Tag: Muslim

The Next President, Hopefully Female, Likely Malay, Will Be Served By An All-Men Council Of Advisers

In 1991, Parliament passed a Bill to amend the Constitution of Singapore to change Singapore’s presidency to an Elected Presidency.

The Elected President (EP) was given new discretionary powers to safeguard Singapore’s past reserves and to appoint key personnel in government organisations.

One of the less prominent aspects of turning the President’s office into an elected office in 1991 was the creation of the Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA).

What does the CPA do?

Currently comprising of six members and two alternate members, the CPA’s role is to advise EP, particularly regarding the use of his/her discretionary veto powers.

Following the recent legislation in November to amend the Constitution regarding the EP, there will be eight members of the CPA in future.

As the CPA is unelected, its powers to act is constrained. For instance, it does not have the power to block the EP.

The chairman of the CPA also plays an additional role as Acting President whenever the EP is unavailable.

When current President Tony Tan was away on a State Visit to Japan recently (Nov. 28 to Dec. 6), the current CPA chairman, J Y Pillay, stood in for Tan as Acting President.

As Acting President, Pillay hosted Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi when she came to Singapore on a three-day visit in late November.

In the event that the both the EP and CPA chairman are unavailable, the Speaker of Parliament stands in as Acting President.

How is the CPA formed?

The eight members of the CPA are appointed in the following ways:

– EP nominates three members.
– Prime Minister (PM) nominates three members.
– Chief Justice (CJ) nominates one member
– Chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC) nominates one member

CPA members are initially appointed on a six-year term, and are eligible to be re-appointed on subsequent six-year terms.

Under the Constitution, a CPA member must:
a) be a Singapore citizen who is at least 35 years old;
b) be resident in Singapore; and
c) not be subject to certain disqualifications.

Powers of CPA were recently strengthened

Besides the increase in the number of members in the CPA, the powers of the CPA have also been strengthened.

The next EP would be required to consult the CPA before exercising his/her discretion in respect of all fiscal matters touching on Singapore’s reserves and all public service appointments.

This is not the case at present.

The EP’s decision would be subject to Parliamentary override (by simple majority) where he acts against the CPA’s advice.

However, if the EP was to act with the support of an absolute majority of the CPA, Parliament should not be able to override the President’s decision.

Source: http://mothership.sg

December 19, 2016
MHA: Five Maids Worked In Singapore Radicalised But Did Not Pose Imminent Security Threat

In the past two years, five maids working in Singapore were radicalised, although they “did not pose an imminent security threat” at the time, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The maids were among some 70 foreigners investigated during that period, and had been radicalised through social media. Some of the foreigners were later deported after the authorities in their home countries were informed of their cases.

The statement yesterday came after Indonesia’s anti-terror police commandos rounded up four women in the past week on suspicion of terrorism. Among them was Dian Yulia Novi, 27. She had worked in Singapore between 2008 and 2009, said an MHA spokesman.

Dian had allegedly been planning to mount a suicide bomb attack on the presidential palace in Jakarta. In a television interview broadcast last Tuesday, she said she was first exposed to radical Islam through Facebook by opening profiles of extremists while working as a maid abroad.

She worked for a family with three children here, and as a maid for three years in Taiwan.

But Dian did not show signs of being radicalised during her time in Singapore, said the MHA spokesman, who added: “Our security agencies are in contact with their counterparts regarding her case.”

Most of the 70 foreigners investigated in the past two years “were radicalised through their exposure to radical propaganda on social media”, said MHA. Some then radicalised others using radical propaganda from online sources.

The Straits Times understands that the five maids were among those radicalised via social media.

While they did not plan to carry out acts of violence in Singapore at the time they were investigated, their presence posed a security concern for Singapore, MHA said.

Six Bangladeshis charged with offences under the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act are serving their sentences here.

With radicalisation through the Internet being a worldwide phenomenon, MHA said social media platform owners have to ensure “their platforms are not used to promote radicalism and terrorism”.

A more effective approach in the longer term may be sensitising the public to the dangers of extremist rhetoric and equipping them with social media literacy so they will not be vulnerable to terrorist propaganda online, added the ministry. Those who notice people showing signs of radicalisation should inform the authorities.

“The security agencies meanwhile continue to work closely with their foreign counterparts to share intelligence on terrorism activities,” said MHA.

Dian was a member of a cell based in Solo, Central Java. She had hidden a “rice cooker” bomb in her room, where she was arrested on Dec 10.

The arrests of Dian and three other women mark a shift in strategy, with Indonesian militants recruiting women instead of men to mount attacks, national police chief Tito Karnavian has said.

Maids from Indonesia said they were worried about being typecast after the news.

“It affects us too because people will think other Indonesians will end up the same way,” said Ms Sri Hartatik, 35, who has worked here for 11 years. “It is common for Muslims, including domestic workers here, to read about religion on social media,” she said. But not everyone does so, she added, and neither does she.

Mr Gary Chin, chief executive of maid agency Nation Employment, said that employers should watch out for sudden changes in their helpers’ behaviour, show them concern and take an interest in who their friends are.

“If they sense anything amiss, they should inform the agency as well, so that we can arrange for counsellors or family members to speak to the domestic helper.”

Dr Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, noted that militant group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is investing heavily in recruiting in cyber space.

While Singapore has secured its physical space, it “now needs to better protect its citizens and residents, including the labour population, from cyber radicalisation”.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

December 19, 2016
Son of Osama Bin Laden Banned From Entering Egypt

CAIRO – Osama bin Laden’s son Omar was refused entry to Egypt on Saturday, airport sources said, giving no reason why his name was on a list of people banned from the country.

Omar, 34, Osama bin Laden’s fourth-eldest son, was traveling with his British wife Zaina al Sabah from Doha, and they asked to be sent to Turkey, the sources said.

The couple, who lived in Egypt for several months in 2007 and 2008, were previously denied entry to the country in 2008.

Omar bin Laden broke with his father in 2001 after living in Afghanistan for much of 1996 to 2001.

In an interview with Reuters in 2010, Omar said he was working with Saudi Arabia and Iran to end his separation from a group of brothers and sisters that dates back to the chaos in Afghanistan following the al Qaeda attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Omar said bin Laden’s children were trying to be “good citizens of the world” but suffered from the lack of a father and the stigma of being the al Qaeda leader’s children. None were part of al Qaeda, he said at the time.

“We are working with the Iranian government and with the Saudi government at the moment to have my mother’s children and grandchildren join us,” he said.

Osama bin Laden was killed at his Pakistani hideout by U.S. commandos in 2011 in a major blow to the militant group which carried out the Sept. 11 attacks.

Source: www.todayonline.com

December 18, 2016
Protesters Condemn International Inaction In Aleppo

BERLIN (AFP) – Protesters rallied in Berlin on Saturday (Dec 17) against the war in Syria denouncing the international community for failing to help civilians, especially children, in the besieged city of Aleppo.

Holding banners saying “The children of Aleppo are calling you!”, or “Aleppo is bleeding and the world is watching”, around 900 people braved plunging temperatures to gather in front to the Reichstag, the German parliament building, according to police estimates.

At the same time, another 1,800 people joined a second demonstration elsewhere in the German capital, police said.

“What is happening there amounts to what is the worst in the world,” said Mahmoud Almizeh, a 19-year-old Syrian refugee who comes from Raqa, now the bastion of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria militant group.

Germany has opened its doors to some 600,000 Syrian refugees since the conflict began in 2011.

Having arrived in Germany a year ago, Almizeh lamented that European leaders were “unfortunately doing nothing”.

In Aleppo on Saturday, trapped Syrian civilians and rebels waited desperately for evacuations to resume from an opposition-held enclave of the city which has fallen to the brutal onslaught by Syrian government forces.

Aleppo has been ravaged by some of the worst violence of the nearly six-year war that has killed more than 310,000 people.

“We feel so powerless” about the tragedy facing the Syrians, said Anna Bone, a Berlin resident at the demonstration where another banner declared: “Stop murdering! Peace talks NOW.”

“This powerlessness… this grief, it’s what brought me here today,” she added.

Hundreds of protestors also joined demonstrations in France on Saturday in the cities of Paris, Lille, Strasbourg and Marseille.

“It’s crazy that the world powers cannot intervene,” commented two protesters of Turkish origin, Hilal, 25, and Gulsan, 26, in Paris.

Thousands of trapped civilians and the last remaining opposition fighters in Aleppo were waiting for evacuations to resume on Saturday, a day after the operation was suspended by the Syrian government.

Meanwhile, in New York, the UN Security Council could vote as early as this weekend on a French-drafted proposal to allow international observers into Aleppo and ensure urgent aid deliveries.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

December 18, 2016
Indonesia Police Chief Warns Of Growing Role Of Women In Terrorism

National Police Chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said Friday that terrorist groups have developed a new trend of recruiting women to launch attacks in the country.

“Using women to carry out acts of terror is becoming increasingly more popular with terror groups because women are seen as less suspicious,” Tito told the press on the sidelines of a ceremony at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta, adding that recruiting women for terrorism was not new in other parts of the world.

The National Police have arrested three women that have been implicated in a foiled plot to bomb the State Palace. The women include Dian Yulia Novi, Tutin, alias Ummu Abza, and Arinda Putri. They are suspects for their roles in planning and preparing for the thwarted attack.

The three women are affiliated with the Surakarta terrorist cell, which was reportedly planning to attack the State Palace under the guidance of Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian jihadist who is currently fighting for the Islamic State in Syria.

National Police Spokesperson Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said that the police had anticipated involvement of women in terrorist groups in the the country but did not expect that women would take on direct and core roles in planning attacks.

“Terrorist groups here are recruiting women to avoid suspicion when carrying out attacks. It’s a new strategy to deceive the targets,” Boy said.

Source:www.thejakartapost.com

December 17, 2016