Comments on: Affirmative action for Malays

By: famiLee meritocracy

famiLee meritocracy — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:42:15 +0000

To Juliana, Dr. Syed Alwi, nothing like being straight to the point, well said !

there is still a quota for Malays doing NS and a quota on their promotion.
it turns out newly promoted BG Ishak is not a Malay afterall as pointed out by some netizens.
can anyone recall a Malay attaining a very high ranking position in the SPF ?

meritocracy is a good tool to use but i have my doubts on the PAP’s claim.
look no further than Ho Ching, with her resume and experience, can the system claim her appointment was based on merit ?
what about a bloke like Lim Swee Say ? also on merit ?
then all these PAP talents should have no qualms standing as independent candidates and not hide behind the famiLee system of meritocracy.

By: Triple Threat

Triple Threat — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:46:47 +0000

#20

Please prove that the number of Malays in Singapore far exceeds the number of Chinese/Indians/Eurasians to become the majority. Thanks.

As for the policies, you know that Msia and Indonesia are not friendly towards SG. Anything we do can trigger unwanted sparks with them. No point getting into fights with these two giants since we are a small country. :)

By: GABRIEL

GABRIEL — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:38:42 +0000

In hard times, like now, those struggling to make ends meet, must be provided state help. The nation has to take into the account the efforts of the slowest sectors (usually also the lower income groups), if it is wants to preserve its altruistic democratic values.
But please provide nets, not just bits of fish. Out-of-work managers need to generate income to put food on the family table and preserve whatever dignity they have left.
Entrepreneurism should be encouraged (to counter the slowdown of job generation) and government coffers should release seed money for those able to come up with business ideas that can generate income.
Even in the streets of New York, those able to operate a pushcart can generate an income. We should encourage more of such efforts in Singapore.
We need ideas now, and less griping.

By: aiyoyo

aiyoyo — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:42:09 +0000

aiyoyo

red dot to become “xxxx truly asia…”?

aiyoyo

By: Muhamad Nur

Muhamad Nur — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:53:02 +0000

#19-actually the Malays are the majority in sheer numbers. Or else, why is our policies with regards to the Malays must always take into account Malaysia and Indonesia positions.

By: Triple Threat

Triple Threat — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:47:36 +0000

Meritocracy is just another form of bumiputra that benefits only to a certain group of people that the government is made up of.

By: Triple Threat

Triple Threat — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:45:08 +0000

#15

To be the dominant race, you need to become the majority in sheer numbers. :)

By: SZ

SZ — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:55:13 +0000

meritocracy

Dr Syed Alwi , to me, that word is more of hypocrisy

By: lobo76

lobo76 — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:40:12 +0000

[We don't TALK about quotas, that's not our approach.] We only DO it. You can find it in our GRC system, our allocating of HDB flats, etc.

By: Muhamad Nur

Muhamad Nur — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:06:38 +0000

If there is no quota, Malays will eventually be the dominant race in Singapore. Meritocracy my foot.

By: Dr Syed Alwi

Dr Syed Alwi — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:05:16 +0000

NO to meritocracy ! NO to elitocracy !

YES to Democracy !

By: Dr Syed Alwi

Dr Syed Alwi — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:47:51 +0000

Dear People,

At the end of the day, meritocracy is a myth. It all depends on who decides what is worthy of merit.

Is affirmative action for ALL lower income Singaporeans (irrespective of race or religion) worthy of merit ?

Is losing billions of dollars in bad investments (e.g. GIC & Temasek) worthy of merit ?

You be the judge and tell me whether meritocracy really works.

Regards
Dr Syed Alwi

By: Rafflesian

Rafflesian — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:15:59 +0000

I would like to see how Mr Shanmugam explain away the GRC thing.

By: mice is nice

mice is nice — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:03:29 +0000

“it has got to be meritocratic?”

ooh? reward for good work *check” (high pay), punishment for shoddy work (too many to list…)? where is it?

ooh, how can expect people to be less fussy, take on more tasks & be paid less (moderate expectation?)? oh, that wan is open to “market forces”….

may the force be with you (lah)…. the “dark side” is growing stronger.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars
can you spot the clones? :P

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:41:09 +0000

“our givt so obsessed with stats does not talk about quota?”
They choose whatever to fit their own agenda. When thing that they preach does not apply to them, their only excuse is that Singapore is different. Farting corrupted government still have the rants to insult Singaporean’s intelligence.

By: whenmatasworeshorts

whenmatasworeshorts — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:38:43 +0000

no bloomin idea what shoemudgum is tryin to says
either he looked down on malays
or he assumed malays are too poor?
had he tried harder by visitin woodlands hdb heartlands
he would had seen many many malays who are proud owners of modern brand new cars and beautiful decorated 5 rooms flats as well
some young malay couples also fullypaid their 4/5 rooms flats as well

By: mice is nice

mice is nice — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:05:30 +0000

our givt so obsessed with stats does not talk about quota?

O.O

By: Juliana

Juliana — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:56:44 +0000

Excuse me sir, are you sure you have got your facts right? Are you really our esteemed minister? You got to be joking that there are no quotas… please lets call a spade a spade… what about bringing in the PRC to ensure that the Chinese majorty is maintained< what about quotas for minority races in housing estates, what about quotas in different faculty of the University… what about GRC… YOU ARE SUCH A BAD LIAR!!!

By: Dr Syed Alwi

Dr Syed Alwi — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:33:04 +0000

Dear People,

No to meritocracy – especially if there is no level playing field. You mean to tell me that the taxi-driver’s children receive the same advantages – as the CEO’s daughter ? I’m sorry – but Singapore is more of an elitocracy than a meritocracy.

Besides – is pushing for more Malay views a thing worthy of merit ? If you ask the Malays – they might actually agree with it.

Do you ?

Regards
Dr Syed Alwi

By: Yes to meritocracy

Yes to meritocracy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:31:34 +0000

It’s impossible for meritocracy to be “fair” in all definitions. But it is the fair in the way that is best for the society to function. Even Malaysia is reducing affirmative action for Malays.

What we should do is to make sure that performance appraisal is as accurate as possble, and social system allows those falling behind to make progress (which does not mean slowing down the people ahead)