Meet the NSP Malay Bureau
Posted by Kirsten on September 22, 2010 0 Comment
Ng E-Jay –
The recent announcement by the National Solidarity Party (NSP) to establish a Malay Bureau has been greeted with much interest from both the grassroots as well as the online community.
Last week, I took the opportunity to meet up with a few of NSP’s recently announced Malay candidates as well other CEC members to get their perspective on the newly launched Bureau, which currently comprises around 10 members.
One thing emerged clearly from our informal discussion – the NSP perceives an urgent need to address the political, economic and social impediments to Malay progress that currently exists in Singapore society. But they are quick to assert that NSP aspires to represent all races and creeds, not just the Malays.
Why then a special Malay Bureau within a relatively small party like NSP?
L - R: Yadzeth Hairis, Syafarin Sarif, Nor Lella Mardiiiah Mohamed, Ramli Mohamed, Abdul Salim Harun
The members
I heard first hand from Ms Nor Lella Mardiiiah Mohamed, a Diploma holder in Business Administration and a real estate consultant, about her varied experiences with the challenges facing the Malays today.
Before joining NSP and becoming the newly-appointed head of the Malay Bureau, Ms Lella volunteered regularly with Redstar Community Services, which gave her extensive experience in social work, in particular, connecting with and helping the Malay community.
According to her, the establishment often does not pay adequate attention to the issues and challenges facing minorities such as the Malays.
Volunteers like her she said, see firsthand the fear that many Malays have in expressing their concerns or voicing out the problems they face in areas such as education, housing and finding decent jobs.
Mr Syafarin Sarif, an NUS graduate in political science and Malay studies and a regional project manager for a research company, also felt that the community had to proactively address social issues.
He said that as Malays, members of the Bureau are in a position to understand the challenges and difficulties faced by their own community, and hope that the Bureau can serve as a platform to reach out to fellow Malays, connect with them, and provide them with advice or assistance.
Both Ms Lella and Mr Syafarin have announced their plans to stand as NSP candidates in the coming general election.
Like Ms Lella, Mr Syafarin also has extensive experience with social work. He was a former vice-president of the Malay Youth Literary Association, or Persatuan Persuratan Pemuda Pemudi Melayu (4PM). He understands all too well the inadequacies of current Malay help groups and has pledged to put his experience to work in serving the community.
He told me that he hopes NSP’s Malay Bureau will come across as “being sincere and committed in serving the community’s needs and aspirations.”
Mr Ramli Mohamed, an event manager, is the organizing secretary of the Malay Bureau.
Like his colleagues in the Bureau, Mr Mohamed told me has a background in volunteer work and understands what it is like to grow up in a humble environment where hard work and thrift are valued.
Mr Mohammed bemoaned the fact that these values have been seemingly lost in the politico-economic climate engineered by the PAP which values growth at all cost, with little regard paid to the intangibles of life and the well-being of citizens.
The mission
My dialogue with NSP’s Malay Bureau and other CEC members left me with the impression that the Bureau seems to have a clear idea regarding what they want to achieve and the challenges they face.
In unveiling the Malay Bureau to the press last week, the NSP Central-Executive Committee emphasized that the main priority of the Malay Bureau is to develop the capacity to tackle Malay issues at both the national as well as community level.
In his statement to the press, Secretary-General Mr Goh Meng Seng gave the commitment that the NSP was gunning to send a Malay candidate into Parliament either as a full Member of Parliament or to take up a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament seat.
Strategically, the Malay Bureau should also serve as the vehicle to attract credible minority candidates into the NSP and enable it to contest as many GRCs as possible in the upcoming elections. This will become especially important because the government has announced that it will reduce the size of the GRCs which will open up more areas for contest.
Whether or not the NSP’s commitment to building a more inclusive party pays off might soon be put to the test if the general-election is called soon.
Posted by Kirsten on September 22, 2010 0 Comment
Ng E-Jay –
The recent announcement by the National Solidarity Party (NSP) to establish a Malay Bureau has been greeted with much interest from both the grassroots as well as the online community.
Last week, I took the opportunity to meet up with a few of NSP’s recently announced Malay candidates as well other CEC members to get their perspective on the newly launched Bureau, which currently comprises around 10 members.
One thing emerged clearly from our informal discussion – the NSP perceives an urgent need to address the political, economic and social impediments to Malay progress that currently exists in Singapore society. But they are quick to assert that NSP aspires to represent all races and creeds, not just the Malays.
Why then a special Malay Bureau within a relatively small party like NSP?
L - R: Yadzeth Hairis, Syafarin Sarif, Nor Lella Mardiiiah Mohamed, Ramli Mohamed, Abdul Salim Harun
The members
I heard first hand from Ms Nor Lella Mardiiiah Mohamed, a Diploma holder in Business Administration and a real estate consultant, about her varied experiences with the challenges facing the Malays today.
Before joining NSP and becoming the newly-appointed head of the Malay Bureau, Ms Lella volunteered regularly with Redstar Community Services, which gave her extensive experience in social work, in particular, connecting with and helping the Malay community.
According to her, the establishment often does not pay adequate attention to the issues and challenges facing minorities such as the Malays.
Volunteers like her she said, see firsthand the fear that many Malays have in expressing their concerns or voicing out the problems they face in areas such as education, housing and finding decent jobs.
Mr Syafarin Sarif, an NUS graduate in political science and Malay studies and a regional project manager for a research company, also felt that the community had to proactively address social issues.
He said that as Malays, members of the Bureau are in a position to understand the challenges and difficulties faced by their own community, and hope that the Bureau can serve as a platform to reach out to fellow Malays, connect with them, and provide them with advice or assistance.
Both Ms Lella and Mr Syafarin have announced their plans to stand as NSP candidates in the coming general election.
Like Ms Lella, Mr Syafarin also has extensive experience with social work. He was a former vice-president of the Malay Youth Literary Association, or Persatuan Persuratan Pemuda Pemudi Melayu (4PM). He understands all too well the inadequacies of current Malay help groups and has pledged to put his experience to work in serving the community.
He told me that he hopes NSP’s Malay Bureau will come across as “being sincere and committed in serving the community’s needs and aspirations.”
Mr Ramli Mohamed, an event manager, is the organizing secretary of the Malay Bureau.
Like his colleagues in the Bureau, Mr Mohamed told me has a background in volunteer work and understands what it is like to grow up in a humble environment where hard work and thrift are valued.
Mr Mohammed bemoaned the fact that these values have been seemingly lost in the politico-economic climate engineered by the PAP which values growth at all cost, with little regard paid to the intangibles of life and the well-being of citizens.
The mission
My dialogue with NSP’s Malay Bureau and other CEC members left me with the impression that the Bureau seems to have a clear idea regarding what they want to achieve and the challenges they face.
In unveiling the Malay Bureau to the press last week, the NSP Central-Executive Committee emphasized that the main priority of the Malay Bureau is to develop the capacity to tackle Malay issues at both the national as well as community level.
In his statement to the press, Secretary-General Mr Goh Meng Seng gave the commitment that the NSP was gunning to send a Malay candidate into Parliament either as a full Member of Parliament or to take up a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament seat.
Strategically, the Malay Bureau should also serve as the vehicle to attract credible minority candidates into the NSP and enable it to contest as many GRCs as possible in the upcoming elections. This will become especially important because the government has announced that it will reduce the size of the GRCs which will open up more areas for contest.
Whether or not the NSP’s commitment to building a more inclusive party pays off might soon be put to the test if the general-election is called soon.
