Ramadhan Al-Mubarak 1430H

Dalam diam, hampir satu minggu bulan ramadhan telah berlalu dan macam-macam juadah telah dijamu untuk berbuka. Walaupun tekak berselera makan juadah yang sedap-sedap, bubur dari masjid juga menjadi penyelera pada waktu berbuka. Kenanbyakkan masjid membahagikan bubur lepas asar tapi ada juga yang membahagikan lepas zohor. Jiran-jiran tertangga kita yang berlainan agama pun tidak terkecuali dari mengambil bubur masjid di bulan ramadhan. Maklumlah, Singapura adalah sebuah negara yang berbilang bangsa dan agama . Perbuatan sedemikian akan dapat memeratkan perhubungan antara agama dan mereka akan lebih memahami makna ramadhan untuk Melayu/Islam setempat.

Apa yang membuat saya bangga dengan Melayu/Islam di Singapura ialah semangat untuk menderma demi membiayai pembahagian bubur dan majlis iftar. Menderma di bulan ramadhan bukan saja melebihkan pahala bahkan perkara ini juga memdokong cadangan rapat umum hari kebangsaan PM Lee agar kita bekerja dengan keras demi mempertahankan harmoni keagamaan di Singapura. Ada juga kolong-kolong blok yang dijadikan tempat berterawih di bulan yang mulia ini. Ini bererti jiran tertangga kita yang berlainan agama dapat menerima peri laku agama Islam demi perpaduan sosial. Perkara yang sama dapat dilihat apabila mereka menyambut perayaan "Hungry Ghost" dan rakyat berlainan agama pula menerima segala peri laku mereka.

Semoga ramadhan ini berjalan dengan baik untuk membaca yang beragama Islam sekalian dan saya juga berharap agar perpaduan kaum di Singapura akan sentiasa tenang dan tiada pertelingkahan. Pelawalah teman-teman anda menghadiri program "Outreach" MUIS agar dapat mengeratkan perhubungan antara agama.

Singapore Malays Hold Special Position

This badge of honour is a dubious one. So there is supposed to be affirmative action in terms of status, but in other areas like Malays in the SAF, our community is sidelined. We don't even have free education anymore. The irony of this whole protection of the Malay community under Article 152 actually makes us more a subject of criticism although we don't have much real privileges.

Yes the GRC is supposed to protect the interests of the non-Chinese minorities but the GRC system seems more like a poltical tactic rather than a structure to protect Malay interests. The stereotype is that the PAP counts on the vote of the Malay community. Whether that is true now nobody will know. We are just like any other community in Singapore - some will be pro-PAP, some will be anti-PAP, and most would have mixed feelings. BN's inability to hold on to the Malay vote in the last Malaysian elections tells us that there is a limit to race politics and voting anyway.


August 20, 2009 16:38 PM
Singapore Malays Hold Special Position
Bernama

SINGAPORE, Aug 20 (Bernama) - The minority Malays in Singapore have a "special position" under the republic's constitution, according to former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

He said the constitution of Singapore enjoined the government to give Malays a "special position" rather than to 'treat everybody as equal'.

Lee said this in Parliament on Wednesday when he rebutted as 'false and flawed' the arguments by Nominated Member of Parliament Viswa Sadasivan calling for equal treatment for all races in the city-state, the local media reported Thursday.

On Tuesday, Viswa tabled a motion for the House to reaffirm its commitment to principles in the National Pledge when debating national policies.

Lee, who is currently Minister Mentor, said the assumption of equal treatment for all races was "false and flawed" and "completely untrue".

According to government statistic for 2008, Singapore's population was about 4.8 million, with the Chinese forming the majority (76.7 per cent), followed by the Malays (14 per cent), Indians (7.9 per cent) and others (1.4 per cent).

He reminded everyone that Singapore's starting point was the racial clash and tense period of the 1960s after the republic was thrown out of Malaysia and until it got its independence.

Lee said the Malays in Singapore then were worried about the Chinese who formed the majority, and wondered whether the Chinese here would treat them the way the Malay majority in Malaysia had treated the Chinese minority there.

The minister also pointed to Article 152 of the constitution, which says that it is the responsibility of the government to "constantly care for the interests of the racial and religious minorities in Singapore".

In particular, it states that the government must recognise the special position of the Malays, 'the indigenous people of Singapore', and safeguard their political, economic and educational interests.

Lee mentioned how the United States handled the race issue, where despite a 1776 declaration that "all men are created equal", blacks did not get the right to vote until a century later, and racial segregation continued well into the 20th century.

For Singapore to reach a point where all races could be treated equally "is going to take decades, if not centuries', Lee said.

Winds of Change in the SAF?

Hopefully it is more than tokenism as a Malay MP suggested. Forty-four years after independence, a Malay-Muslim is finally appointed as a one star general in the SAF. He is in charged of the 6th Division and that does sound like a front line and sensitive appointment.

However, Khairulanwar makes a good point - to show whether the SAF has integrated Malays, perhaps it can release figures on statistics and representation of Malays in the SAF. This could be a better sign that Malays are now accepted as fellow defenders of Singapore. I sometimes wonder whether between choosing a naturalised citizen or a Malay for a sensitive SAF unit and all things equal, who would the SAF choose. I hope that the answer is an easy one for the decision-makers and someone who is born and socialised here, rather than some import, gets the job.

Nevertheless, I would not be sceptical and cast aspersions on why and how BG Ishak was promoted. I'm sure he rose through the ranks through his own merit and he is not some SAF tokenism. Instead, I am optimistic that the SAF will involve Malays more and more in our country's defence and the winds of change are here.


2009/06/26
Singapore military picks first Malay general

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) will create history on July 1 when it appoints a Malay general.

Colonel Ishak Ismail, 46, a senior Malay officer who has served for 28 years in SAF, is being promoted to Brigadier General, local media reported today.

He was one of the five SAF colonels (the other four non-Malays) who received their appointment letters as Brigadier Generals and a First Admiral during a function at the Defence Ministry yesterday.

Singapore has been criticised by various parties especially the Malay leaders and communities in and outside the island republic including Malaysia for seemingly practising a policy of not giving Malay SAF personnel opportunities to rise to the highest ranks due to concern over their loyalty.

Col Ishak who is SAF Sixth Division Commander since August last year, is among 464 SAF full time and National Service officers promoted this year.

"If this promotion is seen as something that can inspire others, it will also indirectly motivate them to work hard and achieve excellence every time," he was quoted by Berita Harian Singapura as saying.

Member of Parliament Zaqy Mohamad was quoted by Today newspaper as saying that Col Ishak’s achievement was a milestone for the Malay community in Singapore.

"It’s been talked about that you don’t see Malays serving in the upper echelons of the SAF. Now you’'ve got one, so it dispels some talk," said Zaqy who added that Col Ishak’s promotion would pave the way for more capable candidates in time.

"I hope it’s not seen as a token appointment," he said.

Sedition Law Applied Again

I have many friends who are Christians and I am fortunate that most of them are moderate and not pushy about their religious views at all. The only views we are all pushy about, relatively speaking, are political ones and those views cut across gender and religious lines. I am glad the government bothers to take such blatant deliberate attacks on Islam as serious provocation, and its recent position on the Aware controversy is comforting that secularism is the political direction of the day. Nevertheless, some of my Catholic friends find that although the government is nervous about any Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) cartoons circulated in Singapore some time back, it is less worried about films like the Da Vinci Code, which could be interpreted as having negative portrayals of the Catholic Church, kicking up a storm.

Christian couple convicted for anti-Muslim booklets

SINGAPORE (AFP) — A Christian Singaporean couple were found guilty of sedition on Thursday for distributing evangelical publications that cast Islam in a negative light, court officials said.

Ong Kian Cheong and his wife Dorothy Chan had been charged with distributing a seditious publication to two Muslims in October and March 2007 and sending a second such booklet to another Muslim in December that same year, a district court official told AFP.

The publications were found to have promoted feelings of ill-will and hostility between Christians and Muslims, the Straits Times said on its website.

A hearing was set for June 4 for mitigation pleas and sentencing.

The sedition charge carries a jail term of up to three years or a fine of up to 5,000 Singapore dollars (3,437 US) or both.

Singapore, a multi-racial island nation, clamps down hard on anyone seen to be inciting communal tensions.

In 2005, two ethnic Chinese men were jailed for anti-Muslim blogs.

The following year, a Singaporean blogger received a stern warning after posting cartoons mocking Jesus Christ on his online journal.

Ethnic Chinese make up a majority of the city-state's resident population but there are significant numbers of Malay Muslims, ethnic Indians and other groups.

Gaza's Children

Everyone must constantly be reminded that victims of any war would be civilians and children are the ones who suffer most. What would the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder be on children if adults themselves struggle to cope with it? Children would be psychlogically scarred if they survive the conflict physically. And sadly, as victims of violence, all they might understand is violence in future. Both sides should not continue to provoke each other and hopefully a ceasefire would occur very very soon.


300 Gazan Children Killed, 1,500 Wounded Since Tuesday

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 (Bernama) -- As of Tuesday, over 300 children have been killed and more than 1,500 wounded, since the Gaza crisis began on Dec 27.

United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) executive director Ann M. Veneman described the figures as not merely "cold figures" but those which interrupt the lives of children.

"No human being can watch this without being moved. No parent can witness this and not see their own child," she said in a statement on Thursday.

Ann said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon was currently in the Middle-East, appealing for urgent compliance with the UN Security Council Resolution 1860.

The resolution calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire and the unimpeded provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza.

Another Racist Blogger Arrested

Why are there still racists? Because such ignorant people will always be around.

Acting on a complaint, the police arrested that racist and it is reassuring that some action is taken, and that they didn't just ignore the whole complaint. I presume they would take action on any racist regardless of her or his ethnicity.

Nevertheless, what is appropriate action now after the supposed arrest? Should that blogger be jailed, fined, issued a stern warning or do community service? Which is the action that is most beneficial to society and that blogger at the same time, without turning him more antagonistic towards other races and blaming them for the predicament he is in now somehow?

I think it should be community service as it is his chance to make things right.

Response to Islam in Singapore : Where to from here ?

Unfortunately, the comments section of this is deactivated and so I decided to post my comments here:
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I don’t quite get Dr Alwi’s rhetoric of Singapore’s by attempting to either dilute or modify Islam in order to integrate its Muslim community. As Singaporeans, we should just continue to practice Islam as it is and stop harboring thoughts that others are trying to impede our practices.

First of all, “Islam does not concentrate on filling men’s minds with philosophical ideas, or on excessive dream-like spirituality, or on physical training and perfection, or on self-serving materialistic philosophies such as exist nowadays. The personality of the Muslim is perfectly integrated and balanced, and no aspect of it is overtaken by others, as happens in other societies where man is brought up under imperfect manmade systems which all too often are governed by selfish desires, reprehensible innovations or deviant ideas.”

Secondly all Muslims are supposed to be on good terms with their neighbors, regardless of their religious practices and there isn’t a need to dilute the Islamic practices. “With his neighbor, the true Muslim is an example of good treatment and consideration of others’ feelings and sensitivities. He puts up with mistreatment and turns a blind eye to his neighbor’s faults while taking care not to commit any such errors himself. He always adopts the Islamic attitude whereby treating neighbors well was made a basic principle of Islam, so much so that the Prophet thought that Jibrail would make his neighbor his heir. Therefore he never does anything bad to his neighbor, nor does he fail in his duty towards him; rather, he does not spare any effort to do favors for his neighbor, without expecting any favors, reward or thanks in return.”

Muslims do not unjustly accuse others of ‘fisq’ or ‘kufr’ and should be modest at all times. Nothing can restore the health and authenticity of the Muslim identity except a sincere return to the eternal way of Allah and a deep understanding of the mission with which the Muslim has been entrusted. This will enable the Muslims to fulfill their duty of conveying this message to mankind, after they have adopted it for themselves as an ideology and way of life.

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References:
http://www.crescentlife.com/articles/islam/ideal_muslim.htm