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Tag: race

  • Singapore’s New Malay President Will Only Be Known In September

    Singapore’s New Malay President Will Only Be Known In September

    If contested, the next Presidential Election, which has been reserved for Malay candidates, will be held in September rather than in August, which is when voting typically takes place. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Chan Chun Sing, announced this in Parliament during the second reading of the Presidential Elections (Amendment) Bill. The date revision does not require changes to the law. The Government is announcing changes early for transparency and so that prospective candidates can be aware of the changes.

    In his speech, Mr Chan provided the reason for the shift in timing. He said voting for a new president has typically been held in the last week of August, to ensure the process falls within the term of the sitting President, which ends on Aug 31.

    In 2011 for example, the Writ of Election was issued in the first week of August. Mr Chan said campaigning began shortly after National Day, and coincided with the month-long National Day celebrations. The revised timing would ensure the election is not held during the celebrations.

    For the upcoming election, Mr Chan said the government will issue a Writ in the later part of August, before President Tony Tan’s term expires. The shift of the election from August to September will also “reset the clock” so that future elections will take place outside the National Day period.

    Mr Chan said the Constitution allows for an acting President to assume office from the end of the incumbent President’s term until a new President assumes office.

    “If a new President is not elected by the time President Tony Tan’s term expires on Aug 31… the Constitution provides for the Chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisers or, if he is unavailable, the Speaker, to be the acting President. The acting President cannot exercise the functions of the President indefinitely,” he said.

    Mr Chan said current laws allow for changes to the timing of the polls to be made in time for this year’s Presidential election.

    The shift in timing will also cater to the longer time period required to assess prospective candidates as part of legislative changes.

    Under proposed changes to the Act, the deadline for prospective candidates to apply for a certificate of eligibility (COE) will be extended to five days after the Writ is issued. This is up from the current three days. This will give candidates more time to prepare their applications.

    Another change being proposed is that nomination day be held at least 10 days after the day the Writ is issued, up from the current five days.

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Undergrad Part-Time Tutor Rejected By Tuition Agency Due To Parents’ ‘Racial Preferences’

    Undergrad Part-Time Tutor Rejected By Tuition Agency Due To Parents’ ‘Racial Preferences’

    Tuition has become a staple for school-going children in Singapore.

    While it is understandable that each child — and by extension, family — may seek specific tutors for specific needs, one tutor has come forward to share her experience of being repeatedly rejected for tuition jobs — despite being more than qualified for it.

    The tutor is an undergraduate student from a local university and is seeking part-time work at a local tuition agency for extra income.

    The agency essentially acts as a middleman by matching families with the tutors for the required subjects.

    Compiling all the requests of the different families, the tuition agency then sends them out to the tutors under them. Interested parties can apply to take up the vacant slots.

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    As the tutor in question specialises in English and Literature, she has repeatedly applied for positions that required tutors for those two subjects.

    However, time and time again, she has met with responses from families like the one below:

    rejected-profile-without-code

     

    Recently, it was more blatantly put across to her:

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    Deep-rooted problem 

    Speaking to Mothership.sg, the tutor said she feels frustrated that she has to deal with this kind of issue time and time again.

    This is despite the fact that she is a first-class honours student.

    She also related that she has even met with a situation where after she was rejected by the family, the same tuition gig was offered to someone she knew, who is Eurasian Chinese.

    She also said any language or communication barrier with non-English-speaking families should not be a problem, particularly in her case, as she is from a mixed Malay-Chinese family.

    Acknowledging the sensitivity of the issue, she doesn’t demand recourse.

    Instead, she said she understands that some people just don’t feel comfortable with certain races.

    What have the authorities said about such practices

    According to TAFEP’s job advertisement guidelines stated in its fair employment practices handbook,

    “Employers who advertise a position requiring a specific attribute which may be viewed as discriminatory should ensure it is indeed a requirement of the job and state the reason for the requirement in the advertisement…

    Race should not be a criterion for the selection of job candidates as multiracialism is a fundamental principle in Singapore. Selection based on race is unacceptable and job advertisements should not feature statements like ‘Chinese preferred’ or ‘Malay preferred’.

    Religion is unacceptable as a criterion for recruitment except in cases where employees have to perform religious functions as part of the job requirement. In such cases, the requirements should be clearly and objectively presented”.

    But such practices are normalised

    However, a quick check on forums has shown how prevalent racial preference in tuition has become in Singapore.

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    Ultimately, the student tutor said she hopes people, especially parents, can have a more open mindset towards tutors like her.

    She said: “I just wish that it wasn’t this way because it hasn’t changed since my mum’s time.”

     

    Source: mothership.sg

  • Elected Presidency Changes: Big Step Backwards For Malay community

    Elected Presidency Changes: Big Step Backwards For Malay community

    I worry about the unintended consequences of changes to the elected presidency, especially the move to reserve elections for minority candidates.

    I was brought up in an era where we Malays were told we had to fend for ourselves in school and in our careers, as Singaporeans of other races did. After initial trepidation, due in part to seeing how Malays in other countries in the region depended on race-based policies to help them advance, Malay Singaporeans grew out of their historical reliance on such crutches. And that has over time become a source of pride and motivation for the community.

    In my frequent travels to neighbouring countries and in the speeches I deliver there, I speak proudly of the significant progress the community has made as we proved we could stand on our own feet. That was thanks in no small part to the brave decision by our earlier leaders to take away our proverbial crutches and make us compete on a level playing field. Like everything else, healthy competition drives the community to a higher level.

    Now, I worry that all that is being undone. The announcement that next year’s presidential election will be reserved for Malay candidates strikes me as a major step backwards. Like it or not, it risks being read as a vote of no confidence in the community. It seems to suggest that we are still unable to compete on the same level with the rest of the population and that we remain a troubled community that requires – selectively – a big handicap. It makes me wonder what happened to our belief in boosting self-reliance and self-respect through doing away with affirmative action and race-based state aid in education and career progression.

    During the last three decades of minimal race-based policy assistance, Malays have worked hard to prove our self-worth with significant achievements in the education and professional arenas. Today, more private sector and business leaders are drawn from the community than ever before.

    There has been gradual but meaningful progress in all other statistics too, including education. The sense I get from my daily interactions with members of the community is that we are patient in waiting for further public sector achievements. I did not sense any clamour for the next president to be from the Malay community.

    America waited more than 230 years for a member of a minority race to be elected president. That did not make people from minority races there feel any less American. When the day finally arrived in November 2008 and Mr Barack Obama was elected America’s first black president, the outcome was greeted with great celebration not just within the country but in countries across the free democratic world, including those in Asia and Africa.

    Here in Singapore, the last time a president of a minority race was in the Istana was five years ago. The last time we had a Malay president was 46 years ago. I believe most Malays are willing to wait patiently for our next Malay president to be voted into office based on his own merit and in a contest against other capable Singaporeans of different races or creeds, however long it takes.

    I personally think that even without changes to the elected presidency, it will not take quite so long. After all, minority MPs have regularly won elections in single-seat constituencies while others have led teams in group representation constituencies – a scheme originally created to assist minority candidates to be elected into Parliament – instead of being pedestrian members of the GRCs.

    I would argue that more than a Malay president, what Singapore needs is policy consistency – we cannot afford policy twists and turns, especially on a selective basis, no matter how well intended.

    Still, if the chance to have a member of their community as president is offered on a platter, not many Malays will reject such a gift. That is human nature. But what would be even more satisfying is a hard-fought campaign leading to the election of a Malay president who deserves the position based on the famously Singaporean values of grit and merit.

    That is worth waiting for. The changes to the Constitution relating to the elected presidency may have inadvertently denied me and other members of Singapore’s minority communities the pleasure of seeing that happen.

     

    Source: The Straits Times

  • Trump Seru Henti Ganggu Golongan Minoriti, Umum Tidak Akan Terima Gaji Presiden

    Trump Seru Henti Ganggu Golongan Minoriti, Umum Tidak Akan Terima Gaji Presiden

    Donald Trump dalam wawancara televisyennya yang pertama sebagai bakal Presiden cuba menenangkan rakyat Amerika yang bimbang beliau akan mengambil tindakan terhadap masyarakat minoriti.

    Pada masa yang sama, Encik Trump memberi jaminan kepada para penyokongnya bahawa beliau tidak akan mengecewakan mereka dalam hal hak menggunakan senjata api, menggugurkan bayi atau imigresen.

    Bakal Presiden Amerika Syarikat itu – yang kemenangan mengejutnya dalam pilihan raya mencetuskan bantahan selama berhari-hari – memberitahu para penunjuk perasaan bahawa mereka tidak ada sebab untuk bimbang tentang tempoh beliau sebagai pemimpin negara itu.

    “Jangan takut. Kami akan mengembalikan negara kami,” katanya dalam wawancara bersama rancangan ’60 Minutes’ di CBS.

    TRUMP “SEDIH” MINORITI JADI SASARAN

    Encik Trump berkata beliau “sedih” dengan laporan-laporan bahawa insiden-insiden mengganggu dan menakut-nakutkan masyarakat minoriti melonjak sejak beliau dipilih sebagai presiden – dan menyeru agar ia dihentikan.

    “Saya tidak suka mendengar tentangnya. Saya sangat sedih mendengarnya. Jika ini membantu, saya akan katakannya, dan saya akan katakannya kepada kamera: Hentikannya,” kata Encik Trump apabila ditanya tentang lapoan-laporan tersebut.

    Jutaan orang dijangka menonton ’60 Minutes’ untuk mendapat tahu bagaimana hartawan itu akan mentadbir negara, dan sejauh manakah beliau berniat untuk menukar slogan-slogan kempennya menjadi dasar negara.

    Encik Trump memberi isyarat jelas tentang beberapa isu kepada para pengundinya.

    Beliau mengesahkan rancangan untuk secara agresif menghantar pulang atau memenjarakan sehingga tiga juta pendatang haram – mereka yang mempunyai rekod jenayah.

    Encik Trump juga berdiri teguh dengan ikrarnya untuk membina tembok di sempadan Mexico.

    Beliau juga memberi isyarat tidak akan cuba mengubah undang-undang yang membolehkan perkahwinan sama jenis di Amerika Syarikat.

    Encik Trump turut berkata beliau tidak akan menerima gaji AS$400,000 (S$566,000) yang diberikan kepada presiden Amerika Syarikat.

    “Saya tidak akan ambil gaji ini. Saya rasa menurut undang-undang, saya harus ambil AS$1, jadi saya akan ambil AS$1 setiap tahun,” katanya.

    Source: Berita MediaCorp

  • Malay Boy Helps Old Chinese Stranger Buy Food From Non-Halal Stall

    Malay Boy Helps Old Chinese Stranger Buy Food From Non-Halal Stall

    We sometimes have a tendency to judge strangers for their actions without appreciating the full story behind them.

    Take for example Twitter user Shaidlyn’s, who tweeted a video showing her boyfriend purchasing food from a non-halal stall.

    While they were purchasing the food, it seems some people were judging them, chiefly because it happened to be a Chinese cai png stall.

    Screenshot from Twitter
    Screenshot from Twitter

    The meal they tapao-ed consisted of a variety of ingredients, including pork.

    Now, needless to say, it is wrong to judge any other person for buying food in the first place, whatever creed or religion you assume they might possess or practise.

    But, as it turns out, the judgemental hawker centre patrons didn’t even have that moral high ground to stand on — the two of them were actually helping an elderly man buy the meal.

    Screenshot from Twitter
    Screenshot from Twitter

    Books and covers.

     

    Source: http://mothership.sg