Tag: race

I Don’t Wish My Hindu Neighbour Happy Deepavali But We Get Along Very Well

Saya berjiran dengan keluarga berbangsa india berugama hindu untuk hampir 15 tahun. Kami saling menghormati dan menyayangi walaupun saya tidak pernah mengucapkan happy deepavali kepada mereka.

Malahan semasa memakai kain ihram untuk berangkat menunaikan haji beberapa tahun lalu, jiran hindu ini menawarkan untuk hantar saya ke airport. dia sempat kata, kain ihram yang saya pakai seumpama kain yang dia pakai untuk upacara keugamaan hariannya.

…

I am neighbours with an Indian-Hindu family for about 15 years. We respect and appreciate each other even though I never wish them Happy Deepavali.

In fact when I was wearing the ihram before heading for the haj a few months ago, this Hindu neighbour offered to send me to the airport. He even said that the ihram that i was wearing is similar to the cloth he uses for during his Hindu events.

Source: Abdullah Othman

January 22, 2016
Zulfikar Shariff: Malays’ Non-Confrontational Attribute Prevents Them From Raising Discrimination Issues More Frequently

When we raise issues of discrimination in Singapura, one common response from non-Malays (usually Chinese) is that…

“It cannot be true. Why have I not heard of this before? I know some Malays and they did not tell me this.”

There are several obvious reasons.

1. You may know them but you do not really get to know them. They do not share with you.

2. You are actually not interested to know. You just want to defend the system.

3. You do not understand the culture and interaction style of the Malays.

The Malay culture seeks to avoid conflict. They do not like confrontation.

If saying something may make someone else uncomfortable they will rather keep quiet.

Some accuse Malays of “Tidak apa” attitude. This attitude is actually born out of their desire for peaceful relations.

Two of the main characteristics of Malay interaction are musyawarah and muafakat, usually translated as consultation and consensus building respectively.(Haacke, 2003, p. 4).

However, while these words are translated into English, what they mean have not been fully understood.

They mean much more than their translations.

They miss the subtleties of musyawarah and muafakat as social and political traditions.

Muafakat, which is a desired outcome of musyawarah, exists in the Malay social interaction as part of budi(Chong, 2012, p. 34). Budi in turn, is a key concept of Malay culture, and forms “part of the ethnic “self-image” of the Malay “bangsa, nation, race’”(Goddard, 2000, p. 87).

Wan Norhasniah Wan Husin(cited in Chong, 2012, pp. 10-11) identify budi as a social norm that encompasses the Malay world from the Peninsula to Sulawesi, Borneo and the Malay groups in the Philippines.

It refers to the Malay mode of social interaction that emphasizes harmony, good treatment of others, kindness and peaceful relations(Chong, 2012, p. 10; Goddard, 2000, p. 87).

According to Dahlan, ‘‘budi is composed of virtuous qualities such as hemah tinggi (generosity), hormat (respect), ikhlas (sincerity), mulia (righteous), timbang rasa (considerate), jaga hati (caring), budi bicara (discretion)…’’

He further notes that ‘‘the budi thinking man is never direct and forthright in his ways: his ways are subtle…to be blunt, direct and forthright especially if the end result is negative…is considered rude and out of tune in the Malay polite system…

Hence a budi thinking man is by nature polite and conflict-avoiding’’(cited in Paramasivam, 2007, p. 95) .

Muafakat can then be understood as the outcome of a social tradition that forms the Malay self-image which emphasizes virtue, subtlety, discretion, harmony and peaceful relations. It is not simply consensus building. Decision making has to lead to contentment and peaceful acceptance of every party involved.

Muafakat, musyawarah and budi are part of the Malay identity. It is so strongly held that it is one of the most defining attributes.

And the Malays expect a similar response. They expect those they interact with to similarly show these characteristics they hold as important.

And when they stop showing these characteristics, it is a sign that for them, the relationship may be over.

And do not expect anymore muafakat or budi from them.

References:

Acharya, A. (2003). Democratisation and the prospects for participatory regionalism in Southeast Asia. Third World Quarterly, 24(2), 375-390.

Chong, J. W. (2012). ” Mine, Yours or Ours?”: The Indonesia-Malaysia Disputes over Shared Cultural Heritage. Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, 27(1), 1-53.

Goddard, C. (2000). ” Cultural Scripts” and Communicative Style in Malay (” Bahasa Melayu”). Anthropological linguistics, 81-106.

Haacke, J. (2003). ASEAN’s diplomatic and security culture : origins, development and prospects. Richmond: Routledge.

Paramasivam, S. (2007). Managing disagreement while managing not to disagree: Polite disagreement in negotiation discourse. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 36(2), 91-116.

Source: Zulfikar Shariff

January 20, 2016
Zulfikar Shariff: PAP Perpetuating Racism In Singapore

Inevitably, the discussion about PAP’s racist policies bring in those who defend these policies.

But what I noticed is that the divide is not between the different races.

These policies that discriminated against the Malays were not implemented by Chinese or Indians or Eurasians or any other race or nationality in Singapura.

It was created and implemented by the PAP.

Those who came to defend and seek to perpetuate this racism….appears to be mainly if not solely..

PAP members or supporters.

The Malays, Indians, Chinese, Jews, Armenians etc do not really have much of an issue with each other.

The racists who defend these policies do so because it implicates their party.

We can see how the different nations in Singapura, when left to their own, will support each other.

As can be seen during the Tradegy Natra (Maria Hertogh) in 1950, Chinese in Singapura, supported the Malays.

And they persuaded the British to help the Malay community.

According to Assoc Prof Khairudin:

“The largest Chinese daily newspaper, the Nanyang Siang Pao, urged the British to ‘think thrice’ before making a legal decision in the upcoming appeal trial. The move to restore Maria Hertogh to her foster mother and husband would be of no great loss to Britain’s diplomatic ally; the Dutch.

On the other hand, the Malays were an important and integral part of the British Empire. The British should therefore ensure the repatriation of Maria Hertogh back to Singapore to avoid the violation of the religious rights of the Muslims, which could potentially lead to further bloodshed and violence.

The Kuomintang newspaper, Sin Chew Jit Poh, called upon the British, the Dutch and the Muslims to allow Maria Hertogh to decide for herself whether she wished to reside in the Netherlands or Malaya.

The paper stressed that Dutch diplomatic relations with other Muslim countries, such as Indonesia and Pakistan, would most certainly be jeopardized if custody of Maria Hertogh were to be awarded to her natural parents.

Another observer who identified himself as a ‘Straits Chinese’ expressed his regrets that the ‘very good name of the Singapore Malays and Muslims, who are regarded as a most law-abiding community in the colony has been besmirched (Straits Times, 17 December 1950).”

If any such events are ever to happen again, I have no doubt the ordinary Chinese, Indian, Eurasian etc in Singapura will once again defend the Malays.

And I have no doubt…the PAP Internet Brigade will lead the charge against the Malays.

Reference:

Aljunied, Khairudin. Heng, “Beyond the Rhetoric of Communalism:
Violence and the Process of Reconciliation in 1950s Singapore” Derek Thiam Soon, and Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied, eds. Reframing Singapore: Memory, Identity, Trans-regionalism. Vol. 6. Amsterdam University Press, 2009. p. 73

Source: Zulfikar Shariff

January 18, 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
Analysts: Critical For Diverse Views To Be Heard

The need to refresh the political system as Singapore’s circumstances change highlighted by President Tony Tan in his opening address to the 13th Parliament last night (Jan 15) caught some political observers’ eyes, as they suggested the Government could tap new approaches to better capture the full spectrum of diverse perspectives on the ground.

While they acknowledged the Government’s efforts to this end, in terms of dialogues and public consultations, the analysts said going beyond these existing initiatives would go towards Dr Tan’s call for Singapore to stay cohesive and move forward together.

Calling for views to be gathered from avenues beyond Government-endorsed dialogues, such as blogs, forums or civil society, former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Siew Kum Hong said: “There needs to be the recognition that disagreement, dissent and conflict are not necessarily unhealthy, as without those things, we are doomed to fail.”

“If you want to be fully inclusive, bring (these groups) in and engage them on their own terms.”

In the face of greater diversity of views in society, changing Singaporeans’ mindsets is also important, said former NMP Eugene Tan. Singaporeans also need to be open-minded when considering different perspectives and allowing robust debate could help drive this mindset change, he added.

“(Diverse views) reflect a society that is becoming more complex … The only way you can deal with it is for people to be able to engage in robust debate … and not treating the differences in values as existential challenges,” said the Singapore Management University law don.

Institute of Policy Studies’ deputy director Gillian Koh noted, however, that a government-society partnership is not without challenges since ideas being pushed for may be driven by personal interests.

“The argument should be done with integrity and for that purpose and not with some hidden agenda … We want shared governance, but this is the real danger of that shared governance going wrong,” she said.

The experts also cited a list of other possible tweaks when it comes to refreshing the political system, including expanding the Non-Constituency MP slate and changing the selection process for NMPs.

Smaller Group Representation Constituencies could also be instituted, they said.

On the five key aims set out by Dr Tan for Parliament’s new term, the political observers flagged the focus on renewing the economy as the most pressing concern to Singaporeans.

Not only will Singaporeans be keeping close tabs on how the Government rejuvenates the economy, Associate Professor Tan said they will look at how the authorities will help those who could emerge as “losers” with economic restructuring.

Dr Alan Chong from the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies also flagged the dark clouds over the economy now, citing the stock market turbulence in China and the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates.

The economy and urban infrastructure like transport are naturally closely-watched as they are tangible aspects that will affect daily lives, he added.

Assoc Prof Tan said security is also likely to be one of the Government’s top priorities, given the string of Islamic State terror attacks, including most recently in Jakarta two days ago.

“(The Government will) want to assure not just people living here but people who are invested in Singapore, people who might want to invest in Singapore,” he added.

Source: www.todayonline.com

January 16, 2016