Rilek1Corner

Tag: malay

  • Masagos Zulkifli: Nothing Natural About Our Racial Harmony; It’s There BECAUSE We Keep An Eye All The Time

    Masagos Zulkifli: Nothing Natural About Our Racial Harmony; It’s There BECAUSE We Keep An Eye All The Time

    #masagos been reflecting PM sharing on Saturday as he recalled why he pushed for a reserved election for the minority communities although he knew it was going to be extremely difficult to carry the ground with it. PM could have kicked the can down the road for his successor to deal with it but he’s clear there’s no certainty the next PM is able to do it in time before a crisis makes it necessary.

    I acknowledge our race relations is good where Singapore is today and that it’s heartening how as a society, we are all on the same page in looking forward towards a future where we won’t need a reserved election. Some have concluded since it’s all good we need not make a special effort and unnecessarily raise our race issues to the fore.

    In truth, there’s nothing natural about our racial harmony – it’s there BECAUSE we keep an eye on it all the time and make many adjustments along the way – formation of MUIS, EIP for housing, GRC and now a reserved presidency. Even for MUIS, it was originally set up as requested by the community to help administer family laws for Muslims – now we’re glad there’s a MUIS to lead in our guard against extremism in our community and is a great asset against terrorism. We cannot take our harmony for granted and have a short term view of policies that seek to guard it.

    I think the whole of Saturday was simply PM pointing out examples from other countries of what could go wrong if we are not careful about sensitivities around race. Myanmar is facing an immediate issue. Even in Singapore, in our more progressive state, we still have instances where our Muslim youth had been labelled as terrorist unfairly.

    A friend told me that while in Pahang his family members there praised the courage of PM to get a Malay to the Presidency in a country where he has to handle the sensitivities of tbe Chinese majority. Thats why i always feel fortunate that i live in a country where the majority puts in so much hard work to make everyone feel they belong and the minorities make adjustments so that everybody integrates with one another. #OnlyInSingapore

     

    Source: Masagos Zulkifli

  • Response Pak Andam Terhadap Majlis Perkahwinan Minggu Lalu Yang Menerima Pelbagai Kritikan (Kompang, Scooter Dan Pengantin)

    Response Pak Andam Terhadap Majlis Perkahwinan Minggu Lalu Yang Menerima Pelbagai Kritikan (Kompang, Scooter Dan Pengantin)

    CINTA AKU SEADANYA!

    Saya adalah Pak Andam Mempelai dan menyaksikan dari mula majlis hingga akhir majlis. Ramai yang comment negative with regards to the Kompang Group WHICH is Proudly Sponsor by adek pengantin Lelaki. Setahu saya mempelai menerima saje dan beri support kerana adeknya berhati besar nak sponsor kompang. Saya rasa pengantin pon terkejut kot akan persembahan kompang etc! bukan hari hari mereka sanding kan!. Kalau megikuti adat memang harus dan berkah jika kompang Diiringi Selawat dan sebagainya. Moga comment and feedback anda dapat memberi kumpulan kompang tersebut lebih banyak peransang dan semangat untuk kembali melaksanakan apa yang wajar. Ade yang comment hingga mengutuk tetapi bukan menasihati, dan saya rasa itu bukan sikap Sunnah Rasul dalam berdakwah . Saya Harap kita semua kalau nak comment apa apa harap dengan kekata elok elok baru lah anak muda kita sedar dan bangkit. Bukan ke ajaran Islam itu indah .

    Yang Kedua Falsafah pasal Scooter, WOW! Creative pulak!! saya suka! sebelum bergerak mereka mempersembahkan SCOOTER IN ACTION lahhhhh bagi meraihkan Pengantin dah Tiba!. Ni kan trend zaman sekarang ngan scooter tu baru baru ini.. kita pon tak dapat menyangka apa lagi creative creative di masa akan datang. Husnuzon je lerrr

    Yang Ketiga…. Ade yang mengutuk Pengantin Perempuan dengan zahirnya, tubuh badannya.

    Allah Azza Wa Jalla, berfirman:

    يٰٓأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌ مِّنْ قَوْمٍ عَسٰىٓ أَنْ يَكُونُوا خَيْرًا مِّنْهُمْ وَلَا نِسَآءٌ مِّنْ نِّسَآءٍ عَسٰىٓ أَنْ يَكُنَّ خَيْرًا مِّنْهُنَّ ۖ وَلَا تَلْمِزُوٓا أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَلَا تَنَابَزُوا بِالْأَلْقٰبِ ۖ بِئْسَ الِاسْمُ الْفُسُوقُ بَعْدَ الْإِيمٰنِ ۚ وَمَنْ لَّمْ يَتُبْ فَأُولٰٓئِكَ هُمُ الظّٰلِمُونَ

    “Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Janganlah suatu kaum mengolok-olok kaum yang lain, (karena) boleh jadi mereka (yang diolok-olokkan) lebih baik dari mereka (yang mengolok-olok), dan jangan pula perempuan-perempuan (mengolok-olokkan) perempuan lain, (karena) boleh jadi perempuan (yang diolok-olokkan) lebih baik dari perempuan (yang mengolok-olok). Janganlah kamu saling mencela satu sama lain, dan janganlah saling memanggil dengan gelar-gelar yang buruk. Seburuk-buruk panggilan adalah (panggilan) yang buruk (fasik) setelah beriman. Dan barang siapa tidak bertobat, maka mereka itulah orang-orang yang zalim.” (QS. Al-Hujurat 49 ayat 11)

    Jika Kamu mengutuk tubuh badan orang lain, anda juga mengutuk CIPTAAN ALLAH SWT. Anda tergolong dalam Orang Yang Zalim. Minta maaf lah kepada pengantin Nora . Orang melayu kata berani buat berani tanggung, Berani comment berani tanggung tapi di akhirat kelak . Apa pon Kami pihak Grandeur Fai amat mencintai semua mempelai tidak kira siapa mereka dan apa jua bentuk badan mereka kita terima dan beri layanan yang sama kasih antara satu sama lain.

    Sekian dan Benar tulus iklas: Fai Bani

    *Lets give her our support with all the beautiful words and we are all the same Even in hereafter you Nora Abu Bakar will be the utmost beautiful princess in Jannah Firdausi amin!

    Follow and watch the Link below with all the comments!
    https://m.facebook.com/story.php…

     

    Source: Grandeur Fai

     

  • Damanhuri Abas: Yes, I Am Driven By My Religion And Am A Rookie Politician

    Damanhuri Abas: Yes, I Am Driven By My Religion And Am A Rookie Politician

    I have deleted my previous post and relinked to the original source post instead of the other link coming from another FB page.

    Scary siah!!! Sereemmmm!!!

    An article online (see below) apparently was posted accusing me of using religion to incite some untoward things. Firstly, the basic rule of academic rigour is to at least have the integrity to pay for a Malay writer if one intends to comment on an article in that language (jgn kasi malu melayu lah). I guess it suffice to merit the writer to its appropriate class for googling a lazy translation.

    So let me reply.

    1. Yes i m deeply driven by my religion. What is wrong with that? Our constitution recognised the importance of religion and defend the freedom and the right for anyone to profess and practice his or her religion unhindered. If you are not driven by religion surely something else must be driving you in life. It is in-built into our humanity to believe in something. In case the writer do not know, there is a nice little word called conscience to remind and guide a persons life. Even an atheist believe in his or her own atheism. We should respect that and not ridicule.

    2. Now referenced to my post in Malay where I mentioned the principle in Islam that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught Muslims the value of striving to do good and forbid evil. There are 3 modes to do so he (the Prophet) explained. First with your hands (authority/power) if you have the means, second with your words (reminding/warning/etc.) if you can only do so, third with your heart (conscience) by dissociating yourself from it, the third being the least one can do he said, and, in the category of faith, is the weakest.

    3. I have explained in my many other posts why I am of the opinion that this reserved PE is an elaborate government effort to prevent the people from voting a popular President who would be independent in performing his or her primary Presidential role of being the Guardian of our National reserves as well as to safeguard our meritocratic value for top public officers that the President is tasked to do. There are numerous opinion pieces that gave very clear arguments that mirrors my opinion. Even Ministers themselves are quoted to acknowledge its problem. One may disagree but in a democracy one have no right to deny another his right to intellectual discourse. Especially for such a dignified office as our President who everyone of us, swear upon our enlistment, to defend together with our constitution, with our life. But sadly no one can also deny someone of his choice to be less than intelligent.

    4. The article seem so desperate and hell-bent to smear me as a religious firebrand (or fanatic) for living the values that I learned from my parents, believed in and preached to my children as a Muslim. This believe guides my principle and action in life such as responding to this Reserved PE episode, as well as made me stop a stray chicken I came across the other day from crossing a very busy road and killing itself.

    5. The article stopped shot of discussing my other points which I will now elaborate. I mentioned the issue of fate and wisdom in responding to the Reserved PE. In my religion (Islam), fate is a concept that is part of the 6 articles of faith. First is believe in God, second is believe in the Prophets (Abraham, Moses, Jonah, Jesus, etc.), third is believe in the Books that God sent in history (Torah, Psalms, Bible, Qur’an, etc.), fourth is believe in the Angels (with their respective roles), fifth believe in Judgment Day (Heaven and Hell), sixth is believe in fate and predestination.

    6. Fate and predestination for a Muslim is to believe that God provides, and everything that happened, do so, with God’s will (both good and evil) as God ultimately allowed it. Wisdom is our ability to then use the endowment of reason that God bestows upon us to analyse the lessons behind that which happened, both good and bad as both are lessons for our life journey towards the end goal of the hereafter. Simply put, don’t blame God for the dead chicken for your failure to act in time to stop it from crossing the busy road. Wisdom is to learn from it and not repeat the same mistake twice. God has given you the mind to think and act freely and you will be responsible for its consequences. For Muslims, consequences are both on earth and in our afterlife. On this basis, I placed my opinion urging us Muslims to reflect and think about what this Reserved PE is about.

    9. I ended the post by asking ourselves to ponder about our believe as Muslims, that God provides. We are challenged to voice our opinion when we see a wrong in society and then feeling worried that it may ruffles someone feathers and may impact our livelihood if we do so.

    10. Of course the article also took cheap swipes at me for my political rookie-ness. I don’t deny I am a rookie politician. It painted many unsavoury unsubstantiated allegation of my subversive intentions to use religion to further my political ambition. May God forgive whoever this (hungry) ghost writer is for his or her ignorance of who I am and what i have done in life for my fellow Malay countrymen challenged with all the problems listed in the article, before i joined politics. I wish the same was asked of our PAP government and their Malay MPs for such a poor performance to show for the same pathetic outcome of the Malay community for the last 52 years under their watch.

    11. As usual it seems that the society boxing game knows no end to this supporters of the establishment. They only learned and know the Machiavellian art from their political masters. From their lazy responses, clearly they skipped the more important chapter on democracy.

    12. We all love this country and have lived here and for a huge majority of us, this is only what we have. It is incumbent upon us to contribute ideas and work to improve our living here as part and parcel of our citizenry. Leaders and government are servants of the people and not our masters. Their position are trust held in check by us the people. The check and balance, which is a vital mechanism of governance is undermined today in our country and we as loyal patriotic citizens should be concerned and do our utmost to protect it.

    13. Finally, i have expected this tirade to come as the political pattern of things here are just too predictable. But sad that it comes from someone who has no courage to put a name to what was written. But the low quality, my God, explains why the writer should be shameful of his or her own writing and would rather hide.

    So this begedil (nice malay potato patty served in mee soto) has decided to honour this sloppy piece of cheap unauthored article the dignity of a response. I leave it to the readers to solicit any untoward evil fanatical islamic intent by me, for reminding fellow Muslims to live their values that we profess to believe in life. Our beautiful religion teaches us, the end never justify the means.

     

    Source: Damanhuri Bin Abas

  • Manipulation Of The Constitution: #notmypresident #notmygovernment #notmydemocracy

    Manipulation Of The Constitution: #notmypresident #notmygovernment #notmydemocracy

    I am one of those who have highlighted the hypocrisy on both sides upon observing both sides and my views are from my personal perspective. Categorically, I am against the manipulation of the constitution particularly the reserved election on basis of race by the government of the day to maintain grip of power bases. This however does not automatically mean I am supportive of any claim of an alternative voice challenging the primary power base. There are inconsistencies in what have been said, what have been allowed to be said, what have been silence and what have been forced to be silenced.

    The example of double standard begins with the hashtag campaign of #notmypresident pointing to the legitimacy of the presidency rather than #notmygovernment or #notmydemocracy that would point to the mechanism and ideology used to manipulate the constitution. The campaign of #notmypresident must be nuanced with an alternative person for presidency. This is perhaps presented in the person of Dr Tan Cheng Bock, the best loser for PE2011. This is with the assumption that an open election by the revised criteria, he would qualify for candidacy. However, the little has been said about the Dr Tan’s capacity to meet the $500m company criteria that saw Mr Salleh and Mr Farid disqualified.

    The #notmypresident campaign was preceded with a spoil your vote campaign which in sum was intended as a protest against the reserved election (almost without mention of the manipulation of the eligibility criteria) simultaneously denouncing the nomination of Mr Salleh and Mr Farid as potential candidates who have stepped forward in full awareness of the changes of the eligibility criteria. What makes the movement inconsistent and precursor to double standard is the treatment and opinion accorded to Dr Tan, a former PAP MP who was blocked from contesting primarily on the grounds of a racially reserved election and the treatment and opinion accorded to Mr Salleh, a voluntary director at Temasek Foundation Cares on the grounds of not meeting the $500m criteria.

    Dr Tan was hailed as being robbed of the presidency while Mr Salleh was portrayed as a crony despite both are directly associated with the establishment and both were blocked from potentially contesting the presidency. The above inconsistency prompted me to ask if the anger was due to violated principles or violated opportunity of an individual. Unreservedly, I am supportive of Dr Tan’s challenge to the presidency. This does not mean that should a more qualified candidate be available, I should ignore. For example it has been widely publicised that Mdm Halimah has no financial background to be a custodian of the reserves. However, would Mr Salleh Marican be less qualified than Dr Tan C B in this aspect. What would the principle of meritocracy suggest?

    It is also known that Mdm Halimah is an immediate alumni of the establishment, however between Mr Salleh and Dr Tan, the association to the establishment of Dr Tan is as a former card carrying allowanced PAP MP who has refrained from joining a different political party since stepping down, while Mr Salleh was a volunteer director at a nonprofit community service arm of Temasek. What would the principle of independence suggest? Categorically I qualify that I am here not to pit Dr Tan against Mr Salleh but to highlight the tenor and treatment put forth by the alternative movement on two violated candidates, both with sound financial acumen, both with ties with the establishment and both non partisan to any political party at the time of planned candidacy.

    Thus I have to undertake a personal reflection and question aspects of privilege, rights and principles. With that, I need to caution myself against getting caught in a cult of personality because Democracy is not simply the propelling the voice of the majority (in the widest sense) or the rule of majority, democracy stands in symbiotic coupling to ensuring minority (in the widest sense) rights (in a sense just as wide). Without the latter, a discourse on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights that ensues will sit on an oppressive high ground as demand for justice on aspects where the majority feels shortchanged are heard loud while privileges that propels benefits to the same majority are retained in silence.

     

    Source: R.H.

  • Alfian Sa’at: “If There Is A Committee To Certify The ‘Chineseness’ Of Candidates, What Kinds Of Criteria Should We Expect?”

    Alfian Sa’at: “If There Is A Committee To Certify The ‘Chineseness’ Of Candidates, What Kinds Of Criteria Should We Expect?”

    I have so many questions.
    Is a biologically Chinese person adopted into an Indian family still Chinese?
    But what do we mean by ‘biologically’?
    You can adopt a child of a different race in Singapore.
    But can the child ‘adopt’ whatever race it wants to?
    Are Chindians considered Chinese?
    Is a Chindian with a Chinese father considered more Chinese than one with a Chinese mother?
    Because patrilineal descent?
    If a Chindian is raised only by an Indian mother in the absence of a father can this person remove ‘Chinese’ from the IC and replace it with ‘Indian’?
    If a Chindian is raised by a Filipino domestic worker in the absence of both parents who are working overseas, what is this person’s race?

    If there is a committee to certify the ‘Chineseness’ of candidates, what kinds of criteria should we expect?
    Should this person be able to speak Mandarin?
    Should ‘bananas’ be disqualified?
    Is ‘banana’ a slur?
    How about OCBC–‘Orang Cina Bukan Cina’?
    Can something be a slur when used against an Anglophone elite who wield immense political and economic power in Singapore?
    How about Peranakans?
    Which makes them more Chinese: if they introduce themselves as ‘Peranakan Chinese’ or as ‘Chinese Peranakans’?

    And what if the candidate is a Chinese Muslim?
    Who was featured as one of the top Malay PSLE students in Berita Harian, because of a ‘Muslim-sounding’ name.
    And received a MENDAKI scholarship.
    But then attended a SAP school.
    And decided to change his name by deed poll to something more ‘Chinese-sounding’.
    And was then featured in Lianhe Zaobao as one of the top Chinese ‘O’ Level students.
    But still made CPF contributions to the Mosque Building and Mendaki Fund.
    Then married a Chinese Christian woman under civil marriage.
    And then had kids, one of whom wanted to be Muslim, another Christian, and another a Jedi warrior.
    If this person presents himself in front of an esteemed panel of people who are to certify his Chineseness, what will happen?
    I hope at the very least their heads explode.

    I think some of the questions above are ridiculous.
    I think ultimately there is something absurd about the idea of race–or specifically the idea of racial categorisation.
    And honestly I’m quite tired of all the ink spilled on trying to define Mdm Halimah’s race.
    Because the slipperiness and porosity and contradictions of ‘race’ are not specific to Malays or Indians.
    To be exempt from having your racial identity undergo such obsessive vivisection under the public glare is surely one of the manifestations of majority privilege.
    And to be honest the feeling is horrible, as if there is an ‘authentic performance’ of one’s race, or even worse, that one can be viewed as an exemplary or illustrative specimen of one’s racial species.

     

    Source: Alfian Sa’at