Rilek1Corner

Tag: PAP

  • Malays, Easily Stereotyped In NS Always Hear: ‘Kita Melayu Jadi Infantry. Don’t Put Your Hopes Too High.’

    Malays, Easily Stereotyped In NS Always Hear: ‘Kita Melayu Jadi Infantry. Don’t Put Your Hopes Too High.’

    “Kita Melayukan, jadi …. infantry lah …. don’t put your hopes too high.”

    Those were the words uttered to me during my son’s orientation at the beginning of his Officer cadet course almost 10 months ago. Testimony of the effective discriminatory practise embedded for more than 50 years against Malays in the SAF.

    Malays are loyal and trustworthy like all Singaporeans to don the colours of any Arms of the SAF, ever willing to lay our life for this land we are indigenous to. We proved ourselves as a race when 153 malay regiment soldiers sacrificed their lives in defence of Singapore at Bukit Chandu, in February 1942, against the Japanese invaders. Their heroism are etched permanently into the memory of the Japanese army and the Colonial authority that surrendered Malaya to the Japs.

    The Malays have patiently waited and trusted that this collective discrimination on their race will go away one day as promised to them by PAP leaders behind closed door. 50 years on and the situation has not changed except for mere tokenism to feature on occasional pages of the local press or some magazine covers. We have even tolerated the indignation of watching glittering TV ads promoting careers in the Navy etc., knowing fully well that we don’t qualify just because of the colour of our skin.

    This policy of restricting Malays in the SAF has indoctrinated in the minds of other races, the unspoken fallacy that Malays are disloyal and cannot be trusted. Infecting every male serving citizen’s mind during 2 years of full-time national service and later for many more years during reservist, inevitably spilling into the wider society too. This vicious poison of distrust towards the Malays, sown in the minds of the people for more than 50 years must end.

    This discriminatory practise towards Malays lies deep in the hypocrisy of PAP leaders who imposed these policies while preaching meritocracy and practising so-called deceptive affirmative actions selectively when it suits their political interest. Think GRC, HDB race quota, Malay President fiasco, etc. This whole policy and mindset originating from the PAP are the root cause of this discrimination.

    Singaporeans of all races can end this discriminatory policies that has remained as vestiges of our colonial past. We must revive the vision championed by our brave true anti-colonial heroes who are Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians. They suffered their lives to rid this country off the racist colonial policies of the past, so that we can practice and give equal spaces for all citizens regardless of our individual ethnicity and creed. And to consider celebrating Stamford Raffles and his so-called legacy, is a blatant gross affront and a betrayal of the real spirit of the struggles and sacrifices of our founding fathers.

    Image may contain: 2 people, people smiling, people standing

    A proud moment for Fuad and parents as we put his officer rank onto his uniform. A proud and honourable Infantry Officer.

    Today, my son, together with his peers are commissioned as Officers of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). Each one of them has earned his or her One Bar through their grit and hard work to be proudly bestowed the dignified role of Officers, leading men and women of the SAF in defending this nation, the Constitution of our Republic and the President. As fellow parents witnessing their Commissioning parade today, we are proud of having our sons and daughters standing in service for our Country and her idealism of a Just and Equal society we all want and love.

    Together, we can and must rebuilt our Nation’s true vision embodied in the colours and symbols on our Flag that we have neglected. To strive and struggle to leave a truly worthy legacy to our next generation, of a country united as one, where all races respect one another equally, instead of allowing ourselves to be divided and exploited by race for unjust self-serving political ends. The discrimination of Malays in the SAF must cease.

     

    Source: Damanhuri Bin Abas

  • Commentary: Tharman’s Six Principles Of Political Communication That’s So Sigh Pie

    Commentary: Tharman’s Six Principles Of Political Communication That’s So Sigh Pie

    Off the top of my head, Tharman’s six principles of political communication:

    1. Timing: Wait till the worst of the storm of public dissatisfaction blows over. Don’t go into the thick of it. Wait for heads to cool.

    2. Deflate the elephant: Point to the elephant in the room, acknowledge it, and everyone goes “finally!”. Tension is released. Elephant gets smaller, people can breathe easier.

    3. I am one of you: Acknowledge and even agree with the sentiments on the ground, then reframe to “in spite of this… must recognise reality… and so must do that”. Classic rhetorical technique. Throw in own background of activist etc. for added legitimacy.

    4. Be general: He said he doesn’t agree with every tactic of everyone of his colleague. Broad obvious statement. In a large org like PAP that’s bound to happen.

    But this allows people to fill in what they *think* he means. Or what they *want to believe* cos he’s likeable. Still, people may not be wrong, but it gives wiggle room should the need ever arise in another context.

    5. Provide hope: Things are better now than before. We will continue to be better. Let’s work towards that.

    6. Be likeable: People listen to you cos they like you. This factor anchors all the above.

    Also, he didn’t comment on the process, and the legitimacy of a president who came into office with so much controversy on the ground. Does the President really have a mandate then? Maybe no one asked. And why should he bring it up of his own accord?

    Skilfully done. All the more’s the reason I think he should be the next PM. (#TharmanForPM!) But oh well’s, we’re not ready for a non-Chinese PM and he has ruled himself out. Sigh pie.

     

    Source: Md Suhaile

  • Chee Soon Juan: By All Means, Let’s Continue To Humiliate Our Minority Citizens

    Chee Soon Juan: By All Means, Let’s Continue To Humiliate Our Minority Citizens

    THE SAGA OVER the Elected Presidency (EP) has again, thanks to the Prime Minister, dredged up the hideous truth that our political system is indefensibly undergirded by racialist and racist thinking.

    The official line of the EP rhapsodised about the need for racial harmony and the safeguarding of multiculturalism. The truth, as everyone else who is not a party apparatchik knows, was about ensuring that only the most PAP-aligned of souls helmed the presidency.

    In a similar vein, the creation of the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system was never about ensuring adequate ethnic minority representation in Parliament but rather to further stack the system against the opposition.

    An outgrowth of the reserved presidency and the GRC policies require our Malay, Indian and “Other” friends to obtain certification of their race. I find such a practice absolutely abominable. We certify skills, training experience and even livestock. But human beings?

    I cringe whenever my party colleagues of minority ethnic descent undergo this degrading process during elections. They have to submit an application asking for recognition of their bloodline and/or racial identity. In return, they get a document certifying who – or more accurately what – they are.

    (And they have to do this at every election. Perhaps our bureaucrats think that some strange morphological transformation may occur undetected in between elections.)

    This policy is mandated by a majority Chinese-dominated political structure. It is the ultimate humiliation that one ethnic group can impose on another, a practice which I daresay would be unequivocally denounced in civilised societies, societies with a modicum of human decency.

    It is a practice that cheapens the individual and brutalises the soul of this nation. It makes us all lesser humans.

    But what is even more mystifying is why the Halimahs and Tharmans and Yacobs in the party agree to subject themselves to such abasement. Is there no intellectual spine in these people? Surely they understand that genuine equitable political representation goes beyond the tokenism of reserved presidencies and parliamentary seats.

    The reality is that these folks are, first and foremost, politicians and like most politicians, their instinct is to protect their power. The aforementioned schemes allow them to do just that. The wretched practice of certification of minority candidates can be rationalised away or, if not, compartmentalised and placed back in the far recesses of one’s conscience.

    But at what point does one draw the line between political fealty and personal dignity? What price does one have to pay and how much of one’s soul does one have to trade to retain that power? What happens when Mephistopheles comes a-knocking to collect what he is owed?

    If our race-conscious friends at the PAP are genuinely concerned about fissures that cause ethnic division in our society, they need look no further than their own policies. Policies like our education system where top schools are deliberately moved to affluent districts where the overwhelming majority of Malays do not reside. Or policies that widen income inequality in an economy where a disproportionate number of the Malay community are stuck in low-income jobs without minimum wage. Or policies that stipulate a quota of ethnic minority residents who are permitted to live in any one HDB estate (and thereby constricting the market for them should they want to sell their flats).

    Read also A Singapore For All Singaporeans

    It should not be hard to recall that America elected a black man as its president, Londoners picked a Muslim of Pakistani descent as their mayor and the Irish chose a son of Indian immigrants to be their prime minister. Are we Singaporeans somehow less enlightened and colour blind?

    Or is the PAP employing the age-old divide-and-conquer stratagem from its Singapore-is-not-ready-for-a-minority-PM playbook and then mollifying its critics by placing minority politicians here and there?

    Singapore needs a leader whose vision of politics looks beyond the pigmentation of our skin. We need someone who calls to us as a race – the human race, who appeals to the noblest spirit of our being, and who inspires the loftiest ideals that we, as a society, possess.

    May we find that leader – and soon.

     

    Source: http://www.cheesoonjuan.com

  • Commentary: No Other Possible Way Of Calling A Spade A Spade, Similarly A Kelong President

    Commentary: No Other Possible Way Of Calling A Spade A Spade, Similarly A Kelong President

    PAP’s Kelong Presidency

    Some people, especially my Malay FB friends, are not happy that I use the hashtag #MadamKelongPresident against Halimah. They seem to think that I am disrespectful to her just because she is Malay President?!

    That is utter nonsense. Just like many Singaporeans, I am totally disgusted with PAP’s rigging of the Presidential Elections. Unfortunately, Halimah has CHOSEN to be part of this disgusting ploy.

    As explained, she could have just WALKED away from submitting her nomination papers so to trigger an Open PE after the other two contenders were disqualified. She would have shown that she is truly INDEPENDENT of PAP’s ploy and we would applause her true spirit of democracy. But no. She has CHOSEN to play along with PAP’s script. The rest is history.

    I do not know Halimah personally and do not have any ill feelings, neither good feelings about her. She is just a plain White PAP people to me.

    However, no matter what you say about her being a “Nice Lady”, the truth is, she has become the President under such Wayangism and Kelongism. There is really no other possible way of calling a spade a spade, a Kelong President so she must be.

    I am confident that she will not be the ONLY Kelong President in Singapore history. There will be Future Kelong Presidents, REGARDLESS of Race, Language or Religion or Sexuality, as long as PAP is in Total Monopoly of Power. There will be Chinese Kelong President, Indian Kelong President, Eurasian Kelong President etc. There will be Madam Kelong President and Mr Kelong President. All in all, they will be ALL the same, the product of Kelongism and Wayangism by PAP government.

    As long as there is Kelong President, I will call he or she as so; thus, mistake me not, it is NOT about Halimah but it is the Kelong Presidency of hers which will deserve such appropriate calling.

    As long as there are people who are wiling to play along with PAP’s Kelongism and Wayangism, there will always be Kelong Presidents born out of the process. I shall not be moved by any SOB story of why these people have to accept or forced into the ploy or scheme of things. As long as you made that conscious choice, you are hardly innocent of being the accomplice of such Kelongism.

    Kelong President of PAP you shall be.

     

    Source: Goh Meng Seng

  • Commentary: I Am An Opposition Supporter But I Don’t Think They Are Ready, So I’m Stuck With PAP

    Commentary: I Am An Opposition Supporter But I Don’t Think They Are Ready, So I’m Stuck With PAP

    What do you think?

    My dilemna and also dilemna of many including the fence sitters. I am an opposition supporter, but I don’t think they are ready to govern but also we shouldn’t give the current government monopoly in Parliament to prevent abuse of power. I think, we should vote in credible oppositions in bit by bit into Parliament and in the future who knows, we will have a more credible oppositions that is ready to govern. Being in a country with only 1 credible political party is dangerous, then we will be at that mercy of that party, which is happening right now. We don’t like the policies that PAP is churning but then we don’t have another credible party to take over, so we stuck with PAP.

     

    Reader’s Contribution

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