Rilek1Corner

Tag: Muslims

  • Countering The Narrative Of Terrorism

    Countering The Narrative Of Terrorism

    The recent arrest of one Singaporean teenager and the detention of another for being involved in terrorism-related activities is a matter of serious concern for all Singaporeans, for several reasons.

    Firstly, they are some of the youngest would-be “jihadis” encountered here thus far. Post-secondary student M Arifil Azim Putra Norja’i is 19 years old, while the other unnamed individual is only 17.

    Secondly, not only had Arifil desired to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), he also planned to carry out attacks on public places and prominent leaders in Singapore, and attempted to recruit others.

    Thirdly, Arifil attempted to link up with ISIS by befriending people online who he thought could help him join the terrorist group.

    LONG-LASTING THREAT

    The threat posed by such young recruits to militancy is potentially long-lasting. Should they succeed in going to the Middle East and joining ISIS, they will become battle hardened, and if they survive, become the nucleus of a group of South-east Asians in the ISIS ranks. Upon their likely return to Singapore, they will engage in terrorist acts, thereby extending the reach of ISIS to South-east Asia.

    However, the issue of very young people getting involved and taking an interest in terrorism, especially in ISIS, is not exclusive to Singapore. It is a trend evident in many countries, including Indonesia and Malaysia, with some teenagers as young as 14 years old attempting to travel to join ISIS. Many are drawn to the ISIS propaganda on the Internet and social media.

    To prevent terrorist groups from taking root in Singapore and radicalisation permeating into the community, the security authorities need the support of all segments of society. Family, friends, school, religious leaders and the community all have a role to play in countering radicalisation. The case of Arifil is illustrative: He was reported to the authorities by a member of the community who knew him and noticed the changes in his behaviour, enabling further investigation to be conducted.

    Friends and family members who are aware of similar behavioural changes in their circles can do likewise. They should realise that reporting their friends’ suspicious behaviour is not “putting them in trouble” but helping them from causing greater harm or damage to the community.

    On a broader level, there needs to be more community engagement programmes in schools, for the community to raise awareness of the dangers of radicalisation and the distorted and extremist ideology of ISIS and such groups. With early intervention, religious teachers can come forward to help vulnerable individuals from becoming even more radicalised.

    In Singapore, the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) has provided counselling to citizens who have been influenced by radical ideology, since 2003. From its inception, the RRG has provided religious counselling to members of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), self-radicalised individuals, and their family members.

    In its efforts to counter ISIS narrative and engage the community, the RRG has published two public educational pamphlets, The Syrian Conflict and The Fallacies of ISIS Islamic Caliphate, which are accessible on the RRG’s Facebook page.

    Singapore has also adopted a system of recognition of Islamic teachers and scholars called “Asatizah Recognition Scheme”. They are accredited to teach Islam to the public so the latter are not religiously misled or become self-radicalised by materials found on the Internet and extremist websites.

    COUNTERING INTERNET-SAVVY ISLAMIC STATE

    Countering radical ideological narratives has to be done both online and offline. ISIS has exploited the Internet, especially social media, to disseminate its ideology and propaganda.

    There are 46,000 Twitter accounts supporting ISIS globally, and at least 1,000 Facebook accounts of the same nature in South-east Asia. To counter ISIS online, the community needs to work with social media. For example, Facebook and Twitter have taken down accounts of ISIS members and supporters that post ISIS narratives.

    Shutting down such accounts is necessary even though some analysts might protest that such a measure would cut off access to a trove of information about extremist groups. Removing online support for ISIS ideology is one of the ways of carrying out the uphill task of countering online extremism and radicalisation.

    There is also a need for a model to counter extremism and terrorism online. Such efforts should complement successful real-world engagements that are already taking place today. Participants should be moved to be the counter-force and spread the message of peace. Not only would this create an effective dissemination of counter-messages, it would also provide continuity in community engagement efforts on the ground.

    On a positive note, the announcement of the arrest of one teenager and the detention of another by the Ministry of Home Affairs came with the news that three former JI members who were under Detention Order had been released under Restriction Order (RO), and five individuals under the RO had their RO lifted. They had been receptive and cooperative to rehabilitation.

    While the fight against radicalism is not over, it is not a lost cause. The two detained teenagers can change, and there is still a chance for them to become responsible Singaporeans with proper engagement, religious counselling and family support.

    ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

    Nur Irfani and Nur Azlin are Associate Research Fellows of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Ms Irfani is also a volunteer with the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG). This commentary first appeared in RSIS Commentaries.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • MDA Bans Pink Dot SG Ad

    MDA Bans Pink Dot SG Ad

    Over the weekend, the seventh edition of Pink Dot SG saw its largest turn-out yet, with more than 28,000 people coming together. This was despite the organisers facing several challenging situations from the community.

    According to a statement from the Pink Dot SG organisers, a 15-second pre-event advertisement for Pink Dot that was meant to be screened in cinemas  was refused a rating by the MDA last Friday after a two-month wait, effectively banning it. The statement said that the MDA cited the reason that “it is not in the public interest to allow cinema halls to carry advertising on LGBT issues.”

    Responding to Marketing‘s queries, MDA said it had “carefully considered” Cathay Organisation’s application on 12 May to screen a Pink Dot 2015 promotional trailer in its cinemas.

    “This is the first time MDA has received such an application. MDA has concluded that it is not in the public interest to allow cinema halls to carry advertising on LGBT issues, whether they are advocating for the cause, or against the cause. MDA has therefore rejected Cathay Organisation’s application to screen the trailer,”the spokesperson added.

    The ad is currently running on Pink Dot SG’s social media channels. Here’s the full ad:

    Nonetheless, the Pint Dot SG organisers added that this year the event saw its largest-ever list of corporate sponsors. Social media giant Twitter, local entertainment giant Cathay Organisation, as well as financial software, data and media company Bloomberg, join returning sponsors Google, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, BP, J.P. Morgan and The Gunnery.

    This year’s Pink Dot focused on the message, “Where Love Lives,” and invited the community to reflect on the progress that has been made towards dispelling the discrimination and prejudice that face lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, as well as the many challenges that still remain. People were encouraged to take part in Pink Dot’s social media campaign, #WhereLoveLivesSg. The campaign was powered by local social media agency, Campaign.com.

    Paerin Choa, a Pink Dot SG spokesperson added, “After the setbacks that we had experienced over the last 12 months, giving up and losing hope would have been the easy thing to do. But we also know that Singapore’s LGBT community are a very resilient bunch, and in view of these challenges, we still have much to celebrate.”

    Among the major challenges the community had faced over the past year, probably the biggest was the verdict in October last year by the Court of Appeal upholding the constitutionality of Section 377a of the Penal Code, which criminalises physical intimacy between men.

    Locally, furniture brand IKEA also recently came under fire for partnering up with Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC) controversial pastor Lawrence Khong who has been in the limelight for openly opposing homosexuality.

    Meanwhile last year, The National Library Board (NLB) came under intense fire from netizens after it decided to pull off two children’s book titles off its shelves. The books were removed after the board received complaints from a member of the public stating that the titles And Tango Makes Three and The White Swan Express were not in line with traditional family values. The first book depicts two male penguins acting like a couple raising a young penguin and the latter talks about a single mother, adoption and a lesbian couple.

     

    Source: www.marketing-interactive.com

  • Alfian Sa’at: Nobody Cares About #Wearwhite

    Alfian Sa’at: Nobody Cares About #Wearwhite

    Dear ‪#‎WearWhite‬

    Nobody cares.

    About your antics to illustrate some kind of ‘pushback’ against Pink Dot. About your majoritarian argument of ‘look at us we are greater in number so we get to decide what kind of society we want for everyone’. You think looking like a bunch of hissy, reactive drama queens endears you to people? And why do you have to be so lazy? You have an entire year to organise whatever to set forth your position–you can stage a ‘One man, One woman, One family, One People, One Nation, One Singapore’ festival or a ‘Straight & Lovin’ It’ carnival or an ‘OMOW, no HOMO’ acronym slogan competition or even a mass wedding (why let the Moonies have all the fun?). Who’s stopping you? But you’d rather ride on the publicity for Pink Dot and squeeze your faces into the camera. Because who cares if 99% of the stuff in movies, TV programmes, magazines, advertisements etc all uphold and celebrate those heteronormative values you hold so dear? That one single day in a year when LGBT’s could appear in broad pink daylight in a safe, affirming space? No way, they must be bleached out like a stain! But I guess you’re kiasu and mean-spirited that way.

    The problem with these kinds of manufactured clashes is not that Singapore is supposedly becoming ‘more polarised’. The problem is that it leads people to subscribe to binary thinking. Pink versus white. With us or against us. But gay people aren’t anti-family. Actual one man-one woman families (some bringing their kids) are, in fact, turning up for Pink Dot. And among those wearing pink there are many who are also religious. It’s not about a pink team on one side and a white team on the other in a tug-of-war for their souls. Because people know how to integrate their multiple identities and reconcile the contradictions within themselves. It’s what makes us human.

    In writing two paragraphs it might seem like I actually give a toss about your chromatic sartorial tit-for-tat but getting back to my main point, nobody cares. Really.

     

    Source: Alfian Sa’at

  • Where Europe Stands On Civil Marriages And Gay Unions

    Where Europe Stands On Civil Marriages And Gay Unions

    More than two-thirds of the 20 countries around the world that have legalized same-sex marriage are in Europe. Yet two of the biggest Western European states – Germany and Italy – do not allow gays and lesbians to wed. And all Central and Eastern European countries continue to ban gay marriage.

    Nearly 15 years after the Netherlands became the world’s first country to allow same-sex marriage, Ireland last month became the first nation to do so via popular vote, with 62% of voters casting ballots in favor of the change.

    That makes Ireland the 14th European nation to change its laws to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed. This number counts England and Wales as one country and Scotland as a separate entity, since those parts of the United Kingdom passed two separate pieces of legislation on same-sex marriage. (Northern Ireland, the other U.K. constituent state, has not legalized such marriages.) The list also includes Finland, which approved a same-sex marriage law earlier this year, although it will not take effect until 2017.

    It is unclear whether any other European countries will soon follow. Germany is among several European nations that grant civil unions or partnerships for same-sex couples, but is not seen as likely to allow gay marriages in the near future. Some Italian politicians, meanwhile, are calling for the passage of a civil partnerships law. Italy, with its historical ties to the Roman Catholic Church, does not currently recognize same-sex unions of any kind, and a senior Vatican official recently called the result of Ireland’s referendum a “defeat for humanity.”

    Greece also may soon allow civil unions for same-sex couples, and Slovenia’s legislature recently voted to approve same-sex marriage (though that measure faces additional hurdles before it can become law). At the same time, nearly two-thirds of Croatian voters recently voted to amend their country’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

     

    Source:www.pewresearch.org

  • Ismail Kassim: A Malay Triology – Politics

    Ismail Kassim: A Malay Triology – Politics

    Part III: Why Malays can’t put their act together?

    We are Malays and we must uphold our Malay heritage above all. All my life I have considered myself a Malay and a Muslim; not Sunni, not Syiah.

    I honour our Prophet, PBUH, whom I consider a perfect gentleman; peerless and fearless. I try to imbue myself with the values he espoused and accept much of his teachings on how life should be lived in this world.

    We should not get involved with the Semitic people, their perennial quarrels and their penchant for mutual slaughter.

    Neither side is right; both are equally murderous, and both want power, not to build a progressive and equal society based on fear of God, but to oppress the other side for not belonging to their sect.

    To these people, their strongest affiliation is to their religious sect and to their tribe; the sense of nation hardly exists. They have never learnt to compromise and work together for the larger interest of the nation.

    True, in the early years, Islam liberated their minds and they became a progressive people but over the centuries they have slide backwards; today, they are among the most backward of societies.

    For example, just take a look at the Land of the Pharoahs and you see another Mubarak in the making, made possible by the so-called liberals of their society. The military, which lost all their battles against the Israelis, is only good for oppressing their own people.

    The trouble there is that the Muslim Brotherhood wants to force their Islamic agenda down the throat of the liberals, the latter wants to do the same to the Muslims, while the military wants to usurp power mainly to further their own ends.

    As for the keepers of our holy places, look at them trying to imitate the Israelis, bombing Yemen and killing innocent civilians, to further their dubious self-serving goals.

    If you look around the globe, the Chinese are fast on their way to becoming a respected nation, the Indians too have jumped on the same path and picking up momentum.

    Alas the Arabs are still locked in their ancient enmities and the Malays seem to want to follow them on their path of self-destruction.

    Just compare how the Australians behave towards Singapore and towards Indonesia when their citizens are about to be executed for drug offences. You can tell which country commands more respect from the Aussies and you know the reason why.

    Across the Causeway, we see the spectacle of UMNO and PAS at each other’s throat, almost like a pantomime imitation of the Sunni-Syiah conflict in the Middle-East.

    They forget the lesson of history. With 5000 British troops, the British ruled over 500 million Indians for 500 years.

    A feat made possible only with the help of hundreds of thousands of collaborators because of disunity and jealousy among Indians, who hate each other more than they hate the white men. If the Malays are not careful, history can repeat itself in Tanah Melayu.

    When I stopped reporting on Malaysian politics in Oct 1995, I felt then that the country was sliding down the hill. Two decades later, my opinion remains unchanged; the slide continues inexorably.

    Politics is in a mess. The Malays are divided as they have never been, and the non-Malays disenchanted and demoralised, and race-relations never very good even in the best of times, has taken another tumble downwards.

    Corruption in high places and in the Malay-dominated bureaucracy has become more rampant.

    As for the rakyat, the bigots and the obnoxious among them have made themselves heard at frequent intervals, no doubt instigated by Nationalist elements, religious fanatics and politicians in furtherance of their own narrow and selfish goals.

    Even before it lost Chinese support, UMNO have for years been pampering the Malay electorate on two fronts; closing its eyes to mismanagement of its pro-bumiputra policies and appeasing their insatiable demands for more and more Islam in public and private life.

    The result is increasing greed within sections of the community for the material comforts of this world and at the same time for the divine blessings of the next world.

    I do not see switching from the UMNO-led Front to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat as a viable long-term solution. A narrow win for the Pakatan will only trigger endless rounds of instability a la Thailand.

    Malaysia is not ready yet for a two-party system, not now and not in the next few decades. A split within the dominant Malay community does not benefit any group, not the Malays and not the minorities.

    Likewise, in Singapore, it is foolish of the Malays here to entertain any ideas that they could profit by playing one Chinese side against the other.

    Only a united, dominant community will have the confidence and the ability to offer meaningful concessions to its respective minority.

    In a democratic one man one vote system, UMNO are now in a dilemma. After losing the support of the Chinese and the more progressive elements from the Malay community, it cannot afford to alienate whatever little communal support it has left.

    Without any concession to the Chinese, they won’t come back. If too much, it might lose its conservative Malay base. The result is stalemate.

    The best way out for Malaysia is for the Malays to unite, for PAS and UMNO to get together minus their extremist fringe, and forge a common platform to build up the nation, develop the Malays and other indigenous groups into a respected community and to be fair to their minorities, who are assets to the nation.

    Malay leaders should swallow their pride. Come to Singapore and see how the PAP have done it. Learn how to protect the interests of the dominant community while giving a fair deal to the minorities.

    The selective discrimination against Malays in the security and military services is balanced by other benign policies so that overall things square up for the community.

    It is not an impossible act for Malaysia to follow, but you need a strong leader to pull it off. At the moment, there is none in sight.

     

    Source: Ismail Kassim