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Singapore Malays Get Plan To Help Them Compete
by Kazi Mahmood
SINGAPORE (IslamOnline) - The aftermath of the Eid seasons in Singapore will be a bit more rosy for the Malay Muslim community in the tiny island with the implementation of a four cornered plan to assist them compete in the new economy.
Malay Members of Parliament (MP)’s are firming up a blueprint that focuses on the four key areas: education, talent development, aid for low-income families and religious education.
The blueprint will form the backbone of a 10-year plan to ensure that the community's progress keeps pace with that of Singapore and the rest of the world.
Malays have complained that they are being left behind in the new economy and that Singapore’s government has been insensitive to their cultural and Islamic needs.
Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Abdullah Tarmugi, also Minister for Community Development and Sports, announced the details at an Eid gathering at the Presidential Palace, the Istana.
The move to implement the blueprint by this year is clearly an attempt by the MP’s from the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) to discard the image of “yes men” of which the Association of Malay Professionals (AMP) had labeled them.
The AMP late last year challenged PAP MPs over their role within the Malay Muslim community criticizing their overtly pro-government stance and accusing them of doing nothing to safeguard the culture and faith of the Muslims.
The AMP also pinpointed that Malays were left behind in the structural and educational adjustments being made in Singapore in the push towards an Information Technology based new economy.
The AMP also disagreed over the last few months on the kind of leadership structure the Malay-Muslim community should have in Singapore, a call that has been highly criticized by the Chinese political elite in Singapore.
Concern over how compulsory education will affect Islamic religious schools were hotly debated issues that dominated the Malay political scene in Singapore last year.
Abdullah appealed to the community to bury the hatchet over the last year and to concentrate on challenges ahead. Earlier on the Minister had urged the Malay community to “let bygones be bygones”.
He said he believed that the main areas of contention have been dealt with and that the community ''can regroup again and move on to face the bigger challenges that await us in this third millennium.''
While the Minister insisted the community's future will depend on its ability to prepare for and adapt to the constant changes of the new economy, other members of the Malay-Muslim community of 800,000 people on island believe the government needs to do more to ensure their security.
Malays are united on the basis of Islam even though a section of the community has preferred to follow modern trends imposed by Singapore lifestyle. Islam is still strong and Malay culture is still practiced by the community.
However, there is a deep sense of identity loss and unfair corporate treatment of minorities in Singapore.
Malays in Singapore are very fluent in English and sometimes prove to be more patriotic Singaporeans than many of the “imported” Chinese from Hong Kong and China, a Malay Muslim member of the Indonesian-based Mohammadiah group told IslamOnline.
''The Malays want the continued effort by the authorities to ensure that the Muslim religious schools [Maktabs] are not wiped out in the drive towards the new economy.'' Puan Khatijah said to IslamOnline.
She added that there have been little efforts by the concerned authorities to acknowledge Malays as a potential group that could be professionally organized to assist the country in facing the global economy.
The new blueprint unveiled for the Malay-Muslim community would deal with education, talent development, assistance for low-income families and assistance to the Maktabs.
Puan Khatijah said it was a good thing that the government finally acknowledged the necessity to maintain the Maktabs.
''If this blueprint is aimed at addressing the key areas of concern for the community, then it should be widely accepted,'' Khatijah said.
The blueprint says that in education, every Muslim Singaporean child will be given the necessary head start to excel in school from a very early age.
On talent development, talented Malay-Muslim Singaporeans will be given a helping hand to compete in the global marketplace.
Children from lower-income families will be given aid to progress in school. However, no details have yet been released on how this will work.
Children’s parents will receive aid to acquire new skills, under a total approach to ensure that such families also enjoy the benefits of the new economy.
The form of assistance given, however, must encourage self-reliance and independence among such families, said Abdullah Tarmugi.
The blueprint will also focus on strengthening the community's religious foundation and this touches deep into the heart of the community, said Khatijah, a religious teacher on the island.
The Minister added that Muslim children must continue to receive and imbibe Islamic values, and mosques must remain relevant as a provider of religious instruction for Muslims of all ages.
Mosques must also become better integrated with the larger Singaporean society, he added.
The interest in Islamic values by the Singaporean government is a step forward into the Malay-Muslim community’s march into the future, IslamOnline was told.
However, observers said the government should not relinquish in its efforts to bring more fairness at all levels of the society and in corporate governance altogether.
Speaking to reporters, Yaacob Ibrahim, Parliamentary Secretary for Communications and Information Technology, said details of the blueprint, such as the specific programs involved, their implementation and how they will be funded, are being worked out and are expected to be finalized by the end of the month.
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