Tag: Muslims

More Than 40 Singaporeans Choose To Remain In Yemen, Urged To Exercise Personal Responsibility

Foreign Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam today (April 15) called on more than 40 Singaporeans who are still living in war-torn Yemen to uphold “personal responsibility” by leaving the country immediately.

Speaking to the media today, he said: “The Government has a duty to try and help our citizens in situations like this. At the same time, people also have an individual, personal responsibility not to put themselves at risk.”

Despite “obvious risks” due to the increased fighting in Yemen and advisories issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), some have not heeded calls to leave, he added.

Drawing a parallel with the situation in Syria, Mr Shanmugam said: “Again, despite many advisories, some of our people did not leave Syria in time, and then they found that all the escape routes were cut off and leaving Syria became extremely difficult.”

Syria has been grappling with a civil war since 2011.

“So really, those who are (in Yemen) should leave immediately and if they don’t, they are putting themselves at serious risk. We will then be operating in a situation where our own ability to rescue them becomes very limited,” he added.

Tensions between Houthi rebels and forces loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi have escalated since the Houthis took control of Yemen’s capital Sana’a in September last year, five days after MFA issued the first advisory for Singaporeans to leave Yemen.

Since last month, a Saudi Arabia-led coalition has been targeting the Houthis and their allies—namely forces loyal to former Yemeni leader Ali Abdulla Saleh— in a series of air strikes.

Despite the MFA’s multiple appeals, more than 40 Singaporeans, including students, businessmen, homemakers and several young children, are still living in various Yemeni cities.

“We won’t know the full number, but that is our estimate,” said Mr Shanmugam.

TODAY understands that many have remained due to business and education obligations. Some, such as Mr Haykal Bafana, 43, told TODAY that he had lived through similar unrest in 2011.

As Singapore does not have an embassy in Yemen, it seeks assistance from other countries such as China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Oman, said Mr Shanmugam.

However, many embassies on the ground are winding down rescue operations, he noted, which “limits (the Government’s) ability to do much in Yemen any further”.

A total of 25 Singaporeans have left Yemen in the last two weeks, including a woman who was evacuated yesterday.

As air travel in Yemen has ceased, current rescue operations are primarily conducted over land, and can take up more than 20 hours through rough terrain.

TODAY understands that the Singaporeans who managed to get out of Yemen also encountered challenges such as 10-hour bus delays and the lack of travel documents.

Source: www.todayonline.com

April 16, 2015
Walid J Abdullah: Media Should Stop Reinforcing Stereotypes In Hailing Formal Progress

I congratulate Encik Masagos Zulkifli on his promotion. The issue of ‘one Muslim minister per cabinet’ has been brought up many times (i myself have talked to my MP about this), and credit where it is due, today there is change in this regard. I pray that he will be given strength and wisdom to discharge his responsibilities in the best of ways.

At the same time, i hope that our local newspapers will stop using phrases like ‘this marks the coming of age of Malay politicians’. Whether they realize it or not, such statements are really condescending.

For there to be true multi-racialism, formal progress (such as political appointments) must not be hampered by informal structures (such as ethnic stereotypes). Our media would do well to stop perpetuating – directly or indirectly – the myth of the lazy native and the ‘incompetent Malay’ stereotype.

Hopefully this is a start to greater things, and God-willing, one day we will even have a Minister of Defence or Finance who is Muslim.

Source: Walid J. Abdullah

April 10, 2015
Masagos Zulkifli Sworn -In As Full Cabinet Minister

Mr Masagos Zulkifli was sworn in yesterday as a full Cabinet Minister, following Wednesday’s Cabinet reshuffle announcements.

With his promotion, Mr Masagos will be a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs. He had been Senior Minister of State in both ministries since 2012. The news of his promotion — which means there are two Malay-Muslim full Ministers for the first time — had garnered strong support from the Malay and Muslim community leaders.

Writing on his Facebook page today, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he had witnessed Mr Masagos’ swearing in. “His sincerity, ability and hard work have earned him the respect of colleagues and Singaporeans,” Mr Lee noted.

Foreign Minister K Shanmugam wrote on his Facebook page: “(Mr Masagos’) appointment strengthens our MFA work. The world is shrinking, and our interests around the world, economic, political, have grown. We need to engage many countries actively, much more so than we have had to … Masagos has promoted Singapore at every opportunity, and has been very good for us. We are fortunate at MFA to have Masagos with us. With his promotion, I will now be able to give him even more responsibilities, at MFA.”

Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong congratulated Mr Masagos on his Facebook page. “He is humble, sincere and dedicated. A good addition to the Cabinet team,” he said. “The Cabinet reshuffle will add depth and breadth to those who will lead Singapore forward. Stretching the younger Ministers will strengthen their resilience. Best wishes to them.”

Source: www.todayonline.com

April 10, 2015
Increased Religiosity In Asia-Pacific: Islam And Hinduism Projected To Make Greatest Gains In Singapore

A trend of increasing religiosity is taking hold in the Asia-Pacific region, while North America and Europe are experiencing the reverse with a projected spike in the proportion of people unaffiliated with any religion, showed a recent report by Washington-based think-tank Pew Research Centre.

In Singapore, Islam and Hinduism are projected to make the highest gains, with Muslims replacing Christians as the second-largest faith group by 2050. The report, The Future Of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050, was published on Thursday.

Pew’s researchers took six years to analyse information from about 2,500 data sources, including censuses, demographic surveys, general population surveys and other studies. Demographic projections made in the report were also based on the current size and geographic distribution of the world’s major religions, age differences, fertility and mortality rates, international migration and patterns in conversion between religions.

The report projected that in the Asia-Pacific region, the proportion of freethinkers is projected to decline from 21 per cent in 2010 to 17 per cent in 2050. Over the same period, the proportion of this group in Europe and North America is expected to increase from 19 per cent to 23 per cent, and from 17 per cent to almost 26 per cent, respectively.

“Atheists, agnostics and other people who do not affiliate with any religion — though increasing in countries such as the United States and France — will make up a declining share of the world’s total population,” it added.

The report also projected that the number of Muslims, a comparatively youthful population with high fertility rates, will nearly equal the number of Christians by 2050, if current demographic trends continue. As of 2010, Christians made up nearly a third of all 6.9 billion people on Earth. Muslims were the next largest group, comprising about 23 per cent.

The report projected Singapore’s total population to reach 7.9 million in 2050. The proportion of Muslims is projected to increase from 14.3 per cent in 2010 to 21.4 per cent in 2050, overtaking Christians as the second-largest group behind Buddhists. Over the same period, Singapore’s proportion of Hindus is expected to rise from 5.2 to 10.0 per cent. The report said the increases were “mostly because of migration from India and Malaysia”.

By 2050, freethinkers will make up 16 per cent of the total population, down slightly from 16.4 per cent in 2010. Over the same period, the proportion of Christians and Buddhists here will decrease from 18.2 to 17 per cent, and 33.9 to 27 per cent, respectively.

Commenting on the report, observers here questioned the assumption that migration patterns will continue over the next few decades.

Dr Mathew Mathews, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), pointed out that the Government had previously said it wanted to preserve the current racial balance. “Muslims and Hindus in Singapore usually are Malays and Indians, and if their racial composition is supposed to stay the same as currently, it will be unlikely that Islam and Hinduism in Singapore will grow substantially considering the current population plans,” he said.

The Pew report acknowledged that estimating future migration is challenging because the movement of people across borders is dependent on government policies and international events that can change quickly. “And because many migrants follow economic opportunities, migration patterns are also dependent on changing economic conditions,” it added.

Nonetheless, Pew said it has developed a technique to estimate recent migration patterns and their religious breakdown, in collaboration with researchers at Austria’s International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.

In Singapore’s case, IPS senior research fellow Leong Chan-Hoong and Chua Chu Kang GRC Member of Parliament Zaqy Mohamad said it cannot be assumed that people migrating from Malaysia are probably Muslims. Stressing the challenges of migration projections, Dr Leong said migrants could come from different countries or involve different races or religions within a particular country.

Mr Zaqy said any increase in the Muslim and Hindu populations could also be because of a higher number of interracial marriages.

Should the projections come to pass, Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan said Singapore may also have to look into building more places of worship for Muslims and Hindus. Likewise, there would also be an impact on the relative influence each religious group has on changes, where bigger groups could feel their views should carry more weight, for instance, he added.

Source: www.todayonline.com

April 6, 2015
Buddhists Demonstrate In Myanmar To Protest Move To Grant Rohingya Muslims Citizenship

YANGON — Hundreds of people demonstrated in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, today (Feb 11) to protest a government decision to allow people without full citizenship, including members of the Rohingya ethnic minority, to vote in an upcoming constitutional referendum.

Most Muslim Rohingya are not citizens, and prejudice against them is high in the predominantly Buddhist nation.

Parliament plans to debate several constitutional amendments. It recently approved a proposal by President Thein Sein to allow people with temporary identification cards, such as Rohingya, to vote in a referendum tentatively planned for May.

Communal tensions have led to violence in recent years which left at least 280 people dead and 140,000 homeless, mostly Muslims confined to squalid camps in the western state of Rakhine.

The temporary identification cards, popularly called “white cards”, were created by the former military regime for the 2010 elections in which it relinquished power to a nominally civilian government, though under heavy army influence. An army-backed political party won seats in areas with sizable numbers of white card holders.

White card bearers are technically in the process of applying for citizenship. In addition to Rohingya, they include members of ethnic minorities such as the Kokang and Wa, and people of Chinese and Indian descent.

Parliament originally voted against allowing white card holders to vote in the referendum, but reversed itself after an appeal from Mr Thein Sein. The government has been under pressure from Western nations and rights groups over its treatment of Rohingya, and Mr Thein Sein may have been trying to appease those critics.

Domestically, however, the move has been sharply criticised.

Most of those protesting today were Rakhine Buddhists, and the crowd of about 300 included at least 70 Buddhist monks.

“White card holders are not citizens and those who are non-citizens don’t have the right to vote in other countries. This is just a ploy by politicians to win votes,” said Buddhist monk Shin Thumana.

Lower house lawmaker Thein Nyunt said the government’s policy toward white card holders is inconsistent because they are banned from voting in general elections but allowed to vote in the referendum. White card holders are not allowed to join political parties.

Source: www.todayonline.com

February 12, 2015