Tag: Malays

Watain Concert Banned, Minister Dragged in Racial Issues Involving Malays, Muslims and the Christian Community in a Follow-up Explanation

In the wake of the government’s order to block a black metal band from playing here (just hours before the concert was due to start), Minister of Home Affairs K Shanmugam oddly dragged in racial issues.

In a speech at an appreciation lunch for Malay-Muslim anti-drug campaigners on Saturday, the minister honed in on a photograph taken at a meet-and-greet session between Swedish band Watain and their fans. The picture depicted Watain and their fans showing ‘the middle finger’ — a defiant (and very metal) response to the government’s decision to cancel the concert on grounds of preserving “public order”.

According to Channel NewsAsia, Shanmugam detailed how the ministry would be unable to let the concert go ahead, given how Watain’s lyrical content held anti-Christian themes. Then he went into length about the photograph, harping on how it showed “primarily Malay young men”.

“You have a group of Malay young men, showing the one-finger sign, supporting the group,” CNA quoted the minister.

“If a group of Chinese went and showed the finger sign and said that we should allow it – how would you all have felt? It is the same.”

Mentioning that the photo has gone viral “across the Christian community”, Minister Shanmugam stated that it was crucial to show that the picture does not represent what the Muslim community thinks.

“They won’t realize that this a small group of Malays, but they may think, is this what Muslims think of us? So now we have to send the message that this is not what the Muslim community thinks. These are black metal group supporters, they are not the mainstream community.”

In conversations with Christian leaders, Shanmugam pointed out how the leaders would oftentimes draw comparisons to how tough the government would quash anti-Islam sentiment, such as banning the Salman Rushdie book The Satanic Verses in Singapore.

“(The leaders) said what these people (Watain) are saying is far worse, it is a hundred times worse about Christianity – how come you would allow that?” said Shanmugam to The Straits Times.

“They said you treat the Muslim community differently than the Christian community.”

Shanmugam acknowledged there was “some truth” to what the leaders said but said it was not fully true “but it is an approach”.

He also pointed out to Channel NewsAsia that not all bands would be banned because they spoke about Christianity.

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The aftermath?

It led to confusion among the Muslim community. How did this become an issue that involves the Muslim community? Is the minister trying to be a “hero” that saved the Muslims from depicting a bad, intolerant stand against Christians? What has the brown-skinned fans in the photo got to do with Malays in general, or worse representing what the Muslim community in Singapore thinks about the Christians. Is it because there is a stereotype about Malays in Singapore where they are called Mat Rockers? And who are these brown-skinned fans in the viral photo? Are they even Malay/Muslims from Singapore?

What was the Minister thinking by saying all this?

Source: Coconut, Yahoo, The Straits Times and Channel NewsAsia

March 11, 2019
2 real reasons why there are few Muslims in Singapore’s SAF; “it does not discriminate against the Muslims..”

Today, Singapore has a few Malay commandos and importantly, at least one fighter pilot according to an infamous Muslim convert Terence. He shared: “Will we have Malay commandos? We already do. Malay fighter pilots? We have one, and I still remember that there was a huge discussion behind the scenes about whether we could trust him. Common sense prevailed.”

According to the ill-repute man among the Muslim community here in Singapore, there are but 2 real reasons why there are little to none Muslims officers in the SAF.

#1: Bad in MATHEMATICS.

”One of the reasons we do not have more Malay pilots is simply because they fail the selection test – particularly the mathematics test.”

I Malay.

Imalay Math GIF from Imalay GIFs

He added that today, the SAF puts “Malays in many sensitive positions, from SIGINT to MINDEF itself. As long as you are qualified and determined enough, the SAF will take you, regardless of race or religion.”

#2: Navy’s policy of rejecting vegetarians, Hindus, people with food allergies and halal food.

As far as the Navy is concerned, Terence said that Muslims are not present on naval vessels “due to logistics, not religious discrimination. RSN’s policy is to not have vegetarians, Hindus who do not eat beef, or people who have any sort of food allergies.”

He added: “Our naval assets are meant to be ready for extended deployment. We do not have the luxury of stopping in the middle of a war to look for halal food.”

Here is what he had to say in full.

“Singapore’s SAF does not discriminate against the Muslims. We have a lot of Muslims in sensitive positions. I am, myself, a Muslim convert, and I have never felt that I lacked opportunities because of my religion. The issue is Malays, for historical reasons. The real reason why there were no Malays in much of the SAF is not found in our history books. It is no longer classified, but it is a forgotten episode, just like much of the events during the period of our Separation from Malaysia and the Konfrontasi. For those interested, there are people around who lived during that period, and were there when it happened, although all of them are very old.

“When Singapore separated from Malaysia, the divorce was painful. In the election prior, when the PAP campaigned in Malaysia for a a “Malaysian Malaysia”, instead of a “Malay Malaysia”, UMNO were outraged and played the race and religion card.

“The main instigator was Syed Jaafar Albar, the so-called “Lion of UMNO”. He was a radical Malay supremacist, despite the fact that he was clearly Yemeni Arab, and not Malay. He was vehemently against Singapore’s separation from Malaysia, and resigned as secretary-general of UMNO in protest. He went as far as to advocate that Malaysia militarily occupy Singapore.

“At the time of Separation, almost half of the troops based here were from Malaysia. When the British gave control of the various units to Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, they neglected to consider that the units were recruited from all over the Malay Peninsula. We had Singapore-born Malays and Malaysian-born Malays in the SAF and the Police, at SAFTI and elsewhere.

“The 4th Malaysian Infantry Brigade consisted of two infantry regiments of about 1,000 soldiers each. Just over half of them were Malaysian, and they had divided loyalties. They were commanded by Brigadier-General Syed Mohamed Alsagoff, a relative of Syed Albar, and another Yemeni Arab. To say that he did not get along with Lee Kuan Yew is to put it mildly. He claimed it was a joke when he told Lee Kuan Yew that he could have had the PAP leaders arrested and shot. Lee Kuan Yew and his family moved out of the Istana and borrowed the Gurkha Regiment to guard them.

“The Malaysian troops, all ethnic Malays, mutinied. Just over half of them supported Malaysia. One of the Singapore officers was killed. It was Col. Alkaff, BG Alsagoff’s cousin, who negotiated a withdrawal of the Malaysian troops. The 4th Malaysian Infantry Brigade withdrew from Singapore by November of 1967. The murderers of the Singapore officer were arrested. Two were hanged, and the others were only released from detention a decade or so ago.

“As a consequence, Lee Kuan Yew used the Land Acquisition Act to dismantle the Alsagoff family landholdings in Singapore. Conscription was instituted, but no Malays were conscripted at first. The commandos, once dominated by Malays, now have none. The Malay officers and NCOs, even though they did not mutiny, were either never promoted or were let go. This included the entire ethnic Malay cohort of officer cadets. And of course, Singapore invited a few countries to come and train our soldiers. Only Israel accepted. They stood by us when we had nothing, and we do not forget our friends.”

That being said, do you believe the reasons Terence gave? Is he even from SAF previously?

February 27, 2019
Malays, Easily Stereotyped In NS Always Hear: ‘Kita Melayu Jadi Infantry. Don’t Put Your Hopes Too High.’

“Kita Melayukan, jadi …. infantry lah …. don’t put your hopes too high.”

Those were the words uttered to me during my son’s orientation at the beginning of his Officer cadet course almost 10 months ago. Testimony of the effective discriminatory practise embedded for more than 50 years against Malays in the SAF.

Malays are loyal and trustworthy like all Singaporeans to don the colours of any Arms of the SAF, ever willing to lay our life for this land we are indigenous to. We proved ourselves as a race when 153 malay regiment soldiers sacrificed their lives in defence of Singapore at Bukit Chandu, in February 1942, against the Japanese invaders. Their heroism are etched permanently into the memory of the Japanese army and the Colonial authority that surrendered Malaya to the Japs.

The Malays have patiently waited and trusted that this collective discrimination on their race will go away one day as promised to them by PAP leaders behind closed door. 50 years on and the situation has not changed except for mere tokenism to feature on occasional pages of the local press or some magazine covers. We have even tolerated the indignation of watching glittering TV ads promoting careers in the Navy etc., knowing fully well that we don’t qualify just because of the colour of our skin.

This policy of restricting Malays in the SAF has indoctrinated in the minds of other races, the unspoken fallacy that Malays are disloyal and cannot be trusted. Infecting every male serving citizen’s mind during 2 years of full-time national service and later for many more years during reservist, inevitably spilling into the wider society too. This vicious poison of distrust towards the Malays, sown in the minds of the people for more than 50 years must end.

This discriminatory practise towards Malays lies deep in the hypocrisy of PAP leaders who imposed these policies while preaching meritocracy and practising so-called deceptive affirmative actions selectively when it suits their political interest. Think GRC, HDB race quota, Malay President fiasco, etc. This whole policy and mindset originating from the PAP are the root cause of this discrimination.

Singaporeans of all races can end this discriminatory policies that has remained as vestiges of our colonial past. We must revive the vision championed by our brave true anti-colonial heroes who are Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians. They suffered their lives to rid this country off the racist colonial policies of the past, so that we can practice and give equal spaces for all citizens regardless of our individual ethnicity and creed. And to consider celebrating Stamford Raffles and his so-called legacy, is a blatant gross affront and a betrayal of the real spirit of the struggles and sacrifices of our founding fathers.

A proud moment for Fuad and parents as we put his officer rank onto his uniform. A proud and honourable Infantry Officer.

Today, my son, together with his peers are commissioned as Officers of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). Each one of them has earned his or her One Bar through their grit and hard work to be proudly bestowed the dignified role of Officers, leading men and women of the SAF in defending this nation, the Constitution of our Republic and the President. As fellow parents witnessing their Commissioning parade today, we are proud of having our sons and daughters standing in service for our Country and her idealism of a Just and Equal society we all want and love.

Together, we can and must rebuilt our Nation’s true vision embodied in the colours and symbols on our Flag that we have neglected. To strive and struggle to leave a truly worthy legacy to our next generation, of a country united as one, where all races respect one another equally, instead of allowing ourselves to be divided and exploited by race for unjust self-serving political ends. The discrimination of Malays in the SAF must cease.

Source: Damanhuri Bin Abas

March 19, 2018
Commentary: Why I Will Not Miss Singapore When I Leave To Work Overseas

I made the following comment on politician Khan Osman’s post and I thought if sharing it with you. I will of course miss my parents, family and friends, but not the country. Here is what I wrote:

“If u are wondering what is my basis of saying all of the above:

I have a PhD in Landcape Planning and Environmental Sustainability so I understand the concept of ‘social capital’ and how the Malays lack this by design or by chance; I stayed in a kampong till 7 years old at Geylang Serai which were not slums but labelled as such to make way for landed properties, HDB etc (my colleague researches on this), I went to a neighbourhood school mixing with many Malays from the poorer sector of the community, I went to RI because I couldn’t follow my Primary school mates to Chinese High (SAP School), my uncle was not called for NS and it was his siblings and my grandma who helped him with the start of his working life, my mum taught Maths and Geography at a Malay school only to be forced to teach Malay Language when all Malay schools were closed down post independence, my mum told me that Malay kids that have family issues or go wayward are those that come from families whose faith is not strong or are not practising, my father was involved in RC and he said that meetings were sometimes in Mandarin, he joined only to ensure that he has access to facilities for the community in the estate to conduct religious classes, which he organised, to ensure that the Malays remained cohesive in spite of the dissolution of the kampung, my brother married into a dysfunctional extended family, I taught at a polytechnic where I meet many Malays whose per capita income (per head) is below $600, some even below $300, I was a medic in an infantry unit in the army where I learnt I could not go into many of the units I mentioned above, I worked as a laboratory technician where I was scolded for praying at an empty store room when I do have to pray 5 times a day, two of which is during work hours, between 1 to 4 and between 4 to 6.30, headscarf ban is common knowledge now, my wife’s niece had to face another kid at the playground recently who told her that Malays cannot play here, my ex-colleague in one company told me the boss does not trust Malays doing finances so she was not promoted, a lecturer from a gov based research centre says that the gov was like Robin Hood when explaining the Compulsory Acquisition Act to PhD PhD students from ETH Zurich, by taking land from the ‘rich’ to give it to the ‘poor’, my brother-in-law told me that it was difficult for him as a Malay to get his business name approved when he wanted to start his business … i can go on.”

Source: Abdul Rahim

March 14, 2018
Commentary: Maybe Non-Malays Would Not Vote For A Malay In An Open PE, But PAP, LKY And LHL Are Jointly Blamed For This

Dear Prime Minister,
if you sincerely believe that the Chinese majority and other non Malays would not vote for a Malay in an open presidential contest, you are probably right. But you also must be honest and have the courage to admit that your old man, your party and yourself are jointly to blame for it. All of you had the opportunity to forge unity among Singaporeans but you blew it, perhaps due to the ill advice and instigation of others who have no stake in our future.
The distrust and discriminatory policies directed against the Malays are the main cause. The ill effect of these discriminatory policies, I suppose, would make the Chinese ask themselves why should they vote for a Malay as president if on the whole they cannot be trusted.
For decades we have wasted the opportunity to get our youth to think and act as one people. Friendship built up from young would last a lifetime. Such friendship can naturally be forged when young men train, struggle, laugh and even cry together while performing their national service. The same thing goes with prejudice and suspicion. They also last a lifetime. The marked absence of Malays in the armed forces, especially in the navy and airforce is telling. The silly explanation to justify your government’s actions – no space for halal kitchen in naval vessels, etc – shows your contempt towards the discriminated community. Though only males are involved in national service, as head of their families such prejudice and distrust would somehow be transmitted to their spouses and children. I don’t have to belabour the point.
Beside this there are other policies that are equally prejudiced and divisive like the SAP schools and selective immigration policies, just to name a few.The sad thing is, such policies are still in place.
If you and your party have done it right for Singapore there would not have been necessary to have a reserved PE or even the GRC. After all we are Singaporeans are we not? You should give meaning to our national pledge – regardless of race, language or religion!
Your calls for unity in the face of current threats sound hollow.

Source: Mohamed Jufrie Bin Mahmood

October 7, 2017