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Tag: Singaporean

  • 17 Year Old Singaporean Actor Rejoices Over Death Of Lee Kuan Yew

    17 Year Old Singaporean Actor Rejoices Over Death Of Lee Kuan Yew

    17 year old Amos Yee, an actor who has played minor roles in local Jack Neo’s films before, has posted a shocking video online rejoicing over Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s death.

    In it, he makes several bold statements likening Mr Lee to a dictator and he invites PM Lee to sue him saying that he will “dance with him”.

    He makes wide criticisms of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and he says that “Finally, he is dead” also questioning why no one else is celebrating.

    A copy of the video was uploaded to Facebook page Temasek Review and it resulted in comments from both ends of the spectrum being left about the video.

    Here are just some:

      

          

    You can see the full video from his youtube channel here.  *Warning* vulgarities and insults contained within:

    https://youtu.be/dD4y3U4TfeY

    What do you think of this video?

    Source: www.therealsingapore.com

  • Allow Victims Space And Emotions Too

    Allow Victims Space And Emotions Too

    I am thousands of miles away but even so, I can sense the grief. The immense sadness over the passing of what is no doubt, a remarkable man. Online, there are tributes and stories of his achievements, expressions of gratitude and sorrow, even a few (badly written) poems. All this is understandable – he meant a lot to millions of my fellow Singaporeans.

    But what I cannot comprehend is the condemnation that greets anyone who dares say anything negative about his rule. It is not right to speak ill of the dead. It is rude. You’re not being human. Think of the family. Allow the rest of us our grief. Shut up. Look at what he’s done for us. Stop being an asshole.

    But why? Why should those who believe they’ve benefitted from his actions think they have right to silence those who feel they’ve suffered? Is gratitude the only emotion allowed at his passing? What about the people he jailed, bankrupted, persecuted, destroyed? Are they to deny themselves feelings of relief, anger, perhaps even glee?

    I am not sad today. Neither do I rejoice. After all, his life was long and fruitful. He was adored, feted, handsomely rewarded. Along the way, he destroyed a few people. He undermined our fundamental liberties. He never once showed he was sorry. Maybe he did all this to bolster his own power. Maybe he was just being a politician. Maybe it was necessary. After all, look at Singapore now.

    But why should we all be grateful? Why is it not patently obvious that there will be diverse reactions to this man’s death? He was controversial. He was not nice. Some of his ideas were pretty fucked up.

    Yes, for most of us, life’s been good. But for some others, it’s been less than ideal. Grief does not give anyone the right to be an asshole. You believe yourself to be a beneficiary of his brilliance? Good for you. But while you wax lyrical over his achievements, allow those who see themselves as his victims their space, their emotions too.

    Source: Lynn Lee

  • Samad Ismail: Of Friends And Foes

    Samad Ismail: Of Friends And Foes

    I read something about my late father yesterday. He was mentioned in an article written by a former Singapore Minister Othman Wok in a tribute to the republic’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew who died on Monday. I reproduce it (in bold) from (excerpt) of Othman’s piece that was published in the Straits Times (Singapore).

    It is a nice tribute to Singapore’s founding father. But the bit on my late dad – not so nice.

    For reasons, perhaps known only to Othman who considers my father “a good friend”, he chose to repeat and publish a false allegation made decades ago against my late father – that he was a “card-carrying member” of the Malayan Communist Party. A charge my father had denied following his release in 1981 after four-and-half years in detention under the ISA.

    I write, on behalf of my sisters and brothers, to say that – with due respect to Othman, we find the reference made of our father despicable and a deliberate act to malign him.

    We will not be drawn into further remarks to set the record straight or to clear our father’s name for obvious reasons. Individiuals (from both sides of the causeway) responsible for the detention of our father are all dead and gone.

    We will let it rest but we must register our protest and to express our regret and that we are deeply saddened by Othman’s invocation of our father’s name – by resurrecting and repeating a false accusation – a false narrative – that had been put to rest decades ago.

    Below is part of Othman’s article.

    “I told him my concerns were about how we were going to cope with the communist threat in an independent Singapore. He said to me: “You don’t worry. I will handle them.”

    He made good on this promise, dealing firmly and deftly with the communists after Independence. Some have expressed disagreement with Kuan Yew on his subsequent actions, since many of those detained continued to insist for many years that they were not communists.
    This is a misunderstanding of how the communists worked in that era. They did not admit they were communists then because communist organisations had been declared illegal from the time of the Malayan Emergency. So it became their strategy to go underground and to secretly infiltrate groups throughout society. My good friend Samad Ismail, also an Utusan Melayu newsman, did not admit to being a communist at the time, but he turned out to be a card-carrying member of the Malayan Communist Party.

    Samad was detained in Malaysia in the 1970s. I have no doubt there were detainees in Singapore who, like him, were underground communist members or strong communist sympathisers who fought for the same violent cause. Kuan Yew fought the communists vigorously and Singapore is better off because of it.”

    Othman Wok, 90, served in Lee Kuan Yew’s Cabinet as Social Affairs Minister from 1963 to 1977.

     

    Nuraini A Samad

    Source: http://nursamad.blogspot.sg

  • Muslims Should Do Duty For Allah And Seek Approval Only From Him

    Muslims Should Do Duty For Allah And Seek Approval Only From Him

    Dear brothers and sisters

    When we speak about what has been going on the last few days, do not do so because we hate a man.

    Or because we are angry with members of the community.

    Those who have made mistakes (and some who keep doing so) are our brothers and sisters. We do not speak out of anger or hatred. We speak to remind each other and ourselves.

    We speak to strengthen the ummah.

    LKY is irrelevant. We need to reject his ideology especially as it pertains to Islam.

    There are too many Muslims who have followed his way.

    They give up Allah’s commands to please him.

    They compromise Islam.

    They sought his approval rather than Allah.

    These are the ideologies and behaviour that we need to reject. We need to make sure it is removed from the community.

    The only one we seek approval from is Allah. Not any man.

    We do not make excuses for compromises. What is wajib is wajib.

    When someone stops us from our obligations to Allah, we strive to remove the hindrance. Not to simply keep quiet and accept.

    We remind each other not out of anger or hatred.

    But because we love our brothers and sisters.

    We are Muslims.

    And that is all that matters.

     

    Source: Zulfikar Shariff

  • Masagos Zulkifli: Lee Kuan Yew Is A Father Of A Harmonious Nation

    Masagos Zulkifli: Lee Kuan Yew Is A Father Of A Harmonious Nation

    Senior Minister of State (Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Masagos Zulkifli today (March 26) paid homage to the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew in a Special Sitting of Parliament. Here is his speech:

    Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s children — that was the nickname given in jest by Pangar when we visited him in Kota Tinggi whenever his friends asked about us. At that time, Singapore had recently separated from Malaysia and my uncle may be unconvinced that we will be protected in country with a Chinese majority. Before he passed away, I had the opportunity to meet him. My uncle still teases us as Lee Kuan Yew’s children among his friends. However, this time my uncle added that he was proud and full of admiration because we were able to become professionals and could compete in the Lion City with the other races.

    Similarly that is how the global community views our achievements in Singapore. The attitude of doubt and concern, whereby some even looked down at us when we separated from Malaysia, had transformed into admiration and respect. In any country whenever we flash our passport, we can feel that we are respected because we are Singaporeans. The best things that we currently enjoy in our lives would not be possible without the vision, the passion and the determination of Mr Lee. He built a developed nation that provides for the well-being of Singaporeans even though our country do not have natural resources and at that time, many Singaporeans were unemployed. In addition, racial conflicts flared up easily during that period. The whole country was tense.

    Without a doubt, I can say Mr Lee established an administration that is transparent, eradicated corruption and crime. Singapore gained the confidence of international investors who came here to work and to do business. Nonetheless for me, the most outstanding policy of Mr Lee’s came in the form of his unique social compact. After his failure in advocating a Malaysia for Malaysians, Mr Lee was determined to create a Singapore for all citizens regardless of race, language and religion. Everyone will have a space to cultivate their language, culture and religion. But at the same time, they were cajoled into accepting the government’s policy of expanding the common space so that they can mingle in housing estates, schools and their workplaces. The ghetto areas have disappeared. Slowly but surely, a multiracial society living together peacefully is embedded in the DNA of Singaporeans. That is the view of Professor S Jayakumar, whereas DPM Teo is thankful that Singapore prospers because all the leaders are mature and understood that harmony existed not because everybody got what they demanded, but harmony existed because everybody was willing to make sacrifices that may be painful at times, so that we can all prosper together.

    As a result, places of worship like the mosques, churches and temples can exist side by side and residents take turns to celebrate each other’s festivals by having open houses for their friends. And friends became closer because they shared same interests, and not because they speak the same language. It was Mr Lee who supported the creation of the Mosque Building Fund (MBF) which helped build many mosques that are magnificent and thriving. However, no matter how much funds are collected, it will be useless if the foundations of harmony are weak and are not upheld by everyone. Because mosques that will be built will face protests and those that have been built will be burned down. You can see the prove everywhere. A harmonious, multiracial society is his most precious legacy that had helped our progress while protecting the minorities.

    If a harmonious society enables the minority Muslim community to carry on with their religion peacefully, Mr Lee’s system of meritocracy became the benchmark in education and employment for everyone. The Malay community should be proud because they have proved to the world that their excellence in education and employment did not happen because there was special treatment for the minorities. We were able to achieve our success and compete in the world-class educational systems and funds were given to the Malays to succeed in education. We were successful in our careers due to our performance and our self-esteem was safeguarded and is respected by the other communities.

    When I accompanied him to Malaysia, he spoke to a leader who spread lies about the Malay community in Singapore. He challenged that the Berita Harian paper is distributed there and so that everyone can see how prosperous the Singapore Muslim community is in Singapore, and how many of their children became engineers, became scientists and became doctors. I (was) so proud to stand beside him on that day. Clearly he was proud of our achievements. Therefore it comes to no surprise the global community and world leaders I have met like Mr Tony Blair and the Grand Mufti of Egypt Shawki Alam expressed admiration toward the racial harmony that is evident in Singapore. In fact they were enthusiastic about the confidence among Muslims, who would not only perform prayers diligently in the magnificent mosques that they had built themselves but they were also able to integrate easily as Singaporeans who are able to live successfully in a meritocracy system without any favouritism. This is the identity of Singapore Muslims that was built by him.

    My heart is heavy not just because Singapore lost a leader. He has created a name for our small nation in the world. We, child of Lee Kuan Yew, as the father who was the architect of modern Singapore. Without him we would not have thought of Mendaki or the MBF. May the future generations honour Mr Lee’s contributions and build on his legacy (and) beware about instigations that may separate us … Thank you Mr Lee for leaving us a harmonious nation and identity.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com