I read The Singapore Dilemma years ago and I look forward to reading Prof Lily Zubaidah Rahim's latest take on Malays in Singapore. One view that struck me after reading the earlier book was the government's claims that meritocracy was the be all and end all for social mobility and success in Singapore. Yes, that is true to an extent but not everyone in Singapore is presented with the same opportunities and life chances. Meritocracy is only one rung in the ladder. As an aside on using Malay breakthrough examples, Lily Zubaidah Rahim is more privileged than the rest of the local Malay community perhaps as she comes from a much esteemed lineage.
Despite the advances made by the community, Malays in Singapore are generally still behind socioeconomically compared with the Chinese. My Chinese friends, especially the not so good ones, sometimes remark that Malay backwardness is a result of our own choice. They fail to understand that it is harder for someone from a lower socioeconomic background, regardless of ethnicity, to take advantage of meritocracy in school. Regardless if Chinese, Malay or Indian, a child who comes from a broken home, cannot afford tuition, enrichment classes, PC or an internet connection or who has to work part-time, does not have equal opportunities to take advantage of meritocracy and the education system. Social mobility is not a myth as someone from a disadvantaged socioeconomic background can break out of the cycle, but the hurdles are harder to surmount.
This from Select Books might just as well be the blurp of her latest book, and it really looks like a good read.
"Relations between Singapore and her immediate Malay neighbours have been perennially fraught with tension and misunderstanding. In making sense of this complex relationship, Lily Rahim explores the salience of historical animosities and competitive economic pressures, and Singapore's janus-faced security and foreign economic policy orientation and 'regional outsider' complex. Focusing on Singapore's relations with Malaysia, the book also examines the Indonesian dimension in bilateral relations. It highlights the paradoxical similarities in the nation-building approaches of Singapore and Malaysia. The author reflects critically on sensitive issues such as the rhetoric and reality of meritocracy and multiracialism in Singapore, and analyses the city-state's weak regional soft power credentials and reputation as a political laggard despite its economic achievements."
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Jun 24, 2010
Dr Lily returns with new book
By Nur Dianah Suhaimi
IN 1998, Sydney-based academic Lily Zubaidah Rahim created a storm in Singapore with her book, The Singapore Dilemma: Political And Educational Marginality Of The Malays.
Calling meritocracy in Singapore a sham, she argued that because Singaporean Malays lag economically, they also lag educationally and will always remain so without economic help.
On Friday, the senior lecturer at the University of Sydney was back in Singapore to launch another book, Singapore in the Malay World.
This time round, she tries to make sense of the complex relations that Singapore shares with its Malay neighbours, namely Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as how historical animosities with these neighbours have shaped the People's Action Party policies.
Among others, she argued that Singapore is driven by fear and insecurity which stemmed first from the communist insurgency and later on, the Islamic war on terror. This fear, she believed, has allowed the Singapore Government to shape a national identity that is based on distrust of Singapore and regional Malays.
Dr Lily is the niece of Singapore's first President, the late Mr Yusof Ishak. She now lives and teaches in Sydney, specialising in the comparative politics of Southeast Asia.
