SINGAPORE – About 1kg of cannabis was seized by immigration officials, and a suspected smuggler arrested at the Woodlands checkpoint on Saturday, Nov 22.
A routine check on a Malaysia-registered car had turned up a block of the suspected cannabis in the engine compartment.
The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) was alerted at 1.05pm on Saturday.
The driver of the car, a 37-year-old Malaysian man, was arrested, CNB said in a statement on Sunday.
Source: www.straitstimes.com
As promised this is the real-life story which I feel all true blue Singaporeans should know. Compare it with the ease with which PR and citizenship are dished out to foreigners, especially from the PRC, the PAP’s favourite hunting ground for immigrants to make Singapore more Chinese than it already is. And naturally Yang Yin’s case comes to mind.
This insulting tale which I’m about to tell I believe is not an isolated one. Many others may have been suffering – and still suffering – in silence.
Yaacob (not his real name) is the youngest in a family of 6 children – 5 boys and a girl. He is in his thirties and was born, bred and schooled in Singapore. He works and contributes to the economy as a forklift operator.His elderly parents and all his elder siblings are full citizens with pink ICs. Through some unexplained circumstances Yaacob is the only one holding a blue IC.
The fault could have been caused by an inadvertent mistake of his father, a simple folk, or that of the officer at the NRO.
Having faced all the inconveniences of a blue IC holder and missing out on all the rights and privileges of a citizen through no fault of his, Yaacob finally decided seek help. He did not say whether he had gone to see any MP because he might have thought that as a blue IC holder he would not be entertained. Incidentally he lives in Ang Mo Kio and the principal MP there is none other than the PM himself.
He went straight to the Immigration/National Registration Office at Kallang, armed with copies of his parents’ and siblings’ birth certificates and ICs.
After a lengthy wait he was interviewed by an officer. But instead of assisting him the officer, a Chinese, threw insults at him by telling him:
1. Though he might be born in Singapore it does not necessarily mean that he can become a citizen.
2. The issuing of pink ICs to his parents and siblings was a mistake, and this killer statement …..
3. His parents could have got married after he was born!
He was then asked to bring his school records and told to leave and wait for a letter from the authorities. He is still waiting.
Yang Yin forged a degree, joined the RC, allegedly cheated and stole from an elderly Singaporean, lied about his association with local organisations, took photographs with the MP and the PM and rumoured to have donated large sums of money to the PAP grassroots, etc and he got his PR. No question need to be asked nor a background check necessary.
Yaacob on the other hand is only making his contributions as a forklift operator but born, bred and schooled in Singapore. What is he getting? INSULTS! CAN YOU TAKE THIS?
To the PAP skin colour and money talk! Others don’t matter.
Authored by Mohamed Jufrie Bin Mahmood*
*Mohamed Jufrie Bin Mahmood is a politician from Singapore. He was a prominent opposition political figure in the country in the 1980s and 1990s, when he stood in elections as a candidate for both the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and the Workers’ Party. He served as the Chairman of the SDP from 2011 to 2013.
Member of Parliament Intan Azura Mokhtar said yesterday that she did write a letter of appeal regarding Mr Yang Yin’s application for permanent residency (PR) here. But she did so only at the behest of Madam Chung Khin Chun.
Questions had been raised over the former China tour guide’s role in the Jalan Kayu Neighbourhood Committee, after pictures of him at various grassroots activities surfaced online. The People’s Association confirmed that he had been a member of the neighbourhood committee since July 5 last year but resigned on Sept 8 this year.
Dr Intan, who is an MP in Ang Mo Kio GRC and adviser to the committee, said she did not know Mr Yang personally. She recalls meeting him only when he was participating in a cooking activity.
She does remember the time Madam Chung approached her.
“She first came to see me and sought my help in May 2011… for her grandson,” said Dr Intan. “This is what she told me and I referred Madam Chung’s request to the authorities.” She said she responded only because Madam Chung was “a resident of my constituency and a Singaporean”.
“If Mr Yang had come to me, I wouldn’t be able to help him because he’s not a Singaporean,” she said. “What I would have told him is that you probably can apply for PR to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority directly.”
Dr Intan also said she later received a piece of “feedback” on Mr Yang. She did not reveal the nature of the feedback as there are ongoing court proceedings concerning Mr Yang, but said it was forwarded to the authorities the same day.
Dr Intan also explained why she had initially referred to Mr Yang as a grassroots “leader”, when asked about him two weeks ago. She said she considers all grassroots volunteers “grassroots leaders”, reiterating that Mr Yang “did not hold a key position… he was just an ordinary member”.
In recent days, Dr Intan’s Facebook page has been inundated with questions about Mr Yang. Some claimed that she had gone into “Internet hiding” by not addressing the questions and making her Facebook page private.
When asked if comments about Mr Yang had been deleted from her Facebook page, she said the staff administering the site may have done so and she does not know what “Internet hiding” is.
Dr Intan also made it clear that only citizens and PRs can join the grassroots, although others can help out as ad-hoc volunteers. When asked if taking part in these ad-hoc activities can help in an application for permanent residency, she said that was up to the immigration authorities.
When contacted last night, Madam Chung said she remembered seeing Dr Intan “a few years ago”, but could not recall what was discussed.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, the ICA made it clear that volunteering in grassroots organisations is not part of its criteria when assessing applications for PR and citizenship.
It said: “Applications for Singapore Permanent Residence or Singapore Citizenship (SC) are evaluated on a range of factors including family ties, qualifications, income and length of stay in Singapore. While volunteering in community service such as with PA grassroots organisations had been suggested as a possible criterion, it has not been part of ICA’s criteria when assessing SC or SPR applications. Each application will be assessed on its own merits.”
The ICA also added: “Individuals who provide false information in their applications for immigration facilities will be dealt with firmly under the law. In addition, they will have their immigration facilities cancelled or revoked.”
Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/courts-crime/story/mp-intan-azura-mokhtar-says-she-does-not-know-yang-yin-personally-
I’m getting frustrated being labeled as non-Malay. Why? Here’s my story.
My mom is a Filipino Catholic and my dad is a Malay Muslim. None of my parents convert, and so I was brought up going to church several times a year. Never been to a mosque because my dad has never cultivate any Islamic values in me or in our family. At this age, I still don’t know what is my religion, and I like it that way. But this topic is not about my religion. Being brought up speaking both Malay and Tagalog, and having experience both cultures, I do have a valid testimony to this confusion. Today I want to share my story about being a Filipino-Malay.
But first, I think the term Filipino Malay is oxymoronic.
Filipinos are of Malay stock. I know because I study SEA’s history in uni and this is my area of research.
People of ASEAN mostly they came from Malay stock that is why our face and skin complexion looks very much the same. Although there are many mixed marriage it didn’t only happen in the Philippines.
In the Philippines they call it mestizo while in other countries they have their own abbreviation. Please don’t think that Malay people in the Philippines are the only Malay who practice inter-racial marriages. There are many others in Indonesia (Dutch), Malaysia & Singapore (Chinese, Indian, British, Portuguese), Brunei etc.
Because of different religious background people may forget that Filipinos are actually Malay because predominantly Malays in ASEAN are Muslim while in the Philippines almost all of them are Catholic.
You don’t lump the race Malay as people who subscribe to the religion Islam, and therefore they are Muslims. Neither do you claim all Filipinos are Catholics.
Language is a little bit different but they derived from the ancient Malay language. While Indonesians, Malaysians, and Bruneians can understand each other, many find it hard to understand Tagalog because it is completely different language BUT there are words that are similar or sounded similar. I don’t think there is any problem if people from these countries want to learn Tagalog/Bahasa Melayu/Indonesia.
Tagalog is partly influenced by Spanish language, Malay, Chinese and local language like kapampangan, waray, cebuano.
Spanish = trabajo is trabaho in tagalog
Malay = kerbau is carabao in tagalog, mata is same in both language, as of kanan, kambing, anak etc.
If asked about their race, most Filipinos would identify as being Malay. Filipinos are taught in schools to be proud of their Malay heritage and encouraged to strengthen their ties with other Malays in Southeast Asia.
But Filipinos wishing to migrate in Singapore have to deny this fundamental identification because the Singapore government rejects the classification of Filipinos as Malay. But if Filipinos are not Malay, what ethnicity are they? Officially, Singapore recognizes immigrants from the neighboring Philippines as part of the racial category referred to as “Other.”
Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority have clarified that new Singapore citizens of Filipino origin are not classified as Malays. They are typically classified as ‘Others’ under the race category. Indeed, this was affirmed by Communications and Information Minister Yaacob Ibrahim who wrote on Facebook that Filipinos are classified as “Others” and not as Malays.
But why refuse the Malay background of Filipinos in the first place? Perhaps it has something to do with the special privileges accorded to the Malay minority in Singapore. Article 152 of the Constitution of Singapore states that the government “shall recognize the special position of the Malays, who are the indigenous people of Singapore, and accordingly it shall be the responsibility of the Government to protect, safeguard, support, foster and promote their political, educational, religious, economic, social and cultural interests and the Malay language.”
For Filipino immigrants, it must come as a shock for them to be told by Singaporean authorities that they are not Malays. To avoid immigration troubles, perhaps it is more convenient for Filipino workers to shade the “Others” category when filing paperwork than to insist that they are Malays.
Source: Marie Joy Talib
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