Has the the chinese accepted Malays in CHINESE SINGAPORE stolen from the MALAYS the PAP state fears these Malays cannot be counted upon in certain situations. Oh yes… in 1986 Lee Kuan Yew questioned the loyalties of the Malays… you will realise that meritocracy ignores the structural socio-economic issues surrounding the relatively slow development of the Malay community, justifying it as a result of our own deficiencies. In theory, meritocracy is a panacea because it provides opportunities for all, but the question is whether equal opportunity is given to all. In reality, this is not so.”
I thought S’pore do acknowledge that the Malays there are historically disadvantaged socio-economically. That’s the reason for the their implementation of programs such as ‘Medaki’, no? But these programs are only meant to even out the playing field for the disadvantaged first to second generation of Malay-Singaporeans after S’pore’s Independence. I would think that by the second generation of Malay-S’poreans, their socio-economic conditions would be on par to that of the average Chinese-S’poreans. That’s what happened to my family anyway: My dad’s father was a noodle hawker. Then my dad did quite well in school, and he became a teacher. By then, I would say that my father has achieved parity with those other middle-class Chinese families, if only education-wise, and not wealth-wise. Now its my turn, and I will probably go into the accountancy or banking sector after I graduate from uni. Again, an accountant’s earnings aren’t as spectacular as that of a lawyer’s or a doctor’s. But again, my future socio-economic status would be slightly higher to that of my dad’s, and I think as an accountant, I would no longer qualify to be categorised under the ‘Socio-Economically Disadvantaged’ category anymore. So there’s been an upward social mobility in my family through the generations. And this is without any affirmative action programs to help us, mind you. So I would think that after a certain amount of time, the issue of being disadvantaged socio-economically should ceased to be used by the S’porean-Malays there as well.
Quote: “As I rise up the education system, I see less and less Malay and Indian students in the top schools. Meritocracy ensures only the best suceed. What if most of those who don’t are Malays and Indians?”
It would be ideal if everyone was created equal. Alas, I am not as bright as some of my friends who are medical students now. So, everyone’s intelligence level is different. The same goes for the students in S’pore. Like I’ve said before, meritocracy is based on cold, hard facts and figures. The situation you’ve described above could simply mean that there’s a higher proportion of Chinese-S’poreans scoring straight A’s in their O-Levels/A-Levels than there are Indian and Malay-Singaporeans. That’s just a fact, what else can be said about it? If there are more Chinese in those top schools than there are Indians and Malays, then so be it. Personally, I’ve also known many of my Chinese friends in Malaysia (myself excluded ) who do seem to outscore the rest of their classmates. This phenomenon isn’t just confined to the Chinese. There has also been a disaproportionately high representation of Jewish-Americans in the top law/medical/science schools there, under their meritocracy system there.
What’s the cause of this phenomenon then? Higher socio-economic conditions of the Chinese in comparison to the other races? That’s not entirely true. The beauty of meritocracy is that even if that Chinese bugger’s dad had all the money in the world, he still wouldn’t be admitted into NUS’s Medical School if his A-Levels result’s are lower than that of the other, and possibly poorer, applicants, irregardless of race.
Could it be really then be a culture thing then, like what Dr Mahathir argued in his book? It could be. Is it then those Jewish or Asian kid’s fault for this culture thing? Of course not. So what then is the problem here?
Quote: “In Singapore however, meritocracy is mooted but has the Malay community progressed significantly when compared to the Chinese community? Following Dr Lily Zubaidah’s arguments, this is not so. Does this enlighten you on whether racial discrimination exist through meritocracy?”
Actually, no. Like I’ve said above, if the Malays there have achieved parity with the Chinese-S’poreans in terms of educational access (ie: same schooling opportunity, library access, etc) and essential equipments needed for schooling (ie: able to afford textbooks, stationaries, transport to school, etc), then meritocracy cannot be faulted anymore. Community progress would then depend on academic achievements, business acumen, luck, etc, things that can’t be influenced by LKY or the S’porean govt anymore. So where does racial discrimination pop up in all of this?
Quote: “On the point on the SAF, though all Malays are now allowed to enlist, several restrictions still do exist for Malays specifically. Loyalty issues? Islamic brotherhood? Malay stereotypical stupidity? I can only guess why we are excluded from certain vocations.”
I’ve already replied to this point previously, and also in my blog now. Like I’ve said, I’m not condoning S’pore’s position on this, but I was just giving you your govt’s arguments on this. If I was ordered by M’sia to bomb S’pore where my uncle lives, would I be able to do so? A very hard question to answer…
Quote: “And the sad thing is that most Singaporean Malays are willing to accept their lower economic status, having the prevailing mindset that we will never be able succeed since we are Malays.”
And who’s forcing them to do that? Nobody’s preventing them from achiving anything they want in S’pore (apart from being historically disadvantaged economically, which should have, by now, been rectified by programs such as ‘Mendaki’ and such).
divisive, discriminatory and potentially dangerous race-based party system where each party only strives for their own races respectively while attacking the others”. Neither am I saying that “Singaporeans shouldn’t even bother to ‘try’ and forge a multiracial party to achieve a ‘Singaporean Singapore’”.
divisive, discriminatory and potentially dangerous race-based party system where each party only strives for their own races respectively while attacking the others”. Neither am I saying that “Singaporeans shouldn’t even bother to ‘try’ and forge a multiracial party to achieve a ‘Singaporean Singapore’”.
Being a Singaporean Malay myself, I will most definitely agree that being a minority in Singapore has been good since the basis of meritocracy ensures opportunities for all. But if you have read Dr Lily’s book, you will realise that meritocracy ignores the structural socio-economic issues surrounding the relatively slow development of the Malay community, justifying it as a result of our own deficiencies. In theory, meritocracy is a panacea because it provides opportunities for all, but the question is whether equal opportunity is given to all. In reality, this is not so. As I rise up the education system, I see less and less Malay and Indian students in the top schools. Meritocracy ensures only the best suceed. What if most of those who don’t are Malays and Indians?readmore http://malaysiaonlinetoday.wordpress.com
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