Tag: Singapore

  • Alfian Sa’at: Why Criticise Use Of “Syonan”If We Can Accept Other Depictions Of Us?

    Alfian Sa’at: Why Criticise Use Of “Syonan”If We Can Accept Other Depictions Of Us?

    Syonan–light of the south. South of what? Japan, of course, and then we arrive at the idea of Singapore being a beacon of Japanese power in the dark, unknown southern frontiers. The Nipponcentricism is without a doubt offensive to those who live here, who counter that they are not the peripheral, the unmapped, a people who are not counted until they are encountered.

    But why be uneasy with ‘Syonan’ and have no discomfort with ‘Nanyang’ or ‘South Sea’? Also a reference to the south, this time the south of China? And all the islands, distinct in the cultures and peoples, homogenised into the ‘seas’. Syonan has a gallery. Nanyang has a university, a polytechnic, a junior college, an academy of fine arts, various other schools…

    No, how can you compare an act of military expansion with what was primarily waves of primarily economic migration? But to speak of ourselves as the south is to always imagine the centre as elsewhere, to see ourselves as vassals onto which power is projected.

    But Singapore, in the Nusantara world, is the centre. It lies on the axis of Sri Tri Buana’s journey from Palembang to Malacca. It is the teardrop down the cheek of the Peninsula, above the lip of Riau Islands. It is the pearl flanked by the great islands of Sumatra and Borneo. It is north of one of the mighty centres of the archipelago, Java.

    There is also a violence in colonial settlement, different from the violence of military occupation.

    There is that violence in the act of naming.

     

    Source: Alfian Sa’at

  • Norshahril Saat: Tingkatkan Takrif Kesederhanaan Ke Paras Lebih Tinggi Lagi

    Norshahril Saat: Tingkatkan Takrif Kesederhanaan Ke Paras Lebih Tinggi Lagi

    Siapakah sebenarnya seorang Muslim sederhana? Menolak pengganasan atau pun sekadar menghormati orang lain dengan memberikan ucapan selamat tidak cukup untuk menunjukkan sikap sederhana. Menurut Dr Norsharil Saat, masyarakat Islam perlu pergi lebih jauh lagi dengan benar-benar menyerap nilai-nilai sejagat yang diajarkan Islam sebelum kita boleh menggelarkan diri kita Muslim sederhana.

    MASYARAKAT Melayu/Islam yang menetap di rantau ini sering dilihat sebagai satu kelompok yang mengamalkan Islam secara sederhana. Walaupun mereka kuat beragama, mereka masih memberi ruang terhadap budaya lokal.

    Orientasi kesederhanaan sedemikian mungkin natijah daripada cara Islam disebarkan ke rantau Asia Tenggara. Salah satu golongan yang memainkan peranan penting dalam penyebaran Islam di sini adalah golongan Sufi dan pedagang.

    Islam tidak disebarkan dengan cara paksa. Sebaliknya, kumpulan yang membawa Islam ke sini menitikberatkan soal akhlak selain soal ketuhanan. Mereka juga memberi masyarakat tempatan waktu untuk mengubah cara mereka berdagang, berkeluarga, bekerja, mengamalkan budaya atau adat istiadat, dalam masa yang sama mengaku sebagai seorang Muslim.

    Disebabkan peranan yang dimainkan oleh ulama-ulama terdahulu, banyak sekali aspek budaya yang masih kekal hingga ke hari ini, dan ia tidak dilihat sebagai bercanggah dengan nilai-nilai Islam. Misalnya, adat bersanding dalam majlis perkahwinan masih dikekalkan walaupun ia bukan berasal daripada Islam. Begitu juga dengan diet orang-orang Melayu, tarian Melayu, dan muzik Melayu; semuanya dikekalkan dan dianggap sebati dengan ajaran Islam.

    Tambahan lagi, kesederhanaan dinilai dari aspek masyarakat Islam yang tidak canggung bergaul dengan masyarakat bukan Islam. Prinsip ini diterapkan dalam perlembagaan negara-negara jiran kita yang majoriti Muslim.

    Perlembangaan Indonesia dan Malaysia menggaris-bawahi aspek menghormati hak-hak bukan Islam atau golongan minoriti. Ini adalah contoh bahawa pendiri-pendiri negara-negara tersebut percaya pada nilai Islam dan menghormati perbezaan.

    Merenung pada pengalaman peribadi saya sebagai seorang yang lahir pada awal 80an, dan belajar di sebuah sekolah kejiranan, saya tidak ada masalah bergaul dengan rakan-rakan sedarjah yang bukan Islam.

    Malah kita melakukan kegiatan riadah bersama, makan bersama di kantin sekolah, dan menurut serta dalam kegiatan luar darjah bersama-sama. Saya masih ingat apabila muncul musim-musim perayaan, seperti Hari Raya Puasa, Tahun Baru Cina, Krismas, atau Deepavali, pengetua sekolah kami akan menyuruh setiap pelajar untuk memberikan ucapan selamat kepada pelajar-pelajar yang lain.

    MRT bertema Krismas. (Gambar: Ernest Chua, TODAY)

    Tidak timbul pada masa itu bahawa saya seorang yang mengamalkan Islam sederhana kerana memberi ucapan tersebut, kerana itu adalah nilai universal yang dianjurkan bukan sahaja oleh agama Islam, tetapi agama-agama lain juga.

    Namun, gelaran “moderat” atau “ekstrim” dinilai dari ukuran yang berbeza hari ini. Semasa di zaman sekolah, persoalan sama ada saya boleh mengucapkan “Merry Christmas”’ kepada rakan-rakan beragama Kristian tidak timbul.

    Masyarakat Islam kita secara umumnya juga tidak meminta sebarang fatwa atau pandangan orang alim sebelum mengucapkannya. Tiada keraguan sama-sekali bahawa ucapan tersebut boleh menyebabkan saya kurang Islam.

    KONSISTEN DALAM PEMIKIRAN

    Bagi saya, hal yang lebih meruncing dalam mengamalkan Islam sederhana adalah bersikap konsisten dalam pendirian. Sikap konsisten ini perlu dinilai dari sudut pandangan terhadap dunia.

    Sebagai contoh, umat Islam tentu marah dengan sikap Presiden Amerika, Donald Trump, yang berbaur perkauman dan Islamofobik. Mereka marah dengan sekatan kemasukan imigran dari tujuh buah negara Islam.

    Kita mahu Presiden Amerika itu bersikap sederhana terhadap Muslim. Namun, apakah sikap kita terhadap pemimpin negara-negara Islam yang menghambur bibit-bibit permusuhan terhadap orang bukan Islam? Kita harus jujur tentang kelemahan pemimpin-pemimpin Islam yang bertindak di luar landasan Islam.

    Dalam masa yang sama, kita perlu muhasabah diri dalam memerhatikan tindakan kita terhadap golongan yang berbeza pandangan daripada kita. Sebagai contoh, kita seringkali mengecam golongan yang tidak berfahaman Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah (Sunni) dan terus mengatakan mereka kafir.

    Begitu juga dalam pertembungan Sufi dan Wahhabi, bila mana kedua-dua golongan sering mengatakan pendirian mereka sahaja yang betul.

    Tetapi sejauh mana masyarakat kita didedahkan dengan Deklarasi Amman, di mana tokoh-tokoh Islam terkemuka dunia bersetuju bahawa banyak sekali fahaman, Sunni, Sufi, Wahhabi, dan beberapa golongan Syiah adalah termasuk dalam golongan Islam? Seorang yang berjiwa sederhana harus berani menyatakan pendirian yang benar walaupun ia ia boleh menjejas populariti sendiri atau dikecam sebagai salah.

    (Gambar hiasan: AFP/MOHD FYROL)

    CIRI-CIRI SEDERHANA

    Di sini saya menyeru masyarakat kita agar menaikkan takrifan sederhana ke satu aras yang lebih tinggi. Isu seperti bolehkah kita memberi salam kepada penganut agama lain adalah perkara lama, dan saya tidak fikir seorang boleh digelar sederhana hanya dengan membolehkannya. Ia dibolehkan oleh majoriti ulama di merata dunia.

    Contoh yang kedua, seseorang tidak boleh digelar moderat hanya dengan mengutuk keganasan. Kutukan terhadap keganasan bukanlah ukuran bahawa seseorang berjiwa sederhana. Isu keganasan adalah isu yang jelas keluar daripada agama, bukan hanya bagi penganut agama Islam, tetapi agama-agama lain juga.

    Dalam erti kata lain, terorisme adalah masalah universal. Yang harus diberikan perhatian adalah sama ada golongan yang mengutuk terorisme ini berlaku adil terhadap masyarakat minoriti yang berbeza pandangan daripada.

    Yang lebih mendukacitakan sekali, kita hanya bersuara apabila sesuatu hal menjejas masyarakat kita atau kelompok kita, tetapi membisu apabila nilai-nilai kemanusiaan dicantas terhadap masyarakat lain.

    Kesederhanaan, pada hemat saya, adalah seorang yang benar-benar menyerap nilai-nilai universal yang diajarkan dalam agama. Ini termasuk prinsip keadilan, kejujuran, dan kemanusiaan.

    Sebelum kita menggelar agama kita sebagai sebuah agama rahmat untuk seluruh alam, kita perlu mengambil masa untuk fikirkan sejauh masa kita mendekati golongan berfahaman lain. Kalau masih ada bibit-bibit kebencian yang ditanamkan terhadap golongan minoriti—dari sudut agama, fahaman, dan gender — seseorang itu masih belum boleh bergelar moderat.


    MENGENAI PENULIS:
    Seorang pakar dan pengamat politik Asia Tenggara, Dr Norshahril Saat adalah Zamil di ISEAS – Institut Yusof Ishak.

    Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

  • PR From Germany Charged For Organising Sex Tours With Minors

    PR From Germany Charged For Organising Sex Tours With Minors

    A 45-year-old German businessman was charged on Wednesday (Feb 15) for allegedly organising tours overseas involving sex with minors.

    Michael Frank Hartung faces six charges – two for promoting sex tours, two for the possession of 245 obscene films and two for the possession of eight uncensored films.

    Hartung, a Singapore permanent resident, allegedly met two Singaporean men in September 2015 at Starbucks in Raffles City Shopping Centre to promote the sex tours.

    In April last year, he met another two Singapore permanent residents at a bar along Mackenzie Road to promote similar tours, court documents showed.

    He was arrested after investigators seized obscene and uncensored films from his home at Simei Green condominium last August.

    Hartung’s lawyer said his client plans to contest the charges.

    According to his LinkedIn profile, Hartung is a co-founder of business consulting firm OPTIIS. He also spent more than two decades at Deutsche Bank until September last year, starting out as a relationship manager before rising to the post of vice president of finance.

    Hartung is on S$15,000 bail, furnished by his wife, who is also a permanent resident. He will next appear in court on Feb 28.

    If convicted of promoting commercial sex tours involving minors, the German could be jailed up to 10 years and fined.

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Tun Dr Mahathir’s Advice To SG Malay Community: Be Resilient, Adaptable, And Never Stop Learning

    Tun Dr Mahathir’s Advice To SG Malay Community: Be Resilient, Adaptable, And Never Stop Learning

    I had the privilege to meet Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday to seek his views and advice. This is the second time I met him in person. As usual, I gained much from the meeting.

    Tun Mahathir is 92 years old but still as sharp. Very easy to talk to. His wife, Tun Siti Hasmah, 91 yrs old is still as cheerful and hospitable, making time to also chat with us.

    Although time is of a premium, we talked on many topics. From politics to social issues. The biggest takeaway from this meeting is the advice given by Tun Mahathir to our community.

    1. Be like the jews, resilient. They migrated during the period where they were persecuted, but developed their self-worth by learning and mastering the work they do and as a result? they are now able to control the world by proxies.

    2. Seek knowledge and skills that are relevant to the world economy so that we will be in demand anywhere we go.

    3. If we are an employee, worm our way to the heart of our employers. Not by flattery or apple polishing but by hard work, being dependable, trustworthy and ultimately indispensable.

    4. If we are an employer or in business, work with honesty, hard work, integrity and shrewdness.

    5. We cannot single-handedly change the fate of the community. The community itself must want to excel and prosper as a whole. Only then are we able to change the condition we are in.

    Somehow, I left the place feeling sad. Time is not in his favour but yet, I think he has more to contribute positively to the society. I hope he continues to be blessed with good health and have many more good years ahead.

    Aameen.

     

    Source: Khan Osman Sulaiman

  • Singaporeans Petition For Ong Teng Cheong To Be Recognised As First Elected President

    Singaporeans Petition For Ong Teng Cheong To Be Recognised As First Elected President

    “The President shall be elected by the citizens of Singapore in accordance with any law made by the Legislature.”

    Singapore Constitution, Article 17(2).

    This is a call for the Government of Singapore, led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, to not disregard and disrespect Mr Ong Teng Cheong as our nation’s first Elected President.

    This call is made in light of remarks made in Parliament by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Mr Chan Chun Sing, on 6 February 2017.

    Mr Chan, in responding to a question from the Workers’ Party Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC, Ms Sylvia Lim, said that “President Wee Kim Wee was the first president to exercise the powers under the new Elected Presidency act”, and thus Mr Wee was Singapore’s first Elected President.

    Mr Chan said that the Government was advised on this by the Attorney General.

    Mr Wee is the fourth of Singapore’s seven presidents.

    We contend that the Attorney General is wrong in advising the Government that Mr Wee was our country’s first Elected President simply because Mr Wee had exercised the powers under the Elected President scheme; and we ask that the honour be rightly bestowed on Mr Ong Teng Cheong instead.

    We present the following reasons for this call.

    – Mr Wee, who held the post of president with distinction and honour, was nonetheless unelected, a fundamental requirement of our Constitution. He did not present himself to the people of Singapore as a candidate. Instead, Mr Wee was appointed by then Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew.

    – No other candidate was able to present himself as a challenge to Mr Wee and to let the people of Singapore choose or make their choice in a democratic and open election.

    – Mr Ong had relinquished his position as a minister in the Government, resigned his post from the People’s Action Party (PAP), before offering himself as a candidate for the Elected Presidency.

    – Mr Ong faced an opponent in Mr Chua Kim Yeow, a former Accountant General, in an open and democratic presidential election in 1993. Mr Ong won the popular vote and became our 5th President, and our First Elected President.

    Also, we note that through the last 24 years since Mr Ong became Singapore’s 5th President, numerous media reports and articles have cited and recognised him as our first Elected President.

    But the highest recognition of Mr Ong as Singapore’s first Elected President came from our former Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong, himself.

    In his condolence letter to Mr Ong’s family when Mr Ong passed away in 2002, Mr Goh wrote:

    “As the first elected President, Teng Cheong had to work the two-key system…”

    Mr Goh is, of course, correct and right in recognising Mr Ong and affirming the fact that Mr Ong was indeed Singapore’s first Elected President.

    So was our founding Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, who had initiated the idea for an Elected President as far back as 1985.

    Mr Lee had said then “that Singapore might have its first elected President at the end of Mr Wee’s four-year term or, perhaps, earlier.”

    Mr Ong’s status is also recognised by curators of our nation’s history.

    The website of the National Library Board (NLB) also affirms this fact, with this title on its “History SG” page on Mr Ong:

    “ONG TENG CHEONG IS THE FIRST ELECTED PRESIDENT OF SINGAPORE”.

    Please see here: http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/a99d13…

    The basis for anyone being recognised as an Elected President is two-fold:

    1. He must offer himself as a candidate in a presidential election, so that the people of Singapore have a choice to express their wish. This is at the very heart of a democratic election, whether parliamentary or presidential. This is an unequivocal stipulation in Article 17(2) of the Constitution.

    2. Even if it turns out that there is no actual contest because of a lack of opponents, the candidate would still be recognised as the winner because he had actually stepped forward and put himself up as a candidate for the people to choose.

    The Elected President scheme was introduced so that the candidate and eventual president would have to go through an open election to get the people’s endorsement. And this was required for one very important reason:

    The Elected President must have the moral authority to act on behalf of the people in being a check on the government of the day. And he can only have such moral authority if he has the assent of the people who bestow such powers on him through the vote.

    With all due respect to Mr Wee, he did not offer himself as a candidate in an open election. This is not his fault as the scheme was introduced halfway through his term.

    Nevertheless, it would not be right to recognise him as our first Elected President.

    Professor of Law, Jack Lee, of the Singapore Management University, wrote on the Singapore Law website in 2016 that while Mr Wee was the first to exercise the powers of the Elected President scheme, “[the] provision [in the law] was carefully worded to avoid deeming Wee Kim Wee as having been elected, so although he exercised all the discretionary powers of an elected President, the first truly elected President was Ong Teng Cheong.”

    It is quite clear that Mr Ong, who fulfils all the necessary and important requirements of the Elected President scheme as stated in the Constitution, should be recognised as SINGAPORE’S FIRST ELECTED PRESIDENT.

    We must not do him a dishonour by brushing off his contribution with a simple stroke of the pen without any substantive, rational explanation.

    Mr Ong gave his whole life to public service, first as a Member of Parliament, later as minister and deputy prime minister, and finally as president.

    To now dismiss him as Singapore’s first Elected President is to dishonour him, and to dishonour Singaporeans who still hold him in the highest regard.

    It is also an attempt to re-write our history.

    We thus call on the Singapore Government to respect history and to respect Mr Ong, and to recognise him as our first Elected President.

     

    Source: www.ipetitions.com

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