Tag: Malays

LearnIslam.sg Dilancarkan, Kandungi Rujukan Agama Sempena Ramadan Ini

Umat Islam setempat kini boleh mendapatkan panduan agama dengan lebih mudah menerusi satu portal online, LearnIslam.sg.

Laman tersebut diperkenalkan di pelancaran Kempen Sentuhan Ramadan petang ini tadi (29 Mei).

Portal itu sudah boleh dilungsuri dan diteruskan selepas Ramadan sebagai satu-satunya wadah online yang mengandungi sumber rujukan agama yang dihasilkan sendiri oleh para asatizah tempatan yang bertauliah.

Antara lain portal LearnIslam.sg menghimpunkan pelbagai rencana keagamaan, sumbangan para asatizah termasuk Mufti Negara, Dr Mohamed Fatris Bakaram.

Selain itu, para pengguna yang berdaftar juga boleh mendapatkan senarai program keagamaan yang ditawarkan para penyedia di merata Singapura dan berdaftar secara langsung di portal tersebut.

Hadir di pelancaran tadi, Menteri Bertanggungjawab Bagi Ehwal Masyarakat Islam, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, berkata inisiatif sedemikian tidak boleh hanya dilihat sebagai tindak balas kepada mesej-mesej pelampau di Internet.

Sebaliknya, portal itu merupakan satu cara untuk mendalamkan lagi pemahaman agama Islam di kalangan golongan belia.

“Saya rasa dengan wadah yang ada ini, disediakan oleh pihak MUIS, kita boleh mengajak golongan belia untuk mereka tampil ke hadapan, untuk memberikan apakah soalan-soalan mereka, keprihatinan mereka. Kita boleh bekerjasama untuk menentukan bahawa mereka faham fahaman Islam dengan lebih mendalam dan sekaligus, kita mendidik mereka tentang nilai-nilai yang penting dalam masyarakat kita,” ujar Dr Yaacob semasa ditemui media.

SENARAI TEMPAT AGIH BUBUR RAMADAN

Satu kit persiapan Ramadan juga akan disediakan di portal itu. Ia mengandungi pelbagai maklumat seperti jadual solat tarawih, senarai tempat yang mengagih bubur Ramadan serta resipi-resipi juadah sahur dan iftar yang lebih sihat.

Inisiatif sedemikian selaras dengan tumpuan kempen Sentuhan Ramadan tahun ini iaitu ‘Menimba Ilmu’ yang menggalakkan umat Islam supaya meningkatkan kegiatan kerohanian serta ibadah sepanjang bulan Ramadan dan seterusnya.

Mengekalkan tema “Ramadan Bersama Keluarga”, kempen tahun ini dilancarkan oleh Menteri Bertanggungjawab Bagi Ehwal Masyarakat Islam, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, di Masjid Al-Iman petang tadi.

Source: Berita MediaCorp

May 30, 2016
Malays Are Underrepresented In Elite JCs

Females and non-Malays are likelier to enrol in elite junior colleges (JCs), particularly those located in wealthy neighbourhoods, a study by two Singaporean researchers has found.

Analysing data from more than 5,000 classrooms in six JCs over 40 years — from 1971 to 2010 — National University of Singapore (NUS) sociologist Vincent Chua and University of Melbourne economist Swee Eik Leong discovered persistent gender and ethnic disparities in the profiles of students who enrol into elite JCs located in neighbourhoods that have become wealthier.

Over time, the representation of females in elite JCs increased, while that of Malays decreased. Malays were less well-represented in elite JCs than in non-elite ones, with the gap being largest in the wealthiest neighbourhood, the data showed.

The three elite JCs (National, Anderson and Temasek) and three non-elite JCs (Catholic, Nanyang and Tampines) covered were located in neighbourhoods of high, medium and low wealth, measured by their share of landed property.

“Overall, we find that females are more likely to enter elite schools located in wealthy neighbourhoods because these neighbourhoods tend to be more centrally located,” the researchers stated in the study, which was presented on Friday (May 27) at an international sociological conference hosted by the Centre for Family and Population Research at NUS.

“We also find that minority Malays are less likely to enrol in elite schools located in wealthy neighbourhoods because these neighbourhoods lack the ethnic solidarity among minorities that less wealthy neighbourhoods have,” they added.

It was the multiplication of school and neighbourhood characteristics that produced segregated patterns of enrolment, the researchers argued in the study, which is being reviewed by a journal. “Therefore the argument in popular discourse — that education is a social leveller — is not supported by these data; instead, it illustrates that education can facilitate growing inequalities,” they wrote.

School performance indicators compiled by the Ministry of Education were used to distinguish elite schools from the non-elite ones. The study used data from the JCs’ yearbooks (documenting each school from its first graduating cohort), national censuses and statistical yearbooks.

The study controlled for the observation that schools with more arts classes tend to have more females and schools that offer more classes in a language medium tend to draw particular ethnic groups, Dr Chua said. It also controlled for gender and race over-representations at the neighbourhood level, as well as permanent differences among JCs such as the grade requirements that affect the enrolment of gender and ethnic groups.

Dr Chua said: “So having controlled for all of these (variables), we still find a strong neighbourhood effect. Indeed, the elite characteristic of schools interacts with neighbourhood wealth to reinforce certain patterns of educational inequality between gender and ethnic groups.”

The study suggests that the location of the JCs mattered. “We emphasise that social and spatial characteristics work in combination to shape and influence inequality outcomes. It’s not a case of one or the other, it’s a combination,” he said.

Both researchers said that the study exploited the unique setting of Singapore’s pre-university system, where public elite and non-elite schools are spatially well-distributed across neighbourhoods here.

The findings suggest that policymakers could adopt a “cross-cutting” strategy by locating elite schools in less wealthy neighbourhoods and vice versa, he added.

The research began in 2012, so it covered schools up until 2010. Dr Chua said that there could be changes due to policy shifts in education since 2010.

All neighbourhoods here are well-resourced but inequalities exist, and the Government’s initiatives to help disadvantaged families could also help narrow ethnic inequalities, he added.

Source: www.todayonline.com

May 29, 2016
Boy, 13, Falls To Death

A 13-YEAR-OLD boy fell from the 10th floor of a Housing Block flat in Bendemeer and died on Wednesday night.

Secondary 2 student Muhammad Aidil Zahid was with a group of friends from a nearby secondary school, Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday.

They had been playing football when he and three others went up Block 24.

He fell from the 10th floor at about 6pm and landed on a platform at the second floor.

Police told My Paper yesterday that a “13-year-old boy was found lying motionless” and pronounced dead by paramedics.

Aidil’s mother, who gave her name as Anna, rushed to the scene and broke down when she saw the body.

The 34-year-old housewife said he was a carefree boy who was close to her.

She told Wanbao that he was on probation as he had been involved in a case of theft and had to be home by 6pm. When he did not return by then, she felt that something was wrong.

Residents said they heard boys shouting before the accident occurred.

Madam Lin, 77, who lives on the 10th floor, said she heard agitated fighting among a group of teenagers at the stairs and one of them shouting “tolong tolong”, or help in Malay, before a loud thud was heard.

The boy’s principal told Wanbao that the school has contacted the family to give support.

Source: AsiaOne

May 27, 2016
Panelists: “Creeping Arabisation” Phenomena Could Be Due To Inferiority Complex

KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 ― Self-loathing, ignorance and insecurity were among the main reasons for “Arabisation” taking root in Malaysia’s Malay community, pundits told a forum here last night.

Sociologist Syed Farid al-Attas and historian Eddin Khoo said while the issue may have a more complex origin ― mostly from geopolitics stemming from the Saudi-Iran conflict ― the Arabisation phenomenon here could simply stem from inferiority complex.

“For some reason the Malays often feel very low about themselves. So when they ape the Arabs they believe they are the more authentic (Muslims),” Syed Farid said.

The term “Arabisation” is used among the country’s moderate and progressive Muslims to describe the rapid spread of Islamic conservatism within the community that once prided itself as the global poster boy of progressive Islam.

Khoo noted that prior to the Arabisation phenomenon, the Malays were known for their ability to “internalise” Islam with their own culture.

The result was a rich mix of identity that became unique to this region, he said.

But much of it, like Kuda Kepang and Dikir Barat, have been systematically erased as the community became more eager to prove who is the more “authentic” Muslim, Khoo added.

“There is an internal struggle within the Malays… Malay culture has become the victim of the battle between factions vying for control over who is more Malay (and Muslim),” the historian said in reference to the political rivalry between nationalist Umno and Islamist PAS.

Historian Eddin Khoo speaks at the ‘Arabisation’ forum in Kuala Lumpur, May 23, 2016.Amid the clash of ideologies between the two political parties, there are alarming signs that the more extreme strain of Islam, namely Wahabbism, has crept into the mainstream, Syed Farid said.

This can be seen in the growing intolerance shown by hardline Muslims here towards diversity and religious pluralism, he added, noting that the autocratic ideology of “salafism” appealed to Muslims who wanted to impose their beliefs on others.

“What we are importing is not the faith but the practices and beliefs from a culture from Saudi Arabia.

“So what it is actually is not Arabisation, but the salafisation or Saudi Arabisation process… this is dangerous as this narrow interpretation of Islam can undermine (the diversity) of our religion,” he said, adding later that he was a staunch anti-salafist.

Whistleblower website WikiLeaks revealed recently that Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars, often in covert campaigns, to spread Wahabbism globally.

Wahabbism, a Saudi invention, is a radical, exclusionist puritanism strain of the Sunni sect. Salafis on the other hand are fundamentalists who believe in a return to the way of life of the first three generations of Muslims

The funds are used to spread the belief through the building of mosques, madrasas, schools, and Sunni cultural centers across the Muslim world, leaked documents showed.

Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir speaks at the ‘Arabisation’ forum in Kuala Lumpur. May 23, 2016.

Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, the third panellist at the forum, argued that one of the reasons why Malays want to appropriate Arab culture is because they ignorantly equate the community with Islam, whereas Arabs made up just 15 per cent of the world’s Muslim population.

“Malays have this simple thinking that everything Islam is Arab. But there are so many types of Arabs in the region… so when we try and emulate Arabs, which one are we talking about?” she asked.

Khoo also said adoration of the Arabs by conservative Muslims was likely a psychological problem.

He said some Malays believe weaving Arabic words into their daily speech made them come across as more knowledgeable about Islam.

At the end of the public talk, Syed Farid said cultural assimilation was normal as the Malays had imported various cultural elements from different civilisations throughout history, including from the Arabs.

But he said it was crucial for the community to preserve its own identity while practising Islam.

Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

May 26, 2016
Teguh Besarkan 2 Anak Meski Hadapi Stigma Janda, Ibu Tunggal

Kasih ibu sampai ke syurga. Itulah istilah lazim yang kita selalu dengar bagi wanita yang bergelar ibu.

Walaupun kini ada yang bekerjaya tinggi dan hebat, namun mereka tetap menggalas kewajipan dan tanggung jawab sebagai ibu; menjaga keluarga dan anak-anak tanpa rasa jemu dan mengeluh. Ternyata, wanita yang dipanggil ‘ibu’ ini merupakan pemberian dan anugerah tertinggi Allah untuk kehidupan seorang insan di bumi ini.

Sepanjang tiga hari ini, sejajar dengan sambutan Hari Ibu, BERITAMediacorp menampilkan 3 srikandi hebat dan juga wanita yang bergelar ibu, yang mempunyai nilai-nilai murni yang tiada tolok bandingnya! Mereka tidak pernah mengenal erti penat dan jerih, malah terus berjuang bukan untuk diri sendiri, tetapi demi keluarga, serta nusa dan bangsa.

Ibu pertama yang kami tampilkan kali ini ialah Cik Eliyah Osman, 44 tahun, yang menjadi ibu tunggal ketika anak bongsunya hanya berusia 6 bulan.

Cik Eliyah Osman – 44 tahun

Perpisahan di dalam sebuah mahligai yang dibina atas dasar cinta, memang menyakitkan dan amat menyedihkan. Menyedari akan hakikat yang sudah tertulis, Cik Eliyah Osman redha atas setiap dugaan dan ujian yang dilaluinya.

Dia sendiri tidak pernah tahu akan kekuatan yang dimilikinya, namun setiap cabaran yang mendatang diharungi dengan penuh kesabaran dan yakin bahawa apa juga yang terjadi adalah atas ketentuan Illahi dan pasti terselit hikmah yang tersendiri.

Cik Eliyah sudah menjadi ibu tunggal sekitar 8 tahun yang lalu dan ketika anak bongsunya dalam belaian usia baru 6 bulan saja. Sejak itu, kehidupannya terus berubah dan segala perasaan hiba dan sedih terus diketepikan.

Sebagai pencari nafkah selepas penceraian, menjaga, membesarkan dan mendidik kedua anak-anaknya adalah agenda utama Cik Eliyah. Dia tidak mahu anak-anak terpinggir dari kasih sayang dan mahukan hanya yang terbaik untuk anak-anaknya dan segala wang dan waktu hanyalah untuk mereka.

Beliau juga prihatin terhadap pelajaran anak-anaknya, dan tidak pernah terlepas peluang untuk berjumpa guru-guru dan kaunselor di sekolah bagi menanyakan perkembangan dan kemajuan akademik mereka.

BERDIKARI BAGI MULAKAN KEHIDUPAN BARU

Cik Eliyah juga akur bahawa salah satu cabaran yang paling besar setelah berpisah adalah isu perumahan dan mencari tempat berteduh bagi mereka bertiga. Beliau juga kerugian sekitar S$100,000 wang simpanan CPFnya, dek pasaran hartanah yang lembab dan suram ketika menjual rumah eksekutif maisonet dan ini membuat simpanan beliau hampir kekontangan!

Namun kehidupan harus diteruskan dan Cik Eliyah terus berusaha dan bekerja dan kini menetap di rumah ibu bapanya sementara menunggu flat BTOnya di Yishun yang bakal siap pada hujung tahun ini.

Namun begitu, Cik Eliyah tetap bersyukur kerana mempunyai pekerjaan tetap, walaupun jarak ke pejabat dari rumah orang tuanya memakan masa hampir dua jam. Setiap hari beliau bangun awal-awal lagi untuk melengkapkan persiapan anak-anak ke sekolah sebelum ke pejabat di Tuas, dan akan pulang ke rumah di Changi Village yang terletak di bahagian timur Singapura pada jam 9.00 malam, dengan menggunakan pengangkutan awam.

“Sejak berpisah pada tahun 2008, kehidupan saya terus berubah. Namun saya terus memandang ke hadapan dan anak-anak menjadi pembakar semangat dan demi ingin melihat mereka berjaya, saya tanam azam untuk memberikan mereka yang terbaik, walaupun kami kekurangan seorang ‘father figure’ dan diuji sebegini.

“Ujian demi ujian yang saya hadapi tidak sedikit pun melemahkan semangat saya untuk terus berusaha agar kami bertiga dapat menikmati kehidupan sesempurna mungkin. Bantuan, sokongan, serta penerimaan pihak majikan, ibu bapa dan teman-teman rapat amat saya hargai.

“Walaupun saya seorang yang berdikari, dan tidak mahu meratapi kisah lalu, namun pertolongan yang saya terima selama ini, sedikit sebanyak membuat saya terus bangkit dan meneruskan kehidupan seperti ibu-ibu yang lain,” ujar Cik Eliyah, 44 tahun, dan ibu tercinta kepada Asyura Abdullah, 16 tahun dan Aesya Abdul Rahman, 8 tahun.

(Gambar-gambar: Eliyah Osman)

STIGMA MASYARAKAT

Walaupun perlu memikul tanggungjawab yang berat, beliau masih dan gemar bersenam dan pernah mengikuti dan mengambil bahagian dalam sukan lasak, seperti acara triathlon, maraton dan berbasikal jarak jauh.

“Menjadi ibu tunggal, memang banyak cabaran, dan tidak mudah, tetapi kita harus kekal positif dan jangan putus asa. Mereka perlu keluarkan diri daripada kepompong kehidupan dan melakukan aktiviti sihat seperti bersenam. Saya juga mengikuti sukan lasak, walaupun tidak sekerap dulu, namun saya tetap yakin aktiviti seperti bersenam dapat merehatkan minda agar tidak terlalu kusut memikirkan masalah yang tiada penghujungnya.

“Saya akui, pasti ramai ibu tunggal pernah dilabel ‘Mak Janda’ oleh masyarakat setempat dan menganggap kami sebagai wanita yang tidak berperwatakan baik dan cuba mendekati kami dengan niat yang tidak murni.

“Saya rasa, stigma ibu tunggal masih ada dan saya berharap masyarakat tidak memandang serong pada ibu-ibu ini, kerana kami bekerja, seperti orang lain juga, demi anak-anak dan keluarga dan tidak meminta-minta ataupun diberikan layanan istimewa. Walaupun kehidupan kami tanpa suami, tapi kami juga boleh berdikari dan menjadi pendorong utama untuk anak-anak terus berjaya di hari muka,” jelas Cik Eliyah lagi.

Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

May 14, 2016