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Tag: Southeast Asia

  • K Shanmugam: Terrorist Threat In Singapore’s Backyard Is Growing

    K Shanmugam: Terrorist Threat In Singapore’s Backyard Is Growing

    With Islamic State (IS) losing ground in Iraq and Syria, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on Tuesday (April 4) underscored the growing terrorist threat in Singapore’s backyard, and warned that an area less than a four-hour flight away is becoming a sanctuary for returning fighters from the Middle East and where attacks could be launched on South-east Asia. And he stressed that this could become a problem not just for the region but for the rest of the world as well.

    “The potential locus of the threat could move to Southern Philippines, which is becoming an area that is difficult to control, despite the best efforts of the government … It can be a place where would-be terrorists, and those who are radicalised from this region, can go to get trained,” said Mr Shanmugam, who was speaking at an international exhibition on homeland security held at Marina Bay Sands.

    “Arms seem to move fairly easily into that region, and from there as a base, they can spread out again to attack this region. So, newly radicalised, would-be fighters, battle-hardened, veterans from the Middle East, and people who are released from prisons, who have not yet been rehabilitated, can all gravitate there. At the right time and opportunity, they may well attack.”

    In August last year, Mr Ahmad El-Muhammady, an adviser to the Royal Malaysia Police on terrorist detainees, said the area controlled by IS is shrinking, and in order to maintain support among its fighters, the terrorist organisation is growing its presence in “the second ring of conflict, that is their neighbouring countries, or the third ring of conflict, that is South-east Asia”.

    Referring to Mr Ahmad’s remarks, Mr Shanmugam reiterated that the people who come back to the region will be “hardened ideologues, hardened fighters and willing to give up their lives”. He added: “This region is not very far from any other region, so it doesn’t take very long to get anywhere else. It’s not a local problem, it’s not a regional problem. It’s a problem for all of us.”

    Mr Shanmugam noted that South-east Asia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, has been of “considerable interest” to IS, which has set up a Malay Archipelago Unit in Syria and Iraq, called Katibah Nusantara. The unit is actively reaching out to the Malay-speaking population in this region, using propaganda videos and newspapers in Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malayu to recruit new members.

    Across the Causeway, Malaysia has made several arrests of IS supporters in recent months. IS’ worldview consists of “Malaysia, Indonesia and obviously Singapore, which is in the middle of it, Southern Philippines, as part of a larger caliphate ruled by a caliph, it cannot be by a system of governance, governed by anything other than the rule of God”, Mr Shanmugam said.

    “So there cannot be elections, there cannot be a democratic system. If you have instability along these lines, in this region, it leads up to the rest of South-east Asia and all the way to China, and of course South Asia. So it’s a pan-Asian problem, and given the connectivity, no region is really very far from any other region. Then that is an issue for the rest of the world as well, with a strong centre here.”

    Mr Shanmugam also spoke on the changing nature of terror attacks. Citing recent incidents in Nice, Berlin and London, he noted that “anything can become a weapon” today. Referring to the case of a young man who was nabbed after he wanted to “take a knife and kill our President and Prime Minister”, Mr Shanmugam noted that Singapore’s laws allow the authorities to “move in very early and we can detain people”. “A terror attack can take place any time, any place, and they can attack and impact on anyone — with a possibility of a loss of lives, within a short period of time, with little or no warning,” he said.

    However, he stressed that terrorists will not prevail. “Because I think the nature of human beings is that we look for progress, and I do not believe that any culture, or system, or people or civilisation can be held back … progress is inevitable, a better life is inevitable,” he said.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

     

  • Thailand Chasing Halal Gold With Tourism And Food

    Thailand Chasing Halal Gold With Tourism And Food

    The ceremony is one of dozens of marriages held over the last few months at the Al Meroz – the city’s first entirely halal hotel.

    Thailand has long been a draw for the world’s sun-seekers and hedonists, drawn to its parties, red-light districts, cheap booze and tropical beaches.

    But it has also seen a huge influx of visitors from Muslim countries, part of a quiet but deliberate strategy by the Southeast Asian nation to diversify its visitor profile.

    “Considering there are 1.5 billion Muslims around the world, I think this is a very good market,” explains Sanya Saenboon, the general manager of the hotel, one of a growing number of businesses serving a boom in Islamic tourists.

    The hotel opened its doors last year, setting itself apart with its attention to all things Islamic.

    For a start there is no alcohol on sale, while the top floor swimming pool and gym has specific times for when men and women can use the facilities.

    Everything in the building has been ticked off against a stringent checklist for practising Muslims, from bed linen washed in a particular way, to ensuring toiletries are free of alcohol or animal fat – making everyday goods “permissible” for the faithful.

    Sanya, who is Muslim, says such checks give visitors “peace of mind” so clients never have to ask themselves “can I eat this?”

    Sanya Saenboon, general manager of the Al Meroz hotel. (Photo: AFP/Robert Schmidt)

    “AHEAD OF THE CURVE”

    Despite a decade of political turbulence, Thailand has seen an explosion in tourist arrivals, from 13.8 million annual visitors in 2006 to a record 32.5 million last year.

    Western arrivals have largely remained a constant. The biggest increase in arrivals comes from China, skyrocketing from just 949,000 arrivals 10 years ago to 8.7 million visitors in 2016.

    But Muslim countries are also sending their citizens.

    An AFP analysis of government figures shows visitors from key majority Muslim nations in the Middle East and Asia have risen from 2.63 million in 2006 to 6.03 million last year.

    “Thailand was ahead of the curve,” says Fazal Baharden, founder of the Singapore-based Crescent Rating, which rates which countries are most welcoming to Muslim travellers.

    Thailand routinely places in the top two for non-Muslim majority nations alongside Singapore in Crescent Ratings’ annual survey of halal destinations.

    “They’ve really recognised the Muslim consumer market is worth tapping into,” he explains, adding medical tourism, shopping and high quality hotels are the primary draws.

    Baharden says the Islamic travel market is one of the world’s fastest-growing, thanks to the growth of cheap flights and booming Muslim middle classes.

    He estimates the number of Muslim travellers has surged from around 25 million a year in 2000 to 117 million in 2015.

    But it is not just at home that Thailand has gone halal.

    FOOD GETS HALAL MAKEOVER

    From chicken and seafood to rice and canned fruit, the country has long been one of the world’s great food exporters.

    Now a growing numbers of food companies are switching to halal to widen their customer base.

    Against a backdrop of humming machines churning out butter, Lalana Thiranusornkij, a Buddhist, explains how her family turned their three factories – under the KCG Corp banner – halal to access markets in Indonesia, Malaysia and in the Gulf.

    But going halal sometimes required some clever workarounds, such as how to avoid animal-based gelatin to make jelly.

    “In the past we used gelatin from pork but … we changed our gelatin from the pork source to be from a seaweed source,” she said.

    Thailand’s junta has set the goal of turning the country into one of the world’s top five halal exporting nations by 2020.

    Some outsiders might be surprised to see an overwhelmingly Buddhist nation embrace halal.

    But Dr Winai Dahlan, founder of the Halal Science Centre at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, says Thailand was well-placed to make the change.

    Five per cent of its population is Muslim and – outside of the insurgency plagued southern border region – is well-integrated within the Buddhist majority.

    It was local Thai Muslims who first began asking for the country’s halal testing centre, a business that scours products for any banned substances and has since boomed.

    A Thai lab technician tests halal products at the Halal Science Centre at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. (Photo: AFP/Roberto Schmidt)

    “Fifteen years ago there was only 500 food plants that had halal certification. Now it’s 6,000,” Winai told AFP as female lab technicians in headscarves tested food products for traces of pork DNA.

    Over the same period the number of halal certified products made in Thailand has gone from 10,000 to 160,000, he added.

    It’s paid off. The government estimates the halal food industry is already worth $6 billion a year.

    As Thailand has quickly learned, there’s gold at the end of the halal rainbow.

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Filipina Scolds Woman Who Questioned Her For Having ‘Singapore’ Emblazoned In Shorts

    Filipina Scolds Woman Who Questioned Her For Having ‘Singapore’ Emblazoned In Shorts

    A reader sent us a video of a commotion in a hawker centre. According to the reader the woman, a Singaporean, questioned the Filipina about why she had ‘Singapore’ emblazoned in the back of her shorts. The Filipina who got upset with the woman’s question went ballistic with her attracting many onlookers.

    According to the reader, the woman is a maid who had engaged in a game of weekend netball before the incident.

    Do you think the word ‘Singapore’ should be better respected?

     

    Source: www.theindependent.sg

  • Indonesian VP Jusuf Kalla: World Should Be Thankful For Fresh Air From Indonesia

    Indonesian VP Jusuf Kalla: World Should Be Thankful For Fresh Air From Indonesia

    Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla also reminded Indonesia’s neighbours not to complain when there is haze in the region. He said: “Malaysia and Singapore get angry because of the forest fires. It’s so easy to say, but you think we also don’t feel it? We feel it even more. Secondly, if you get fresh air from Sumatra, Kalimantan, you don’t say thank you. So, if you get the haze, why should I apologise?

    “The world has to pay for all of this. Don’t always accuse Indonesia. I never want to be accused. Even if we are wrong, why do we still give out so many permits (for land)?”

    Forest fires in Indonesia has been an annual problem, resulting in haze that blankets and choke parts of the country and the region. The fires are caused by farmers and corporations using the slash-and-burn method, which is the easiest, and cheapest, to clear the land for plantation.

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Indonesia Ulema Council Issues Haram Fatwa Against Illegal Land Clearing

    Indonesia Ulema Council Issues Haram Fatwa Against Illegal Land Clearing

    RELIGIOUS authorities in Indonesia have declared the burning of land forbidden among Muslims in a fatwa or edict aimed at curbing illegal land clearing.

    According to Channel News Asia, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued the fatwa in its bid to influence social change as part of a moral movement.

    “The act of burning forests and land, which can cause damage, environmental pollution, economic losses, affect health, and other negative impacts is haram (forbidden),” Professor Huzaemah Yanggo, chairperson for fatwa from the Indonesian Ulema Council, was quoted as saying.

    Huzaeman, who was speaking at a media conference on Tuesday, said the council was confident that the ruling can help change attitudes towards the illegal burning of land.

    SEE ALSO: Indonesia: Haze investigators held captive, threatened with death

    The council denounced the traditional practice, saying it goes against Islamic teachings, and instructed clerics and religious teachers to spread the message.

    Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Ministry had in January asked the council to explore the possibility of issuing the ruling on forest fires.

    The request led the council to conduct research and assessments before issuing the edict this week.

    Prior to the decision, the council consulted various stakeholders and referred to verses in the Koran to substantiate the fatwa.

    “We understand that material punishment is not enough, what more with formal punishment. What is more important is moral (pressure),” Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said.

    Last year’s fires were the worst since 1997, spreading across over 261,000 hectares (2,610 square kilometers).

    SEE ALSO: Indonesia urges neighbors to stop complaining about haze

    Haze largely caused by illegal slash-and-burn agricultural policies in Indonesia has affected the Southeast Asian region annually for decades.

    Uncontrolled burning from fires in Riau, South Sumatra, and Kalimantan causes the smoke to spread hundreds of kilometers across the region to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, resulting in major deterioration in air quality levels, health problems, and economic losses.

    However, the Indonesian government has been taking proactive steps to reduce the number of fires by 75 percent from last year as there were only 2,256 fires this year compared to 8,247 between Jan and Aug 2015.

     

    Source: https://asiancorrespondent.com