Seeking your kindness if you happen to bump into Hjh Alimiah, 77yrs old. surviving her daily single life by selling crackers, tissues etc.. I seek if we can support to purchase the good tidbits from her.
In Shaa Allah, She will always be around from late night, like now nearly 2 am, falling asleep at Tampines st 23, Safron coffeeshop.
While we can have our good meal at the 100% Muslim owned restaurant, we can share some love too c”,)
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 — A Sarawakian Christian has been issued a new identification card (IC) that recognises his non-Muslim identity and does not contain the word “Islam”, his lawyer confirmed.
When asked for updates on Roneey Rebit’s case, lawyer Chua Kuan Ching said her client had applied for the new document from the National Registration Department (NRD) four months ago.
Chua said the lawyers were informed that he had collected his new IC from the NRD’s Kuching office in late October.
She confirmed that both the IC and the NRD’s official registry now reflect Roneey’s religious status as a Christian and uses his name at birth.
“I’m glad that he finally got his IC after years of going around for this matter and months of waiting despite the decision given in March this year,” she told Malay Mail Online.
Chua was referring to the Kuching High Court’s landmark ruling on March 24, which recognised Roneey’s constitutional right as an adult to choose his religion and ordered the NRD to issue him a new Mykad without the word “Islam” and with his name at birth restored.
Roneey, now 41, had said he was converted as a child by his Christian-turned-Muslim parents.
Kuching High Court judge Datuk Yew Jen Kie had in the judgment noted Roneey’s mother’s conversion certificate showed he was converted at the age of 10, adding that the facts showed that Roneey’s conversion to Islam then was not of his own volition but was a choice decided by his mother for him as a minor.
The judge noted that Roneey was brought up in a Christian Bidayuh community since birth, never practised Islam and embraced Christianity on his own volition.
In granting all three specific orders sought by Roneey in a December 8, 2014 judicial review application, the High Court judge declared that the Bidayuh man is a Christian.
The judge also ordered the NRD to amend his given Muslim name of Azmi Mohamad Azam Shah @ Roneey to his name at birth, also directing the department to change Roneey’s religious status in his Mykad and the national registry to Christianity.
A fourth order sought by Roneey was previously granted last June 12, in which the High Court ordered two Islamic bodies to issue him a letter of release from Islam and to forward it to his lawyers. It was a consent order that both Islamic bodies did not contest.
In the same June consent order, the High Court had also allowed Roneey’s judicial review bid against the Sarawak Islamic Religious Department’s (Jais) director, the Sarawak Islamic Religious Department (Mais) and the Sarawak state government.
Chua today confirmed that Jais had four months ago issued the letter of release from Islam for Roneey.
Despite Roneey’s High Court victory in March, the NRD filed an appeal on April 22 — the only one out of the four respondents to do so.
Roneey’s case once again made national headlines on May 2, when Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem said he had received Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s assurance that the NRD would end its appeal.
On May 3, the NRD withdrew its appeal against the High Court judgment in favour of Roneey.
Today, Chua said Roneey was glad and relieved that he finally has his IC after years and months of waiting.
She said he would also like to thank those who have helped him both directly or indirectly.
Since Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced last week that next year’s presidential election will be reserved for Malay candidates, there have been much annoyance in the Malay community.
We really don’t need this do we. I mean look at Tharman. Look at Murali. We are definitely more than capable to vote beyond racial lines.
Come on man . . .
The Straits Times added to this annoyance further when they published an article which featured all the potential candidates from the Public Sector.
Guess what – they are all former or current ministers from the ruling party.
It was like rubbing salt to our wounds which we suffered from all the years of racial discrimination.
Singapore has not had a Malay president since its first president Yusof Ishak, who died in office in 1970 and PM Lee made a judgement call to change the Constitution to ensure minorities are represented in the elected presidency from time to time, as the office is a symbol of the nation’s multiracialism.
It was never about that Tan Cheng Bock as some people made you to believe.
Heck he would not have been eligible even if it wasn’t a reserved election for the Malays because unlike in 2011 he is NO LONGER the the most senior executive of a company with at least $500 million in shareholders’ equity (a requirement for a Presidential Candidate).
Today, Straits Times continued their reporting of the Elected Presidency by publishing two articles (one pro and the other con) to show two sides of the argument – both articles were written by Malay Singaporeans
A common theme which runs through both articles was the issue of tokenism.
Here are excerpts from both articles which summaries their argument.
“It seems to suggest that we are still unable to compete on the same level with the rest of the population and that we remain a troubled community that requires – selectively – a big handicap. It makes me wonder what happened to our belief in boosting self-reliance and self-respect through doing away with affirmative action and race-based state aid in education and career progression”
“Even without changes to the elected presidency, it will not take quite so long. After all, minority MPs have regularly won elections in single-seat constituencies while others have led teams in group representation constituencies – a scheme originally created to assist minority candidates to be elected into Parliament – instead of being pedestrian members of the GRCs.”
“Whatever the shortcomings, the amendments passed ensure that the sanctity and prestige of the elected presidency are not compromised, through the provision of several safeguards.
The first is a higher bar for candidates such that only capable individuals need apply. There are no exceptions and minorities have to meet the same strict qualifying criteria.
The second safeguard is that since the next election is reserved for Malays, Malay candidates who want to win must drum up support among all Singaporeans, regardless of their race or religion. He or she cannot campaign solely on a platform of Malay interests but must instead seek to represent Singapore’s multicultural and secular values.”
The Singapore system has never been a perfect meritocracy. Instead, it has always been an “abridged” one. Nonetheless, it is this abridged meritocracy that has ensured minority representation in our parliamentary democracy, which also stabilises race relations in the country. Thus, applying it to the elected presidency scheme is not unprecedented and has its merits.”
As the first article gets shared around more widely on social media (because it fits the online narrative), the Malay community is seriously more annoyed rather then angry.
I really hope that you can give them perspective by also sharing the second article above because it offers a glimpse of the reality on the upcoming election.
Only time can tell if the upcoming Malay candidate can represent the voices of the majority of Singaporeans just like Encik Yusof Ishak did AND more importantly, if there will be another Malay candidate coming through for future Presidential Elections, before it becomes necessary to be “hiatus-triggered” once again.
Of the changes to the elected presidency passed by Parliament last week, the one to reserve an election for a particular racial group is the most contentious.
With that change to the Constitution, a presidential election will be reserved for a particular racial group if no one from that group has been president for five terms in a row. That means in the course of six presidential terms, there should be at least one Chinese, one Malay, plus one president from the Indian and other minority communities.
Candidates in the reserved elections will meet the same criteria as those running in open elections.
Other changes include stricter qualifying criteria for presidential candidates and more powers for an expanded Council of Presidential Advisers.
The changes have several implications. First, Singapore will, after a 46-year wait, see a Malay president in the next election provided there are qualified candidates. The Republic’s first president Yusof Ishak was Malay and held the post from 1965, when Singapore became independent, to 1970, when he died in office. Before that, he was Yang di-Pertuan Negara (Head of State) from 1959, the year Singapore achieved self-rule from the British.
With the Prime Minister’s announcement that the next presidential election, due next year, will be reserved for Malays, President Tony Tan Keng Yam will not be able to run for a second term. He has since confirmed that he will not be standing again. There will also be no repeat of the fierce contest between four candidates – all of them Chinese men – seen in 2011. That turned out to be a close fight between Dr Tony Tan and Dr Tan Cheng Bock, who obtained 35.2 per cent and 34.85 per cent of votes respectively. The changes to the Constitution passed last week effectively deny Dr Tan Cheng Bock the chance to take part in the next election and that has raised questions about the timing of the amendment.
Under changes to the elected presidency passed by Parliament last week, a presidential election will be reserved for a particular racial group if no one from that group has been president for five terms in a row. Candidates in reserved elections will meet the same criteria as those in open elections. ST PHOTO: STEPHANIE YEOW
Another big concern is what these changes will mean for Singapore’s founding principles of meritocracy and equality. These principles tell us that leaders should be assessed based on their capabilities, and not race, family or social status. Would not the changes passed last week be a blow to Singapore’s meritocracy and instead entrench race-based politics? That is the basis of some people’s opposition.
But even within the Malay/ Muslim community, there is a diversity of views. Some consider the Government’s plan as tokenism, akin to letting Malays win a runners-up medal since no one from the community is capable of competing in an open and fair election against other ethnic groups. On the other hand, there are Malays who embrace the amendments with open arms. They have long regarded the late Mr Yusof as a symbol of pride and cannot wait to see another president emerge from the community. Whatever the shortcomings, the amendments passed ensure that the sanctity and prestige of the elected presidency are not compromised, through the provision of several safeguards. The first is a higher bar for candidates such that only capable individuals need apply. There are no exceptions and minorities have to meet the same strict qualifying criteria.
The second safeguard is that since the next election is reserved for Malays, Malay candidates who want to win must drum up support among all Singaporeans, regardless of their race or religion. He or she cannot campaign solely on a platform of Malay interests but must instead seek to represent Singapore’s multicultural and secular values.
Mr Yusof exemplified these values. In the 1940s and 1950s, he was managing editor of Utusan Melayu – a popular Malay language newspaper which advocated for the upliftment of the Malays. Yet, he championed the interests of all races throughout his presidency, earning praise from all racial groups.
As a nation, we must hold fast to a vision of a Singapore that is race-blind. Recent polls, however, show that we have not quite achieved that yet. At the same time, there is a risk that if there is no president from a particular racial group for a long time, the issue could be politicised should some claim that discrimination is at play. Therefore, there is a need to intervene to ensure multiracial representation in the years before our ideal of a race-blind nation is realised.
Some countries introduce affirmative action to level the playing field for all races. While Singapore has made huge strides in fair treatment of minorities, we have to be upfront and admit that the system has never been a perfect meritocracy. Instead, it has always been an “abridged” one. Nonetheless, it is this abridged meritocracy that has ensured minority representation in our parliamentary democracy, which also stabilises race relations in the country. Thus, applying it to the elected presidency scheme is not unprecedented and has its merits.
Questions about how a race-based election will affect our meritocracy will persist. However, on a broader trajectory, reserving the next presidential election for Malays is in my view a necessary form of tokenism to develop trust among the races.
After a break of more than four decades, it is timely to elect a Malay president and give him or her a chance to represent all Singaporeans, just as Mr Yusof did during his tenure in the 1960s.
But even as we do so, we must not lose sight of our principles that guide us to elect our leaders based on their capabilities.
The writer, Norshahril Saat, is a fellow at the Iseas – Yusof Ishak Institute. He is the author of Yusof Ishak: Singapore’s First President.
MAJLIS Ugama Islam Singapura (Muis) bakal mendekati ibu bapa untuk memberi panduan kepada mereka bagaimana membantu anak mereka dalam mengendali radikalisme di media sosial.
Langkah terbaru Muis itu bakal diperkasa dengan menganjurkan sebuah seminar keibubapaan bagi menyediakan wadah kepada ibu bapa dalam menggunakan media sosial sebagai alat meningkatkan pembelajaran.
Ibu bapa juga bakal dibekalkan sebuah buku panduan bertajuk ‘Resilient Families: Safeguarding Against Radicalisation’ (Keluarga Berdaya Tahan: Berlindung dari Radikalisme).
Menurut jurucakap Muis, buku panduan ini julung kali diterbitkan Pejabat Mufti dalam usaha mempersiap dan memperkasa ibu bapa membimbing kanak-kanak menggunakan media sosial dengan selamat.
Seminar keibubapaan yang akan dianjurkan Sabtu ini bertajuk Parenting IRL (In Real Life)*: Raising The Snapchat Generation atau Keibubapaan (Dalam Hidup Sebenar): Membesarkan Generasi Snapchat.
Seminar dan buku panduan itu juga bertujuan menyedarkan ibu bapa tentang cabaran dalam percambahan media sosial dalam masyarakat hari ini.
Menurut jurucakap Muis, peranti elektronik yang menghubungkan mereka ke Internet digunakan secara meluas hari ini. Sesetengah anak mula menggunakan peranti sedemikian pada usia yang terlalu muda.
Bagi kanak-kanak dan remaja, media sosial menyediakan platform bagi mereka meneroka dunia maya melalui permainan dan interaksi. Ini mendedahkan mereka kepada pelbagai risiko.
