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  • A Call To Lead – Qualified Malay Candidates Must Show Courage, Step Up And Give Singaporeans True Choice

    A Call To Lead – Qualified Malay Candidates Must Show Courage, Step Up And Give Singaporeans True Choice

    As we get closer to Syawal, Malays in Singapore are also getting closer and closer to the day of reckoning – come election day in September, Singapore will have its first Malay President since the late Encik Yusof Ishak, albeit in a reserved election. People like Dr Tan Cheng Bock and human rights lawyer M Ravi are challenging the constitutionality of the elections but chances are, the elections will go through. Up till now, we still don’t know which candidate PAP will support but everyone thinks it’ll be current Speaker of Parliament, Halimah Yacob. What about alternative candidates who are independent from PAP? Besides Mr Salleh Marican, no one has stood up to be counted. The silence is deafening but unsurprising.

    Poor Mr Salleh Marican has faced a lot criticism the moment he announced his candidacy. A lot of people have, rightly so, questioned his candidacy as he is not purely of Malay ethnicity. His lepak interview with BeritaMediacorp outside the elections department where he basically mangled the Malay language, did nothing to convince Singaporeans that he is adequately Malay. Some more critical ones have even taken to disparaging his wife’s appearance. All this is nothing but damaging to his confidence in running for Presidency.

    What Singaporeans must appreciate is that it takes a lot of courage for a successful businessman like Mr Salleh Marican to take up public office. He does not need to do this because he needs the money. He doesn’t. He is already rich. He is doing this because he wants to. He wants to serve because heeded the call of Lee Hsien Loong for capable and qualified Malay Singaporeans to step up to contest the elections.

    He may have been a mess but it could just be nerves, One doesn’t create a multi-million dollar empire overnight. Mr Salleh Marican has the mettle and the political savvy to succeed.

    He also has his heart in the right places. Besides his business, Mr Salleh Marican is actively involved in philanthropic activities. Since 2009, Mr Salleh Marican was appointed a founding member of the Board of Temasek Cares, a philanthropic organisation established by GIC Temasek Holdings. Halimah Yacob was also a founding board member.

    Temasek Cares had help fund the setting up of the Family Therapy Institute in Eunos, run by PPIS.

    He is now also a Treasurer of the Temasek Cares Board, ‘who now includes former PAP MP, Zainul Abidin Rasheed.

    There are not many candidates with Mr Salleh Marican’s background. There are also not many candidates like him who are brave enough to step up. However, is he truly the candidate for the Malay community?

    We call on other Malay leaders to follow in the footsteps of Mr Salleh Marican to offer themselves as a candidate for Presidency. Some may say that too many candidates will dilute the votes for non-establishment candidates but an election is about the exercise of power by the individual through the ballot box. Singaporeans are smart enough to choose the right candidates with the right credentials. One who is independent from the influences of the incumbent.

     

    Said

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  • More Muslim Marriages Ending Before Five Years

    More Muslim Marriages Ending Before Five Years

    People married for five to nine years made up the largest group of divorcing couples in Singapore in the past two decades.

    But Muslim couples are bucking this trend and splitting up earlier. In the 2003 marriage cohort, for example, 14 per cent of Muslim marriages dissolved before the fifth anniversary, compared with 10.5 per cent who did so between the fifth and ninth year. This trend can be seen from the 1999 cohort onwards.

    For non-Muslim marriages in 2003, 9.2 per cent of couples broke up between the fifth and ninth year, while 5.1 per cent did so before the fifth anniversary.

    Those who work with divorcing Muslim couples say the trend could reflect how a greater proportion of Muslims marry young or remarry than non-Muslims.

    In 2013, 1.2 per cent of Muslim grooms and 5.2 per cent of brides were below 21 years old. For non- Muslims, these were 0.4 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively.

    It is similar for remarriages. While remarriage is on the rise among Singaporeans in general, it is particularly common among Muslims. About a third of the community’s weddings in 2013, or 30.3 per cent, involved at least one partner who was not tying the knot for the first time.

    This compares with a quarter of such marriages, or 23.7 per cent, among civil marriages, according to the Women’s Charter.

    Family lawyer Abdul Rahman said most of the Muslim couples in divorce cases he handled got married by 23 years old.

    “Their marriages face greater risk of breaking down earlier because they are ill-prepared financially and emotionally.”

    An earlier government report also showed that break-ups are more common in remarriages.

    Said Madam Azita Abdul Aziz, director of social services at welfare group PPIS: “Such couplings tend to be more vulnerable because couples bring baggage from previous marriages and there may be comparisons with their former spouse and disagreements over parenting of stepchildren.”

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

     

  • Malay and Muslim Organisations Pay Tribute To Lee Kuan Yew

    Malay and Muslim Organisations Pay Tribute To Lee Kuan Yew

    The Malay and Muslim community came together on Thursday to honour Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

    Yayasan Mendaki was joined by other Malay and Muslim organisations such as the Singapore Muslim Women’s Association or PPIS, and Singapore Kadayanallur Muslim League (SKML) in paying tribute to Singapore’s first Prime Minister at Telok Ayer Hong Lim Green Community Centre.

    Ms Rahayu Mohamad, president of PPIS, read a poem titled A Great Man, which described Mr Lee’s dedication to building Singapore as a tribute to him.

    She said Mr Lee’s firmness educated Singaporeans to be pragmatic and to focus on development, which she thinks the younger generation has to continue to learn to ensure stability and progress.

    Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, who started the tribute session, said it is a difficult moment for everyone, especially for him as he had worked closely with Mr Lee.

    “We are indeed very lucky to have someone like Mr Lee who was always on the lookout for things that he could do to help improve the state of the Malay and Muslim community and I think we can point to many of his contributions,” he said.

    “He may have been misunderstood at times; I think that is inevitable. But at the end of the day, I think we have to look at the good of what a man has done.”

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Syariah Court Require Divorcing Couples with Kids To Discuss Co-Parenting at Counselling Stage

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    SINGAPORE — From early next year, the Syariah Court will require divorcing couples with children who are minors to discuss their co-parenting plans at the counselling stage, as part of efforts to better protect children during divorce proceedings.

    The move, announced by Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim at a seminar yesterday, will help ensure that parents consider the best interests of their children from the onset of the divorce process, he said.

    On average, more than 2,000 children below the age of 18 are involved in divorce proceedings every year, said the Syariah Court in a statement.

    In his speech yesterday, Dr Yaacob said divorce hurts the family even when it is amicable and that the impact on children can continue into adulthood.

    “Research has shown that those who experienced divorce as children face challenges breaking the cycle in adulthood,” he said. “The last thing we want is for the legacy of tragedy to be passed on from one generation to another.”

    To ensure a more child-centric divorce process, the Syariah Court said couples with children below the age of 18 will need to submit a post-divorce co-parenting and care arrangement plan for their children. The plan must be prepared at the marriage counselling stage before divorce proceedings commence in court.

    “This would make it compulsory for parents to consider their children’s welfare and the custody, care and control and access arrangements when making decisions that would inevitably affect their children,” said the Syariah Court.

    As part of the Syariah Court’s collaboration with Malay-Muslim self-help group Mendaki, a family social services initiative called Nadi Khidmat will be extended to the court’s clients, especially those with children who are minors, to help them access information and referral services to national agencies for other forms of assistance.

    In August, the Syariah Court’s marriage counsellors will undergo a skills-based workshop to enhance their knowledge of working with children. This will provide them with a better understanding of the complexities of helping divorcing couples who have children.

    Currently, existing administrative measures to safeguard the interests of children include pre-divorce briefings conducted by the PPIS As-Salaam Family Support Centre and the Muslim Law Practice Committee.

    The Syariah Court also refers cases of divorcing couples who have children to the Housing and Development Board, so they can receive guidance on housing after the separation.

    Social welfare reports are also prepared to help the court make informed decisions on cases that involve child custody disputes.

    Source: TODAY