When in Singapore ..........

There was no mouse to catch in Temasek but many of the meeces  ( a word borrowed from Mr Jinks)  were unrecognisable.

Jai indulged us with a fabulous tosay breakfast at Tek Kah.  We then went for a walk in the backlanes off Serangoon Road.

There was this Church .....

........  and this was the frontage.

The Church of True Light at Perak Road was publicising a Festival of Healing which attempts /promises (?)  Blind Eyes See!  Finance Restored!  Barren Conceived! Marriage Restored!  

In the late 1950s, when I used to visit my school friend Lim Ah Moi at Tiong Bahru,  I noticed the poster in front of a Church which said "Jesus Saves".  I thought at that time it was all about saving money in the Post Office Savings Bank.  Of course I now know better and last week I learned the meaning of that term in Malay when I saw this banner at The Church of True Light.  Note the use of the term "Tuhan Jesus".  The Malays of oh, so long ago, very often used the word  "Tuhan" to refer to God - the word often used in the old sandiwara and movies.  Remember the heart-rending scenes when the mother of the hero would plead  "Ya Allah, Ya Tuhan ku"?   Nowadays the latter term is hardly used, just like the word "sembahyang" which has been replaced with "solat".   Also the language of service, in this church at least,  is "Bahasa Indonesia" and not "Bahasa Melayu".  

The Mandarin Service is at 11.00 am

The Service in English is at 9 am.

This church, located on a little street off Serangoon Road, also conducts services in Tamil/English at 5.30pm, Singhalese at 3.30pm, Hindi at 3pm and Malayalam at 8pm.  Truly a multilingual church, not like in the old days!

Masjid Abdul Gaffoor  at Dunlop Street was constructed in 1907 by South Indian Muslim merchants.  Jailani, our dear friend and host goes to this mosque for Friday prayers whenever he finds himself in the vicinity.  Jai says the khutbah is in Tamil but he has no problem with that at all.  It is still the house of God.

Now this picture is unique!  There's this beautiful , huge banyan tree.  To the right and left is a Chinese shrine.  But a number of Hindu effigies can be found near the shrine on the left.  That's harmony for you!

However, two instances made me realise this is not the Little India I knew.  The spouse talked to an Indian gentleman to ask about the shrines at the Clive Street banyan tree.  But he had little to say as he had come to Singapore from Tamil Nadu just 6 years ago.
I wandered about looking for a shop where I could get myself a blangah.  I went into one and made an inquiry in Malay - which is quite normal whether you're Malay or Chinese, whenever you go to an Indian shop - but the man I spoke to looked nonplussed.  He uttered a few words in Tamil and I picked on one word Malai. 
Okay, I got it, he does not speak Malay! Foreign workers in Kuala Lumpur, whether they're Indian, Bangla Deshi, Burmese, Cambodian or Vietnamese are usually able to speak and understand Malay, especially something simple like " Di sini ada jual blangah tak?"   I suppose the house of  Mammon (like a shop) has very different observances.   Some Singaporeans are not the Singaporeans I grew up with.

Singapore celebrated her National Day on the second day of Hari Raya.  In this poster by the Holland Bukit Timah GRC I found a degree of difficulty in locating a Malay face.

But the Singapore Malay is easily recognisable as a Young Denizen in the above. 

This shows Zhenghua CC advertising a Ramadhan Shopping Tour.

The itinerary for the above Ramadhan Shopping Tour included (1) Pontian to visit a costume jewellery factory, (2) Simpang Rengam for Malay Kueh (traditional cookies) e.g Pineapple Tarts, (3) Angsana Shopping Mall in JB and (4) Break - Fast buffet provided.  All in all a very "Traditional Singaporean Inclusive"  Outing.

Item 4 is a little confusing. Did the 'Break' consist of a fast buffet?  Or did it mean 'Break fast - Buffet provided'?  Or may I put on my teacher's hat and suggest that it might refer to "Breaking of Fast - buffet provided".  {Shut up AsH - stop being finicky!}


But this, thank goodness,  remained the same.  This corner stall at Boon Lay Food Centre (no more a Hawker Centre) sells  Boon Lay Power Nasi Lemak (which won a special award - and which explains the queue) , Nasi Campur and the best Lontong north and south of Selat Tebrau!!

Haji Marsah Berkat Chahya Food has been here ever since I moved to Boon Lay in 1975.

This block of flats where my brother Mus and family used to live is still up and standing.  The same trees are still there and so is the Car Park. 

Ching, Ching, kuching, mana engkau pergi.

Let me have those old familiar, friendly feelings of past times and spaces.

What more do the (Singapore) Malays want ?

I read this "Survey on plight of S'pore Malays" in today's New Straits Times  ......

Read http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/survey-on-plight-of-s-pore-malays-1.340117

........  and just four days ago  in  http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2013/08/singapore-sling.html

I was having a jolly good time dramatising the conversation of Ah Beng, Ah Nand and Ah Mad about how Sinchiaporeans relate to one another.  That posting in no way  re-hashes the antics of that wonderful Singapore comedy "Phoa Chu Kang".   The main thrust was to highlight what the authorities expect of the Singapore Malay - to prove his/her loyalty and integration.

The survey by the Suara Musyawarah could be regarded by non-Malays in Singapore and elsewhere as just another whinge -  which deserves the exasperated retort   "What more do the Malays want?".

All this is just old hat - issues like participation in the Singapore Armed Forces, lagging behind in education and income, ownership of property  and  job opportunities.  It's so tragic because these grievances are tantamount to asking(?), complaining(?)  for crumbs from the Master's Table!  During the Roman Empire the Roman masters kept their conquered people quiet by giving them bread and circuses.  Singapore Malays are wont to boast to Malaysian Malays about the strength of their dollar against the Ringgit, the re-sale value of their flat etc - in other words, their bread.  They are also given the circus of  shopping malls, Wisma Geylang Serai,  Universal Studios Theme Park and Pulau Blakang Mati (ooops! Sentosa) Resort and more Shopping Malls.  On a good day they can drive in their costly Sing-cars or cheaper weekend cars to do their marketing - cheap at JB .  A few can take their little sprouts to Disneyland in USA, or vacations in New Zealand and Australia like many other non-Malay Singaporeans.   But there's always Langkawi, Cameron Highlands, Malacca ( not Melaka) and all the Beach Resorts in Peninsular Malaysia - all very cheep!  A plate of chicken rice in a Malaysian Hotel only costs SGD 6 !

But a people cannot live on bread alone.  A people need a sense of dignity, a feeling of pride in themselves and their culture - even if they have little to spare in their pocket.  What is the Singapore Malays' take on this?

Someone who looks or dresses like a Singapore Malay is missing in the image on the left and in the top right-hand corner.   This image is from  a Singapore Tourist Board brochure - it invites tourists to visit Little India and Chinatown.  What about Little Malayworld or Little Malaytown?  Where got such place in Sinchiapore!  

The most tragic and depressing part of the NST's article is this.

Suara Musyawarah vice-chairman Alwi Abdul Hafiz said the community had moved away from their loyalty towards the Malay archipelago, which was apparent more than two decades ago.

"Now there is a strong sense of nationhood, of belonging to Singapore, especially among the younger generation.  The issue is, we feel that our loyalty is being questioned and that we cannot be completely trusted."

Singaporean and other Nanyang Chinese will never forsake their cultural roots.  Look at Hua Song (meaning
"in praise of the Chinese")  -" a museum which offers students the chance to appreciate the spirit of adventure and enterprise of the early Chinese migrants".

Musyawarah's vice-chairman has chosen the wrong word to apply to the "Malay Archipelago".  It is not a question of loyalty but of upholding their cultural and geographical bond - just like the Chinese and Indians do in Singapore.  How about remembering and celebrating the Malays'  spirit and origin?  Firstly, -

  The note beneath the picture reads "The island of Singapore situated off the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula is separated from the mainland of Johor by a strait......  It is about 27miles long, 14miles wide and covers an area of 217sq. miles.  The town of Singapore, capital of the Straits Settlements, lies in the South-easten coast of the island.  Many of the inhabitants live on and about the coast, the native Malays being frequently fishermen and boatmen, and some of the houses are built on poles over the water while at the neighbouring islet of Pulau Brani a whole village sits on the sea".

Where are these villages?  Check:  http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2012/03/alimah-bt-awang-anak-jati-singapura.html

Secondly,

The original caption reads: " Water-colour painting by Suri bin Mohyani of Kampong Kuchan (Lorong 3, Geylang) the present home of the descendants of the Kallang River Orang Laut."

This is Geylang today.

Geylang :  The New Chinatown

And what about the Singapore Malays' cultural hub in Geylang?
Read http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-rabbit-in-hat.html

I said this in my last paragraph of the above posting.  Singapore Malays have to write their own script of their place in modern Singapore.  They have seven years  ( in 2019, Singapore will be celebrating its 200th Anniversary) to get it going and get it right.  A people who do not acknowledge and respect their own language, history, culture and background - no matter how humble - will always be scorned and looked down upon.    Singapore Malays have to work and stand up for their dignity and rights as the 'natives' of Singapore because there is no round table like King Arthur's where everyone is accorded an equal placement.  Learn from the Chinese in Malaysia.  Unite - for you are all children of the Malay Archipelago.

The Chinese Singaporean is proud of being this.  (From the Hua Song Museum))

Malay Shop, Singapore.  The Singaporean Malay should uphold this tenacity of their forefathers.

While the Chinese maintain their Nanyang (Overseas)  credentials Singapore Malays discard their maritime ancestry as people of the Malay Archipelago so as to be more Sinchiaporeans than Singaporeans.

The Malays' Middle Kingdom  ( The Middle Kingdom is the traditional name for China)

Enough's said.     I'd like to say more but I have to get on with the packing for our Hari Raya visit to Singapore to see Lely, Irene, Jai and his mum.

And to ziarah  Abah's and Akim's grave at Pusara Abadi.

SINGAPORE SLING

A conversation between three Sinchiaporeans - Ah Beng  (AB),  Ah Nand  (AN)  and Ah Mad  (AM).

AB and AN:  Hey Ah Mad, Selamat Hari Raya - when you want to call us for makan?

AM: Come next week lah, bring your family okay?

AB:  You know or not? Our PM fudder got new  book on the market - good timing lah - just few days before Hari Raya.

AN:  Ya lah, this Ramadan very hot - got all sort of story like that Bak Kut Teh Ah Moi and Ah Kow.  Orso United States so worried about their people kena hantam by Taliban - they all told not to travel.

AM:  You know, sometime in 2002 or 2003 my cousin who study in UK say during Hari Raya Haji, the British garmen send their army, tanks and big guns to Heathrow Airport - they afraid Muslim attack, but actually nothing happened.  Only make people scared every time Muslim want to celebrate and have good time.

AN:  Hey Ah Mad, true or not, our PM fudder say in his book Malaysia now only say Yam Seng with syrup water?  No fire water ha ha allowed eh?

AB:  Why you so bodoh?  Where Malay got say Yam Seng and Cheers like Cina and Ang Moh?

AM:  You mean to give toast ah?  I actually donno lah.  Malay people drink teh tarik, kopi O and air bandung at celebration like wedding.  But where got  give toast?

AB:  You so stoopid lah.  Our PM fudder talk about high class, orang atas big makan - the garmen and big business dinner.  I think a lot of Cina and Indian and Mat Saleh must frust like hell man - cannot drink whisky, Courvoiser, Dom Benedictine  and Cointreau at big party in Malaysia and cannot shout Yam Seng!

AN:  Hey, you Muslim-Malay must have hard time when you campur with other people because you cannot drink - even beer also cannot.  But I orso know of some Malays who drink.

AM:  That is their business lah, but at least in public they show respect for their religion.  They can always togok in private when they want!

AB:  But that is hypocrite!

AM:  Hey Ah Beng, everywhere, every religion got hypocrite.  Those Christian priests who pray pray with little boys and girls and then pretend to be good.  They also hypocrite mah!

AN:  You know ah, you think in next book Papa Lee will scold Arab country orso - because cannot sit at same table and drink beer and do business?

AM:  Where can?  Arab got a lot of lui - all moneybag lah!  Our country want to trade with them - damn good market in Arab country.  They got so much money from oil, not like us.  We can sell them all kind of luxury product, make for them big high rise buildings, big bridges and who knows we can also make for them big mosques?  Maybe can sell them tanks and guns, but susah lah, that market now cornered by American, British and French. But we Sinchiaporeans make the best middle-man, like in Southeast Asia.  We can put customer A and B together and we can make big bucks!
Anudder thing, if the Arab come here as tourists, they will spend in one day ten times more than Indonesian and Malaysian tourist!  Who cares if they want to put on headdress, and bodydress and kakidress?  If Arab or Muslim woman don't want to shake your hand, boh chap lah!!

AN:  Hey Ah Mad, you quite clever lah - not bad, even though you got only one O level.  But in his new book, our PM fudder, he sukak the first PM of Malaysia, the Tengku because the Tengku happy to drink and say Cheers and Yam Seng.  Papa Lee so upset because Malaysian Muslims don't want to share liquor table with other people.

AB:  But you remember or not?  Singapore got kicked out of Malaysia by the Tengku, right?  So what for - all that brandy and whisky?

AM:  Ala!  All that in the past orleady.  But good lah for us Sinchiaporeans to remember that time when our PM cry on TV - so sad one.

Singapore Straits Times 2 August 1990

 But never mind, remember that year we had big celebration for the PM's birthday?

Last minute rush to sign PM's book , 16.9.90

AN:  That pome by CHIJ Primary very sweet ah?  So who care - we kena tendang eh?

AB:  Very true man!  Very true!.  Our one dollar can buy nearly 3 Malaysia ringgit mah!..No wonder so many from Malaysia come to our country to work.  They all very clever.  They work here but these Malaysians live in Johor - can buy house with land, we can only live in flats in the sky.  They can buy car, more than one.    They pay low tax, cheap petrol, no ERP, no CEO - the rice, sugar, cooking oil and petrol got subsidy by garmen.  They also say in Malaysia if your water bill below 20 ringgit, you don't have to pay one!  Here, everything we Pay And Pay!

But you know, nearly all Malaysians who work here are Chinese, Indian got some but ...........

AN:  Hey Ah Beng, why you so kayu?  COE lah!  CEO is Chief Executive Officer, the people who like to say Yam Seng.  We have COE - Certificate of Entitlement.  To buy car is like tikam, man!  You bid for COE and then .... aiyah! you look in the Wikipedia lah!

AB:  Okay, okay.  Let me finish, lah!   .... but why so little Malay come to work in Sinchiapore?

AM:  Of course lah. even Sinchiapore Malay not easy to get job - they give to Cina from Malaysia and China, and mamak from India.  Orso, got many Sinchiapore Malay run to Australia, and Malaysia.  Many are very educated one, not like me, dropout from Sinchiapore Normal Stream.  But one thing different. Sinchiapore Malay man must finish National Service and must get proper permission to stay elsewhere. Malaysian men can leave any time, any where - got no headache like National Service!!

AN:  That I agree Ah Mad.  You know that famous singer and composer  in Malaysia -M. Nasir- he was from Singapore but his talent really do well in Malaysia.  In Sinchiapore - no chance!

AM:  Hey Ah Nand, be careful what you say.  Singapore Malay talent can also succeed in Sinchiapore.  You ever hear of Khairuddin Hori?   He ... one hell of a Bigshot in Singapore Culture scene.  He got Diploma in Fine Art from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, orso Master degree from Open University.  His title is Multi-disciplinary Artist and Curator.  Now he is Senior Curator at Singapore Art Museum.  People like he and Wong Ming make Singapore very proud - we show people we we not only interested in making money, we orso very so-fistikated mah - like cultured western country in France, Venice, Tokyo, New York and Engerland.  This people really stand up for Singapore - like in our National Day song.

AB:  Ah, now I remember that Khairuddin Hori!  He make that video in Australia where he took off his trousers and seluar dalam in the launderette.  Wow, he very daring and got style mah!  He got more guts than in that drama .

That Khairuddin video you can get on YouTube, but don't tell your mudder and little sister - not nice lah!  Aiyoh!  If PM fudder see that, he sure to shout  'Yellow Culture' but he might be happy because he can see how this Singapore Malay not so kampung, not so traditional Muslim, not so - what word did you tell me Ah Mad - oh yes, kolot - like so many Malay-Muslims.  He is very true integrated Singapore Malay.

AM:  True lah!  I remember how in 2011 Mr. Lee Kuan Yew fed up with Malays in Singapore because they very bad at integration  because of their religion.  But for me, no way I want to take off my trousers for people to see!

AN:  Never mind all that.  In his book One Man's View of the World, Papa Lee got quite marah when he had to answer whether Malaysia could become "progressive Muslim country" ?  I read what he say, okay?

Lee, who turns 90 next month, was also asked if Malaysia could become a "progressive Muslim country", to which he replied:  "You believe that?  What do you mean by a progressive Muslim country?

"That they will not wear their headdress, that they will shake hands, men and women, and sit down, that non-Muslim can be drinking beer and have a Muslim sit down and drink coffee with him?"

AB:  Aiyah!  This man very susah lah.  If he can wear Kung Fu Sifu Mandarin coat over red long-sleeve T-shirt, why Muslim women cannot wear what they want?

US Vice President Joe Biden meets Lee Kuan Yew at the Istana Presidential Palace in Singapore July 26, 2013 

And why that Joe Biden can only get Chinese tea?  What if he want bourbon on the rocks?  Life so short lah.  Why must kaypoh other people business?

AM:  Hey Ah Beng, you got no red blood in your veins ah?  You so opiang!  People don't like to see woman all covered up.  You like or not if you can see cleavage, big boobs, big bums on women - free show man!  This is why I like woman's Lib!   But we all agree, if our wife and daughter dress like that, we give them hell!

AN:  Yah lah!   Last week  I pick up this advert at Tampines MRT Station.  Wah, I really shocked man!

Modern progressive women must spend a lot of money not only on make-up but on waxing orso so that they can show off their body like the celebrity.

AB:  Stoopid people!!  My grand mudder very beautiful - look nice in samfoo and her make-up very simple, like this face powder.

ALL THREE:  Sudah lah!  All this talk is wasting time!

AB:  Yah lah!  Time is money, we Sinchiaporeans must know that.  I can see passenger from Malaysia who want to take my taxi sapu to JB.  Good lah!  I can do my wife shopping at JB market.  She say everything there cheaper than in Singapore.  Cheep! Cheep! Make Sinchiaporean happy like bird.

You know, we Sinchiaporean not only spend big bucks in Johor, but also own many land, and shop and property and business and also people in Johor!!  Kena kick out many years ago but we still can be taukeh  in Malaysia.

Yam Seng !!!!!!

Vestiges - of Hari Raya and Kampung

One more day to Hari Raya - thousands have gone back home to the kampung.  This has always been part and parcel of celebrating Hari  Raya and I hope that in years to come the home of the Malays in the kampungs will always be there and will not have been sold, mortgaged, auctioned and requisitioned by greed, penury, development  and the authorities.

Old Singaporeans like me remember what Malays in the Semenanjung are enjoying today.

We used to have kampungs to live in  ............

The Family's Third Kampung House - Pasir Panjang

In that house Mak would cook ketupat in big cauldrons.  Every year without fail she would make dodol - till today I have not found any dodol that could match hers, for taste and texture and longevity!  We would help in the easy jobs like squeezing  coconut milk from 10 coconuts or so and stirring the brew during the early stages.  The latter part, when the dodol became thick and heavy were left to Mak and Abah.  We would of course be dipping into the kwali when it was all done to get to the kerak which was the most delicious part of this all-mighty Malay treacle-cake!

But we, or rather I, had  more poignant memories of Hari Raya in the kampung simply because Abah had taken photographs of the celebration. This was when when we were living in a rented kampung house just across the river from the house Abah was building - and which we would soon move into.  Because my sister and I were just slightly older than toddlers, Abah would make a special star and banners for his two little girls and later, his little boy Mus.

The three-year-old AsH  posing demurely  with her Abah's Hari Raya stars attached to a blanket.

More stars and a banner.  

Air Oren in bottles were a big Hari Raya treat!

But those halcyon Singapore days are gone because the Malay kampungs have been expunged.  Only memories and photographs in coffee-table books remained - it's almost similar to the way we preserve and observe the life of the dinosaurs.

As for this kampung at Pulau Semakau where most of  my 1967  Menengah Satu kids at Sekolah Menengah Yusof Ishak came from :

Pulau Semakau today has the proud record of being the first landfill and now the only remaining landfill in Singapore, according to Wikipedia.

But,  my nostalgia for those days have been encapsulated by the spouse in this illustration.  It combines the Blogger and the person and he has lovingly included my two favourite flowers - Bunga Tahi Ayam (Lantana) and the Senduduk  and cats as well!   What more could a geriatric kampung girl ask for?

And finally to all my followers and readers and friends and family, here's an old fashioned Hari Raya card.  No Eid Mubarak and other modern/alien terminologies - just a simple SELAMAT  HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI,  MAAF ZAHIR dan BATHIN.

A RESPONSE

I have had several interesting comments to my last posting  " The Week that Was"".  http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-week-that-was.html

I felt that the issues raised were valid enough for another posting.  Firstly thank you Firdaus M,  Anon July 24 6.38am,  Anon July 24 10.09am, and Anon July 25 9.43 am  for your comments.

"Malay Muslims bears a lot of responsibility for their stupidity " (Firdaus).  To a certain extent I agree with you with regard to the issue of the canteen at SK Pristina Sg Buloh.  Such shortsightedness on the part of the school's authorities can cause a lot of ire among non-Malays.  

And speaking about schools always brings up past experiences from my teaching career in Singapore.  In the late 1960s, when Hari Raya was determined by the sighting of the moon, we, the Malay-Muslim teachers and pupils in Sekolah Menengah Yusof Ishak heaved a sigh of relief when the Government's allotted date for Hari Raya Puasa and the lunar sightings matched.  There was one year when this failed to happen. 

 The date for the Hari Raya break had been allocated, sealed and delivered.  There was to be no negotiation. Teachers and students were allowed time off in the morning to go for prayers and had to be back in school when that was over.  Well, only the teachers returned but no students were to be seen.  They went AWOL and why not?  Here's a case where Malay-Muslims were not responsible for the stupidity of a non-Malay-Muslim authority.

  Back to the present - there are certainly more dire examples of Malay-Muslims' "stupidity"  which have resulted in deep fractures within their own community and turned themselves into objects for target practice by others.

However,  "Chinese might have a perception problem, but why are Malays so stupid....? "  I do wish the analysis of the relationship between the Nanyang  ( Overseas ) Chinese and the Malays could be as simple as that.  It is related to perception indeed - a perception of a "3,000 year old" lighter skinned culture against a darker and perceived 'primitive' people. That's a universal problem like that of the whites vis-a-vis the blacks and all other prejudices due to colour differences.  And if this barrier is overlaid with disparities of income and wealth in favour of the fairer set, then the relationship becomes more fraught and the prejudice becomes deep-set and almost pathological.   (By the way, during the Apartheid Regime of South Africa, the Chinese were classified as "Honorary Whites".)   In a way the Malays are not so much stupid as ignorant for they have forgotten their own proverb Naga tak akan turun menjadi ular lidi.

And if Anon 10.09am can explain away the racist antics of  Tan and Lee as that of mere attention seekers, then fine -  they ( Tan and Lee) should confine themselves to exhibiting themselves and their private parts on the ether.  We know of "Peeping Toms", perverts and sickos who thrive on poking their eyes and noses into other peoples' privacy.  Well nowadays it has become fashionable to invert the PT syndrome and to exhibit yourself and your parts and allow other people to peer and gawk at the spectacle.  Some even describe this as a form of Art!

I would say, let Tan and Lee get on with their éxpose, but desist from humiliating and mocking their fellow-Malaysians' religion and religious practice.  They are indeed seeking attention in this case, but one ridden with racist malice.    Given the context of their actions, what Tan and Lee did was arrogant, wilful, and deliberately, seriously provocative.   It was not just bodoh, and it was not just attention-seeking.  They are very knowing and know where to put the knife in!

As for the other 'culprits' mentioned by Anon 10.09am, I'm not familiar with the text and context  but I agree with what Anon July 25 9.43 suggested.


  

The Week That Was

Last week was remarkable for the two diddies because we braved the peak morning traffic at Jalan Jelatek and Jalan Ampang to get to Tung Shin Hospital at Jalan Pudu. It was not just once - we did it three times in one week - and we survived, albeit in 123 pieces! Hats off to Darby and Joan for making it through what I reckon is one of the many moving parking lots in Malaysia. And I think of all those working-age youngsters and oldsters who have to do this 5-6 days a week, for 52 weeks a year!!!

 Last week was also the week of denouement ( well almost) for the Alvin and Vivian Peepshow - for Tan Jye Yee and Lee May Ling.

It needs to be said that their contempt for Islam and Muslims and Malays has a long pedigree.  Only the format, the representation and the cheek are new.  Their father's and grandfather's and great-grandfather's generations have been at it for yonks and we should not be surprised at this insolence.  Expect more.  As I mentioned in the last paragraph of my posting  "HMV :  His mentor's Voice"  ( see sidebar) .......

...... his opinions and diktat ( of and for the Malays) are not his alone - they have, after all, long been whispered into the ears of this ageing autocrat.  So it will not end with LKY.  This chauvinism will be sustained for a long time to come.

If you can bear with me, allow me to relate a series of observations and experiences I have gone through during my span of 69 years, living and working in Singapore.  This is not a racist  ( someone who believes that people of their own race are better than others)  analysis.  It is more of a racial perception - relating to the relationship between different races of people who live in the same country. It just happens that I am a Malay and my bug-bears are Chinese.

Firstly, here's my experience from forty-three years ago, in 1966/1967 when I was an undergraduate at the University of Singapore, the same University that Tan Jye Yee attended.

Myself and about 5-6 other Singapore Malay undergrads were given a Special Malay Bursary of  about $1,000 a year as a scheme to help and encourage Malays into higher education. .........
Each time the note pinned to the Notice Board at the entrance to the Union House informed us to get our Bursary from the Bursar's Office, we  would find written on the notice nasty remarks like  " why give money to stupid  Malays?", or "why so special?" or other vulgar words in Malay, English and Hokkien - all very multi-racial.  On 9 July  1963, Singapore joined  the Federation of Malaysia  ........... but that also brought along with it racial and political tensions and the Chinese in Singapore were particularly against the affirmative policies towards the Malays and especially Article 153.  Their rallying cry was "Malaysian Malaysia" - a term/demand that the Malays were very suspicious of.

We, the Singapore Malay undergrads, sensed this undercurrent of hostility and resentment.  All this because of the $1,000 Bursary.  We got into the University on exactly the same credentials as the non-Malays, no favours in that direction.  We were not the off-springs of well-heeled professionals

 or taukehs, mostly lower to upper working class families.  Admittedly there were no unpleasant face-to-face encounters.  But the bigoted racist remarks about Malays, Malay rights, the Sultans, etc. which were scribbled in the Library's history and politics textbooks left me gobsmacked and confused.  There weren't enough Malays in the University to 'counter' this ' vandalism' of the text and context - so we just sat tight and took the brunt.

On one of my trips home from the hostel  ( Eusoff College), I asked my father  "why" ?  How do I live with Article 153?  He told me to read the History books, to study the statistics of the unequal distribution of wealth and income in the country, the big gap, economic and educational between the rural Malays and the urban non-Malays; why the Malays challenged the Malayan Union of 1946, and what are the Malays doing fighting the Communist guerillas in the jungle?  Of course all these issues were not the concerns of my A-Level History and Economics.

And when I glibly remarked - but the Malays are lazy and backward!  All those scribbles in the Library's books had an effect.  His jaw almost dropped .....

Read  http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2009/02/baju-kurung-ramblings-of-malay.html

This happened 43 years ago.  And Tan Jye Yee and Lee May Ling are only carrying the torch of an old arrogance and  malice.

                          ---------------------------------------------

And as for racial perception here's my second personal experience.  In 1978 I was shunted to Anglo-Chinese Junior College because  I was getting to be too much of a thorn-in-the-side  of the Nanyang Graduates running the administration of Jurong Secondary School.  I decided then to leave for Brunei but I still had to serve my one month in ACJC.

I wore a baju kurung on my first day at ACJC, and for most days I would be garbed in this or my baju kebaya.  In the Common Room, a sweet Chinese lady teacher  welcomed me and said,  " You must be our new Malay language teacher."
I told her I wasn't.  I was the new Geography and General Paper teacher.
She looked shocked and uttered,  "You're a graduate?"
"From Singapore University, 1967,"  I replied.
She then made a sweet, quick retreat.

Read  http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2012/05/acjc-finale.html

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That plain old-fashioned baju kurung has been my symbol of identity.  I wear it to dignify my people and myself  during any important occasion.

It all came about during my undergrad days.

One evening, I can't remember when exactly, but before 9.8.1965 when Singapore was 'expelled' from Malaysia, I attended a lecture by Dr Mahathir Mohamed, of course he wasn't the PM then.  Came one question from the floor by a Senior Lecturer in the Law Faculty, now a prominent Ambassador for Singapore.  He queried the rights and privileges of the Malays as enshrined in the Constitution and sort of recommended an alternative as  espoused in the "Malaysian Malaysia" mantra.

Dr Mahathir looked at him and said,  " You know what is the problem with you Chinese?  You cannot accept the Malays running the Government because you are so used to seeing them as your drivers and gardeners."  That was that.  The Lecture Hall was hushed.

The next day, I put on my beigeish-yellow cotton Esbyline Baju Kurung, which I had borrowed from my sister and walked to my lectures with my head held high.  My baju kurung is my heritage, it was not to enclose me but to set me free, not as a proud Malay, but one at ease and comfortable  with my Malay ways and purpose - Malay warts and all.

(Extract from the posting "Baju Kurung".)

                                        ------------------------------------------------

Back to 2013.  The format of this persistent denigration of the Malays has now entered the electronic media.  In the past it was more muted and restrained because the mode of communication then was not as widespread and pervasive.  Also the electronic media enables you to  hide behind an anonymity which gives all and sundry unadulterated licence to be as vulgar and as  irresponsible as they wish.

Today one can twitter insulting remarks about the Yang di Pertuan Agong.  In my time, my fellow Chinese undergrads, in the privacy of university hostels and canteens would snigger and mock the Constitutional Head of Malaysia as the " Ah Gong".

As the Malays would say  "Bapa borek, anak rintik".

And mark my words, such racist and racialist antics will not end with Tan and Lee.

                               ----------------------------------------

Finally, one sweet story from the week that was.  On Tuesday last week, I decided to give Osman and Aisha a lift to the Post Office - to pay their electricity bill -  as I was heading in the same direction.  That done, Osman decided to get a bag of cat biscuits for their one cat at home and the other stray cats in our neighbourhood.  He was in his working clothes ( Osman and Aisha are road sweepers).  From a distance I could see Osman at the counter digging out small notes from his pocket to pay for the cat biscuits.  I knew he had enough.

I then walked towards Aisha who was waiting near the Information Counter.  Minutes later, Osman came and told us that the man who was in the queue behind him had offered to pay for his purchase!!!

Allahu Akbar.  This was truly the spirit of Ramadan.

Lest We Forget .......

Extract from "The Malay: Lover of Colour and Ceremony" by Ian Morrison,  The Geographical Magazine, Volume XXIII, NO. 4, May 1950 - April  1951.

It is the weakness of the Malays as a community that, from the economic standpoint, they fall into two well-defined groups.  At one end are the Sultans and the hereditary Malay aristocracy, the latter filling many posts in the administration.  At the other end are the peasants, the dwellers in the kampongs or villages.  The latter produce nearly all the rice that is grown in Malaya, although this represents only one-third of the country's needs.  Along the coasts they are often fishermen, living in small fishing villages under the coconut palms that fringe Malaya's coastline.   These Malay peasants and fishermen are most likeable people, hospitable, cheerful, kind,courteous, but they are also backward and unambitious.  It is part of their charm, of course, that they are unambitious and easy-going, that they do not worry too much about the morrow and trust the morrow to look after itself.  But it causes real complications in the political sphere and as many of the educated Malays realize, it may in time lead to their playing a permanently subordinate role in the country which has been theirs for centuries.

......Few Malays are in commerce.  There is, in effect, no Malay middle-class.  The role of the middle class in Malaya, as in several of the other countries of South-East Asia, is played by the Chinese.

Here's my patchwork of images from my collection of old books to complement or decry some of the above points.

"Children born with silver spoons in their mouths.  The children  of high class and prosperous parents wear sarongs and jackets of beautifully coloured and finely woven materials and quite small girls possess their own set of jewels. " Today a similar class of silver-spooned off-springs are sprung from the corporate and professional Malay elite.

"Engaging Malay girl.  Singularly winning is the smile with which the Malay girl confronts the world."   I suppose this fits in with Morrison's  perception about the Malay who "do not worry too much about the morrow...."

 However in this 1956 Malay School Textbook this was what the Malays taught their children - but only in the Malay schools, not the English schools.

"Sebab rajin dan jimat, lama-lama ia boleh pulang negeri China, bawa ringgit negeri ini.  Chuba kamu buat macam itu.  Kamu boleh juga dapat duit.  Lagi tidak payah beli sayor China."  Well , some Malays today "juga dapat duit". It can be seen in their luxury cars, their palatial homes, their holidays  to Disneyland and Switzerland and they still "beli dari orang China".

All the virtues of hardwork and skills and business and savings are suggested here but  sometimes it's like getting the tortoise to run against the hare in the 100 metres dash!

According to Morrison, the Malay peasants and fishermen are " most likeable people, hospitable, cheerful, kind, courteous" - but these charming facets do not help to pay the bills.  All these qualities are such a shame ( I'm being ironic here) because the Malays are still  "backward and unambitious".

 " The implements used ..... are primitive in the extreme: a plough is usually fashioned from a fork of a tree, and the harrow is of the crudest design.  Long weary hours must be spent ...... in cultivating their own plot of ground, for they heartily dislike  toil and their indolent,  pleasure loving natures would always borrow rather than earn money".
If that's the case how did they manage to feed one-third of the country's needs?  Furthermore, who decides on the price of their padi, certainly not the farmers?

What do we have today, besides the growing skyscrapers, the burgeoning corporate cats and the swell of the middle classes?  We have become such an ambitious people that we leave some to scratch such sad messages for their meagre survival.

I took the above photograph on our way from Georgetown to Tanjong Tokong three years ago.

This is the background to that wall painting.  Is this the price of development?


But in this month of  Ramadan - while we fulfill the tenets of our faith which came from the Arabian Peninsula let us not forget our dreams and hopes as the people of the Malay Peninsula.  This is how we can strive ....

Photo by Sukar Sarif  in Intisari

..... and this is how we should inspire our young.  As our old Malay saying would put it  ......

As a former teacher, I have met many, many good seeds.  But seeds also need the clean light of the sun, the soft, warm wet earth,  the loving hands to train the branches and the tendrils  and to learn from the good examples set by the adult plants.

Have a peaceful and fulfilling Ramadan.  But please remember that generosity, kindness, courtesy, consideration and thankfulness for Allah's blessings  are  not only for Ramadan.