TR EMERITUS

Over the last twenty four hours, the local news had put out a news piece of a SAF NSF being detained for two years under ISA for religious extremism and two others being put on restriction orders for similar reasons (http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_550156.html). While the local news channels are making a great attempt to soften the shocking news, foreign news channels have been sensationalising it with headlines such as “Singapore detains soldier for links to al-Qaida, seeking bomb-making information”, “Suspected Islamist Militant Detained In Singapore” etc. No matter how local channels may play down these events or how foreign channels may sensationalise it, the truth remains that PAP’s aggressive counter measures to religious extremism have failed. The underlying flaw in PAP’s approach is that it is idiosyncratic and subjective. PAP’S APPROACH TO COUNTER RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM Since 2001’s first arrests of JI militants, PAP has implemented a host of measures to counter religious extremism. The basic approach has been counter propaganda, increased surveillance and promoting secular liberalism. PAP has widely relied on its statutory board MUIS to run websites, a youth programs, publish lots of anti-extremism literature etc and also used local universities by establishing research units on terrorism to publish anti-terrorism literature. Local mainstream media has also been on an offensive in showing anti-terrorism documentaries. None of these efforts were run by community’s strategies or expert strategies but instead by policy makers’ strategies. Hence these efforts in total have been nothing more than counter propaganda to extremists’ propaganda. Another basic approach has been increased surveillance part of which was led to severe curtailing of freedom to hold usual mosque activities. Almost everything has to be black and white, registered, notified through a long and tedious approval channels etc etc. This has resulted in many usual community events not being able to be held in the mosques and instead have to be held in private spaces. It also has led to discouraged many who have given up trying to organise mosque events for community. The final approach that PAP has undertaken since 2001 to curb extremism is to promote secular liberalism. This could work well with those who are interested in secular liberalism. However for those who is interested in religion and spirituality this is absolutely the wrong remedy to propose. Unfortunately the approach has been to not only promote this but to sometimes even shove it down. Even recently there has been news that beards are no longer allowed for NS men when they go to reservist duty. ERA OF RISE OF EXTREMISM IN SINGAPORE COINCIDE WITH EROSION OF ISLAMIC SCHOLARSHIP Much of the rise of extremism in Singapore with JI, as according to news articles started in post Afghan era which is in the 1990s. But this is also the era that saw the erosion of Islamic scholarship in Singapore due to active interference by the state in trying to determine how Islamic scholarship should be. Incidentally from 2001 till now, not a single extremist arrested graduated from the local madrasahs nor were they students of any Islamic scholar in Singapore. They were all trained in state run public schools in secular education with a great void in their lives for proper religious education and guidance. The community itself has been battling the increasing restrictions, placed by the state through its agencies, on its efforts to preserve Islamic scholarship. Right from funding issues to training issues to accreditation issues, the state agencies have interfered far too much forcing the community or scholars to have zero say. Ironically in what is supposed to be education issues, ISD seems to have far too much influence in final decisions. MUIS that is supposed to act as a coordinator rules with a rigid iron fist. WAREES that is supposed to manage the community endowments instead commercialises it returning little back to the rightful recipients. Other state stamped “community” organisations are simply run by selfish individuals who just want position, office and influence. In this dismal environment, Islamic scholarship does not improve in Singapore and instead disintegrates further. HOW ISLAMIC SCHOLARSHIP COMBATS RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM GROWTH Religious extremism itself grew in the last two decades in the post Afghan era based on a project that went terribly well during Afghan war and terribly wrong thereafter. During the Afghan war, there was a US sponsored project along with Saudis to promote jihadism in order to attract fighters from Muslim world to defeat the Soviets. The ideology for jihadism was founded by putting together literature from two controversial historic reformers which the Saudis tend to highly promote over the last 150 years. One of them even had a strong influence on Saudi royal family when he was alive more than a 100 years ago. The project indeed attracted a large number of fighters who were made to believe in distorted teachings involving warfare. This intellectual virus, though contained within the Soviet-Afghan war environment during the war, started to spread across the globe when the war ended. Singapore’s JI chapter head himself was a Soviet-Afghan war veteran. In the 1400 years of Islamic scholarship, such distorted teachings have always been challenged. Even the Prophet Muhammad premonitioned about the coming of such religious extremists towards the end of times. Even the two controversial historical reformers, on whose teachers these distorted concept of jihadism was developed, were ostracised by the Islamic scholarship. One of the two reformers was even imprisoned in his last two years of his life. The role of Islamic scholarship is primarily to educate Muslims on attaining spiritual excellence to the state where no harm comes from him/her to himself/herself or to others. For instance each morning every Muslim, as according to Prophet Muhammad, is expected to give charity for every breathe he/she takes and every bone he/she has in his/her body. If he/she does not have the means, then he/she must go out and help the unfortunate. If he/she is not able to do so, then he/she must try to remove any obstacles in the path of others. If he/she is not able to do so then he/she must prevent any harm from oneself to others. The world itself for a Muslim is supposed to be a temporal transitionary place that is not worth fighting about. To focus on this path, Muslims need the guidance of Islamic scholarship. However when that is removed, they fall easy prey to distorted teachings. WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR ISLAMIC SCHOLARSHIP TO BE REESTABLISHED IN SINGAPORE For Islamic scholarship to be permitted to be re-established in Singapore, policy makers must quit their siege mentality that a religious Muslim is nothing but a threat to economic, social and political security of Singapore. For 150 years before PAP assumed power, when Islamic scholarship was still around, even when Singapore was an autonomous Straits Settlement under British rule, the religious Muslims under the guidance from the Islamic scholarship never posed any economic, political or social risks to the country. The fiction of imagination that they will pose such risks only arose after 1959. Even the British never embarked on any such project to control the Islamic scholarship because they understood its nature accurately. Secondly Islamic scholarship cannot be re-established by a state agency led by policy makers such as MUIS. Its funding framework cannot be controlled by a state linked investment company such as WAREES. The defining strategies cannot be devised by an intelligence agency such as ISD. Weak and lame community organisations led by those close in friendship to others in office cannot be given sole freedom to do everything. Instead community must be empowered to lead in all this and the state must stop its active interference. Thirdly PAP policy makers must stop dreaming that they can shove down secular liberalism into the minds of Singapore Muslims. Religion is something that cannot be forced onto a person nor forced out of a person. Each person has to be given their freedom to choose what they desire. PAP PLAYING A HIGH STAKE GAME WITH ITS IDIOSYNCRATIC APPROACH When the news broke yesterday that three extremists have been detained, it only sent shock ripples across the community. What has become clear is that PAP’s methods have failed to combat religious extremism and even the latest arrests will not be the last unless PAP makes a total u-turn in its policies. Singapore being small an island with no resources, we can and have sustained severe economic shocks. However as PAP leaders themselves have predicted, severe social shocks can destroy what Singapore gained over 50 years in a single wave of events. With such vulnerabilities, it is a high risk, high stake game that PAP is playing with its current policies towards the Muslim community.     An ordinary Singapore Muslim  Read More →

The scene is the cabinet meeting discussing the failure of the YOG event in Singapore in the year 2011. LKY: “Where is Ah Loong? Why isn’t he here? The meeting was supposed to start an hour ago? Never mind, let me chair the meeting. Bala, what happened? Why did the event fail even after the millions we poured into it?” VB: “Me? I thought TSL was supposed to be in charge. You took it off my hands and gave it to TSL.” LKY: “TSL, what is your explanation?” GCT: “He is not a member of the cabinet.” LKY: “Oh, I forgot. Remind me to promote him later. How are we going to salvage the situation.” YI: “Every event is a new experience. The lack of spectator turnout was totally unexpected. Let’s learn from this, improve upon it and assure Singaporeans that we will do our best to prevent this as much as possible.” WKS: “It happened. Let’s move on. C’mon, it’s not going to affect my bonus, is it? So unfair, the last time that limping MS escaped you cut my bonus from 18 months to 17 and a half months!” LSS: “I don’t know. I asked all the NTUC members to support but they seem to be deaf. They are just deaf, deaf-er, deaf-erest. We should bring in more foreigners to support the event.” LHL (rushing in to the meeting): “So sorry, papa, I got my dates mixed up. I thought June had 31 days.” LKY: “I know what to do. I shall blame the people. They should have supported the event. It is just that they choose not to. Let’s break for lunch, I’m tired. What shall we have for lunch?” LHL: “Mee siam, mai hum please.” How do you expect communication between government and citizenry when they talk a different language altogether?   Ronnie SG  Read More →

In a stunning report in April this year by the Jamaica Observer, it was revealed that a Singapore company is currently helping to repair Jamaica's run-down national stadium in exchange for the country's support for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) to be held in Singapore later in August. "Under a barter agreement between Jamaica and Singapore last December, it was agreed that Intersurface Pte Limited, the Singaporean company that installed the track for the Youth Olympics set for August 14-26 next year in that country, would undertake the work at Jamaica's National Stadium." The Singapore company was chosen over four other companies including German giants Regupol and the United States' Mondo Incorporated because it offered a "better" deal to the Jamaica government. "The Singapore company had to be used because we were getting a better deal and the Singapore entity that is picking up the cost wanted a Singapore company to be used," a government official told the Observer in December. It was not revealed what the terms of the Singaporee offer are. However in exchange, Jamaica has to agree to help Singapore "market" the YOG which may include sending its athletes to attend the event. The news was not reported in the Singapore media desperate to whip up a frenzy among the island state's apathetic citizenry about the event which has attracted little international media attention so far. It was reported in the papers today that the PAP has splurged an astronomical $387 million dollars on the YOG which has surpassed three times its original estimates. No reasons were given for the discrepancy in the initial estimates and amount spent. There is no opposition in the Singapore Parliament to hold the PAP accountable to its spending of taxpayers' monies. As for improverished Jamaica, it must be celebrating the unexpected "windfall" from the YOG held on the other side of the globe. Read the original report on the Jamaica Observer here.     Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.  Read More →