Tag: malay

A Call To Lead – Qualified Malay Candidates Must Show Courage, Step Up And Give Singaporeans True Choice

As we get closer to Syawal, Malays in Singapore are also getting closer and closer to the day of reckoning – come election day in September, Singapore will have its first Malay President since the late Encik Yusof Ishak, albeit in a reserved election. People like Dr Tan Cheng Bock and human rights lawyer M Ravi are challenging the constitutionality of the elections but chances are, the elections will go through. Up till now, we still don’t know which candidate PAP will support but everyone thinks it’ll be current Speaker of Parliament, Halimah Yacob. What about alternative candidates who are independent from PAP? Besides Mr Salleh Marican, no one has stood up to be counted. The silence is deafening but unsurprising.

Poor Mr Salleh Marican has faced a lot criticism the moment he announced his candidacy. A lot of people have, rightly so, questioned his candidacy as he is not purely of Malay ethnicity. His lepak interview with BeritaMediacorp outside the elections department where he basically mangled the Malay language, did nothing to convince Singaporeans that he is adequately Malay. Some more critical ones have even taken to disparaging his wife’s appearance. All this is nothing but damaging to his confidence in running for Presidency.

What Singaporeans must appreciate is that it takes a lot of courage for a successful businessman like Mr Salleh Marican to take up public office. He does not need to do this because he needs the money. He doesn’t. He is already rich. He is doing this because he wants to. He wants to serve because heeded the call of Lee Hsien Loong for capable and qualified Malay Singaporeans to step up to contest the elections.

He may have been a mess but it could just be nerves, One doesn’t create a multi-million dollar empire overnight. Mr Salleh Marican has the mettle and the political savvy to succeed.

He also has his heart in the right places. Besides his business, Mr Salleh Marican is actively involved in philanthropic activities. Since 2009, Mr Salleh Marican was appointed a founding member of the Board of Temasek Cares, a philanthropic organisation established by GIC Temasek Holdings. Halimah Yacob was also a founding board member.

Temasek Cares had help fund the setting up of the Family Therapy Institute in Eunos, run by PPIS.

He is now also a Treasurer of the Temasek Cares Board, ‘who now includes former PAP MP, Zainul Abidin Rasheed.

There are not many candidates with Mr Salleh Marican’s background. There are also not many candidates like him who are brave enough to step up. However, is he truly the candidate for the Malay community?

We call on other Malay leaders to follow in the footsteps of Mr Salleh Marican to offer themselves as a candidate for Presidency. Some may say that too many candidates will dilute the votes for non-establishment candidates but an election is about the exercise of power by the individual through the ballot box. Singaporeans are smart enough to choose the right candidates with the right credentials. One who is independent from the influences of the incumbent.

Said

Reader Contribution

June 12, 2017
A Different Perspective, An Ally To The Cause: Non-Muslims Showed Greater Understanding And Respect

Among netizens that responded to the non-halal issues of the bazaar at Geylang Serai include of course our non-Muslim friends too.

If we did not care to notice, our Malay brothers and sisters may not have seen the way non-Muslims view the matter. Which is actually very heartening.

For Geylang bazaar in Ramadan to be free of non-halal food, the cause may be closer to the hearts of Muslims, however for the non-Muslims the issue do concern them too and this is what some have came out to say.

They showed greater understanding and respect for halal requirements. Salute!

As such, there exist the need to observe halal dietery requirements of bazaars operating in the month of Ramadhan targeting at Muslims. And these are indeed prime examples of how diversity should be celebrated in our multi religious and multiracial society in Singapore.

Best of all, most Muslims and non-Muslims share this common believe.

Rilek1Corner

June 12, 2017
The LGBT Debate: What Really Is The Crux Of The Issue?

Dear A.S.S. Editor

I know what the response to this contribution will be like. But nonetheless this is one issue I have no regrets standing my ground on.

Over the past few days we have witnessed an intense debate over Cathay Cineleisure’s decision to put up posters promoting Pink Dot. But that is not the biggest crux of the issue. The biggest crux is what is the fight for and about. I have shared my position. Those who have agreed with mine have shared ours. But the most important question is what is the crux of the matter.

Is the fight about the “freedom to love”? I don’t think so. If it is truly about love, then how can you on the “freedom to love” movement subject others to the other side of the aisle the most unlovable form of response? Let’s face the hard truth, a good tree bears good fruits and your fruits give you away. If it is truly about love there is no need to bring up the religious beliefs or association of one for attack and vigilante treatment just because of disagreement in worldview as a matter of first response. The fact that one’s religious beliefs were singled out when for that matter it wasn’t used in the debate shows that the real problem is not about the freedom to love. It lies elsewhere. Case in point. Why was there the need to bring up the chairman of ASAS’s religion and church when the ASAS did not even call for Pink Dot’s publicity ad to be taken down completely but rather for its subtitle “freedom to love” to be amended? And also factoring in that the call was made according to the book and not based on some hastily inserted clause or rule?

I think let’s be honest about this.

On my earlier case of kleptomania and homosexuality. We don’t legitimise kleptomania because it goes against the natural order of things. And that’s my case with homosexuality too. For if homosexuality is indeed what we were made for and the natural order of things all marital relationships would naturally gravitate towards homosexual ones and the heterosexuals will be the ones clamouring for the “right to love”.

We already have a “right to love”. That is why adultery is not criminalised in Singapore and neither is prostitution nor pre-marital sex. And we already know what the social and health related consequences are and if you want to push the line back further my advice is to calculate the cost first, not only for us but for our children. And if you want to flame me for this article, watch the flame burn and decide for yourselves if the question is about the freedom to love, or the real question lies elsewhere.

N Chan

A.S.S. Contributor

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

June 10, 2017
Breaking Fast Together In Singapore’s Last Kampung

Other than the crowing of roosters and the occasional visitor, afternoons in Kampung Lorong Buangkok are fairly quiet.

But the kampung comes to life in the evenings, especially during Ramadan.

On weekends especially, relatives stream into Mr Awe Ludin’s compound, merrily greeting the people already inside as they head straight for the kitchen with bags of food.

By 6pm, the kitchen is a hive of activity as everyone gets ready to break fast.

Mr Awe is considered the penghulu, or village elder, by the 11 Malay families of Singapore’s last mainland kampung.

Speaking in Malay, the 82-year-old retiree said: “When we know that our family is coming, we will prepare big pots to cook some dishes.

“My children will call, saying they are going to bring chicken or beef, so we will prepare prawns, because it will be tough for them to cook everything.”

Mr Awe, who is also the caretaker of the kampung surau (small mosque), lived in a Housing Board flat in Ang Mo Kio before moving into the kampung in the 1980s because he preferred the openness of the kampung.

“At the flat, I got to see friends only if I went down (to the void deck), and that is if they came down as well. In the kampung, I get to say hi to my neighbours (from my house) if they go out to throw their rubbish, and we get to chat for a bit.”

His fondness for kampung life has rubbed off on his 58-year-old daughter, Madam Rohana Musa.

The Taman Jurong resident returns to the kampung once a week.

She said: “I miss the gotong-royong (communal) spirit and the kampung vibes.

“In the kampung, you can clearly see the festive mood when we break fast with the our extended families.”

When The New Paper was at the kampung last Sunday, Madam Rohana said she and her sisters had been up since 4am making cookies and rempeyek (a deep-fried Javanese cracker) until noon in preparation for the upcoming Hari Raya celebration on June 25.

No matter the age, everyone in Mr Awe’s family looks forward to these family gatherings.

His granddaughter, Miss Nur Aqilah Fiona Abdul Ghani, 19, told TNP that it is a time for all of them to set aside their busy schedules and catch up with each other while they clean the house and prepare meals.

“It is tiring (to cook using the big pots), but after you see everyone enjoying the food, the smiles on their faces just wash away the fatigue,” she said.

Miss Aqilah has been living in the kampung for about six years, after her parents decided to move in to take care of her grandparents.

It was initially tough for her to adapt to kampung life without Wi-Fi, especially when she had school projects, but she got connected within a few weeks.

Miss Aqilah admitted that it takes some time to load videos even now, but the staff nurse still enjoys the kampung spirit.

“As a Singaporean teenager, I am proud to say that instead of just listening to the stories of past, I am able to experience the kampung life myself.”

Even with its lively atmosphere, Kampung Lorong Buangkok is seeing its final days.

An Urban Redevelopment Authority spokesman told TNP that the kampung is part of an area planned for future housing and associated amenities, but the authority has no immediate development plans for the area.

Cousins Juliani Aripin, 23, and Muhd Irsyad Mohd Dolkifli, 17, are grateful to be able to balik kampung (Malay for return home) in Singapore during Ramadan.

Miss Juliani, who visits the kampung once a month, said: “When people ask me where is my kampung, I am proud to say it is in Singapore.”

Source: www.tnp.sg

June 10, 2017
Ridjal Noor: Why Malay/Muslim Community Largely Apathetic Over Ramadan Bazaar Issue?

The first question:
Why are some quarters in the community so busy defending the issue of the bazaar Ramadan? Every day campaigning and raising questions, and brainstorming for solutions.

Because they are trying to preserve the quality and feel and integrity of this yearly bazaar that’s special and unique to the community.

The second question:
But if the community feels so strongly against what’s happening today, then just vote with your spending dollar lah, right? Don’t spend there and the organisers will learn their lesson and learn to respect the laws of the land, correct? People power and all that, right?

Unfortunately, no. This is the hardest of change to bring about.

This is why only some quarters are campaigning. The rest are still happily, blissfully ignorantly heading down and voting with their dollars that they don’t care. The herds and their mentality. Sometimes it seems, you just can’t save the community from itself.

They accept the erosion of values over time without batting an eyelid. They only stop to make viral make viral certain issues. Other than that they steamroll over every bump in the road and move on undeterred, uncaring for the issues dear at heart to the community at large.

So I agree with Sadali Ami. The community gets the leaders it deserves. And you can’t save the community from itself.

“The greatest threat to the future is ignorance and apathy.” – Jane Goodall

Source: Ridjal Noor

June 10, 2017