Tag: Singapore

Bilahari Kausikan: Young Chinese In Malaysia ‘Delusional’ To Think Malay Domination Can Change

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 — Malaysia’s ethnic Chinese youth are “delusional” if they believe that Malay dominance in politics can be replaced by a change in the system, Singapore’s ambassador-at-large Bilahari Kausikan has said.

Instead, the top Singaporean diplomat said this dominance will be defended by any means, including a possible political alliance between Malay nationalist ruling party Umno and opposition Islamist party PAS.

“It is my impression that many young Malaysian Chinese have forgotten the lessons of May 13, 1969. They naively believe that the system built around the principle of Malay dominance can be changed.

“That may be why they abandoned MCA for the DAP. They are delusional. Malay dominance will be defended by any means,” Bilahari wrote in an opinion piece published in The Straits Times (ST) today.

Amid the current political upheaval in Malaysia, Bilahari cautioned that any new system that emerges will not only still have Malay dominance at its centre, but its enforcement will be even more rigorous with less space for the non-Muslims.

Singapore’s former permanent secretary for foreign affairs said that as Umno relies even more on religion for legitimacy, it will look to political rival PAS—which is now being led by conservative clerics after purging itself of their moderate leaders—for support.

“Umno and PAS may eventually form some sort of de facto if not de jure alliance that could be the core of a new ruling system,” said Bilahari.

“There may be token ornaments of other races, but the Malaysian system will then comprise an overwhelmingly dominant Malay government with a DAP-led Chinese opposition. This will be potentially explosive.”

According to Bilahari, the ongoing 1 Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal has quickened the pace towards the formation of such a system, foreshadowed by the recent Bersih 4 rally that he said was dominated by the ethnic Chinese.

Bilahari also urged Singapore to let Malaysia solve its own political woes, as any systemic change will have a profound change over the Causeway even when Singapore practises the separation of religion and state.

“Are we completely immune to contagion from Malaysia? After 50 years, does our collective Singapore identity now trump racial identities? Maybe under some circumstances. Optimistically, perhaps even most circumstances. But under all circumstances?

“I doubt it. Let us wish Malaysia well and hope that the worst does not occur,” said Bilahari.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) suggested that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s fight for political survival has not only created divisions in ruling Umno but recently, also sparked racial discord in multiracial Malaysia.

In the article, WSJ took stock of recent developments on Malaysia’s political front, particularly the 34-hour Bersih 4 rally and the #Merah169 counter-protest, two events it said had sparked this purported racial discord.

Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

October 9, 2015
Indonesia Government Does Not Want Singapore To Claim Credit For Combating Haze, Rejected Earlier Offers

JAKARTA — Indonesian Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said that Jakarta had earlier rejected Singapore’s offers of assistance to combat the transboundary haze crisis in the region because it was concerned that the city state would claim credit for solving the problem, even while the officials were worried about the rapidly deteriorating situation.

“The (Indonesian) government is not closing ourselves off to assistance. But if we are assisted, the government does not want them (Singapore) to claim the credit. It is the government that is working hard to resolve (this smog disaster) … So we do not want it to reach the point of them claiming credit for it,” Mr Anung told CNN Indonesia yesterday (Oct 7).

According to Indonesian media reports, President Joko Widodo held an unscheduled closed-door meeting yesterday to discuss the haze problem, which has worsened this week.

Jakarta today asked for help from Singapore, Russia, Malaysia and Japan to put out forest fires that have caused choking smoke to drift across South-east Asia, after having turned down several offers of foreign assistance from other countries, particularly Singapore and Malaysia, which have also been affected by haze since the crisis began last month.

Minister of Forestry and Environment Siti Nurbaya Bakar said yesterday that the government had opened up to the possibility of accepting international assistance as the situation was getting worse.

Dr Siti Nurbaya explained that as the fires spread and difficulty of putting them out increased, Indonesia would need support from abroad to provide equipment that is capable of providing water capacity and stronger volume pressure. “It seems that there is a need to receive support whether from Singapore, Russia, Austria, and others,” said the minister at the Presidential Palace Complex yesterday. She added that water bombing and artificial rain would be the most effective and in this regard, Indonesia required more aircraft at its disposal

This was despite Dr Siti Nurbaya stating earlier that Indonesia did not require any assistance from Singapore as it has more than enough aircraft.

Mr Anung stressed yesterday that while the government had not yet decided to declare the smog that is blanketing Sumatra and Kalimantan as a national disaster, it was very concerned about the problem. He said Mr Widodo was actively monitoring the situation, especially through social media, including direct view content uploaded by the community.

“Earlier we showed this (information from social media) to the President. The President knows everything, because we want the President to get information that is as complete as possible to the events that happened,” the Cabinet Secretary highlighted.

Mr Widodo planned to go to a number of areas affected by the haze but he has not been able to do so as the air quality and visibility worsened.

Source: www.todayonline.com

October 9, 2015
Amos Yee’s Appeal To Overturn Jail Term And Conviction Dismissed

Teen blogger Amos Yee had an appeal against his prior conviction and jail sentence dismissed by the High Court on Thursday (Oct 8).

Yee was expected to attend the hearing for his appeal to be heard, but did not show up. His lawyer, Mr Alfred Dodwell, who filed the notice of appeal on Jul 9, was present.

Justice Tay Yong Kwang decided to conduct the hearing without the 16-year-old, who has already finished serving his 4-week prison sentence. Following a hearing that lasted about two hours, the appeal was dismissed.

The teen was found guilty of two charges in May this year, after a two-day trial. Yee was convicted of one count of making offensive or wounding remarks against Christianity and one count of circulating obscene imagery.

Said Justice Tay: “Yee used offending words against the central figure of the Christian religion.”

The High Court judge added: “Yee’s attitude of complete disregard for others … is not commonly seen. He did not respect anyone.” Justice Tay noted that the blogger had “openly defied” court orders and made sure his “bravado” was made known.

The defence argued that Yee was exercising his constitutional right to freedom of speech and provoke “critical discussion”. Said Mr Dodwell: “Yes, Amos has been rude but were his actions a crime?”

In response, Justice Tay said: “This is not freedom of speech, this is a licence to humiliate others. It seems like Yee is throwing stones at his neighbour’s flat to force his neighbour to notice him.”

The judge also had sharp comments on the blogger’s manner of speech.

“Yee used coarse, hard-hitting words to arouse emotions … vulgar insults to deliberately provoke readers and draw them out,” he said, adding that the 16-year-old should “wean himself off his preference for crude, rude language (and engage in) real debate”, which can “flourish in an environment of goodwill, reasoning and civil language”.

CASE HISTORY

Apart from the two charges Yee was convicted of, a third charge regarding statements Yee made in a YouTube video about the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew had been withdrawn.

Yee uploaded the controversial video on Mar 27, just five days after Mr Lee’s passing, in which the teen likened Mr Lee to Jesus and criticised the founding Prime Minister.

He was arrested two days later, after several police reports were made against him, and charged in court on Mar 31. Yee was initially granted bail, set at S$20,000, with the condition that he would not post materials online while his case was before the courts.

He later flouted these conditions on Apr 14 by publishing a post asking the public for donations. His parents refused to post bail again, and Yee was instead bailed out by family counsellor Vincent Law.

However, Yee flouted his bail conditions a second time on Apr 29 following two blog posts that touched on the terms of his bail and accusing his father of being abusive, causing Mr Law to discharge himself as bailor.

Yee, on his way to the courthouse the next day, was struck by a 49 year old man who wanted to “teach him a lesson”. Neo Gim Huah was sentenced to three weeks’ jail.

After being remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for two weeks for psychiatric assessments, Dr Cai Yiming concluded that Yee does not suffer from any mental disorder.

After Yee’s sentencing on Jul 6, Mr Dodwell had said his client was “remorseful”, but added: “Let’s not run away with the idea that just because he’s remorseful and stuff, that is in relation to the social context. Whether this was a crime or not, still remains a question we want to determine in the High Court”.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

October 8, 2015
Man Gets 7 Years Jail And Caning For Sexually Assaulting Taiwanese Tourists

The Taiwanese woman was here to visit a boyfriend and got to know Ng Jun Xian at a nightclub.

After exchanging numbers, he asked her out for drinks one night in November last year.

When she was tired and asked to go back to her hostel, the 21-year-old took her to a hotel instead, promising that she could rest there.

In a brazen attack, Ng sexually assaulted the 23-year-old woman and even tried to rape her, physically assaulting her when she tried to fight back.

During his sentencing on Wednesday, Community Court Judge Mathew Joseph had strong words for Ng, calling him ”devious” before sentencing him to seven years’ and two weeks’ jail and six strokes of the cane.

Source: www.tnp.sg

October 8, 2015
Charles Chong: Handover of Punggol East Accounts From WP ‘On Track’

The handover of Punggol East Single-Member Constituency’s accounts from the Workers’ Party (WP)-run Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) to Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council has been progressing, and both parties are eager to “move on”, said Punggol East Member of Parliament Charles Chong on Wednesday (Oct 7).

The handover is on track to be completed before Dec 1, which is the Ministry of National Development’s (MND) deadline, he said.

By then, Punggol East will be managed by the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council.

“I think both sides are aiming for a good settlement so that we can move on. I don’t think it is in their interest — neither is it in ours — to drag this on. And it’s definitely not in the interest of the residents,” said Mr Chong, adding that he will request for the MND to restore its grants after getting a “clean set of accounts”.

The MND has withheld two years of Government grants, totaling about S$14 million, from the former Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council, saying it has no guarantee the money would be used properly.

During the General Election campaigning, the People’s Action Party (PAP) and the WP had disputed the estate’s financial position following the 2013 by-election, with the PAP claiming there was a surplus when Punggol East was handed over to WP, while WP claimed there was a deficit.

To facilitate the handover, the AHTC has engaged an external auditor to audit Punggol East’s accounts from Apr 1. “Too many figures were thrown back and forth during the election,” said Mr Chong, who hopes the experts can reach an amiable conclusion promptly.

“Everybody gave different snapshots of the same account. Everybody can more or less justify what they say, depending on the point in time when the thing happened. I suppose during election everybody sort of tries to use it to their advantage, (the) result of which causes more confusion than clarity.

“Now that election is over … let the experts work it out, and see how it goes,” he said. “What happened in the past, I’m really not interested. I am just interested in what is due back to us.”

Parties will meet later this week for an update. In the General Election last month, Mr Chong defeated the WP’s candidate and incumbent Lee Li Lian to win Punggol East back for the People’s Action Party.

Source: www.todayonline.com

October 8, 2015