too. These are definite emotional winners on the heart strings of the Malays.

    Already the regional Malay crowd are warming up and not so quietly curious about this prospect and some even jumped the gun in excitedly running full page article about the potential new Woman Malay President of Singapore with a tactful jibe to the affirmative action footnote of we are right afterall, since Singapore also do it, rhetoric.

    The opening of the Yusuf Ishak Mosque in Woodlands also was a landmark event attended by top Govt officials including the PM for the first President namesake Mosque that clearly is another softening the Malay ground exercise. Other than the untoward controversy over the pulpit design, the event was definitely helpful towards winning mostly hearts and some minds.

    Soon Ramadan will come and than its Hari Raya Puasa followed by Hari Raya Haji. These back to back religious and festive moods are blessings for the Govt leading up to the September vote if there is a vote. Most Malays by then would have somewhat come around and accepted the Malay President with our trademark nonchalant just accept it lah tolerant mindset, and move on.

    Looks like come September, the Malay President is game set and match. You got to give it to them, another brilliant political masterstroke from the Govt.

     

    Source: Damanhuri Bin Abas