Shanmugam clarifies "curry case"

[cheekenpie]

"I like Curry, you like Curry, CMC also like Curry"​

Title : Shanmugam clarifies "curry case"
By :
Date : 16 August 2011 1910 hrs (SST)
URL : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1147353/1/.html

SINGAPORE: Minister for Law K Shanmugam on Tuesday clarified that parties involved in the mediation of the "curry" incident were not given a recommendation nor forced into settlement.

Instead, they are encouraged to work out a solution that both are comfortable with.

Mr Shanmugam was responding to a dispute handled by the Community Mediation Centre -- an agency under the Ministry of Law -- which has sparked a debate online.

The case in question happened some six to seven years ago, involving a family who had moved to Singapore from China.

They sought mediation because they could not stand the smell of curry coming from the home of their Singaporean Indian neighbours.

According to one media report, the mediator got the Indian family to agree to only cook curry when their Chinese neighbours were not at home.

Mr Shanmugam has clarified that the solution was agreed upon by the two parties, and not imposed by the mediator.

"The parties are completely free to come for mediation. They are not forced to come, neither are they under any compulsion to come," Mr Shanmugam said.

"And throughout the process of mediation, either party can walk off. There was no agreement that was signed or settled at the mediation. What happened, as told to us by the mediator, this solution was discussed by the two families, [between] themselves."

Mr Shanmugam urged Singaporeans to see things in perspective.

"While we must affirm our Singaporean identity and must protect it, and it's good to see so many people coming forward to protect it, at the same time, let's not turn this into a xenophobic attack on foreigners in general," he said.

Netizens have started an island-wide "Cook A Pot of Curry!" movement on Facebook, urging families to cook and share a pot of curry to "celebrate curries as part of our way of life, and to share this celebration with those who are new to our shores".

Mr Shanmugam said the mediation centre each year handles about 300 disputes between neighbours, the bulk of which are between Singaporeans.

-CNA/wk




Copyright © 2011 MediaCorp Pte Ltd

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[denzuko1]

how is it that Shanmugam fail to understand that the netizen is not whacking the new comers but the performance of CMC leading to a rediculous solution between the 2 parties?

The 154th is quick to play on the agenda that once again the new comers as victim of public scrutiny.They continue to shy away from the real problem which is Garment's policy.

 

[huahero]

Being an Indian Singaporean, I thought Minister will step forward to lead "我喜欢吃咖喱".

 

[PhuaTeKor]

Why Telegraph still gets it wrong after Shanmugam's clarification? Why they want to use strong words like 'anti-' and 'war'?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...704107/Singapores-anti-Chinese-curry-war.html

Singapore's 'anti-Chinese curry war'
The mediator ruled that the Indian family could only cook curry when the Chinese family was not at home
Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES
By Malcolm Moore, Shanghai
Last Updated: 4:56PM BST 16/08/2011


What began as a quarrel over the pungent aromas wafting from one family's kitchen has bubbled up into Singapore's spiciest protest movement, with 40,000 people set to express their national pride this weekend by cooking curry.

Curry is one of Singapore's national dishes, a dish that is equally loved, although in different forms, by the island's British, Chinese, Indian and Malay populations.

So there was an instant uproar when a local newspaper reported that one Chinese family, recently arrived from the mainland, had taken offence at their Indian neighbours' dining habits.

"The family resorted to mediation because they could not stand the smell of curry," reported the Today newspaper. "The Indian family, who were mindful of their neighbours' aversion, had already taken to closing their doors and windows whenever they cooked the dish, but this was not enough," it added.

Instead, the unnamed Chinese family took their neighbours to Singapore's Community Mediation Centre for a ruling on the matter.

Marcellina Giam, the mediator, eventually ruled that the Indian family could only cook curry when the Chinese family was not at home. In return, the Chinese family promised to try the dish.

The judgment incensed Singaporeans, many of whom have eyed a recent flood of mainland Chinese immigrants with some disdain.

Almost a million mainland Chinese have arrived in recent years, making up a fifth of the island's population. Singapore's native Chinese population have been particularly upset by the newcomers, many of whom do not come from the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong that provided the original wave of immigrants before the Second World War. Most also do not speak English, which remains Singapore's national language.

"I am incensed with a People's Republic of China family telling my fellowmen not to cook curry," wrote Rosalind Lee, one of hundreds of commencers on the Today newspaper's website. "Almost all Singaporean homes cook curry. The mediator should tell the PRC family to adjust and adapt to Singapore's way of life and not tell the locals to adjust to the foreigner's way of life!" she added.

 

[jw5]

So does he like curry chicken or szechuan chicken?

 

[Windsor]

It would not have been an issue if they had told the foreigners go and fly kite. We are not obliging them in any way, but being daft they are so hard up to get more new citizens they make the wrong move.

 

[annexa]

Dear Minister with all respects, we are not coming together for an INDIAN culture. We are coming together for a SINGAPOREAN culture. I am disappointed a Minister cannot see NATIONAL UNITY as it is but see it as a racially divisive action. I feel sad for PM if all this thing (the Dentist MP, Penny Low, Gay, etc) keep happening for the next few year.

 

[RoyMcFarland]

"Mr Shanmugam has clarified that the solution was agreed upon by the two parties, and not imposed by the mediator.

"The parties are completely free to come for mediation. They are not forced to come, neither are they under any compulsion to come," Mr Shanmugam said.

"And throughout the process of mediation, either party can walk off. There was no agreement that was signed or settled at the mediation. What happened, as told to us by the mediator, this solution was discussed by the two families, [between] themselves." "


Who came up with the solution? And why was it even on the table?

 

[kingrant]

How can the CMC merely stand by and just do nothing until the parties came to a settlement? Then why are they there? To watch wayang?

The CMC is there to ensure that there is no undue duress or intimidation from either party, to ensure there is social justice and equity, to ensure that any solution does not undermine or subvert social, inter-racial values, norms, and fair play.

In this case, I can only assume that the Indian S'pore family was probably outshouted, outscreamed, out-talked, outspat, and browbeaten by the PRCs, who are famous for their spitting, screaming, shouting, threatening and unreasonably demanding others confess to dubious crimes and other uncivilised habits from the Cultural revolution.

 

[mscitw]

Minion 三木根 certainly learns fast. There is no profit taking sides in peasants' quarrels. Better time is spent getting reporters to take pictures of him helping elderly or cuddling babies.

101 lessons of Political Games, scoot away from silly disputes. In Joo Chiat, the previous MP was styled as the brilliant bloke who has great rapport with babas. However despite his flowery language, former MP of Joo Chiat was helpless when the Babas waged wars with their uncouth Chink neighbours.

Despite his womanising, Minion 三木根 has developed the clarity of thought and avoided a potential landmine.

 

[goldenmonkey]

You called that "clarifies"?

It is still as cloudly as a bowl of curry to me.
Those who has been to CMC before would know that they will always claim that the decision and agreement are not forced upon, but I can tell you the way they push for a resolution/agreement is anything but a mere suggestion. For a start, they claim that even the attendance is not forced. Please show the letter of a typical invitation for these sessions. I bet it will have the words in the vein of "note that a failure to attend this session will be recorded as evidence of non-attendance...".
Prove me wrong.

Of course it does not say it will mean anything for not attending. But you should get the drift of the magnitude.

 

[CannonFairy]

I do not understand why CMC stirs the curry pot by highlighting a case which is almost a decade old! Now Shanmugam has to fight the fire.

Knowing Shanmugam's temperament, heads will definitely roll.

 

[lee6100]

I wonder how the Honourable Minister will feel if he has PRC neighbours who tell HIS mother to stop cooking curry because they cannot stand the smell.

 

[ah_phah]

if the ahtiong family complained about shanmugam's curry, i think he will make sure the ahtiong family dont ever set foot in sg again.

 

[jw5]

It's the TIMBRE of the man, the TIMBRE!

 

[kingrant]

You dont mean "thamby" do you?

It's the TIMBRE of the man, the TIMBRE!