Rilek1Corner

Tag: SAP

  • Osman Sulaiman: Government Must Work For, Not Against, Singaporeans To Foster Nation Building

    Osman Sulaiman: Government Must Work For, Not Against, Singaporeans To Foster Nation Building

    The coming presidential election reserved for Malay candidates has divided the nation with some polarised views.

    Often enough, the PAP gov has been quick to accuse the alternatives as playing racial politics. But the mother of all racist policies originated and created by this gov.

    Our pride from being a multi-racial society, living side by side, co-existing happily is all but a facade that this gov would want us to believe.

    Its brand of politics is never about empowering the people but rather to divide us against each other.

    How else would we explain this?

    1. The existence of SAP schools where those who are not able to speak mandarin are not eligible

    2. The subtle exclusion of the Malay/Muslim citizens in the Navy through its hollow reasoning of not being able to accommodate space for halal diet.

    3. Its perverse reasoning that the society is not ready for a minority Prime Minister.

    4. The appalling act of discrimination through its policy to deny job opportunities for those wearing the tudung.

    5. We are further divided in schools through elitism and streaming of students at a young age.

    The society will never be able to progress as a nation until our leaders act for us. Not against us.

     

    Source: Khan Osman Sulaiman

  • Damanhuri Abas: High Time Government Treats Madrasahs More Fairly

    Damanhuri Abas: High Time Government Treats Madrasahs More Fairly

    Four of my five children are in Madrasah. They spanned 3 out of the 6 remaining full-time Madrasah still providing valuable service to the Muslim community. The Madrasah is a vital educational institution serving both iconic and strategic value to the interest and identity of the local Muslim community. The recent adjustment to allow Madrasah students to get Students yearly per capita grants for extra-curricular programs are overdue but nonetheless welcomed and helpful.

    Yet decades on, the government is still only making baby steps towards acting as they should to provide equal share of aid to all educational institutions that serves the arduous task to the public of providing learning for our next generation. Just because it is a religious institution that is privately owned do not in any way justify an exclusion from its rightful entitlement for public aid when it is crystal clear that the Madrasah have no profit motives in doing their selfless work for the Muslim community.

    It was only like yesterday when the Muslim community had to rally behind these 6 full-time Madrasah when changes to the education act were made imposing compulsory secular education upon them. By the Grace of God, far from wrapping up, the Madrasah raised up their game and vigorously struggled and came up to speed in meeting the conditions imposed upon them. Backed by a very strong united collective community-driven action, they continued to move forward under severe duress straining and testing them tremendously along the way.

    It was never a level playing field for the 6 surviving full-time Madrasah. Some had to struggle under enormous circumstances to keep the listing institution alive and floating believing in their relevance and value to the community. Financially, the Madrasah were severely tested having to cope with burden of staff salary, operational cost from maintenance, upkeep, etc., to ensuring educationally robust infra-structure within severe spatial constraints to meet the ever changing challenging new educational needs for their students.

    It was nothing short of a miracle that with only the heavily subsidized fees paid by parents which barely covered not more than 30% of operational cost, the deluge of donations from the community became the vital lifeline for the Madrasah over the last few decades until today. But surely this is a great affront to justice, fairness and equality that the 6 Madrasah continue to be denied the equivalent financial support they should have been entitled to like other similar religiously based schools that runs in Singapore providing selfless services to their communities.

    Why does the Government choose to discriminate against the Madrasah by denying their full right to be fully funded as a legitimate educational institution in this country serving the public with no profit motives?

    We can see religious based schools among them the Buddhist based schools such as Manjusri and Maha Bodhi operating in spanking buildings paid for by taxpayers money. We have even huge buildings for Christian based schools from convent schools such as CHIJ to St Andrews, St Joseph and many more with some even sitting on prime sites in various parts of this Island. We then have the race based Chinese schools with its strong Confucious ethics and Chinese identity with the label of SAP schools endowed with even more glorious infra-structure. The only exceptions are our Hindu brethren as the second biggest minority without any religious or ethnic based school.

    The Government must answer for its refusal to give equal treatment like what is accorded to the other religious or ethnic based schools but not to the Madrasah. The past excuses are really unacceptable when we think of the severely imbalanced provision given to the examples of the list of religious and ethnic based schools mentioned above.

    Here the Muslim community had never asked for special provision, it is simply equal, fair and just treatment that we are asking from the Government. There is no justification for the Government not providing all the material support needed by the Madrasah like any other educational institutions that serves the people albeit a designated group in society, the Muslim families who chooses to school their children in the Madrasah.

    The selective arguments that Madrasah is a private school do not hold water. The Madrasah is a private school categorised as Islamic schools in the Ministry of Education apart from other private schools in general and directly under the purview of the Islamic Council of Singapore, MUIS.

    This demarcation shows the unique position of the Madrasah as an essentially Muslim community based school and not a strictly private school with profit motives. How can the Government choose to place the Madrasah on the same status as other profit-driven private schools knowing fully well that they never functioned today as a strictly private entity but exists only as first an Islamic educational service provider for the Muslim community and now fully running national curriculum too?

    The recent news of the merger of JCs leaving potentially unused infra-structure should be good news for the 6 full-time Madrasah as they should have first right of refusal to occupy the premise under subsidized or even rental free occupancy since they were not given any funding or privileges for decades before to build on any land provisioned with the luxury of space conducive and ideal for an educational institution comparable to other national ones or the religious/ethnic based ones mentioned earlier.

    It is overdue that the Government be just and fair to the 4% or less of Muslim students who chooses Madrasah as their choice of school so that the constitutional demands that each Singaporean child be given equal opportunity to access the best education in sufficiently provided space for full holistic learning of the mind and physique be met. This grotesque marginalization of Madrasah and the education it offers must end as it goes against the spirit of our beloved country’s constitution that guarantees equal rights and access to quality education regardless of race, language or religion.

     

    Source: Damanhuri Bin Abas

  • Former NYJC Student: I Was Some Of Schoolmates First Malay Friend

    Former NYJC Student: I Was Some Of Schoolmates First Malay Friend

    The school’s name, Nanyang, refers to the lands south of China, which were in the Chinese sphere of influence for centuries.

    And the members of Nanyang Junior College’s (NYJC) school management committee were all Chinese.

    But the Serangoon school’s Chinese roots did not deter Ms Nur Fazlina Arzami, now a 22-year-old sociology undergraduate at the National University of Singapore, from choosing to go there after she left Tanjong Katong Girls’ School (TKGS) in 2011.

    “After the O levels, my friends and I visited many open houses. When I went to NYJC, it had a very vibrant environment… There were even performances by Malay dancers, and I didn’t feel any ‘Chinese-ness’ when I went there.”

    She ended up listing the school as one of her top choices as she wanted to get out of her comfort zone.

    She said: “From the school name and the location alone, I knew that there would not be as many Malays in the school compared with TKGS. But instead of going to another JC where there would be many of my former schoolmates, I wanted to try making new friends.”

    During Ms Fazlina’s time at NYJC, many schoolmates told her that she was their first Malay friend.

    One reason for this, she later found out, was that many of them were from Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools, including Chung Cheng High School (Main), which is affiliated to NYJC.

    There were fewer than 30 non-Chinese students in her cohort. But Ms Fazlina said that friendships developed naturally during interaction in class and co-curricular activities.

    She saw this as a chance for both sides to learn more about each other’s cultures.

    “My non-Muslim friends have become familiar with my routines, such as me praying regularly in the day. When we go out, I will have to take a break and they just wait for me – it’s become very comfortable.

    “Sometimes, they call me a ‘closet Chinese’, which is a bit problematic because it shows that we still have stereotypical views of what constitutes a Malay or a Chinese.”

    NYJC, which was under principal Kwek Hiok Chuang for more than a decade until he retired last year, had a very “open and welcoming” environment, recalled Ms Fazlina.

    But while the number of non-Chinese students has increased – ranging between 50 and 100 in the JC2 cohort of about 700 students – she thinks that it would be helpful if students from SAP schools had an earlier opportunity to mix with those of other races, instead of waiting till JC.

    She said: “(Given how) I’m the first Malay friend for many students, perhaps SAP schools should be open to applicants of other races, providing Malay or Tamil language classes even as they keep their Chinese heritage.

    “There’s a lot of benefit to be gained from interacting with people who are different from you.

    “The world is more globalised now, and you may have to go overseas and adapt to situations…

    “It will help develop you into someone who can talk to various people from different backgrounds.”

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Tamil-Hindu Student Felt Real Discrimination And Racism In His Junior College

    Tamil-Hindu Student Felt Real Discrimination And Racism In His Junior College

    Post #1:

    “I entered the next phase of my life in JC not knowing much about the inequalities and discrimination faced by Singaporeans. I was from an English speaking Christian school and mixing around with other races was not much of an issue. I must also admit that I was from a rather privileged family background.

    I am Indian, more specifically a mix of a Tamil and Gujarati heritage, and am born a Hindu. These labels are important as we embrace diversity – not to divide, but to appreciate the rich diversity around us.

    In JC, the first thing I noticed as I stepped into my new class was how nearly everyone was speaking in Chinese (Mandarin). Most of the students in my class (and my JC) were from Chinese SAP Schools. I still remember one of the first questions a classmate asked me – “”Are you Malay?””. I do not look Malay in any way, but to him as I later found out, as long as you are lighter skinned, you are Malay – likewise, if you are darker skinned you are definitely Indian.

    The acute lack of awareness of other races became more and more apparent as the term progressed. Another one of my classmates (who is from another notable SAP School), did not know what Halal food meant and my exasperated reply to him led me to discover further that he didn’t know that Hindus were not allowed to eat beef. The ignorance only scratched the surface.

    A disturbing number of of these SAP school students sang their school songs in Chinese, spoke in Chinese at home, to their friends, and everywhere else. They learnt a lot about China and Confucius teachings. They have an unhealthy obsession and love for China, it’s history and the rise of China as a superpower. The lives were almost entirely sino-centric and failed to appreciate and understand the diversity in our own home, let alone the rest of the world. There I said it. Many people think it, but do not talk about it. On their own, there is nothing wrong with the above. But SAP schools do not equip their students for a further beyond their safe zone of Chinese friends, colleagues, bosses etc. As many Indians can attest to, the discrimination and prejudice faced by Indians in the working world arises partly from the above.

    Another of my classmate, who was also Indian (thankfully, ‘cos I wouldn’t have survived alone), was called names such as “”blacky””, the usual “”you’re so dark I can’t see you in the photo””, “”do you get sun burns?””, “”why do you have such curly hair?”” etc. Many of these comments would stun Indians who have never experienced them. For example, this girl has the loveliest hair, was very pretty and had a gorgeous smile. I must admit, I did have a little crush on her when I first met her. Coming from an all-boy school, this was indeed refreshing. On a side note, most of the other classes did not have any Indians. I guess most Indians preferred to head to the other top JC where diversity was not much of an issue (if only I’d known this sooner).

    I digress. So, I admired her tenacity and grit as she acted nonchalant, and occasionally defended herself. I mean when 18 students gang up against you, there’s only so much you can say and do. While I never partook in calling her names, I regret not having done more to defend, not just her, but Indians and minorities in general.

    Part of the reason I did not was because I did not understand the issues at play. We are taught that there were race riots and that we live in a perfect utopia now, but that utopia cannot be tarnished by discourse. I now know that what she went through (and I) was more than just verbal abuse. It is a systemic bullying that is institutionalised and readily passed on from grandparents to parents, and now their children.

    We do not have open and frank conversations about racism and discrimination. For starters, what is racism? Is it just about hating a particular race? I daresay, no! Sadly, many Singaporeans still think that their ignorance is not racism, their lack of trust, stereotypes of other races, are harmless. It is not. These very thought processes have led to the systemic marginalisation, prejudice, discrimination that Indians face later on in their lives (I’m sure Malays face these problems too, if not worse).

    So when are we really gonna sit up and get real with ourselves? I watched Viola Davis’ Emmy acceptance speech and was wow-ed. In Singapore though, an Indian person could not have said that, and even if s/he did, s/he would not have gotten away with it.

    I see everything much clearer now, and I hope more minorities, and the majority (sorry, but I have very low expectations of the majority), would stand up and make our voices heard.

    Thank you for creating this platform. I apologise if I’ve touched on many issues (labels, diversity, SAP schools, ignorance, lack of discourse etc.), I just have too much I would like to say. Hope I have brought up some thought provoking points! ”

    —
    Also keep the posts coming, the entire point to this platform is to touch on touchy issues, we’ll never be able to deal with them if we can’t talk about them!

     

    Source: I’m Not Racist, But