Tag: Singapore

Statement By Mufti Ismail Menk

STATEMENT BY MUFTI MENK

I am deeply touched by the outpouring of care and support since the incident in Singapore, where my permit to speak at a conference was not approved.

I was informed just over a week before the event that the speaking permit did not come through. The organizers told me they would make an appeal. I travelled to Singapore nonetheless and on the eve of the event, the appeal was unsuccessful.

I did not attend the conference and left that night for Sri Lanka.

In the interim, many things have been said about me and rumours have been flying around. Many are factually wrong.

As these comments have reached international audiences, I have no choice but to react to this and to explore my legal options. I am not interested in monetary compensation. I just want to stop the baseless allegations which I believe have been made to harm my reputation.

I have never preached anything but peace. My work is up on public platforms for all to see.

I have been speaking in Singapore since 2012 and I am looking forward to going back there for future talks. I want to thank all of you for your love and concern.

May the Almighty protect and guide us all. Aameen

Source: Mufti Ismail Menk

December 10, 2015
Singaporean Shortlisted For US$1M Teaching Prize, Will Not Compete

Greenview Secondary School teacher Muhammad Nazir Amir, who teaches science by getting his students to design toys , was on Wednesday (Dec 9) morning named one of the 50 finalists shortlisted for a US$1 million (S$1.4 million) teaching prize by a Dubai-based education charity.

But in a surprise turn of events, Dr Nazir, 38, who won the President’s Award for Teachers last year, said he was not proceeding with the competition.

“I am very happy and honoured to be in the Top 50 but am not proceeding further due to personal reasons,” he told The Straits Times.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Varkey Foundation, which gives out the prize dubbed the “Nobel Prize for teachers”, said that the 50 finalists were arrived at after whittling down 8,000 nominations from 148 countries.

The number of shortlisted applicants will be further reduced from 50 to 10, and their names will be announced in February next year.

The winner will be announced at the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai in March.

The yearly prize was launched last year to recognise exceptional teachers who go the extra mile for their students and contribute to the profession as a whole.

In a press statement on Wednesday, the Varkey Foundation said: “By unearthing thousands of stories of heroes that have transformed young people’s lives, the prize hopes to bring to life the exceptional work of millions of teachers all over the world.”

It said that Dr Nazir, who has a PhD in science and design and technology education from the National Institute of Education, developed the RAP (relevant, appealing and personal) teaching approach for Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects to better engage with students, particularly those who are less academically inclined.

His lessons include getting students to build toys using scientific principles for storytelling.

This approach has contributed to a high level of passes among his students.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, who supports the prize, said: “Teachers are entrusted with nurturing the potential of the young and helping them blossom as productive and responsible members of society.”

This year, Ms Nancie Atwell from Maine in the United States won the prize.

She was recognised for her work in teaching children to read and write.

She planned to donate all the money to the Centre for Teaching and Learning, a non-profit demonstration school that she founded in 1990.

The winners will receive their US$1 million prize money over 10 years, and will be asked to serve as global ambassadors for the Varkey Foundation, attending events and speaking about their work.

But they will also be required to remain working as classroom teachers for at least five years as a condition of winning the award.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

December 10, 2015
Walid J. Abdullah: Singaporean Majority Must Not Be In Denial About Racism Here

I still find it amazing that people claim there is no racism in Singapore. What is more incredible is that often, these are the same people who say that we need to continue having the GRCs, as racial voting still occurs (contradiction much).

I do not deny that many people are unaware of ‘Chinese privilege’ simply because they are not in a disadvantaged position, and there really is no malice on their part. For these people, after reasoned explanations, they usually accept that being in the majority brings about certain benefits (for example, you are not required to ‘integrate’ or ‘prove yourself).

But for some people, they are just in denial. And their reason for holding such beliefs is: ‘of course there is no racism, i have never witnessed it.’

To paraphrase my favourite comedian, Jon Stewart, just because it is snowing outside your window, it doesn’t mean that global warming isn’t taking place.

Source: Walid J. Abdullah

December 10, 2015
Female Malay “Tour Organiser” And Alleged Serial Cheat Scammed Four Busloads Of Port Dickson Trip

Scammed so call tourist coordinator Sarafina Hairi aka Rynn Hairi cheated more than few hundreds of people for holiday get away, and now with almost 100 of us 4 buses to be exact, families, children and unfortunate mak chik pak chik sold thier tissue papers just to come here!

Hopefully justice will take actions on her, oh yes, when we all return from Port Dickson

More informations from friends and public, hopefully this will lead to the authorities. We cant do anything now!!! Because we are still here in Port Dickson!!

Help!!! Somebody call or share this and all our post to the police!!!

Source: Rifah ShaPutra Hamid Alkaff

December 5, 2015
Hazrul A. Jamari: Authorities Must Take More Nuanced Approach Or Lose Goodwill Of Muslim Community, Organisers Must Be More Accountable

There are many sides to a story. We are ultimately responsible to weed out the lies and half truths so that we can get to the bottom of things. Here are my opinions of the saga that has captured the Muslim community lately.

1. Adab is paramount. Even if one disagrees, a certain level of decorum is expected among Muslims.

2. Regardless of whatever sources of truth, the ultimate standard is never to takfir any person who is a Muslim. In this respect I find the group of asatizahs and Muslims who are anti-Wahabbi guilty of the very things some of the extremists are guilty of. To use Islamic text as an excuse to perform takfir on another set of Muslims. This ultimately creates unrest and division.

3. Whether or not Wahabbi ideology is correct is a discussion for another day. What’s important is has the Islamic personality admitted he is one? Assuming that Wahabbi ideology is bad or evil, if it is, has he preached any evil?

4. There must be a distinction between a Salafi and a Wahabbi. A Salafi considers being called Wahabbi derogatory. Salafis according to anthropological opinion are made up of purists, politically activists and jihadists, the first two completely disagreeing with the jihadists. The jihadists are in fact in the minority. Whereas Salafi purists preach good and peace and are apolitical or politically passive compared to the other types. I am in the opinion Mufti Menk, if he is a Salafi, falls under the purists category. He has preached nothing but peace.

5. Definitely we must root out extremism in our society. But must the targets be indiscriminate? I think this is the mistake by the security apparatus to perceive a speaker of ultimate credentials and popularity as a security threat. Without actual hard proofs a ban on the personality is counter-productive to the good will between the state and the Muslim population. It creates distrust between them and is likely to influence perceptions that the state mistrusts the Muslim population and would prefer to exercise control and dictate the kind of Muslims that we should be.

6. Organizers of such religious talks must be held into higher accountability. They should not market or advertise if they have not secured a license and even if they do, they need to be transparent with what steps they did. For example, assuming that it was necessary to market the conference without a confirmation of the license, the Organiser must be upfront with the public that the license is being applied and the availability of the personality is pending the approval of such licenses. Otherwise, even if the organizers are well meaning and have good credibility, as long as they were not transparent from the point of marketing to sale, people will likely express their disappointment. As they say, you can take ages to build credibility. But it takes only seconds to lose it.

Source: Hazrul A. Jamari

December 4, 2015