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Terrorism activities : 'heightened alert' in Singapore

Seems a particular race n religion is big on terrorism..they even volunteer...

ISIS bride and a fighter from Singapore said to have died in Syria
Left: Australian Yasin Rizvic (in grey) and his Singaporean wife, Fauziah Begum Khamal Bacha, were said to be killed in Syria where they had joined ISIS. PHOTO: ABC NEWS
Australian Yasin Rizvic (in grey) and his Singaporean wife, Fauziah Begum Khamal Bacha, were said to be killed in Syria where they had joined ISIS. PHOTO: ABC NEWS
A Singaporean woman who travelled to Syria with her Bosnia-born husband to join terror group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is reportedly dead, and three of their children are being sent back to Australia.

Fauziah Begum Khamal Bacha, who was living in Melbourne, is one of four radicalised Singaporeans known to have taken part in the Syrian conflict. Her husband, Yasin Rizvic, and their eldest son are also said to be dead.

The three surviving children - two girls and a boy - are Australian citizens between the ages of six and 12.

Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and his ministry disclosed Fauziah's involvement in the conflict last week while giving an update on the terror threat to Singapore. No further details on her are available, but Australian media reported the family left for Syria five years ago.

Radical ideology remains a key concern in the wake of the terror attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March and in Sri Lanka in April, and as foreign ISIS fighters return to their home regions and regroup.

Another Singaporean ISIS fighter, Megat Shahdan Abdul Samad, has also reportedly been killed in the conflict zone, but the authorities have yet to get confirmation of this.

In an interview with The Sunday Times and Today, Mr Shanmugam revealed that Shahdan, who appeared in ISIS recruitment videos, had encouraged his friends to stage attacks here. "He wanted somebody to take a lorry and drive into a Thaipusam crowd," said the minister.

"ISD worked behind the scenes to ensure that no one answered his various exhortations," the minister added, referring to the Internal Security Department.

Two other Singaporeans - former supermarket manager Haja Fakkurudeen Usman Ali and Maimunah Abdul Kadir - had also travelled to Syria with their families. The Ministry of Home Affairs said it was not able to comment further on their whereabouts.

Mr Shanmugam stressed that while the terror group may have lost physical territory, the threat it poses is not completely over.

He noted that Sri Lanka attack mastermind and suicide-bomber Zahran Hashim was in contact with someone in Singapore. His follower, licensed money changer Kuthubdeen Haja Najumudeen, was detained in May and the ministry disclosed his arrest last month.

There is therefore a need for Singapore to remain alert and able to deal with terror from various aspects, including in maintaining harmony between different communities and assuring the majority in each community that the Government treats everyone equally, the minister said.

"It's only when you can assure the majority in each community that we are fair and we will treat everyone equally, then all the other tools can be used to deal with the small minority," he said.

"If a majority in our community feel that they are disadvantaged, these tools will not be effective."

In the interview, Mr Shanmugam outlined how Singapore's approach to the terror threat continues to rest on four key pillars.

Law to tackle foreign interference planned
Singapore will introduce a new law this year to tackle the issue of foreign interference in politics, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said.

"Foreign interference in domestic politics is not unique to Singapore. Nor is it new," he said in an interview with The Sunday Times and Today.

"But you have seen a rise of that in recent years - the US, France, in many other places. And we will not be immune either."

"There will be a deliberate attempt to divide the community within Singapore. There will be an attempt to interfere in our political discussions and debates.

"All of this... has taken place, will continue to take place," he added.

Mr Shanmugam cited the case of the Eastern Sun, an English-language daily newspaper that closed down in 1971 after the Government exposed a "black operation" by a foreign power to subvert Singapore.

Then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had noted that foreign funding meant the paper "would not oppose the People's Republic of China on major issues and would remain neutral on minor ones".

In the interview, Mr Shanmugam added that attempts by foreign forces to influence domestic politics or opinion will remain.

"But the means have now multiplied because of online possibilities. And it allows a foreign country to permanently keep your population in a tense situation, create trouble."

In March, Mr Shanmugam told Parliament that Singapore was studying laws that other countries such as Germany and Australia have passed to combat foreign interference.

In Australia, those who act on behalf of foreign countries or entities must declare the relationship or risk facing up to five years in jail. Foreign interference aimed at influencing elections or supporting foreign intelligence agencies could result in a penalty of up to 20 years in jail.

Zakir Hussain

1
One, the legal framework provided by the Internal Security Act (ISA) which enables the authorities to detain radicalised individuals early and take a zero-tolerance approach to support for terrorism.

Mr Shanmugam said it was not appropriate to try radicalised persons in open court - it could make things worse and often the evidence is based on intelligence - or to have a situation like Guantanamo Bay where the United States detains captured foreign terrorists without trial or a time frame.

"It's better to be upfront about it, have such a law and the detainees are better treated here because there's a process. It's not lock you up and the keys are thrown away. There's a two-year detention period. It gets renewed if they don't get rehabilitated," he added.

"Having the laws is one thing. Having the will to use the laws firmly, decisively is another. People know we will use them," he said, adding there are no immediate plans to amend the ISA.

2
Two, community support for the law and how it is used. The minister noted that the wider community, including the Muslim community, supports the law, and community groups and leaders play an active role in combating radical ideology.

This includes the Religious Rehabilitation Group, a ground-up initiative by senior scholars to speak with the detainees, educate them about Islam, and help rehabilitate them.

3
Three, rehabilitation to get detainees to understand the error of their ways and rejoin society.

Mr Shanmugam noted that Singapore's rehabilitation regime is recognised as one of the two or three more successful programmes in the world.

"We have a clear process - detain, rehabilitate and release," he said, adding that most detainees have accepted that their understanding of Islam was wrong.

But there are also some who will never change their views, "and we will have to keep them in as long as the professionals think that they are a security concern", he added.

Since 2002, over 130 individuals found to have been involved in terrorism-related activities have been dealt with. Currently, 22 persons are in detention, 26 are out on restriction orders which limit their movements, and two have had their detention orders suspended.

Still, the total number of persons on such orders under the ISA is at its highest in the last seven years, due to the spike in cases of radicalised persons dealt with from 2015, soon after ISIS emerged.

4
The fourth pillar is the ability to respond rapidly to deter and deal with the aftermath of an attack.

Mr Shanmugam noted that Singapore Police Force's tactical forces have been upgraded significantly, with rapid reaction forces and quick response teams able to get anywhere in Singapore within minutes. "They are a visible show of force and visible expression of our determination to deal with this problem," he said.

Especially critical, he said, is the need to maintain harmony between different communities and faiths.

"We have to fight for the hearts and minds of people across communities. We got to keep tolerance between communities, between religions and work hard at making sure that no community feels left out and no community feels that they are going to be prejudiced or racially targeted," he said.

"Everyone needs to have the opportunities to come up in our society. They need to feel that the Government is fair, the Government is committed to their well-being and will treat everyone equally. That is critical. If any community feels that they are marginalised or disadvantaged, then that would be a problem as well," he added.

Mr Shanmugam had, last month, also announced the Government plans to update the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act, which enables the authorities to step in when preachers denigrate other faiths, to deal with the prevalence of identity politics and hate speech online.

In the interview, he said that Singapore has ensured calm on this front because the authorities adopt a strict, no-nonsense approach to hate speech and incitement.

"Attacking religion, each other's religion, happens in many other countries. We don't allow it," he said. "And that has helped in reducing temperatures. That has helped in creating racial harmony."

He also noted the way New Zealanders rallied in solidarity after the Christchurch terror attack on two mosques in March, and hoped there would be a similar cohesiveness in Singapore should an attack take place.

"I need people to understand that they have a responsibility," he said. "When things happen, the on-the-ground response is going to be from people in the community, and is going to be very important."

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on August 04, 2019, with the headline 'ISIS bride and a fighter from S'pore said to have died in Syria'. Print Edition | Subscribe
 
Guess the race n religion? Singkieland very own...

Singaporean ISIS fighter appears in another ISIS video, shown executing a man
Megat Shahdan Abdul Samad was seen on another ISIS video, where he was seen executing three men by shooting with two other men.
Megat Shahdan Abdul Samad was seen on another ISIS video, where he was seen executing three men by shooting with two other men.PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM VIDEO

SINGAPORE - A second propaganda video by terror group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) featuring Singaporean Megat Shahdan Abdul Samad has surfaced.

This time, he goes beyond rallying fighters to join ISIS, which is based largely in the desert along the Iraqi-Syrian border. In the graphic video, he and two other men dressed in military fatigues are shown executing three men by shooting them.

Shahdan, 39, was last known to have appeared in a 3 1/2 minute ISIS clip in September, in which he praised East Asian fighters, called for extremists to join the terror group's efforts in East Asia or the Middle East, and challenged Britain's Prince Harry to a fight.

The newly-surfaced clip, which has been shared on social media and messaging groups, is over eight minutes long. It shows footage of bombings and vehicle attacks, interspersed with scenes at places like stadiums and parties.

Towards the end of the video, Shahdan is featured speaking in English, telling followers to strengthen themselves and "slay the enemies of Allah wherever you can find them", before shooting a kneeling man.

Security experts who spoke to The Straits Times believe the video to be authentic. It is believed to have been first posted on Friday (Dec 29).

When contacted, the Ministry of Home Affairs said it has "no further updates on this video".

It is the first known video of a Singaporean participating in an execution for ISIS, which suggests that Shahdan is in some kind of leadership role, said S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) senior analyst Jasminder Singh.

Dr Kumar Ramakrishna of RSIS said this latest development drives home in a very strong way the dangers of being indoctrinated with extremist ideology.

"Singaporeans may think we are educated, but even people in our particular day and age, given exposure to extremist ideology, can be influenced to such an extent... where they can so dehumanise other people not seen to be part of their circle that they can just murder them in cold blood," he said.

"It shows why extremist ideology is so dangerous and has to continue to be countered," he added.

Another man whom experts believe to be also Southeast Asian but not from Singapore is also featured in the video. This suggests that the Southeast Asian fighters have most likely regrouped, as Shahdan did not appear with other Southeast Asians in the previous video, said Mr Singh.

Shahdan, who had been a secret society member in Singapore with a string of drug and criminal convictions, went to the Middle East to work in 2014, where he was believed to have been radicalised. He later made his way to Syria to join ISIS.

Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said after the previous video was released that the Internal Security Department had been keeping tabs on Shahdan.

The new video is specifically timed to incite attacks at New Year celebrations, said Professor Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore.

"At a time when ISIS is shrinking in its battle space in Iraq and Syria, it is sending a message that it is still capable of mounting attacks and terrorising the public," he said. "With its core depleting and global expansion, ISIS will focus on propaganda in the coming months and years."
 
"Terrorism" only started after 9/11. Not past 1400years.:rolleyes: Not just Muslims
 
Yes. Esp those who invaded other countries...using carpet bombs...killing million of innocents. Go invade China or Russia lah. No balls

Just giving the terrorists a taste of their own medicine.
 
the following is a statistics of hindus in bangladesh .

it appears thr hindus a far better lot in terms of poulation growth ,how than this theory of Muslim banglas wanting to kill hindus in bangladesh holds ? apparentlty some one didnt do his home work

Hindu population growth between 2001–2011 is +9.8% that is 1,113,427 people

Assuming that same growth, we will analyzed the Hindu population growth in upcoming decades

Year| Hindu pop

2021 | 14 million

2031 | 15.5 million

2041 | 17 million

2051 | 18.5 million

2061 | 20 million

2071 | 21.5 million

2081 | 23 million

2091 | 24.5 million

2101 | 26 million..
 
Moron. Tere r 23% cheena Msians still staying n leechg away privileges n benefits fm peaceful Malay/Muslim garment.
Cheena no bumi policies

Malaysia’s ‘Malay First’ Malaise
The recent political upheaval, like so many of the country’s woes, stems from the longstanding racialization of politics.

By Chandran Nair
March 04, 2020
Malaysia’s ‘Malay First’ Malaise
Thousands of protesters take a part in a rally to celebrate the government’s move to withdraw plans to ratify a U.N. anti-discrimination convention at Independent Square in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Dec. 8, 2018. Credit: AP Photo/Yam G-Jun
For the second time in almost as many years Malaysia has a new prime minister. And yet again it is looking to a 94-year-old man to resolve the latest political crisis, described by many as a silent coup. The relationship between Mahathir Mohamad and his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim (himself over 70) is still — as it has been for decades — the locus of Malaysian politics, including in relation to the latest farce. With no disrespect to either of these politicians, it’s worth asking: Is there really no other politician competent enough, or even just politically savvy enough, to drive Malaysian politics?

It seems the people who voted for change two years ago have been short changed and left with a prime minister that many did not vote for and now do not trust. The current political chaos in Malaysia has confused and bemused most Malaysians and many international observers. But beyond the day-to-day breaking news alerts and rumors, there are deep structural issues in Malaysian politics that remain unresolved and have precipitated this latent crisis.

The truth is that politics in Malaysia is stunted. Who among the Malaysian political elite can feasibly claim to run a clean and competent government? Certainly not new Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who does not have a good reputation, having been accused of corruption going back to when he was the chief minister of the southern state of Johor, next to Singapore. The people Muhyiddin has enticed to join him to form a new government are some of the most mistrusted figures, entangled in the scandals of the last few years. This lack of credentials among candidates is deeply concerning and does not bode well for the future of the country.

The dearth of political leadership has held back the country’s growth for years. Malaysia has long been labelled a rising star of Southeast Asia, yet has repeatedly fallen short of both domestic and international expectations. Perhaps this is no surprise considering its shadow economy is valued to be 21 percent of GDP, or 300 billion Malaysian ringgits ($72 billion). The corruption crisis came to a head in 2015 with the 1MDB scandal. This scandal was so big that it finally toppled the rule of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which had governed Malaysia since independence – 61 years of one-party rule in the guise of democracy. But even then, the Pakatan Harapan coalition that defeated the BN still had the familiar faces of Mahathir and Anwar at its head. And now after the PH’s implosion in the last week the BN seems to be engineering a return, with some of the same old cronies.

The core issue of Malaysia’s stagnation remains the country’s treatment of race. The former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew once famously said that Malaysian politics will always be based on race. Given its unique multicultural heritage that is not surprising, but politics need not be racist at the same time. That sadly seems to have become the norm amongst the political elites and was on full display in recent months.

Malaysia practices affirmative action for the bumiputra, enabling the livelihoods of Malay Malaysians by granting them quotas in public education, mortgage reduction benefits, and even roles reserved in the public sector for them. It is the only country in the world whose majority population enjoys affirmative action aside from South Africa (which suffered from a century of racial oppression at the hands of a minority). But this chauvinism is also expressed in a number of unwritten rules: namely that the position of prime minister and all prominent government positions must go to Malays. This is at the heart of Malaysia’s rot and has stymied the development of political talent. It has also led to Malay elites dominating a predominately rent-seeking economy, in which elites from all other races in turn feel enabled to exhibit this self-serving behavior, thus making everyone complicit.

Of course, in order to bring about change, the Pakatan Harapan coalition violated some of these unwritten rules. It nominated two minority race politicians to prominent ministerial positions: Malaysian-Chinese Lim Guan Eng to the finance minister, and Malaysian-Indian Tommy Thomas as attorney general. The latter resigned last week after months of being attacked on racial grounds.

And in response to the PH victory, the now-opposition party UMNO has started to rebrand itself as an explicitly pro-Malay party. In October 2019, four public universities organized the “Malay Dignity Conference,” during which one academic said — with a straight face — that “Malaysia is for Malays” and that the social contract with non-Malays could be revoked. This was claimed with no grounding in Malaysian or international law. In any other democratic country, this would be seen as racism at its worse and even legally contestable.

The new prime minister is on the record as saying that he is “Malay first and Malaysian second” when it should be the other way around. Although there are many urban educated Malays who reject this sort of thinking, few have spoken out. Only Mahathir was willing to tell the pro-Malay audience that minorities were not to blame for their struggles. Yet in the new Malaysia which is being born — despite the current crisis which suggests the country is regressing — it is important to understand that most Malays do not support such outward racism. They understand the reality that theirs is a multicultural country and want to live and thrive in the unique cultural fabric that Malaysia offers. Yet the leaders of the Malay parties seem completely out of touch and are alienating their base with their self-serving agendas, which are not aligned with the majority of Malaysians.

Malaysia’s affirmative action policies started from what were good intentions: a wish to improve the circumstances of poor rural Malays, in the hope of redressing inequalities of the colonial era and staunching the racial tensions (including race riots) that plagued cities like Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Jakarta. But if the goal was to elevate poor Malays, these policies haven’t worked, and have even largely backfired: independent groups suggest that Malaysia’s effective poverty rate is still around 15 percent, much of that among the Malay population. Mahathir has for years lamented the lack of progress in uplifting deprived Malay communities, but even he has not been willing to admit to the failings of race-based economic policies.

The system of affirmative action has evolved into one of the root causes of Malaysia’s corruption and political failings. By tapping into pro-Malay feelings, Malay politicians and ideologues have secured their own positions, allowing self-enrichment through rent-seeking and corruption. Institutional development suffers, private companies thrive on the basis of their government connections, and political advancement is not based on merit.

This has affected Malaysia’s society in its entirety, across all races. Why has Malaysia’s education system become substandard, particularly for poorer communities, when it was once considered among the best in Asia? Why have wages stagnated for the lower income groups, while living costs rise? Why has Malaysian Airlines, once widely respected, become an airline that can’t even be sold? What about the situation of the Orang Asli, Malaysia’s seemingly forgotten indigenous population?

But the reality is that the people who have experienced the most setback are poor Malays – the very same communities whom Malay politicians claim to represent. Malaysia’s minority communities are discriminated against under the country’s system of affirmative action, but Chinese and Indians have found a way to be resilient and even thrive. Many have done very well in Malaysia’s private sector and civil society, finding niches in which to flourish. However, poor Malays suffer from a government that has held them back using race-based policies. Malaysia’s government does not uphold a truly meritocratic society; invest in public services to prepare its citizens of all races for the future; nor build governing and political institutions to ensure a well-functioning society. In truth, many poor Malays are lured to support politicians by the promise of race-based privileges that they often never even receive.

Those who live in countries with their own racial politics may see some parallels: politicians that appeal to the majority’s wish to preserve their own privileges, and use that political security to enrich themselves. Malaysia’s racial politics may be explicit and institutionalized, but it is certainly not unique. Look at the United States, where appeals to white superiority are consistently used to prevent solidarity between poor white and non-white communities.

Despite Malaysia’s malaise, there are clearly those, both inside and outside of politics, who are committed to the equal growth of the country and all of its inhabitants. For all of his many flaws, Mahathir appears to take that responsibility seriously, and was certainly competent enough to run the government. But he is also 94 years old: Malaysia needs fresh young leadership to ensure that the electoral wishes of voters two years ago are not hijacked and squandered by those responsible for the shenanigans of the last two weeks.

Millions of millions of Malaysians, of all races, are holding their breath and giving the political process a chance. They look to the future with trepidation: will business-as-usual continue with corrupt leaders, or will the growing public demand for better governance finally oust the Malaysian rot, fulfilling the people’s wish of creating a New Malaysia? And most importantly, will the new prime minister reject the race-based policies that are at the heart of the country’s woes? Will he be willing to now say that as prime minister he is “Malaysian first and Malay second”? If he does, he will win the trust of the majority. But does he have the courage to do so?

Chandran Nair is Founder and CEO of the Global Institute for Tomorrow based in Hong Kong. He is also the author of The Sustainable State: The Future of Government, Economy and Society.

Tags
 
Cheena no bumi policies

Malaysia’s ‘Malay First’ Malaise
The recent political upheaval, like so many of the country’s woes, stems from the longstanding racialization of politics.

By Chandran Nair
March 04, 2020
Malaysia’s ‘Malay First’ Malaise
Thousands of protesters take a part in a rally to celebrate the government’s move to withdraw plans to ratify a U.N. anti-discrimination convention at Independent Square in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Dec. 8, 2018. Credit: AP Photo/Yam G-Jun
For the second time in almost as many years Malaysia has a new prime minister. And yet again it is looking to a 94-year-old man to resolve the latest political crisis, described by many as a silent coup. The relationship between Mahathir Mohamad and his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim (himself over 70) is still — as it has been for decades — the locus of Malaysian politics, including in relation to the latest farce. With no disrespect to either of these politicians, it’s worth asking: Is there really no other politician competent enough, or even just politically savvy enough, to drive Malaysian politics?

It seems the people who voted for change two years ago have been short changed and left with a prime minister that many did not vote for and now do not trust. The current political chaos in Malaysia has confused and bemused most Malaysians and many international observers. But beyond the day-to-day breaking news alerts and rumors, there are deep structural issues in Malaysian politics that remain unresolved and have precipitated this latent crisis.

The truth is that politics in Malaysia is stunted. Who among the Malaysian political elite can feasibly claim to run a clean and competent government? Certainly not new Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who does not have a good reputation, having been accused of corruption going back to when he was the chief minister of the southern state of Johor, next to Singapore. The people Muhyiddin has enticed to join him to form a new government are some of the most mistrusted figures, entangled in the scandals of the last few years. This lack of credentials among candidates is deeply concerning and does not bode well for the future of the country.

The dearth of political leadership has held back the country’s growth for years. Malaysia has long been labelled a rising star of Southeast Asia, yet has repeatedly fallen short of both domestic and international expectations. Perhaps this is no surprise considering its shadow economy is valued to be 21 percent of GDP, or 300 billion Malaysian ringgits ($72 billion). The corruption crisis came to a head in 2015 with the 1MDB scandal. This scandal was so big that it finally toppled the rule of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which had governed Malaysia since independence – 61 years of one-party rule in the guise of democracy. But even then, the Pakatan Harapan coalition that defeated the BN still had the familiar faces of Mahathir and Anwar at its head. And now after the PH’s implosion in the last week the BN seems to be engineering a return, with some of the same old cronies.

The core issue of Malaysia’s stagnation remains the country’s treatment of race. The former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew once famously said that Malaysian politics will always be based on race. Given its unique multicultural heritage that is not surprising, but politics need not be racist at the same time. That sadly seems to have become the norm amongst the political elites and was on full display in recent months.

Malaysia practices affirmative action for the bumiputra, enabling the livelihoods of Malay Malaysians by granting them quotas in public education, mortgage reduction benefits, and even roles reserved in the public sector for them. It is the only country in the world whose majority population enjoys affirmative action aside from South Africa (which suffered from a century of racial oppression at the hands of a minority). But this chauvinism is also expressed in a number of unwritten rules: namely that the position of prime minister and all prominent government positions must go to Malays. This is at the heart of Malaysia’s rot and has stymied the development of political talent. It has also led to Malay elites dominating a predominately rent-seeking economy, in which elites from all other races in turn feel enabled to exhibit this self-serving behavior, thus making everyone complicit.

Of course, in order to bring about change, the Pakatan Harapan coalition violated some of these unwritten rules. It nominated two minority race politicians to prominent ministerial positions: Malaysian-Chinese Lim Guan Eng to the finance minister, and Malaysian-Indian Tommy Thomas as attorney general. The latter resigned last week after months of being attacked on racial grounds.

And in response to the PH victory, the now-opposition party UMNO has started to rebrand itself as an explicitly pro-Malay party. In October 2019, four public universities organized the “Malay Dignity Conference,” during which one academic said — with a straight face — that “Malaysia is for Malays” and that the social contract with non-Malays could be revoked. This was claimed with no grounding in Malaysian or international law. In any other democratic country, this would be seen as racism at its worse and even legally contestable.

The new prime minister is on the record as saying that he is “Malay first and Malaysian second” when it should be the other way around. Although there are many urban educated Malays who reject this sort of thinking, few have spoken out. Only Mahathir was willing to tell the pro-Malay audience that minorities were not to blame for their struggles. Yet in the new Malaysia which is being born — despite the current crisis which suggests the country is regressing — it is important to understand that most Malays do not support such outward racism. They understand the reality that theirs is a multicultural country and want to live and thrive in the unique cultural fabric that Malaysia offers. Yet the leaders of the Malay parties seem completely out of touch and are alienating their base with their self-serving agendas, which are not aligned with the majority of Malaysians.

Malaysia’s affirmative action policies started from what were good intentions: a wish to improve the circumstances of poor rural Malays, in the hope of redressing inequalities of the colonial era and staunching the racial tensions (including race riots) that plagued cities like Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Jakarta. But if the goal was to elevate poor Malays, these policies haven’t worked, and have even largely backfired: independent groups suggest that Malaysia’s effective poverty rate is still around 15 percent, much of that among the Malay population. Mahathir has for years lamented the lack of progress in uplifting deprived Malay communities, but even he has not been willing to admit to the failings of race-based economic policies.

The system of affirmative action has evolved into one of the root causes of Malaysia’s corruption and political failings. By tapping into pro-Malay feelings, Malay politicians and ideologues have secured their own positions, allowing self-enrichment through rent-seeking and corruption. Institutional development suffers, private companies thrive on the basis of their government connections, and political advancement is not based on merit.

This has affected Malaysia’s society in its entirety, across all races. Why has Malaysia’s education system become substandard, particularly for poorer communities, when it was once considered among the best in Asia? Why have wages stagnated for the lower income groups, while living costs rise? Why has Malaysian Airlines, once widely respected, become an airline that can’t even be sold? What about the situation of the Orang Asli, Malaysia’s seemingly forgotten indigenous population?

But the reality is that the people who have experienced the most setback are poor Malays – the very same communities whom Malay politicians claim to represent. Malaysia’s minority communities are discriminated against under the country’s system of affirmative action, but Chinese and Indians have found a way to be resilient and even thrive. Many have done very well in Malaysia’s private sector and civil society, finding niches in which to flourish. However, poor Malays suffer from a government that has held them back using race-based policies. Malaysia’s government does not uphold a truly meritocratic society; invest in public services to prepare its citizens of all races for the future; nor build governing and political institutions to ensure a well-functioning society. In truth, many poor Malays are lured to support politicians by the promise of race-based privileges that they often never even receive.

Those who live in countries with their own racial politics may see some parallels: politicians that appeal to the majority’s wish to preserve their own privileges, and use that political security to enrich themselves. Malaysia’s racial politics may be explicit and institutionalized, but it is certainly not unique. Look at the United States, where appeals to white superiority are consistently used to prevent solidarity between poor white and non-white communities.

Despite Malaysia’s malaise, there are clearly those, both inside and outside of politics, who are committed to the equal growth of the country and all of its inhabitants. For all of his many flaws, Mahathir appears to take that responsibility seriously, and was certainly competent enough to run the government. But he is also 94 years old: Malaysia needs fresh young leadership to ensure that the electoral wishes of voters two years ago are not hijacked and squandered by those responsible for the shenanigans of the last two weeks.

Millions of millions of Malaysians, of all races, are holding their breath and giving the political process a chance. They look to the future with trepidation: will business-as-usual continue with corrupt leaders, or will the growing public demand for better governance finally oust the Malaysian rot, fulfilling the people’s wish of creating a New Malaysia? And most importantly, will the new prime minister reject the race-based policies that are at the heart of the country’s woes? Will he be willing to now say that as prime minister he is “Malaysian first and Malay second”? If he does, he will win the trust of the majority. But does he have the courage to do so?

Chandran Nair is Founder and CEO of the Global Institute for Tomorrow based in Hong Kong. He is also the author of The Sustainable State: The Future of Government, Economy and Society.

Tags

Cheena have china. N sinkieland. Plse migrate
 
Cheena have china. N sinkieland. Plse migrate
Just shows the attitude of m&ds toward other races...and funny like wat the resident pap plp says...m&ds are not the real Indigenous ppl of mudland...but they stole the whole thing...worst than cheena
 
Just shows the attitude of m&ds toward other races...and funny like wat the resident pap plp says...m&ds are not the real Indigenous ppl of mudland...but they stole the whole thing...worst than cheena

Like most of u guys mentioned. Dont talk abt past. Now. Now the Malays r the Master. The majority. They will do away with Bumi policy once cheena racist DAP n supporter berambus n FO fm Msia!
 
just curious

why you people had given up on sinkielad

afterall, its your native land ,right ...dont want to take it back ah ?

Malay/ Muslims r peaceful lot. We r not greedy. We kip n honour our word. Unlike cheena msians. Tungku kicked out red dot. 80% cheena can have it. Can go share with CECA n rest of FTs. :)
 
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