Tag: Malay community

Commentary: There Is No Reason At All For Us To Triumph Over You (Non-Muslims)

Our brother, Ustaz Ahmad Muzzammil Shukri, came out with a pretty good explanation about the context of the imam’s sermon the other day. He also agreed that when problem arises, MUIS should play a part in resolving or clarifying the religious aspects such as hadiths, fatwas and ideologies when needed. Alhamdullilah may Allah SWT help the imam and us all.

He said:

“An explanation which may help us understand better of the recent issue of the prayer recitation by the Imam.

In the Quran there are verses that have a similar pattern like in Chapter of al-Baqarah verse 286,
فَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ (286)

Nasr means help…but when the word is used with the preposition a’laa..it means help to triumph over..But lets now focus on the word “kafir” which means disbeliever.

Even though the word “kafir” is used, it is NOT referred to all disbelievers.
But instead, only referred to disbelievers that attack and oppress Islam and the muslims because of difference in faith.

And in any community in the whole wide world, if one is being attacked and oppressed, the victim will cry for help and victory, So That The Oppression Will Stop.

Now, how is this interpretation proven correct?

Look at the history of our beloved prophet Muhammad saw. As soon as he reached Madinah during the hijrah, the first few things he did were to build good ties with the non-Muslims in Madinah, particularly the Jews.

Even though the Muslims were the majority at that moment, he made a peace treaty with the Jews. He promoted peace and love and allowed Muslims and Jews to live peacefully on the same land. Why?

Because the Jews at that particular time caused no harm or oppression towards the Muslims.

So this proves that the verse above that was conveyed by Prophet Muhammad saw himself refers to non-Muslims who were causing harm and oppression to Muslims just because they were muslims.

Therefore, my non-Muslim friends in Singapore, there is nothing to worry about. You cause NO harm in any way to us Muslims. So there is no reason at all for us to triumph over you.

And I believe the prayers recited by the imam also refers to non-muslims at other parts of the world who are oppressing Islam and muslims. Again, So That The Oppression Will Stop.

But sadly, wrong interpretation of a convert has just caused chaos and disturbance within the community. Shouldn’t the government take action against this person who caused the chaos and disturbance?”

Syukran ustaz.

Source: Ahmad Muzzammil Shukri

March 4, 2017
Yaacob Ibrahim: Give Elected Presidency A Chance To Develop

Give the elected presidency (EP) a chance to develop and allow it to evolve, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim yesterday urged the Malay community, in particular, its youth.

He made the appeal in response to a question during a dialogue with tertiary students on whether the upcoming presidential election, which has been reserved for Malay candidates, is “mere tokenism”.

“I think, let’s give it a chance and see how it works because no policy is cast in stone. One day, the Government might change its mind and decide that this reserved election doesn’t work. You never know,” he added.

“You’ve to sort of recognise the fact that we must continue to evolve and learn from the experiences on the ground.”

Dr Yaacob was speaking publicly on the EP for the first time since the Presidential Elections (Amendment) Bill was passed last week.

The Bill provided details such as the election period and the size of the committees to assess whether candidates are eligible to contest. It follows broader constitutional changes passed last November that spell out how a presidential election will be reserved for a particular racial group if no one from that group has been president for five terms in a row.

The upcoming election is reserved for the Malay community, which has not seen a Malay president for 46 years since Singapore’s first president Yusof Ishak, who died in office on Nov 23, 1970.

In his reply, Dr Yaacob, who reiterated that he will not contest the election, said his preference “would have been clearly an open election, where a Malay could actually win the EP on his or her own merit”.

“But I think we also have to ask ourselves whether or not we are able to achieve that if we take that risk,” he added.

He said tribal tendencies “are still very strong” and “run deep”, not just among the miniorities, but even among the majorities.

“So how you ensure that the imbalance doesn’t become a burden on the minority is something which the Government has to think about all the time,” he added.

He said the Malay community is concerned “not just about the president, but also Malay permanent secretary, Malay general… because we want to see representation across the entire Singaporean life”.

“But we believe it must come about because of meritocracy. Even for the elected president, you don’t just pick up somebody from Geylang Serai – the person must qualify, the person must earn the respect of all Singaporeans,” he added.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

February 13, 2017
Malay Community More Annoyed Than Angry About Elected Presidency

Since Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced last week that next year’s presidential election will be reserved for Malay candidates, there have been much annoyance in the Malay community.

We really don’t need this do we. I mean look at Tharman. Look at Murali. We are definitely more than capable to vote beyond racial lines.

Come on man . . .

The Straits Times added to this annoyance further when they published an article which featured all the potential candidates from the Public Sector.

Guess what – they are all former or current ministers from the ruling party.

It was like rubbing salt to our wounds ~~which we suffered from all the years of racial discrimination.~~

Singapore has not had a Malay president since its first president Yusof Ishak, who died in office in 1970 and PM Lee made a judgement call to change the Constitution to ensure minorities are represented in the elected presidency from time to time, as the office is a symbol of the nation’s multiracialism.

It was never about that Tan Cheng Bock as some people made you to believe.

Heck he would not have been eligible even if it wasn’t a reserved election for the Malays because unlike in 2011 he is NO LONGER the the most senior executive of a company with at least $500 million in shareholders’ equity (a requirement for a Presidential Candidate).

Today, Straits Times continued their reporting of the Elected Presidency by publishing two articles (one pro and the other con) to show two sides of the argument – both articles were written by Malay Singaporeans

A common theme which runs through both articles was the issue of tokenism.

Here are excerpts from both articles which summaries their argument.

“It seems to suggest that we are still unable to compete on the same level with the rest of the population and that we remain a troubled community that requires – selectively – a big handicap. It makes me wonder what happened to our belief in boosting self-reliance and self-respect through doing away with affirmative action and race-based state aid in education and career progression”

“Even without changes to the elected presidency, it will not take quite so long. After all, minority MPs have regularly won elections in single-seat constituencies while others have led teams in group representation constituencies – a scheme originally created to assist minority candidates to be elected into Parliament – instead of being pedestrian members of the GRCs.”

“Whatever the shortcomings, the amendments passed ensure that the sanctity and prestige of the elected presidency are not compromised, through the provision of several safeguards.

The first is a higher bar for candidates such that only capable individuals need apply. There are no exceptions and minorities have to meet the same strict qualifying criteria.

The second safeguard is that since the next election is reserved for Malays, Malay candidates who want to win must drum up support among all Singaporeans, regardless of their race or religion. He or she cannot campaign solely on a platform of Malay interests but must instead seek to represent Singapore’s multicultural and secular values.”

The Singapore system has never been a perfect meritocracy. Instead, it has always been an “abridged” one. Nonetheless, it is this abridged meritocracy that has ensured minority representation in our parliamentary democracy, which also stabilises race relations in the country. Thus, applying it to the elected presidency scheme is not unprecedented and has its merits.”

– Elected Presidency changes: Big step backwards for Malay community

– Elected Presidency changes: Necessary tokenism to boost long-term multiracialism

As the first article gets shared around more widely on social media (because it fits the online narrative), the Malay community is seriously more annoyed rather then angry.

I really hope that you can give them perspective by also sharing the second article above because it offers a glimpse of the reality on the upcoming election.

Only time can tell if the upcoming Malay candidate can represent the voices of the majority of Singaporeans just like Encik Yusof Ishak did AND more importantly, if there will be another Malay candidate coming through for future Presidential Elections, before it becomes necessary to be “hiatus-triggered” once again.

Source: https://thoughtsofrealsingaporeans.wordpress.com

November 16, 2016
Fahmi Rais: Having A Voice To Communicate With Malay Community A Priority

Singaporeans First’s (SingFirst) candidate Fahmi Rais, the only Malay among all the candidates contesting Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (GRC), said a voice for his community is important, especially if the Government wants to have its policies communicated to this group.

Noting that Tanjong Pagar has not had a Malay Member of Parliament (MP) since becoming a GRC in 1991, Mr Fahmi said: “I’ve come across so many Malays during my walkabouts and many of them are from the lower-income bracket and they may not be very educated, so how is the communication process trickling down to them, I wonder.”

The ruling People’s Action Party’s (PAP) slate for Tanjong Pagar GRC for the Sept 11 elections does not include a Malay candidate. The 48-year-old media consultant said the main issue that has come up during his interactions with Malay residents is that of employment.

The lower-income group is hit particularly hard by the influx of foreign labour as they have to compete directly with them for jobs. This worsens the income gap between the Malay community and others, he added.

If elected, Mr Fahmi said he will make tackling issues concerning the community a priority.

Mr Fahmi is contesting in Tanjong Pagar GRC along with SingFirst’s secretary-general Tan Jee Say, party chairman Ang Yong Guan, market risk manager Chirag Desai and sales executive Melvyn Chiu.

The party plans to hold its first rally tomorrow (Sept 3) at Jurong Stadium.

Source: http://www.todayonline.com

September 3, 2015
MUIS Staying Silent Despite Calls For Greater Transparency On Its Accounts

There have been some disclosures made about MUIS on this page recently.

Whether it is turning away the needy, the use of zakat to pay MUIS staff salary, lack of transparency in waqf or riba, there are real concerns in how MUIS is conducting itself.

For instance, is MUIS dealing with riba with its own subsidiaries?

According to MUIS annual report, MUIS charges 3.75% interest on a $29,528,837 loan to its subsidiary.

Why is MUIS, supposedly the highest Islamic authority in Singapore dealing with riba?

When Allah has declared war against anyone who are involved with riba.

We emailed MUIS last Friday and did not even receive an acknowledgement.

Nevertheless, we will like to remind our brothers and sisters to reserve judgement until there is full disclosure.

And reserve judgement until we hear from MUIS.

We are raising questions. We have contacted MUIS to gain clarification.

MUIS has refused to respond.

This is one of the problems we face as a community. MUIS does not respond to the community. It is a statutory body that reports to the government.

Not to us.

And yet, they are supposed to be the highest Islamic authority.

This is where the problem lies. It demands the authority to lead us but refuse to explain itself or its decisions.

Not even the Khulafah Ar Rasyideen behaved in this way. The Khulafah accepted being questioned and corrected in public.

MUIS refuse to even respond. Instead, they took out advertisement to tell the community a half truth.

Insha Allah we will reveal a lot more issues concerning MUIS. Until they respond, we suggest that while all of us recognise the problems, let us continue to reserve judgement.

May those granted amanah live up fully to it.

May those who lead us gain the courage to truly lead.

And May we be a community that is always on haq.

Source: Singapore Muslims for an Independent MUIS Facebook Group

December 27, 2014