Pritam Singh -
There appears to be a shift in how the People’s Action Party (PAP) is handling public communication involving the influx of foreigners into Singapore. In his National Day 2010 speech released to the mainstream media on 8 Aug 2010, PM Lee Hsien Loong acknowledged “Singaporeans’ concern” about the government’s hitherto open-door policy towards foreigners. He went on to state:
“We will control the inflow, to ensure that it is not too fast, and not too large. We will only bring in people who can contribute to Singapore, and work harder to integrate them into our society. And we will make clear that citizens come first. After all, we are doing this for the sake of Singaporeans.”
While this belated acknowledgment of the opinion and feedback of Singaporeans over the foreign talent (FT) policy is welcome, the Prime Minister has not gone far enough in communicating to Singaporeans the medium to long-term social impact of the policy, and what measures will be taken to address these impending changes. For the Malay community in particular, the changes may be profound. These challenges are illustrated in three overlapping areas that this article will explore.
The Total Fertility Rate problem and the Malay Community
It is well known that both the Indian and Chinese communities in Singapore are not reproducing at the level required to replace themselves (the population replacement level is statistically set at 2.1, i.e. each couple on average must have at least two children). According to government statistics, the total fertility rate for the Chinese community in Singapore correct as of 2009 stood at 1.08, while the Indian community fared little better at 1.14.
According to Department of Statistics data, the TFR for the Malay community stood at 2.54 in 2000, falling rapidly to 2.07 in 2005 (i.e. below the population replacement figure) and continuing its downward slide in 2007 to 1.94, with 2008 recording a TFR of 1.91 and finally with 2009 revealing a TFR of 1.82. According to a government document released in June 2010 titled “Population in Brief 2010″ collectively produced by five government agencies[1] compared to all the races in Singapore, the TFR for the Malay community “showed the most significant decline over the past decade”.
One of the fundamental prongs of the PAP’s FT policy has been to rely on Chinese and Indian immigrants to make up for the abjectly low birth rates of local Chinese and Indian citizens. A separate prong of that very policy calls for additional Chinese and Indian immigrants, so as to increase Singapore’s population size.
In the first place, opening the floodgates to Chinese and Indian immigrants only when the TFR problem affecting local Chinese and Indians reached a critical point reflects a lack of foresight by the PAP. In fact, the unhappiness among local Indian and Chinese communities over the sudden introduction of large numbers of Indian and Chinese immigrants respectively at the expense of national, social and intra-community unity was raised even in the PAP-dominated parliament well before PM Lee’s 2010 National Day commitment to “control the inflow”.
With the Malay community’s TFR rate dipping below population replacement levels from 2005 and continuing on a steady downward trajectory, the government would do well to immediately initiate a process of inducting Malay immigrants into Singapore so as to “top up” the Malay population to population replacement levels, rather than to wait till the problem reaches critical levels, a mistake the PAP government committed with the Indian and Chinese communities. Such a move to introduce a much more socially manageable number of Malay immigrants will pre-empt and greatly reduce the potential prospect of any social friction that might be felt between resident Singapore Malays and potential Malay immigrants.
With a second prong of the PAP FT policy seeking to encourage greater immigration into Singapore to increase the population size of the country, the critical question for the Malay community pertains to the number of Malay immigrants that have been granted citizenship on this account. In the interests of inter-racial and intra-communal harmony in Singapore, the relevance of this question cannot be understated.
From the demographic percentages, the numbers for the Malay community have dropped from the traditional 15% mark to around or perhaps even less than 13% today (the latest figures were not stated in the aforementioned “Population in Brief 2010″ document). This is not surprising, given the steadily falling TFR rate for the Malay community from a high of 2.69 in 1990. Malay community leaders ought to make enquiries into the sweeping effects of the PAP’s FT policy before the problem of falling numbers creates feelings of insecurity and irreversibly damages Singapore’s social fabric because of the Malay community’s demographic hemorrhage.
The PAP “Malay-Security-Dilemma”
The second tectonic effect of the FT policy on the Malay community finds its roots in a more primordial, pre-independence political worldview – one that has operated below the surface, with little active PAP intervention at invoking a more vocal stance against seeing the world through its eyes – Race.
Three separate illustrations will frame this section. First, from independence, relations between Singapore and Malaysia often turned on the lot of the Malay and Chinese minorities in each country respectively. Traditional historians often cast the racial riots of 1964 in Singapore as the straw that broke the camel’s back resulting in Singapore, through Goh Keng Swee, requesting to leave the Malaysian Federation.
A second bone of contention was Singapore’s water dilemma, with Singapore having to rely on pre-independence colonial treaties signed with the southern-most Malaysian state of Johor to secure its fresh water supply.
Thirdly, in the 1990s, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew questioned the wisdom of having a Singaporean Malay commander put in charge of a machine-gun unit in Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) – a somewhat catch-all metaphor positing why Malays had to be excluded from certain military appointments, and perhaps a convenient explanation of the abject lack of Malays holding top appointments in the SAF and in the meritocracy-based civil service.
Forty-five years after Singapore’s independence, it is argued that the relationship between Malaysia and Singapore has taken a fundamental turn with the Badawi and Najib administrations.
A HongKong-Shenzhen modelled hinterland relationship has been mooted between Singapore and Johor (Malaysia) through Iskandar Malaysia, in addition to talk of passport-less travel and a possible SMRT line extending to Johor from Singapore. Corporate interests, with some linked to government entities on both sides of the causeway have already committed to a slew of investments in Johor. In addition, from March 2010 this year, the PAP government has allowed Singaporeans to use their Medisave savings for treatment in selected Malaysian hospitals not just in Johor, but in the farther state of Malacca as well, a move that is perhaps the most concrete reflection of a new phase of not just cordiality, but inter-connectedness in Singapore-Malaysia relations.
Singapore’s reliance on raw water from Johor, often seen by military strategists worldwide as the harbinger of any military hostility between the two nations, is also steadily decreasing. Singapore has already announced it will allow the 2011 Water Agreement with Malaysia to lapse, a move made possible by Singapore’s diversification strategy via NeWater, desalination and an increased rainwater catchment area.
The perennial PAP Malay-security-dilemma of a Singaporean Malay soldier with family ties in Malaysia who may hesitate to shoot a fellow Malay in Malaysia in times of war, has always sat uneasily with this writer. Although specious, it does not address the prospect of the same dilemma should a Singaporean Chinese with family ties in Malaysia have a Malaysian Chinese in his gunsights, ditto the same quandary for an Indian soldier.
Regardless, any talk of conflict between the two neighbours sounds increasingly remote today largely thanks to the efforts of the business community on both sides of the causeway from the beginning of this decade in particular. With significant Singaporean investments in Malaysia, and with the soon to be operational joint development company, M-S Pte Ltd, incorporated to develop Malaysian railway land in Singapore, both countries have so much economic capital and resources at stake that it makes historical sense to reconsider the traditional bilateral narrative and question the military narrative underlying Singapore-Malaysia relations.
Any such exercise ought to have far-reaching, albeit positive implications for the Malay community in Singapore. The image of the loyalty-divided, machine-gun totting Malay Singaporean is increasingly obsolete precisely because of the ever-increasing amounts of economic capital being invested by Singaporeans in Malaysia and Malaysians in Singapore.
The aforementioned point notwithstanding, the FT policy has ironically put the issue of the PAP Malay-security-dilemma on the front foot. On the grounds of nation-building and national unity, no reality can be more unfair or emotionally jarring than that of a new immigrant of non-Malay heritage, superseding a Singaporean Malay citizen on grounds of “security” in regard to military or civil service appointments.
One of the more positive effects of the FT policy in the mind of this writer is that it has forced all Singaporeans to appreciate the nation-building contradiction inherent in the preceding point. In this age of immigration in Singapore, the race-loyalty dialectic makes even less sense, especially since the cornerstone of any immigration policy must be loyalty to the country, not loyalty to race.
All said, if the PAP casts the question of the impact of the FT policy on the Malay community as a can that can be kicked further down the road for the next generation to resolve, this writer is convinced that the problem will become exponentially more problematic to address, at the expense of our multi-racial compact.
The PAP’s Meritocracy and the Malay Community
Finally, the ideological bulwark to the Singapore success story – meritocracy – is supposedly the ultimate barometer of equality in Singapore. While no one doubts the theoretical principles that underlie meritocracy, its impact in the practical realm for the Malay community has been decidedly mixed at best and only benefitting a minority of Malays at worst, notwithstanding former Singapore Minister for Malay-Muslim affairs, Sidek Saniff’s resolve in a feature in the Straits Times on 4 Jun 2010 (“Taking the tough road pays off”) that:
“Meritocracy has hastened the sense of confidence and equal treatment of Singaporean Malays, who feel they are not being stigmatised and can compete on a level playing field.”
While the aspirational objectives of meritocracy for the average Malay (or indeed a Singaporean of any race) in Singapore were put across rather lucidly by the ex-Minister, the educational performance of the Malay community viz. the other communities and the ground reality leaves a chasm that cannot be solely adequately explained or addressed by a PAP commitment to meritocracy.
In concert with the 25th anniversary of Mendaki (the Malay self-help community organisation that focuses on education in particular), PM Lee asked for a comprehensive report to trace how far the Malay community had come since the formation of Mendaki in 1982. Taken alone, the report shows good progress made by the Malay community, a feat that speaks well of all the Malay community representatives, regardless of political affiliation, who sought to improve the lot of the Malay community from 1982. However, as revealed in the report, the progress of the Malay community remained statistically poorer when contrasted against the progress of the Chinese and Indian communities along the same range of indicators, and in some cases, acutely so.
Separately, in a question put to the Minister of Education in parliament early this year, Mr Zaqy Mohamed, PAP MP for Hong Kah, asked “what more can be done to help Malay students progress at the same rate, if not better, compared to their peers from other race groups?” The Minister’s answer was rather standard-form and broad-brushed, without policy specifics.
“Schools will do their part in helping weaker students improve. But MOE also works in partnership with community groups such as Mendaki, parents support groups and other VWOs to provide extra support for these students. Parents and families, of all races, can support students by ensuring that they attend school regularly, motivating them to work hard, and adopting good habits like reading widely. Community and self-help groups can also help families deal with problem issues related to finances, jobs and relationships, in order to create a more supportive home environment.”
In fairness to the government, the community-self help solution has improved the status quo of the Malay community in some ways. But any message of meritocracy and equal competition automatically puts Malays in an inferior position largely because of their relatively lower income and lack of access to opportunity: meritocracy does not mean everybody begins the race at the starting line. Many of our Malay brothers and sisters have other socio-economic battles to fight before they even get in the race, and even when they do, many face an incline right from the get-go.
In a thoughtful commentary written by Lendra Putera Nurezki, “Academic dilemma of the Malay Community Revisited” for the Singapore-based Centre for Research on Islamic and Malay Affairs (RIMA), the latter observed that “little progress” had been made in regard to the academic performance of Malay students over the last 10 years. He suggested that the problem of education and the Muslim community ought to be elevated to the “national level” so as to “spur a consolidated effort…and generate productive solutions”.
It is clear that fresh ideas are required to assist the Malay community – ideas that do not diminish their self-respect or which suggest that Malays require a crutch to succeed in Singapore.
One possible solution in the education realm posits the creation of a national endeavour that seeks to buttress the goals of meritocracy against rising inequalities in Singapore. This solution portends the creation of an independent government-funded body that operates alongside self-help groups but which transcends race. Depending on its focus, such a body can look at issues in regard to poverty, education etc. from a national perspective, and separately, source its funding (up to10%, or a similar GDP percentage the state spends of education) from the profits accrued from successful divestments made by Temasek Holdings and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. In the case of education for example, it can offer classes or specialized education programs at little-cost only to students who constantly do poorly in schools, complete with specially-teachers trained to assist such students who very often come from poorer backgrounds. And because it would be a non-race based national program, over-representation of Malays or any other race for example would be purely coincidental, particularly since the objective of that very program would be a more egalitarian and inclusive society.
In a M.A. thesis submitted to the Department of Malay Studies at the National University of Singapore in 2006, one Hafsah binte Mohammad Kassim, contended that tuition classes alone did not represent the elixir that will solve the problem of the relatively poorer performance of Malay students in school. Significantly, she also raised the issue of “educationalism” within the Malay community, and posited that it was time for Malay/Muslim leaders “to look beyond education in formulating reforms amongst the Malay/Muslim community”. In addition, Hafsah queried the unexplored correlation between improved performance in school and improved occupational prospects for Malays contending that it was “naïve to believe that all problems and challenges facing the community would inexplicably vanish with the panacea of education.” Any national effort along the lines prescribed in the preceding paragraph would do well to consider Hafsah’s caveat and look to propose holistic, not piece-meal policy solutions.
Hafsah’s contention represents a good place to end this article that sought to define the principal issues that ought to be at the top of the minds of the Malay community in Singapore today. The long-standing question of Malay loyalty and commitment to Singapore has often found substance in the PAP Malay-security-dilemma as highlighted earlier by this writer. However, in a recent poll done carried out by the Institute of Policy Studies of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, many Singaporeans I spoke to were surprised to note that Malays topped all the ethnic groups (Chinese, Malays, Indians, Others) in their “Willingness to Sacrifice” for Singapore.
With the impact of FT policy and the increasingly less contentious relationship with Malaysia upon us, Singapore’s Malays find themselves at a critical junction – one that ought to be seized upon by the government of the day to better integrate the Malay community within the Singapore social compact. The product of any such policy will compensate for the increasing inequalities prevalent in Singapore society, strengthen the function of meritocracy as national ideology and give real meaning to a more inclusive Singapore.
Pritam Singh is the founder of OpinionAsia (www.opinionasia.com <http://www.opinionasia.com> ). He is currently a Juris Doctor candidate at the Singapore Management University and a member of the Workers’ Party. The views expressed here are his own.
He also blogs at singapore2025.wordpress.com
Pritam would like to request Malay Singaporeans in particular to give him feedback and/or criticism on this article. Please pass this article on to your Malay friends and relatives too for the same purpose. Pritam’s email address is singhpritam@gmail.com <http://singhpritam@gmail.com> . Thank you and Selamat Ramadhan.
——————
Useful Links and Resources
1. Population in Brief 2010 – www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/themes/people/popinbrief2010.pdf <http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/themes/people/popinbrief2010.pdf>
2. Speech by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at MENDAKI’s 25th Anniversary Dinner and Awards Presentation, Orchid Country Club, Sunday 2 Sep 2007 – http://www.mendaki.org.sg/content_files/pmLeespeech.htm
3. Progress of the Malay Community since 1980 -http://newarrivals.nlb.gov.sg/itemdetail.aspx?bid=12920608Available at: http://app1.mcys.gov.sg/ResearchRoom/ResearchStatistics.aspx?yr=2005
4. Hafsah binte Mohammad Kassim, M.A.Thesis, Singapore Malays’ attitude towards education: A look at the impediments to educational development – Available at Scholarbank@NUS- https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/12980 -
5. Parliamentary Question by Zaqy Mohamed on educational progress of the Malays – http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/parliamentary-replies/2010/02/exam-performance.php
6. Institute of Policy Studies: LKY School of Public Policy Survey (NUS) Survey – Citizens and the Nation: National Orientations of Singaporeans Survey (NOS4) – http://www.spp.nus.edu.sg/ips/nos_4_2010.aspx
[1] National Population Secretariat, Singapore Department of Statistics, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority
—————
Headline picture from Family & Community @eCitizen.
HELP keep the voice of TOC alive!
If you like this article, please consider a small donation to help theonlinecitizen.com stay alive. Please note that we can only accept donations from Singaporeans. Thank you for your assistance.Do you have a flair for writing? Volunteer with us. Email us your full name and contact details to theonlinecitizen@gmail.com
Stop looking at or writing articles from the angle of race. Once you read through the lenses of race, whatever the outcome will be distorted and will not be impartial.
Learn from our soccer team.. When the players are in the field, they have only one mission – TO SCORE GOALS.
When a good player is advancing to the goal mouth of the opponents, he will either attempt to score himself or send the ball to his team mate who was in the best position to score. The colour of the skin of the player was never an issue.
Race and religion do not come in. The same will apply to our soldiers in the battle field.
Lets learn to look at issues and not the skin of a person. If we want to help the poor, lets go and help the poor regardless of their race and religion.
“Race and religion do not come in. The same will apply to our soldiers in the battle field.”
The govt don’t seem to share the same sentiments as you though, in terms of civil service, military appointment and scholarship chances where at times, race and family background does matter.
I enjoyed reading this article. It offers a thought-provoking reflection of one of the many acts of social engineering manoeuvres that have been inflicted on us for the past 45 years. Many of my generation have been victims of such social engineering adventures.
When man attempts to alter the course of nature, the long term consequences will be felt by the people generations after.
The latest attempt at boosting domestic consumption and GDP by the massive influx of foreigners is but another adventure at altering the demographics to suit political motives.
It will no doubt have disastrous consequences in the future. By then the policy makers would not be held accountable, and it will be a futile exercise to chastise them as history and memories would have been erased.
Excellent piece. I like that you have discussed the need to address the shortfalls in our community and especially in regards to what’s happening in our Malay community.
I do hope our government (and our future political leaders from the WP) take note that for Singapore to be a strong community-based and people-centered nation we must ensure not just a level playing field but also a fair starting point. Opportunities must not just be created they must also be made available.
Majulah Singapura must be mean Majulah Semua!
to Xiandjy,
To not look at things from the ‘race angle’ is to hand victory to the race and culture that has been promoted as preferred. In time, all races will begin to sport the traits of the preferred. In that, all the lessons that might be gained from the relatively less preferred will be lost. Being able to play football together and being able to consider things from the vantage of a different culture is two different things. If you want to argue by analogy, be sure that it takes on board the complexities of the situation.
The point of discussing race ought not to be to get people to take up arms against each other, but to engender in them the appreciation of the value of linking arms in equal respect of each other.
It is only those whom are comfortably advantaged by the status quo, or whom are accustomed to it by way of strategies formulated to get around the discomfort of being marginalised whom shun this issue.
PAP is not doing enough to help the Malay community, and other Singaporeans who have fallen behind in this “meritocratic” society. It has brought in many foreign talents to help create froth as they cannibalise the locals and the environment.
PAP may not be around for another 50 years and should do Singaporeans a favor by being humble enough to allow others to rise up and take their positions in authority.
This hostile attitude towards Malays, Muslims and our Muslim majority neighbors in Malaysia and Indonesia must be re-examined and re-focused on, rather than trying to curry favor with India and China as some distant relative.
The PAP should not let 82 people dictate the lives of 5 million people.
Dear Ed,
Do not fall into the traps of racist.
It is sad that after half a century, the ruling parties on the two sides of the causeway still maintained and even enhance the racial segregation of the different ethnic groups.
Such segregation provides the authorities on both sides of the causeway lots of opportunities to create fear and to enable them to divide and rule.
We were doing fine in our early days after the war. We did have a Jew as our first Chief Minister, we did elect JBJ as member of parliament after more than 10 years of one party rule…
Singapore was actually progress towards a raceless society..
Unfortunately, things took a turn when Sinda, Mendaki and Chinaki were set up to help their own races…
Even in Malaysia, the so-called racial tension was created by the BN/UMNO government. In actual fact, racial tension and problems were most severe in areas where UMNO & MCA positions being threatened.. i.e. Penang and KL. These were the places where May 13 saw the worst violence.
However, in really Malay dominated area e.g. Kelantan, Trengganu and etc were all along calm and peaceful till every today… There were no religious and racial problems… Go visit and ask the Chinese and Malays in the two states….
I am writing as a concerned Singaporeans and appeal all NOT to fall into the racial trap…
Hindi, Chini and Malas Bhai BHai…
Dear Ed,
Do not fall into the traps of racist.
It is sad that after half a century, the ruling parties on the two sides of the causeway still maintained and even enhance the racial segregation of the different ethnic groups.
Such segregation provides the authorities on both sides of the causeway lots of opportunities to create fear and to enable them to divide and rule.
We were doing fine in our early days after the war. We did have a Jew as our first Chief Minister, we did elect JBJ as member of parliament after more than 10 years of one party rule…
Singapore was actually progress towards a raceless society..
Unfortunately, things took a turn when Sinda, Mendaki and Chinaki were set up to help their own races…
Even in Malaysia, the so-called racial tension was created by the BN/UMNO government. In actual fact, racial tension and problems were most severe in areas where UMNO & MCA positions being threatened.. i.e. Penang and KL. These were the places where May 13 saw the worst violence.
However, in really Malay dominated area e.g. Kelantan, Trengganu and etc were all along calm and peaceful till every today… There were no religious and racial problems… Go visit and ask the Chinese and Malays in the two states….
I am writing as a concerned Singaporeans and appeal all NOT to fall into the racial trap…
Hindi, Chini and Malay Bhai BHai…
Anyone noticed, everytime the issue of Singaporean Malays are brought up, someone will advertently bring up the issue of Malaysian Chinese. It’s as if it is okay to discriminate and marginalise Singaporean Malays because their Malaysian ‘brothers’ are discriminating the Chinese in Malaysia.
Have they forgotten 40% of our current cabinet ministers are Malaysians who became Singaporeans? Why don’t these 40% fight for the Malaysian Chinese? Why do they allow mass import of PRCs and Indians and not Malaysian Chinese?
Might as well ask the PAP to repatriate all the SIngaporean Malays to Malaysia, and get the Malaysian Chinese to Singapore. Then don’t need to have such a discussion.
Syed Imran, an upright and God-fearing Muslim, the former Press Secretary, PMO, Malaysia, wrote this interesting article to counter then Ahmad Ismail’s claim to being the aborigine indigenous people he is so as to collect rent collect from the non-Muslims. Thus exposing the long-held lie.
“Personally, I (Syed Imran) disagree with what Ahmad Ismail (Mamak i.e. Indian Muslim) claims for several reasons.
To me, almost 90 percent of Malaysians, especially those in the Peninsular, are immigrants and all of us are actually squatting on God’s land. We are not permanent owners, but merely squatting.
As an example, I myself am descended from immigrants who squatted on this blessed land. My grandparents on my father’s side immigrated from Mecca (in Saudi Arabia) and Brunei, whereas my maternal grandparents came from Hadhramut in Yemen. We are immigrants and squatters just like almost all of this nation’s citizens, especially those in Penang.
As for Ahmad Ismail, he too comes from an immigrant family and is squatting in this nation. Ahmad Ismail (like Mahathir) cannot deny the fact that his grandparents are immigrants from India who came in search of a better, more comfortable life in this blessed land.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak also comes from an immigrant family, that is from Sulawesi in Indonesia, or to be simply he is a Bugis. Meanwhile, Hishamuddin Hussein cannot deny from his Turkish bloodline.
The grandparents of former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad are also immigrants from Kerala, India while Almarhum Tunku Abul Rahman’s mother originated from Siam (Thailand).
Even the Malay Sultanate of Malacca was founded by an immigrant from Sumatra (in Indonesia) named Parameswara (sought the then Ming Emperor to rule Melaka as a protectorate and vassal state of China), a prince or noble of the Hindu religion.
In the history of the Malay sultanates, we find that some were founded by immigrants from Bugis and others by immigrants from Hadhramut (in Yemen) and Minangkabau (in Indonesia).
Almost all Malays here originated from outside Malaya, but are recognized as being of ‘Malay ethnicity’ by the Federal Constitution not primodial. We are ‘Malays according to Constitutional definition’, that is of the religion of Islam, practising Malay customs and speaking the Malay language. Unfortunately, the Malay language was killed by the Malay people themselves (UMNO) when it was renamed ‘Bahasa Malaysia’ (Malaysian language).
Thus Arabs like Syed Hamid Albar and myself, Acehnese like Sanusi Junid, Indians like Kader Sheikh Fadzir and Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Bugis like Najib, Minangkabau like Rais Yatim, Javanese like Mohamad Rahmat and others who originate from Madura (Indonesia), Boyan (Bawean in Indonesia), Siam, Burma, Yunnan (China) and the southern Phillipines are recognized as ‘Malay’ with little hassle.
They are accepted as Malay people regardless of whether they speak Malay in the home or not, for example the Arab-speaking Arab, the Javanese-speaking Javanese, the Minangkabau-speaking Minangkabau and the Tamil-speaking Mamak (Indian Muslim).
The aforementioned languages are not Malay languages, and if judged from the viewpoint of the Federal Constitution, their speakers cannot be accepted or recognized as part of the Malay race. Nevertheless, due to political factors and concerns, they are all accepted as Malays and Bumiputras.
Therefore, it is unfair to point fingers at the Chinese who are immigrants just the same as Arabs, Indians, Acehnese, Minangkabau, Batak, Mandailing, Javanese, Madurese and Bugis are squatters in this country. We cannot deny that a large number of the ancestors of the Chinese immigrated to this country during the time of the Malay Sultanate of Malacca and the Malay sultanates of Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan when Francis Light conned the Sultan of Kedah into giving him Penang Island in 1786.
We are immigrants who live squatting in this country. The groups which truly can be recognized as indigenous or ‘bumiputra’ are those we know as Negrito, Jakun, Semang, Jahut, Orang Laut, Orang Darat, Senoi and the other Orang Asli groups who still live in these lands.
We must not forget the contributions and sacrifices of all races and sub-races in developing Malaysia, be it in economy, society, security and most important of all, alliance and unity. We all pay taxes and do so without regard to race or descent, whether immigrant or squatter.
We are all Malaysians.”
hey those American-German descendants have to fight Germany in the second world war and they dont even think about relatives in Germany.. because they know who their enemy is and they want to fight for their country as far as im concern not many of the malay relative in Malaysia are from a military background.. Theyre questioning the Malay’s loyalty to the country and if they continue to question the malays will continue to get sick of those question and will eventually lose their loyalty.
Singapore always link Malaysia for not settling its own racial issue.
Remember Singapore are out of Malaysia for Malaysian Malaysia attitude.
Looking forward since independent, Singapore are drifting from Singaporean Singapore towards meritocratic society.
Meritocratic is just another favourism rule. The healthy and rich are have more privilage than the poor.
It like banking system that only willing to lend to rich but not to poor.
Singapore Inc has no soul.
Malays cannot be immigrant of Malay Arhcipelago so as Chinese cannot be immigrant of China.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malay_Archipelago
Its just that some Malaysian chinese and Singapore chinese want to have equal footing on bumiputraism.
Chinese wish they can push the reset button to history.
Who came up with the idea of Mendaki,Sinda … so on so forth = certainly not the neighbour Pa Chik, not the neighbourhood barber Muthu or the neighbouhood Char Kweoy Teow Seller Ah Kow.
It is the ugly politics, the ugly politician who divides and rules. That is reality lah.
As long as people sleep walk and bleat away like sheep – remember this lar the real beneficiaris are the ones in power.
anon, perhaps you are too dense to understand what I wrote> Read my lips: this topic is NOT about terrorism but equal opportunities for Malays.
I absolutely agree with Hafsah’s statement that education alone is not the panacea. Narrowing the gaps between the Malay and other communities is a long-term task that requires a range of policy initiatives and even constitutional reforms. Is her thesis available online?
I also found insightful your observation of the need to ensure the demographic balance among the key ethnic communities in Singapore, given the influx of FT.
However, I would love to hear more from you on this – is there an “optimum” ethnic mix? What are the tangible repercussions of a shrinking Malay community? Is it feasible to classify FT/New Citizens from China and India as Chinese and Indians, respectively, or should they be labelled ‘Others’?
Mr. Singh, I appreciate your insight on the plight of Malay Singaporean. Btw,I read somewhere that Singapore was “kicked” out of Malaysia.
And, you wrote this:
“However, in a recent poll done carried out by the Institute of Policy Studies of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, many Singaporeans I spoke to were surprised to note that Malays topped all the ethnic groups (Chinese, Malays, Indians, Others) in their “Willingness to Sacrifice” for Singapore.”
It is nice to read what you wrote here. Nevertheless it is not surprising to know that Malays are willing to sacrifice for Singapore because they are from this area, the Malay Archipelago, the Nusantara, this is where they belong and where the originated. It does not matter if they come from Sumatra, Java, Champa (Cambodia), Malaysia etc, they are Malays…The Malay Archipelago is a wide area in SEA. Even the Philippines is considered part of the Malay Archipelago.
At one stage, there was a talk of forming the Melayu Raya by leaders of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia etc…but somehow it did not materialise. The great statesman of the Philippines, Jose Rizal once considered himself as a great Malay person….(wish I could give you the link, but I have misplaced it, sorry). We were “carved” out by the West, remember the East India Company and its Dutch equivalent for their divide and rule strategy?….In the olden days, there were no boundaries in this area. People moved here and there without any qualms or passport because for them it was like moving from one kampong to another. That is why the Malays of Singapore will defend Singapore with their heart and soul because it is their Tanah Air (their Land). For the Chinese and Indians, they have China and India, but for the Malays, the Nusantara or Malay Archipelago is their homeland. As Singapore or Temasek is part of this archipelago, it is not surprising at all that the Malays will defend it and sacrifice themselves for the country.
The only thing that bothers me is the government’s attitude towards the Malays. They are considered as a security issue and as your article points out, the FTs have more say and more opportunities than Malay Singaporean. Kinda sad.
How can the government trust the foreigners more than the Malay Singaporeans? Already it is so hard to get a good job for a Malay Singaporean as the society has become more and more Mandarin centric. Is it fair? Why do jobs advertised ask for someone to be bilingual, when at the end of the day, the employers are more interested to give jobs to Chinese only, regardless of his/her country of birth. For me, “bilingual” means English/Mandarin, English/Malay or English/Tamil.
Btw, my family (father’s side) comes from the Orang Laut stock, “berthed” at the mouth of the Kallang River many centuries ago. I am sure that I am not the only Malay with this background.
I am just wondering why do the government “hate” us, the Malays, so much? That “hatred” rubs on to some Chinese-centric citizens of Singapore. I have been to a few blogs and I have read some nasty and condescending remarks about the Malays, their religion, their skin colour etc ….One of the comments here even implied that Malays should not be given more “rights.” So much for diversity!
@Karisma:
That really sucks, man. I can say my parents sometimes think like that but I just ignore them. No point trying to argue with them or all the “elders” would find ways to make my life a living hell.
There are some Chinese Singaporeans who get discriminated too but this time, it’s by their own people(sometimes their own family members too).
Worse job opportunities, lesser chances at dating/friendships if you belong to the older generations, and even many nasty remarks: about their skin color, who they should date to “correct” themselves, why they don’t deserve to be seen as Singaporeans, sexual harassment(easy pickings for pedophiles) and the list goes on. Worst thing is that when really bad things happen, their own people will just ignore it all because they’re not the “right skin colour”, so they’re outsiders.
Just happened to know some people who were treated that way. It’s super sad how divided this country has become.
@Enough is enough
My sympathy to your unfortunate friends.
Just the other day, somebody was saying it is ‘karma’ time for Chinese Singaporeans after what they had done towards the minorities especially the Malays. I can see that most of them are not happy with FTs especially those from China.
See, God is really Great. Was Jesus the one who said, “Do not do to others what you don’t want others do unto you”? What goes around comes around.
I am not petty but I can’t help thinking like this. It is nature’s law that there’s a limit to everything.
Peace and Love to Everyone.
@Karisma:
But I wonder just how many of the Singaporean Chinese are actually like antagonistic towards Malays? A few, a handful or just the same idiots sprouting the same BS across multiple sites? Or perhaps, typical Singaporean behaviour of parroting what others say, without thinking about the amount of problems just a few words can cause?
I also do not know which sectors of Singapore society show signs of this mentality: older Chinese? younger Chinese? Polytechnic graduates? University graduates? White collar workers? Blue collar workers?
Well, the PAP has always used “divide and rule” strategy in order to control the population anyways, so its discrimination does not surprise me.
Examples: male against female, faith against faith, upper classes against middle classes against lower classes, race against race, certain university graduates versus polytechnic graduates, schools against schools, etc., etc.
When everyone is busy fighting, then the govt can sit back and praise themselves on their skillful abilities.
Incase you don’t know…Its wasn’t muslim.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40iVcIgnwKA&feature=related
I thought the govt said the immigration influx will not change the basic fabric of Singapore wrt the ethnic ratios???
Karisma,
For that thought, i love you bro!
How much have we heard from “official” media.
Israeli Jewish man says Zionism is the cause of the problems….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2mTgq-jw8M&feature=related
For the record, chinese not only don’t use chinese names in Thailand,Indonesia,Philipines,americas and the rest of the world…even is Singapore, they PREFER to use western names…what say you.
It is an open secret that part of the PAP’s goal of bringing in so many PRC chinese and India Indians is to stem the increasing proportion of Malays, caused by larger Malay families. It’s stupid and horribly racist of LKY. It’s even more daft to think that it will solve the problem… because this island will simply run out of space!
@xlandjy – 30 August 2010
//Learn from our soccer team.. When the players are in the field, they have only one mission – TO SCORE GOALS.//
*
Can scoring goals at football matches translate into food on the table ?
Did you miss the beauty of the forest when admiring the tree, and vice versa ?
The fact of the matter is that the free flow of foreigners into Singapore has affected Singaporeans across all ethnic groups – and more so the minorities which the Pro Alien Party cannot reconcile with the devil in the security nightmares that they create for themselves.
*
*
@Karisma – 31 August 2010
//Mr. Singh, I appreciate your insight on the plight of Malay Singaporean. Btw,I read somewhere that Singapore was “kicked” out of Malaysia.//
Singapore was not kicked out of Malaysia.
The late Dr Goh Keng Swee – {with the approval from LKY} had proposed for Singapore to leave merger with Malaysia – and proceeded to negotiate with then Malaysia’s DPM Tun Razak and the Home Minister Tun Ismail for more then two months before Singapore became independent from Malaysia.
All this came about after a secret attempt – was made by UMNO ULTRA extremist politicians – to send two battalaions of the Royal Malay Regiments based in Johor, to enter Singapore and arrest the entire Singapore Cabinet.
UK PM Harold Wilson was informed by the Singapore Cabinet who received leaked information of this moves; and the UK PM called Malaysia’s PM Tunku Abdul Rahman to dissuade this military moves or the UK will withdraw her military force facing Indonesia’s Konfrontasi.
The fountain head and depth of the PAP Malay-security dilimma begins from this period.
*
*
@angry_one : 31 August 2010
//It is an open secret that part of the PAP’s goal of bringing in so many PRC chinese and India Indians is to stem the increasing proportion of Malays, caused by larger Malay families.//
If you had read carefully the research from the author – Pritam Singh – it was mentioned that the birth rates of the Malay community had declined to an all time low of 1.82 – even as the Chinese and Indian communities had theirs at 1.08 and 1.14 respectively and all by the end of 2009.
At the rate that immigrants are let in from PRC and India – the ethnic composition will leave the Malay community to be non-existent – especially when PM LHL had admitted that it has been difficult for this Pro Alien Party “to find” Malay migrants to settle here.
Heard a few old Pakciks talking.. that there was a time when Malays were not included in NS… Then most of Malay guys have problems getting jobs because preference was given to those who completed NS… Unemployment lead towards a lot of negative things like drugs..
Can anybody provide more info into this?
Karisma
“It is nice to read what you wrote here. Nevertheless it is not surprising to know that Malays are willing to sacrifice for Singapore because they are from this area, the Malay Archipelago, the Nusantara, this is where they belong and where the originated. It does not matter if they come from Sumatra, Java, Champa (Cambodia), Malaysia etc, they are Malays…The Malay Archipelago is a wide area in SEA. Even the Philippines is considered part of the Malay Archipelago.”
++ The Archipelago is made up of the brown people. From the Taiwan’s natives right across to Aceh. Just like the yellow people (Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Vietnamese) they are not of ONE people for goodness sake. LOL at the ICJ. Malaysia imports millions of Indonesian Muslims and give them citizenship since the 60s. Why not the Filipino Christians? Why are the Papauans and Achenese fighting the Javanese out of their land? Why are the Dayaks driving the Madurese and Javanese out of Kalimantan? Think.
(2) Anyway, we are talking abt the Malayan Peninsula and not the Archipelago! The Red Indians there are the Orang Asli & Orang Laut (S’pore)!
(3) “Nusantara” and wat not are from the Christian romanised script. The region didn’t even have its own wri8tten script till it copied the European in the late 20th century. It used Jawi. A simplified Arabric script. The people moved about in rafts and sampans then. The great migration into Malaya & Singapore of Indonesians started during the Japanese occupation (especially Javanese) and the British colonial periods for cheap labour.
This is no BTN anyway. You can verify from the net or international univerity archieves.
Quote – Race and religion do not come in. The same will apply to our soldiers in the battle field. – Unquote
Wrong buddy,I have family members in msia and one thing is for sure,i will not shoot a chinese from malaysia,in fact i wouldn’t respond to a call for arms in such a event shoudl msia attack sgp.
That said,it is also clear that this gov has set in place a co. style management whereby the useful stays and work the machinery,the management gets paid sky high salaries and the others…well they are redundent,better to send them to some old folk village across the causeway.
so its kinda easy to tell what the mentality of many sgpreans who have family memebers in msia.
now are you going to tell me to get out of sgp if i dun like it?
Actually i DO want to get out of sgp,sadly,its not as easy as people getting in nowadays….sgp passport are soooooooo cheap…..anyone wants to buy from me???
walamak,
only know that plan to have mrt to JB?
more co-work with JB? etc.
well, it’s nice to be good neighbors, correct?
walamak
I think the Malay issue is more of a religious one. Comparing Malay Singaporeans/Malay Malaysians with Chinese Singaporeans/Chinese Malaysians is side-stepping the issue. To be Malay, as we all know, is to be Muslim as well.
The policies revolving around Malays in SG are based on the government’s mistrust of Muslims. Malaysia, for all practical purposes, is a Muslim country, although their constitution might deny this. Imagine a scenario of Singapore/Malaysia conflict: would a Muslim-Malay from Singapore go against his religious teachings and wage war on Dar al-Islam (land of submission)in support of Dar al-Haarb (land of war)? Frankly, I can’t and won’t answer this. But I suspect our gov’t think they know the answer.
Finally someone who makes sense.
Baby Boomer
whoa,you sufferred fro 45 years already?
LOL.
you mean you did not have your good years until you got screwed.
don’t sound so pitiful.
i am sure you have a good roof over your head the way you sound,maybe two?
as for the really needy,i pity them.
they are in so much pain worrying that they have no more energy to come here amd pass lame remarks like you.
simply asked a songkok wearer ifhe would fire his rifle @ a fellow muslim brother even though they are on the opposit team?
the answer my friends… is blowin in the wind…
it was proven in iraq/afganistan when moslem coloured regulrs soldiers would not aimed their rifle DIRECT 2 the fellow moslim brothers in arms…
~PERIOD~
so please do not talk bout being EQUALS..
just test the yellow double lines on a friday beside a mosque..how many parkin ticket summons bein issued? compared to queens’ street KuanYin temple? even if the prkin coupon expired you will still get a ticket issued on the auspicious 1st/15th of the chinese lunar calenders…
iainoRACIST wrote “simply asked a songkok wearer ifhe would fire his rifle @ a fellow muslim brother even though they are on the opposit team?”
Yes they did, for example, during the Confrontation in 1963, the Royal Malay Regiment engaged the Indonesian Marines (KKO) in Sabah. The Malay soldiers of the Singapore Infantry Regiment were also present in the hunting of Indonesian Paratroopers in Johore in 1965. I guess they didn’t teach you this in NS full time.
As usual, there will be detractors in the forum who will just submit in irrelevant issues away from the actual crux of the article. Very typical. No wonder foreignera are being brought in to replace somewhat the daft.
Whatmore, the nusantara issue has always been in denial by these dereactors who would start to quote univeraoty research papers and heresays.
From the middle part of Singapore, it takes a mere 20 mins drive to a nearby malay town or a 45 mins to the island of riau, another malay hinterland. It takes 3 hours at least to eeaxh a chinese city….by flight…..know your neighboirhood
Exchanging smiles and glancing witha heart full of soul were the qualities of True Blue Singaporeans. An isolated incident in the 60′s should not be brought up to a mature society who has forgotten all and are living happy together.No point and don’t mention about the need to use ISA. That if needed, ensure there is concrete evidence than produce them in court.
The problem is the PAP’s policy and the setting up of Mendaki, Sinda,Eurasian and Chinese Associations ( not the ones that were established 40 or more years ago) I was with one in Geylang Lor 27 and was treatde the same. Such stuff are for kids. The mere mention of it in the media makes racial race issues more glaring.
FORGET ABOUT SECOND LANGUAGE, DON’T FORCE IT, DON’T PUSH IT, LET IT HAPPEN NATURALLY. It is simple SINGAPORE FOR TRUE BLUE SINGAPOREANS.
Folks Peace N Love . God Bless all keep smiling
/// The perennial PAP Malay-security-dilemma of a Singaporean Malay soldier with family ties in Malaysia who may hesitate to shoot a fellow Malay in Malaysia in times of war, has always sat uneasily with this writer. Although specious, it does not address the prospect of the same dilemma should a Singaporean Chinese with family ties in Malaysia have a Malaysian Chinese in his gunsights, ditto the same quandary for an Indian soldier. ///
The difference, and it is a HUGE difference, is that the Ummah exerts a tremendous loyalty pull, whereas there are no such binding force for the Chinese and Indian.
Note:
It is specious because it does not address the prospects …. (not although specious).
@snoopy 31 August 2010
I am not sure which generation you are from but I suggest you go read about the policies that were instituted in the 60s and 70s in population control, education, culture, housing and defence to know their ramifications which are being felt years later. The massive influx of foreigners is the latest social engineering adventure that you and your future generations will have to live with. Time will tell how you have been inflicted!
To answer one who asked whether it was true that Singaporean Malays were not called for national service at one stage, the answer was true. Refer to the banned and short-lived Singapore Hearld for confirmation.
As for one who proposed Malay Singaporean “integration”, this easier say than done, except through early educaion and apparatus like the national service. But, Malays being Muslims, religious constraints are involved. Most real Muslim Malays would rather die for their religion and country if extremely provoked and threathened. It is their religious duty to go for jihad for these causes. Hence, one sees suicides among them in contries like Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq. They are NOT afraid to die. To die for religious causes, is to die a saintly death. They will fight to the last drop of their blood.
By nature, Muslims are easily integratable. For they regard every human being as brothers and sisters coming from Adam and Eve, with similar red blood. Islam a religiou of peace, unless otherwise treated or threthened. Then they are religiously duty bound to protect and defend themselves at whatever costs. They are also aware that they will have to face religious conflicts as foretold by their sacred book, the Quran, that some people who think their supirior (in all aspects and as God chosen people) than others will want Muslims to follow their ways and awant to control the world. As long as this happened, there will be no world peace; because Muslims will be prepared to protect their casues to the last drop of their blood, come what may. Religion is a very senstive issue to Muslims.
Some people want to devide Orang asli and Orang laut as though this groups of people do not belong to the Malay family tree.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orang_Asli
The division of Orang Asli into three categories are not due to linguistic differences but merely sociological. The Semelai language, for example, is part of the Austro-Asiatic language group, whereas the other Proto-Malay groups, such as the Temuan language, are part of the Austronesian language group. The Semelai and the majority of Orang Asli sub-ethnics speak languages classified as Aslian languages. This is further divided into the Jahaic languages (North Aslian), Senoic languages, Semelaic languages (South Aslian), and Jah Hut.[7] The languages which fall under the Jahaic language group are the Che Wong, Jahai, Bateq, Kensiu, Kintak, and Menriq languages. The Lanoh language, Temiar language, and Semai language fall into the Senoic language category. Languages that fall into the Semelaic group include the Semelai language, Semoq Beri language, and Besisi language (language spoken by the Mah Meri group). Meanwhile, some Orang Asli minorities speak languages classified as Aboriginal Malay languages. This includes the Jakun and Temuan languages among others.[8]
Besides these, most Orang Aslis are fluent in the Malay language, the official language of Malaysia.
Some people don’t know Malay Ancient Writings.
http://www.bahasa-malaysia-simple-fun.com/ancient-writings.html
Is popularly known as “Rencong”, in fact, is used in many districts within the Malay archipelago and is called by a different term in EACH district. Among its other names are: Ka Ga Nga, Toba, Karo, Mandailing, Kerinci, Minangkabau, Rejang, Lampung, Surat Ulu, Musi Banyuasin, Ogan, Bengkulu and etc — mind you, these are only examples from Sumatera.
Very funny leh. Must watch. Malysia’s top lawyer at work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=Cysgrhg8Hsc&feature=related
Come down to earth lah. We need wealth (job) creators. Not unlike Japan, Korea, Taiwan, HK and China.
Nobody takes away noboby’s job here. Singapore is a tiny, resourceless red dot (island).
One either creates jobs or lives off handouts like people across the causeway collecting rent. The NEP reciepients (bumis).
Just for illustration. The gamblers create thousands upon thousands of jobs in its spin-off like the hospitality, aviation, food & beverage indutry. More than 30% of our local Malays work in these industries. Also the huge gambling taxes collected by the government as revenue goes to paying public servants’ salaries. Many of whom are are also local Malays.
So what’s the truth of the problem we call reality?
Live & let live.
mansal:
There are factual errors in your post, not in line with reality.
tatau 1 September 2010
The Malay soldiers of the Singapore Infantry Regiment were also present in the hunting of Indonesian Paratroopers in Johore in 1965. I guess they didn’t teach you this in NS full time.
…………..
lu tau..itu singapore 2nd battlelion regiment mundi in kota tingghi was slaughtered simpLEE because they assumed the indonesians were of PURE moslem batch?
that they didn’t teach you in NS as well
now regardin historEE lesson..you ain’t nowhere near…check your facts before you even want to challenge YOURs truLEE
its a simple revenge tit-4-tat..
To that detractor above,
Hey idiot, you are the one who is nowhere near. Coming froma family who served the regimebt and saw real engagement in bormeo amd the peninsular, you are serioualy insulting the batch that has to live up with fear patrolling against indo invaders who knew no souls be it muslims or now. My granduncle lived that scar. Besidea the confrontatuon they had to put up with a buncg of racoons who thought bringing in the communist ideology would be the ideal malaya..trying to simulate revolutiom in their mainland on people’s native soil. Yes, the senseleas communist. Kbow your facts before you start your lying blabber that you were there….scums.
Nonidiot
Coming froma family who served the regimebt and saw real engagement in bormeo amd the peninsular, you are serioualy insulting the batch that has to live up with fear patrolling against indo invaders
………
you and your sabah story…
tell me somethin bout the kota tingghi slaughtered of the whole regiment of the 2nd battlelion..
feel shy to tell the whole frickin truth?
let me tell you the FULL version…
this regiment from the 2nd battlion was on patrol in the kota tinggi area where the beautiful waterfall is(still exist today) bein poorLEE trained by the former british colonial master..the whole regiment(shall i mentioned race to you? BODOH) assusmed no need to hav armed guards jargaed lark…where on earth do 1 find 1 indonesian enemy aroun..mana ADA?
so SEMUA masuk ayer..mandi mandi shiok shiok..tidak ada jargaed..inodnesian paratroopers ambushed..semua MATI..
………….
and we do KNOW how songkok wearer cooked up their owned version..don’t we?
SEMUA BOLEHED..semua hung tuah decendants
you really want to searched the TRUTH in google/yahoo? can YOU handled the truth?
than again..you BEIN a SONGKOK wearer wasn’t in the 2nd battlion as recruits in holland camp..were you?
http://goodmorningyesterday.blogspot.com/2008/05/ulu-pandan-heritage-trail-6-famous-kota.html
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Ulu Pandan Heritage Trail (7) – The famous Kota Tinggi-2SIR Incident: Part 2 (by Peter Chan)
The two photos below were scanned from the book, Singapore, An Illustrated History, 1941 ~ 1984, Information Division, Ministry of Culture.
Top photo notes read: Members of the Second Battalion Singapore Infantry Regiment (SIR) in the jungles of Johor, Malaysia. The SIR was deployed to combat armed Indonesian infiltrators in Malaysia.
Bottom photo notes read: An ambush by the Indonesians at Kota Tinggi led to the deaths of eight SIR soldiers. Suspected Indonesian infiltrators are escorted from a mangrove in Pasir Panjang on 29 December 1964. Local security forces working in close cooperation with British forces succeeded in rounding up many infiltrators and saboteurs and in keeping terrorism generally under control.
***************************************************
As a NS recruit, I did not know much about the Kota Tinggi details but later as a staff officer I had the opportunity to meet these personnel from 2SIR during the usual Friday Tombolo Night.
At that time when Singapore was a part of Malaysia our two SIRs were renamed as 1MIR and 2MIR. 2SIR was operationally responsible for the Singapore and southern Johore area. 2MIR (2SIR) was raised in 1962 and billeted at Holland Road Camp.
According to my superior who was then a young 2LTA in 2 SIR, Dalgit Singh was already a platoon commander, together with LTA Mejar Singh. 2SIR’s CO was a Colonel Campbell, a British seconded from the British Army.
It was the crack Indonesian paratroopers from the “KKI”, an elite Guards unit from Jakarta which was sent on this mission. The Malaysian police post at Kota Tinggi were alerted of the parachute-landing and the nearest infantry garrison to Kota Tinggi was 2 SIR in Singapore. 1SIR at that time was deployed to the Sabah border with Indonesia.
One platoon of 2SIR was sent inside the jungles of Kota Tingi. For those who have ventured into Kota Tinggi (which I did as a child and as a teenager), it has a waterfall as the key attraction. The killing zone was north of the waterfall.
2SIR made no contact with the Indonesians for about a week. However, unknowingly the Indonesians were tailing one of the SIR sections. Not finding them for a week, that section grew tired and went for a bath at one of the nearby Kota Tinggi streams. Everybody left their weapons at the riverbank with no personnel on sentry-duty.
For those trained in the SAF doctrine, you are not supposed to do this and at all times, your rifle must be with you. The Indonesians pounded on our boys but one injured personnel managed to sneak away and ran for his life into Kota Tinggi Town. All this time, there was “radio silence” because this was a mission. It was only after the injured personnel emerged from the jungle that the incident became known. When the dead were recovered, their bodies were infested with maggots and were very gruesome
Reinforcements were rushed up from Singapore. On that mission were names like James Teo (who was the 5SIR CO for BERSATU PADU in 1971), Jimmy Yap (CO Officer Cadet School), Mahinder Singh (Dy Director SAFTI) and Dalgit Singh (CO 3SIR). They were “young lieutenants” then. James Teo was the unit signals officer. This time, the Indonesians scattered in different directions. It must have been somewhat of a surprise that no Indonesians were caught alive. I leave it to you to guess what must have happened next because I saw some of the photographs taken at that time. Don’t forget our jungle-weapons also included the machete. The two Singhs were later involved in the Labis incident and again credited with many enemy killings.
The decomposed bodies were brought back to Holland Road Camp for the Malay burial rituals. The slain men were given a full-military burial.
Photo of the funeral at Bidadari Muslim Cemetery. Men wearing songkok were Malaysian regulars working side by side with their Singaporean counterparts in 2 SIR
……………………….
as mentioned before..don’t even think of challengin YOURs truLEE…
skerang mau apa? teh tarek or ganja? kawan lu chakup lark? mau main main..tidak tegok lastik catapult…
Nonidiot/tatau
what happenned? tidak bolehed lawan? tidak kuat skerang? mana lu SEMUA boleh hung tuah kris movements?
ok back to the above 2 threads me posted.. i also tell ncos/platoon sergeants aiyah BOHON lark..bull shi t..storeLEE tellin…
1 week later our recruits platoon were sent to mandai forest for trainnin as usual..you know typical singapooriums howlian attitutes…finished night trainnin? drank your milo rations?
so we go in sections to the mandai freshwater stream to hav a quick shower before we camped in…yes yes..we carried our rifles as well..butt we made 1 rules..each sections ust hav 1 armed jargared guard..the rest jumped into the streamn..before we can even said..wei wei pass the sabun over..
firin from BOTH sides of the STREAM..we panicked..the AMUSHERs were non other than fello recruiters from the 1st commando battlelion..our platoon commander/ncos come to the scene..they said..the whole lot of you..the whole platoon is SLAUGHTERED..even if you hav your fello reruiters as jargas you ALL wasn’t expectin an ambushed right?
without a doubt..the whole platoon got theor weekends burnt as punishments…