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Tag: President

  • President Tony Tan: Pope Francis ‘Keen’ To Learn More About Singapore’s Racial And Religious Harmony

    President Tony Tan: Pope Francis ‘Keen’ To Learn More About Singapore’s Racial And Religious Harmony

    Building bridges across communities through inter-faith dialogues is one of Pope Francis’ main priorities, said Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam.

    The President said this is an area where Singapore can “share its experience with the Vatican”, during a briefing with reporters on Sunday (May 29) after he concluded a week-long state visit to Italy and the Holy See.

    Dr Tan had received a pontifical audience with Pope Francis earlier this week, the first ever for a Singaporean President. He also met Secretary of State of the Holy See Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who visited Singapore in 2015.

    “For Singapore, racial and religious harmony is fundamental not only to our progress but to our very existence,” he said. “And from the start there was a great deal of emphasis on building bridges across communities. It’s been going on for so many years in Singapore that sometimes we take it for granted. But if you look at the world around us, this is quite an exception to the rule.”

    Dr Tan added that while Singapore was “not insulated” from radical influences, her approach to handling the issue is “possibly a little bit different from other countries”.

    “We look at it not as a security problem but in a holistic way, which involves ideological issues, social issues, family issues,” he said. “And our religious rehabilitation group is playing a great deal – it includes Muslim clerics who talk to those who have been affected by these radical teachings on the Internet.”

    POPE INVITED TO VISIT SINGAPORE

    Dr Tan said Pope Francis was “very keen” to learn more and “to see how we integrated the different communities together”, while he updated the Pope on the major role played by the Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore in the National Steering Committee on Racial and Religious Harmony, working with other communities to build religious and racial harmony.

    During the meeting, the President highlighted to the Pope the valuable contributions the Catholic Church has made to Singapore’s development, including in the areas of education, healthcare and social welfare. He also invited Pope Francis to visit Singapore, something he said the Pope was pleased to accept.

    Looking ahead, Dr Tan said he sees growth in the relationship between Singapore and the Vatican, with the Catholic Church playing a very important role “not only within the Catholic community but also among wider society in Singapore”.

    “That’s very fundamental for us, and that’s something we can share with the rest of the world,” Dr Tan said.

     

    Source: ChannelNewsAsia

  • Zulfikar Shariff: Duterte – Beneath Tough Talk, Is He A Potential Peacemaker?

    Zulfikar Shariff: Duterte – Beneath Tough Talk, Is He A Potential Peacemaker?

    The election of the Philippines’ President-elect Rodrigo Duterte signals an important shift in the country’s internal politics.

    A lot has been made of Mr Duterte’s tough-speaking, no-nonsense approach to crime in Davao. His two decades as mayor of Davao City in Mindanao have seen a drop in violent crime. This drop is attributed partly to his support of the “Davao Death Squad”, a vigilante group that conducts extrajudicial killings of criminals.

    In a region where violence (criminal and political) is part of the local history, Mr Duterte’s approach was widely supported. However, beyond the tough, warrior-like front, he has also cultivated another persona – as a peacemaker. And ironically, he is possibly one of the best hopes for lasting peace in the Philippines.

    RELATIONSHIP WITH JOSE MARIA SISON

    A Maoist-inspired Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) rebellion that seeks social and political reform has lasted more than 40 years and claimed about 30,000 lives.

    The CPP is supported by its military wing, the New People’s Army (NPA) while the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) is the political front.

    It seeks the removal of US influence and dismantling of traditional power structures that dominate relations between the peasantry and political elites. At its height in the 1980s, the CPP numbered more than 25,000 members. Its membership has dwindled to about 4,000, mainly from the peasant and indigenous communities.

    Negotiations between the CPP and the government have repeatedly broken down amid accusations of bad faith and insincerity. In 2013, negotiations were called off after the CPP demanded that its rebels held in detention be released. The Philippine government rejected the demand, citing difficulty in ascertaining a rebel from a criminal.

    Mr Duterte’s longstanding relationship with the CPP’s founder and ideologue, Jose Maria Sison, may provide a solution to the conflict.

    Sison, who was Mr Duterte’s lecturer at Lyceum University, has been in a self-imposed exile in the Netherlands after the Philippine government cancelled his passport while he was on a European lecture tour.

    Mr Duterte’s overtures to the CPP have been received positively by its leadership. Soon after his election, he met NDFP chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili and committed to peace talks and amnesty for political prisoners.

    He further offered the CPP four Cabinet posts in the labour, agrarian reform, environment and social welfare departments.

    This offer does not mean the CPP would necessarily be part of the administration.

    As Sison has made clear, the offer can only be accepted once there is a negotiated truce. With Mr Duterte due to be sworn in on June 30, it is unlikely that any CPP members would be part of the Duterte administration for now.

    It, however, strengthens the hand of CPP leaders who are more inclined towards peaceful negotiations over armed rebellion.

    The rapprochement has, however, been rejected by some members of the Filipino military and political establishment.

    Former navy officer and coup plotter Senator Antonio Trillanes, and former police intelligence chief Rodolfo Mendoza have both discussed the possibility of a coup if Mr Duterte proceeds with his plans to bring the communists into his administration.

    BANGSAMORO

    The Muslims in Southern Philippines (Bangsamoro or Moro nation) have resisted Spanish and American colonisation for 300 years. Since independence, that resistance is focused on the Philippine state.

    At stake is the autonomy of Mindanao and its surrounding islands.

    In 1989, an Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao was created as part of the peace agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

    As mayor of Mindanao’s largest city and with family members from among the Bangsamoro, Mr Duterte’s candidacy was strongly supported by the Bangsamoro groups.

    His backing for the enactment of the Halal Ordinance in Davao City, which facilitates and regulates halal food compliance, and his support for the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) have won him favours in the restive region.

    The basic law would have resulted in the creation of a Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, granting greater autonomy for the region and a demilitarisation of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

    There are, however, other complications.

    Mr Duterte’s running mate, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, is opposed to the basic law, saying it would lead to civil war and strengthen the MILF.

    The weakening MNLF has thus far rejected the basic law while the MILF has declared that its demilitarisation is conditional on the BBL being passed into law.

    Mr Duterte now appears to have moved away from his support for the basic law and is pushing for federalism of the Philippines. While federalism would potentially grant local autonomy to the Mindanao (among others), they would remain as just another region within the Philippine state.

    Still, the Bangsamoro appear to be hopeful of Mr Duterte’s next moves. Having worked closely with him over the years, there is optimism that he will be an honest broker and help initiate peaceful settlements.

    NAVIGATING INTERESTS

    While Mr Duterte appears to have the force of personality and longstanding relationships with leaders of the CPP and the Bangsamoro, he still needs to navigate a political system that has failed to find a solution.

    Sections of the military that have spent decades fighting the CPP and MILF appear to reject any settlement with the two groups.

    The failed negotiations over the years have also created a distrustful environment among political elites on each side.

    His challenge is not merely to negotiate a workable agreement but to convince every party to let go of the legacies of conflict and distrust. At the same time, he needs to assure the elements within the military and political elites and the rebel groups that they will remain relevant and influential.

    While his extending the olive branch to the CPP and MILF is a positive start, Mr Duterte still needs to convince his administration that lasting peace is the best hope for the country. And hope that the CPP and MILF keep to their end of the deal.

    • The writer is a final-year PhD candidate at La Trobe University, Australia (International Relations). He researches International Institutionalism with a focus on Asean.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Walid J. Abdullah: Elected President Being a Minority Just A Token Act

    Walid J. Abdullah: Elected President Being a Minority Just A Token Act

    I find the discussion on ways to ensure a minority President a little unnecessary. Not because i believe in the infallibility of meritocracy, as many of those who do not understand the concept of majority privilege do (just look at the comments on ST’s articles on the Elected Presidency and you will know what i mean: in fact, if you’re a minority, you would be spooked), but for a different reason.

    The reason why we even talk about having a minority President in the first place is presumably to ensure racial equality. But what is the point of having a minority President when so many racial issues remain unresolved, so many stereotypes exist, and so many people try to condone racism in all sorts of creative ways?

    Bear in mind the Elected Presidency is a position that does not really wield too much influence, so having a minority there would not change too many things; in fact, the converse could very well happen. The image of a minority President may give the impression that all is well on the racial front, and people may rest on their laurels. Denial of discrimination and racism would perhaps then be more frequent.

    There is not much sense speaking about how to ensure a minority President, when there are influential people who suggest fencing off foreign workers (without getting rebuked by a single parliamentarian, not even the opposition), when some still believe members of a particular race are lazy or stupid, when people are being slandered simply because of the God they worship, when others refuse to acknowledge genuine misgivings, and when people are judged by how they look rather than what they do.

    Let us not put the cart before the horse.

     

    Source: Walid J. Abdullah

  • Dr Tan Cheng Bock: Constitutional Commission Must Create System Enabling Election Of Independent And Effective President

    Dr Tan Cheng Bock: Constitutional Commission Must Create System Enabling Election Of Independent And Effective President

    Reviewing the last Presidential Election 2011.

    In the last Presidential election I lost narrowly to the current President Tony Tan by a mere 0.34%.
    .
    Last month the government appointed a Constitutional Commission to study and make recommendation on specific aspects of the Elected Presidency relating to the qualifying process for presidential candidates.

    I strongly encourage Singaporeans to make submissions to the Commission to ensure that we have a Elected Presidency system that will enable us to elect a Truly Independent and Effective President. The Elected Presidency is created to provide some check on the use of our reserves and appointments of certain top civil servants.

    Make your views known now on why the need to change..It is important for the future of Singapore.
    .
    There are three aspects the commission has been tasked to review.
    1. whether the eligibility criteria for such candidates should be updated , and if so how?
    2. It will also study the framework governing the exercise of the President’s custodial powers, including whether the views of the council of Presidential Advisors can be given more weight and if so how.
    3. Ensuring that Minorities have the chance to be periodically elected to the Office of the President.

    The 9 members are as follows: Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Justice Tay Yong Kwang, Mr Eddie Teo, Chairman PSC, Abdullah Tarmugi, Member,Presidential Council on minority rights ,Prof Chan Heng Chee , Mr Chua Tian Poh of Ho Bee Land, Mr Philip Ng of Far East organisation, Mr Peter Seah of DBS, and Mr Wong Ngit Liong of Venture Corporation.

    The Commission is now inviting written submissions by Singaporeans. The deadline is 21 March 2016 and the submissions may be sent to the Constitutional Commission Secretariat via the following 2 methods: Email: [email protected] Post: 1 Supreme Court Lane, Singapore 178879.

     

    Source: Dr Tan Cheng Bock

  • Forcing Racial Rotation For Presidency Is Racist And Anti-Meritocracy

    Forcing Racial Rotation For Presidency Is Racist And Anti-Meritocracy

    I welcome the proposal by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to tighten the criteria for the Elected Presidency (“Key changes to refresh political system”; Jan 28).

    But I believe it is superfluous to force a rotation among the races for the Elected Presidency. Such a policy also assumes inherent racism, as it presupposes that the Chinese majority in Singapore would not elect a minority candidate to the Elected Presidency even if he or she were the best candidate in an election. It assumes that minorities in Singapore are so incapable that they require such affirmative action in order to be elected. It is saddening that after more than 50 years of nation-building, such attitudes could persist in our society.

    Such a system will also shut out highly qualified persons simply because they are of the wrong race. Enforcing minority representation for the Elected Presidency flies in the face of Singapore’s policy of meritocracy, as it will no longer be about choosing from among the best and most qualified candidates because of the rigidity of such a system.

    Moreover, the pool of qualified persons from minority races is naturally smaller, due to their smaller numbers. This may increase the likelihood of walkovers and reduce the strength of the Elected President’s mandate, in an era when Singaporeans are used to exercising their right to vote in elections. The competitiveness of the election is reduced.

    On Thursday, Member of Parliament Rahayu Mahzam, who is Malay, said in Parliament that “we would like to see representation from our community, but we want Malays to be chosen because he or she is the best, and not because of his or her race”. As we move beyond our first five decades of nation-building, we should refrain from enacting policies based on the crutch mentality that minorities will always need a helping hand because of their race.

     

    This view by Dennis Chai Hoi Yim, was published in Voices, Today, on 30 Jan 2015.

    Source: www.todayonline.com