Rilek1Corner

Tag: malay

  • Hazrul Azhar Jamari: Malays In Businesses Have To Overcome Plenty Of Racial Biases

    Hazrul Azhar Jamari: Malays In Businesses Have To Overcome Plenty Of Racial Biases

    There are many startups that do no have any Malay founders. Some of them are my friends. Had a colleague once whom I managed and reported to me. They happen to be 2 Chinese guys who start a really cool startup. They attract attention, VCs, and it’s not that difficult to raise simply because of the privilege they possess.

    There are some startups that are founded by Indian guys. I had an intern once. Brilliant chap. Went on to found his startup with other Indian dudes. They’re pretty successful.

    And here we are. Malay chaps. Didn’t go to any of the big schools. Just trying to make it big in this world. We outdid ourselves last year. We have very limited resources. We started out much later in life because we have responsibilities at home. We never got to be on 30 people under 30. We’re all over 30, married and have a lot of responsibilities today. We have a mortgage. We have our health issues. We have our families to take care of. We have our colleague’s families to provide for. We don’t have privilege. We never started on an equal footing.

    But when it comes to running a company, the amount of bias we get is just astounding. It’s no longer shocking. Team dynamics they say. As if one’s skin colour makes a difference.

    It is a little bit like Primary 6. Football is often a Malay dominated sport. This time, there were 3 Chinese players that joined the school team. Football is a team sport. Every one played their part. I don’t remember my 3 Chinese school mates scoring in that final, but every player’s job was equal. That was a team because no one was big headed. That’s why we won the final that day and the entire P6 cohort witnessed a piece of school history. But lo and behold, the next day, my Chinese principal, singled out the 3 Chinese players in front of the whole school. No, he did not ask the entire team to stand before the school. Just these 3 Chinese players. For making the school proud. For winning a Football final that apparently 8 other players on the field weren’t as responsible for.

    It’s really funny how for a community that detests the racial quota, it doesn’t seem to be a problem when a team filled with the other has to open up a spot to make that team, acceptable, for them to support.

    How about if that spot becomes available, the right person with the right credentials get in? Irrespective of race. How about we actually live by our nation’s values for once? Support us irrespective of race. How about that?

    Against the backdrop of all the racial issues that have cropped up recently, it’s really funny how this sounds so familiar. But we cannot let ourselves feel sensitised with all this. Not anymore. We must change because it needs to. We cannot accept it just because that’s the way it is.

    This is a team. We will win. Against all odds. By God we will.

    Bismillah.

     

    Source: Hazrul Azhar Jamari

  • A Young Mother’s Lament: Malay Parents Must Be Fair, Treat Daughters And Sons Equally

    A Young Mother’s Lament: Malay Parents Must Be Fair, Treat Daughters And Sons Equally

    My apologies if you feel that I’m talking about you but I’m not so please refrain from negative feelings.

    I honestly, am sick and tired of our Malay parents whom are gender biased.
    (I say ours cuz majority are doing this to their children and I hate it. I hate it to the bones.)

    Yes, I dare say it cuz I’ve a son now, and it totally opened my eyes and mind as well, as to how badly our girls are treated in families where there are mixed gender siblings.

    The sons are treated well and parents give them face and MANJA them too much.
    The son is placed on a pedestal and feels like a KING no matter what he does.

    Don’t talk about religion to me cuz I know damn well what a son is supposed to do in the family.

    You give so much to your son, treat him like he’s a freaking prince, yet your daughter is treated like a freaking maid having to be responsible for paying the bills, clean the house & whatever else they are supposed to do.

    You let your son escape his responsibilities and act like a hooligan, yet you condemn your own daughters when they make a slight mistake?

    You mollycoddle him til he can manipulate your freaking mind, until one day he starts to be so rude to you but you don’t have the heart to piss him off cuz you’re scared, then when it’s too late, end up your daughter has to clean up his crap?

    So when you, as a parent, pass on, have you equipped your son with the preparations of your death?
    Does he know what needs to be done?

    Or is everything supposed to be settled by your daughter AGAIN.

    Yes, you can manja and give alot of support for your son.
    YES, he will be the Imam for the family and other very important duties of which I do not wish to mention.

    But please remember that you have other daughters whom are in need of your attention and love.

    Please don’t forget that they have feelings, too.

    Respect your daughters.
    Be firm with your son or sons and raise them to respect women.
    Don’t let them learn to manipulate and have control over women JUST because of their gender and status.

    Don’t EVER let them abuse their authority as husbands and fathers.

    I am nursing my son as I type this down.

    It saddens me to hear tons of stories about selfish sons and abusive sons..

    Also, daughters being neglected cuz they’re just..
    Daughters.

    Had enough of this crap.

    Really.

    Just..stop it, please.

     

    Source: Siti Nur Aisyah

  • Presidential Hopeful Inspired To Run For Office By Lee Hsien Loong’s Encouragements

    Presidential Hopeful Inspired To Run For Office By Lee Hsien Loong’s Encouragements

    Whether he qualifies as a candidate in the upcoming Presidential Election is based on the discretion of the Presidential Electoral Committee (PEC), but Mr Mohamed Salleh Marican has already gone about recruiting people for his campaign.

    The 62-year-old chief executive officer of Second Chance Properties told TODAY that he has assembled three out of 10 people for his campaign team, and he aims to complete the search by the end of the month.

    He now has a campaign manager, a communications in-charge, and an election agent, who will be his brother, Mr Mohamed Hasan Marican, who is deputy CEO at Second Chance, an investment holding firm that also retails garments.

    The September election is reserved for the Malay community, and has a tightened criteria for candidacy.

    For example, those contesting, who have private-sector experience, must have a company with at least S$500 million shareholder equity.

    Mr Salleh does not automatically qualify, because his company’s shareholder equity registered between S$254.3 million and S$263.25 million over the last three financial years.

    Collecting the application forms Monday morning (June 5), Mr Salleh said that he is “optimistic” that he can convince the PEC he is a deserving candidate, adding that he “can’t be worried if he will fail” before he starts.

    He also said that he was moved to run for presidency by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who, at an Association of Muslim Professionals event last November, expressed hope that candidates would step forward and contest.

    “I was moved by (Mr Lee’s) speech, and that triggered my intentions,” Mr Salleh said.

    “After that, my friends, business associates, suppliers and even some of my employees urged me to step forward and serve the nation (because) this is a noble cause. (With) 100-per-cent support from my family members, I made a decision to contest.”

    The entrepreneur, who set up the first company owned by a Malay to be listed on the Singapore Exchange, sees this as a way “to do good”, to give back to society, and as a challenge to see “how much better I can do compared with other presidents”.

    Mr Salleh singled out Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob as a formidable contender should she contest, as she is “very popular” and someone who “takes her responsibilities very seriously”.

    Applications for Singapore’s first reserved Presidential Election opened on June 1, and at least two presidential hopefuls had been seen collecting forms from the Elections Department.

    The writ of election is expected to be issued in late August, ahead of the September polls.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Hijab Image Vandalised With Word “Terrorist” At Site Of Upcoming Marine Parade MRT Station

    Hijab Image Vandalised With Word “Terrorist” At Site Of Upcoming Marine Parade MRT Station

    A police report was made after the word “terrorist” appeared on an illustration of a Muslim woman wearing a hijab, which was part of the artwork decorating a hoarding at the site of the upcoming Marine Parade MRT station.

    Mr Haikal Latiff, 26, told The New Paper that he was on the pedestrian walkway beside Parc Seabreeze condominium in Joo Chiat Road at 10pm on Thursday when he noticed the word.

    The undergraduate, who had tweeted a photo of it, said: “My girlfriend and I took it personally because as Muslims, we felt that this was uncalled for.”

    When contacted, the Land Transport Authority said the contractor had made a police report yesterday afternoon.

    The police said investigations are ongoing.

    TNP understands that the word was written on a piece of paper with an adhesive back and stuck on the hijab.

    The Marine Parade station is part of the Thomson-East Coast Line and is expected to be ready in 2023.

    Passers-by TNP spoke to yesterday did not notice it until it was pointed out.

    Secondary student April Panton, 15, said: “I have a lot of Muslim friends and I do not think they deserve to be treated like this.”

    Tourist Joanna Niemiro, 27, who arrived here on Thursday, was shocked as she had heard that Singapore is a multiracial country.

    The Polish graphic designer said: “I am quite disgusted by it. This is definitely not art. Anyone can be a terrorist, and it should not be associated with any religion.”

     

    Source: www.tnp.sg

     

  • 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