Reservations on the Reserved Presidential Elections – Views of a Singaporean Malay

This is a summary of my thoughts that I shared at a Discussion Session with undergraduates from the University Scholars Program at Cinnamon College, NUS on 3 Apr 2017. I was asked to broadly comment on the following issues: 1) Given the varying responses to the Reserved Presidency, how this will affect the unity of the Malay community. … Continue reading →

Politics of Funding Cuts: Is It Really About Partisanship?

One issue that has emerged is the view that my participation at a civil protest in Hong Lim Park and a Workers’ Party (WP) Youthquake Seminar was tantamount to involvement in partisan politics (and therefore purportedly incongruent with AMP’s charter of independence). The narratives from the Minister in charge of Muslim Affairs and AMP has … Continue reading →

Originally posted on Yawning Bread:
The protest held on Saturday, 16 February 2013, against the government’s 6.9 million population White Paper saw the second largest crowd ever at Hong Lim Park. Organisers estimated it to be 4,000 to 5,000, which puts it second only to Pink Dot 2012.  Walking around and observing the density of…

Restoring CLF (Complete Loss of Focus)

Berita Harian (“BH”) carried an interesting debate on the CLF Convention on Dec 1st 2012. BH had translated and featured my blog piece, Returning the Concepts of “Community” and Leadership to CLF in an article here . BH also featured a response by Mendaki’s CEO and head of the CLF Secretariat. The thrust of the … Continue reading →

A National Approach to the “Malay” Problem

The State has largely defined issues affecting the Malay-Muslim Community (MMC) in Singapore as community issues.   This has largely defined the way we address these problems – by placing the heavy burden on the Community, and in particular Malay-Muslim Organizations (MMOs), to find solutions.  This has, not surprisngly, been an uphill struggle which has … Continue reading →

Malay Educational Gaps 2011 – Beyond Persistence

The latest PSLE and GCE O Level metrics released by the Ministry of Education in a press release dated 29 Oct 2012 shows more worrying signs for the Malay-Muslim community. This lends further support to my earlier argument that the gaps between the Malay-Muslim community and other students are widening or stagnating, thus calling for … Continue reading →

Minding the (Stubborn) Gaps – Courage for Change?

Member of Parliament Mr Zainudin Nordin remarked wrote in his letter to Sunday Times: “Mr Nizam’s refusal to see the improvements made but to instead lean on phrases like ‘stubborn gaps’ and ‘social inequality among the races’ is puzzling”. Mr Zainudin instead paints a glossy picture of the achievements of the Malay-Muslim Community (MMC), stating … Continue reading →

Myth of Meritocracy

Mr Zainudin Nordin, Member of Parliament and Ms Charlene Chang, Director, Community Relations and Engagement Division, MCYS wrote letters to the Sunday Times/Straits Times (16 Sep 2012 and 12 Sep 2012 respectively), expressing concerns over remarks I had made at a Forum organized by the Centre for Research and Islamic Affairs (RIMA). My replies to these letters … Continue reading →