Tag: PAP

Yaacob Ibrahim: Informal Religious Groups Formed By Foreign Workers Should Work With Mosques, MUIS

Informal religious groups formed by foreign workers here should step forward to engage with mosques and the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) so that they could better tap the resources available, said Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs, yesterday.

In light of the arrests of 27 radicalised Bangladeshi workers in Singapore, the spotlight has turned on radicalised teachings that could easily be spread through informal religious study groups conducted by the foreign workers themselves, as mosques here lack the resources and manpower to reach out to them.

TODAY had earlier reported that mosques in the Little India and Bugis areas that are frequently visited by the foreign workers do not have religious classes that specifically catered to them.

“We know that some of the foreign groups in Singapore do have their own members of their community who are actually guiding them,” said Dr Yaacob, who is also the Minister for Communications and Information.

“The most important thing is that whoever is playing that role, please engage MUIS, because we want to make sure that whatever they are teaching is aligned with our teachings, with the way we practise Islam here in Singapore,” he said on the sidelines of a graduation ceremony for students from Egypt’s Al-Azhar University at the Muis Academy.

Dr Yaacob said there is a need for some graduates to stand up and publicly rebut the radical ideologies which some members of the community may have. “(What) is needed (is) for someone to come out specifically to break down someone’s radical arguments and why they are wrong and (in) which areas they are wrong and then hope that they can also find the errors of the radical ideologies, not (only) from a religious perspective, but (also) from a humanistic sociological analysis,” he said.

Meanwhile, speaking in Parliament yesterday, Associate Professor Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade GRC) asked if the Government is able to do more in terms of educational publicity in reaching out to religious groups which may not be formally organised.

“Some of them may inadvertently not realise that they’re being taught some of (these) variants of the (religion),” she added.

In response, Dr Yaacob said the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS) — which was set up to enhance the standing of religious teachers here and serves as a reliable source of reference for the Singapore Muslim Community — is in place for religious teachers.

He urged members of the community to refer to the list on the MUIS website to find the appropriate religious teachers for their classes.

“So, we are not against informal groups … but the most important thing is they select the teachers from the ARS and if they can do that, I think it would be good.”

Meanwhile, Mr Alex Yam (Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC) asked if there is a protocol or standard operating procedure for the approval of visit passes for overseas religious leaders.

He cited a recent incident where a visit by a “particular preacher”, which he did not name, was denied by the authorities here.

Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam said the protocol is “very straightforward and transparent”. For example, if the preacher’s teachings are “contrary to our values”, he will be denied entry to Singapore, Mr Shanmugam added.

Dr Yaacob, speaking to the media at the Muis Academy, said he believes more could be done to integrate the foreign workers into the fabric of society here. “We must continue to engage the foreign community here to make sure the resources within the Malay-Muslim community are also available to them,” he said.

Source: www.todayonline.com

January 29, 2016
Damanhuri Abas: Problems Of Malay-Muslim Isolationism And Foreign-Worker Terrorists Emblematic Of PAP’s Policy Failures

First the Minister made statements that essentially are tacit admission of the failures of the government’s policies towards the Malay Muslim community which has caused the ‘distancing and alienation’.

The more critical question for the Malay Muslim community to ask both the government and the Malay leadership appointed by the PAP is to explain these failures. Maybe it got to do with something called discrimination. Not so smart after all.

Then we hear another bad news, the arrest of foreign workers who are radicals or radicalized. Again, this are glaring examples of risk that the government sadly took at the expense of the safety and interest of Singaporeans by sticking to a policy of cheap labour to shore up declining GDP instead of biting the bullet and invest in our own people to allow for greater innovation to compensate for the shortage of manpower.

Singaporeans must begin to know that the policies of the government are shallow coming from this million-dollar paid brilliantairs and they still want to justify through another warp logic called natural aristocracy.

Wake up lah 70%!!!

Source: Damanhuri Abas

January 21, 2016
Teo Chee Hean: Fate Of Racial Harmony Lies With Singaporeans

Whether Singapore gives in to “exclusivity and sectarianism”, or builds on the decision of the nation’s forefathers to live together in racial and religious harmony, is in the hands of Singaporeans, said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean today (Jan 17).

In a speech that came after the Jakarta attack and news of a foiled terror plot in Malaysia last week, Mr Teo, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, reminded his audience that it was not by chance that Singapore is the most religiously diverse country in the world, yet enjoys racial and religious harmony. The peace in Singapore, he said, is a result of the “deliberate choice that we made”.

“We could have chosen differently, we could have chosen to live separately, each community insisting on its own practices, wanting to carve as much exclusive space for itself as possible from the common space. This would have resulted in a very different Singapore. One marked by differences, rather than the broad common humanity that we all share,” said Mr Teo, who spoke at a fund raising dinner for the upcoming Church of the Transfiguration.

But Singapore’s pioneers had lived through racial and religious strife, and did not want to see it happen again. Instead, various communities and leaders committed to work together to strengthen social harmony.

“Each community did not insist on the primacy of its race, language or practices. Instead, each of our communities is prepared to practise its own culture and religion in the context of a multi-racial, multi-religious society, making adaptations to accommodate others where necessary,” said Mr Teo.

Singapore has also been careful about teachings and practices from overseas, especially those that are disrespectful to other religions, or encourage communities to live apart from each other. “And even as we allow each community its own space, we have continually deepened the trust between communities, and expanded our common space where all communities can come together as Singaporeans. These are the precious lessons and experience from our 50 years of independence,” said Mr Teo.

In the next 50 years, “it is up to us and our children to decide what kind of society we want to be”. “We can succumb to exclusivity and sectarianism and drift apart into separate communities This can be by the choices of leaders, or by the individual choices we make every day, whether to live in harmony, try and integrate with others or whether we choose to live separately. So we can make those choices ourselves…Or we can reinforce the choice that our forefathers made to live together, and continue to celebrate and strengthen our racial and religious harmony,” said Mr Teo.

Last Thursday, a gun and bomb attack in central Jakarta left eight dead and over 20 wounded, including four civilians. A day later, Malaysian authorities arrested a suspected militant arrested in a train station in Kuala Lumpur, who confessed to planning a suicide attack in the country.

In his speech, Mr Teo said all religious groups in Singapore reject extremism, radicalism and violence regardless of the source

“This is important because if an attack were to take place in Singapore, the actions of the perpetrators would be condemned by every religious group in Singapore. Rather than allowing an attack to strike fear and splinter our society, we must unite against any such attack, stand together as one people, and emerge stronger,” he said.

He also noted that religious institutions “play a very important role in our society.” For example, organisations such as the Catholic Church have worked “hand in hand” with the Government in nation building over the last 50 years. This includes areas such as character formation, education, health-care and charity, said Mr Teo.

Source: www.todayonline.com

January 18, 2016
Teo Chee Hean: Singapore’s Social Cohesion A Strong Defence Against Terror Attacks

The threat of terrorism has grown with the emergence of the Islamic State (ISIS) group and lone-wolfs who can be self-radicalised over the Internet, and no one country can guarantee that it will not fall prey to an attack. Should an attack ever take place in Singapore, the country’s reservoir of goodwill and trust among all communities will help the nation rally together to reject the premises and actions of the terrorists and to support the victims and rebuild, said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.

But trust must never be taken granted and is something Singapore has to work on constantly, added Mr Teo, who is Coordinating Minister for National Security, in an interview with Channel News Asia last week. Below is an excerpt from the interview, in which Mr Teo also touched on non-traditional security threats such as cyberattacks and transboundary haze, as well as four key issues Singapore faces in the medium term.

What sets Singapore apart from other countries in terms of countering radicalism and extremism?

I commend our Muslim community and its leadership for their commitment to promote and practise Islam in the context of our multi-racial, multi-religious society. In fact, all our communities and faiths understand, and are committed to, working together for multi-racial, multi-religious harmony. This requires mutual understanding and tolerance from all communities.

In contrast, in some European countries, Muslim communities continue to practise Islam in a way that is based on the countries that they came from, usually countries where Muslims are a majority.

The preachers … tend to preach and practise Islam in a way that is appropriate for their original countries, and not contextualised to the countries in which they have now settled and become citizens. This creates a possible dilemma for some Muslims who may not be quite sure how to place themselves in the context of the countries they now live in, and still be observant to their faith and their beliefs, based on practices from a different context.

We also have another situation in a number of Muslim-majority countries, where Islam has now become a major part of politics, and enters into the political competition. This provides an opportunity for those who are more radical to find a platform in this competition.

In Singapore, we are fortunate that the vast majority of Muslims in Singapore and the Muslim leadership are united with all Singaporeans to fight extremism, terrorism and violence, no matter what the source is.

What are some specific things we are doing to counter extremist ideology?

The Muslim community in Singapore has taken a number of very important proactive steps to counter extremist ideology, radicalism and violence. These measures were reviewed and enhanced since about two years ago with the emergence of ISIS.

First, the Friday messages and sermons in our mosques deliver messages of peace and social harmony, and call on Singaporeans to reject extremism, radicalism and violence. This is quite different from some countries where radical preachers preach quite the opposite, putting poison into the micro-ecosystem.

Second, our Muslim religious leaders have developed a counter-ideology to refute the tenets on which ISIS bases itself. This helps to inoculate individuals, especially the young, who might be uncertain or confused by the messages which emanate from ISIS, including over the Internet. Our religious leaders also use such counter-ideology to help bring those who have been radicalised back to the correct path.

Third, we found ways for Singaporeans to help the refugees in Syria and Iraq. It was not just the Muslim community, but also non-Muslim groups in Singapore, who wanted to contribute. This shows that we are united in a common humanity, and united in wanting to live in peace and harmony together in a multi-racial, multi-religious society in Singapore.

Are the social bonds between our races and religions robust enough to bounce back from an attack, and perhaps become a stronger society, should it happen?

Since independence, we have invested a lot to build up trust between communities, community leaders and individuals. But trust is a very fragile thing, which we must never take for granted. It is something which we have to work on all the time, every day.

The target of terrorists is actually our social cohesion. In Singapore, we have a better chance than most countries to withstand an attack, because we have a great reservoir of goodwill and trust among all communities in Singapore. This will help us to draw together in the event of an attack, rejecting the premises and actions of those who carried out the attack, and rallying together to support the victims and to rebuild.

Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from an interview with DPM Teo Chee Hean.

Source: www.todayonline.com

December 28, 2015
PAP Looking For Suitable Candidates In Preparation For Next Elections

The People’s Action Party has started preparing for the next general election, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

Mr Lee told past and present PAP MPs at a dinner in Parliament House on Tuesday night that he has asked Health Minister Gan Kim Yong to take charge of the process of identifying new candidates.

And Mr Gan, who takes over the task from Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, has already started work to prepare for GE2021.

He told reporters that the first tea session with potential candidates is likely to take place by the end of this month.

PM Lee and Mr Gan were at a dinner to thank retired PAP MPs for their contributions to the party over the years.

Mr Lee said he was glad the PAP secured a clear mandate from Singaporeans across the board at the Sept 11 general election.

And while national factors like the SG50 celebrations and Government policies like the Pioneer Generation Package played a part, the hard work MPs had put in was crucial to the strong result, he added.

The PAP won 83 out of 89 seats and nearly 70 per cent of the popular vote at GE2015.

Mr Lee also said a key contribution retiring MPs had made was to help their successors settle in on the ground.

And the PAP was helped by the fact that after GE2011, it identified and deployed potential new candidates early.

“This gave them time to learn and settle in, and gave the public time to size them up and warm to them,” Mr Lee said.

“It’s certainly something we want to do again next time,” he added.

The PAP has also improved the process of candidate selection, and included seasoned activists, senior backbenchers as well as members with private sector experience who were practised in assessing candidates for posts.

This gave the party a diversity of perspectives, and helped it make sharper and more reliable assessments of potential candidates, Mr Lee added.

Mr Lee also thanked the 15 retired MPs, who collectively served almost 250 years in Parliament, for improving community life in their wards and speaking up on a wide range of national issues.

They include former Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, who entered politics with PM Lee in 1984, and former minister Mah Bow Tan, who first stood in 1984 and was elected in 1988.

Others who retired include four who were elected in 1997: Mr Hawazi Daipi, Mr Inderjit Singh, Mr Seng Han Thong and Mr Yeo Guat Kwang.

“Some spoke forcefully and vigorously in Parliament, while others made your points firmly but in your own quiet and equally effective way,” he said.

For example, Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, a four-term MP who was redeployed to Aljunied GRC at the last election, raised a rare private member’s bill to improve laws related to animal welfare last year, which Mr Lee called a “considerable undertaking”.

He also highlighted the five former officeholders who retired from politics at the GE – Mr Hawazi Daipi, Mr Mah Bow Tan, Mr Raymond Lim, Mr Lui Tuck Yew and Mr Wong Kan Seng – for their valuable contributions in their portfolios.

He singled out former Cabinet ministers Mr Mah, Mr Lim and Mr Wong, for staying on another term as backbenchers and “taking good care of their ground while nurturing able successors”.

Culture, Community and Youth Minister Grace Fu, who is Leader of the House, also paid tribute to the retired MPs, especially former Deputy Prime Minister Mr Wong Kan Seng and Senior Parliamentary Secretary Mr Hawazi Daipi, for coaching the new candidates selflessly and generously.

She also thanked the spouses of the newly retired MPs by quoting recently-retired MP Hri Kumar Nair who had said: “When an MP is elected, his entire family serves.”

“When an MP is out serving the residents, a father or mother, a husband or wife, a son or daughter is out there serving. The spouse, parents or older children have had to step in to look after the home front,” she added.

Source: http://news.asiaone.com

December 2, 2015