- Joined
- Dec 14, 2009
- Messages
- 496
- Points
- 43
KUALA LUMPUR: Several Malaysian leaders have dismissed remarks by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew that the progress of integration in Singapore has been affected because Muslims in the Republic tend to be 'distinct and separate'.
His remarks, published in a new book, Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going, were reported by Agence France-Presse, and subsequently picked up on Sunday by several Malaysian and Indonesian newspapers and news websites.
Responding to the remarks, the Malaysian leaders said his views were wrong.
Response was divided in Indonesia, judging by comments posted on the online site of the English-language Jakarta Globe. Some readers agreed with Mr Lee, while others felt he should not have been so blunt as to hurt Muslims.
In the book, Mr Lee, when asked to assess the progress of multiracialism in Singapore, said: 'I have to speak candidly to be of value, but I do not want to offend the Muslim community.
'I think we were progressing very nicely until the surge of Islam came, and if you asked me for my observations, the other communities have easier integration - friends, intermarriages and so on, Indians with Chinese, Chinese with Indians - than Muslims. That's the result of the surge from the Arab states.'
He added: 'I would say today, we can integrate all religions and races except Islam.'
He also said: 'I think the Muslims socially do not cause any trouble, but they are distinct and separate.'
Mr Lee then went on to speak of his own experience of how the generation of politicians who worked with him had integrated well, including sitting down and eating together. He said: 'But now, you go to schools with Malay and Chinese, there's a halal and non-halal segment and so too, the universities. And they tend to sit separately so as not to be contaminated. All that becomes a social divide.'
He added that the result was a 'veil' across peoples. Asked what Muslims in Singapore needed to do to integrate, he replied: 'Be less strict on Islamic observances and say 'Okay, I'll eat with you.''
The Malay-language newspaper Utusan Malaysia yesterday carried responses from three officials.
De facto Religious Affairs Minister Jamil Khir Baharom, asked to comment on Mr Lee's remarks, said he hoped Malaysians would not support views that linked Islam to blocking racial integration and national development. 'I am worried such views will spread into Malaysian society, which has many types of ideas,' he said, adding that Islam taught its followers to be moderate.
Malaysian Islamic Development Department director-general Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz said Mr Lee should learn from his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who was closer to Singapore Muslims. He said MM Lee had failed to take Singaporeans away from the mindset of the 1960s, which was full of prejudices and suspicions against Muslims.
Right-wing Malay rights group Perkasa slammed Mr Lee, saying he seemed to be adapting the same tactic as non-Muslim opposition leaders in Malaysia who raised sensitive issues without bothering about Muslim sensitivities.
Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali said: 'Perkasa does not consider Kuan Yew as being less able to respect other religions, but instead consider him as a very senile old man.'
Separately, Parti Islam SeMalaysia Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan said Mr Lee's comments made him sound like a 'racist militant fighter'.
The Jakarta Globe report on Mr Lee's comments drew 13 responses from readers online. One wrote: 'It is not wise to zoom into the religion or belief that these Malays hold. Asking them to be less strict (with) their religion is seen as a dubious idea which may create hatred.'
BIG CONCERN
'I am worried such views will spread into Malaysian society, which has many types of ideas.'
Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom, Malaysia's de facto Religious Affairs Minister
PAST HIS PRIME?
'Perkasa does not consider Kuan Yew as being less able to respect other religions, but instead consider him as a very senile old man.'
Syed Hassan Syed Ali, Perkasa's secretary-general
CALLING IT AS IT IS
'Funny, if you say the same thing in Europe, you will be crucified. At least somebody who is calling a cat a cat.'
A reader on the Jakarta Globe website
PLAYING WITH FIRE
'It is not wise to zoom into the religion or belief that these Malays hold. Asking them to be less strict (with) their religion is seen as a dubious idea which may create hatred.'
From another reader on the Jakarta Globe site
His remarks, published in a new book, Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going, were reported by Agence France-Presse, and subsequently picked up on Sunday by several Malaysian and Indonesian newspapers and news websites.
Responding to the remarks, the Malaysian leaders said his views were wrong.
Response was divided in Indonesia, judging by comments posted on the online site of the English-language Jakarta Globe. Some readers agreed with Mr Lee, while others felt he should not have been so blunt as to hurt Muslims.
In the book, Mr Lee, when asked to assess the progress of multiracialism in Singapore, said: 'I have to speak candidly to be of value, but I do not want to offend the Muslim community.
'I think we were progressing very nicely until the surge of Islam came, and if you asked me for my observations, the other communities have easier integration - friends, intermarriages and so on, Indians with Chinese, Chinese with Indians - than Muslims. That's the result of the surge from the Arab states.'
He added: 'I would say today, we can integrate all religions and races except Islam.'
He also said: 'I think the Muslims socially do not cause any trouble, but they are distinct and separate.'
Mr Lee then went on to speak of his own experience of how the generation of politicians who worked with him had integrated well, including sitting down and eating together. He said: 'But now, you go to schools with Malay and Chinese, there's a halal and non-halal segment and so too, the universities. And they tend to sit separately so as not to be contaminated. All that becomes a social divide.'
He added that the result was a 'veil' across peoples. Asked what Muslims in Singapore needed to do to integrate, he replied: 'Be less strict on Islamic observances and say 'Okay, I'll eat with you.''
The Malay-language newspaper Utusan Malaysia yesterday carried responses from three officials.
De facto Religious Affairs Minister Jamil Khir Baharom, asked to comment on Mr Lee's remarks, said he hoped Malaysians would not support views that linked Islam to blocking racial integration and national development. 'I am worried such views will spread into Malaysian society, which has many types of ideas,' he said, adding that Islam taught its followers to be moderate.
Malaysian Islamic Development Department director-general Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz said Mr Lee should learn from his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who was closer to Singapore Muslims. He said MM Lee had failed to take Singaporeans away from the mindset of the 1960s, which was full of prejudices and suspicions against Muslims.
Right-wing Malay rights group Perkasa slammed Mr Lee, saying he seemed to be adapting the same tactic as non-Muslim opposition leaders in Malaysia who raised sensitive issues without bothering about Muslim sensitivities.
Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali said: 'Perkasa does not consider Kuan Yew as being less able to respect other religions, but instead consider him as a very senile old man.'
Separately, Parti Islam SeMalaysia Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan said Mr Lee's comments made him sound like a 'racist militant fighter'.
The Jakarta Globe report on Mr Lee's comments drew 13 responses from readers online. One wrote: 'It is not wise to zoom into the religion or belief that these Malays hold. Asking them to be less strict (with) their religion is seen as a dubious idea which may create hatred.'
BIG CONCERN
'I am worried such views will spread into Malaysian society, which has many types of ideas.'
Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom, Malaysia's de facto Religious Affairs Minister
PAST HIS PRIME?
'Perkasa does not consider Kuan Yew as being less able to respect other religions, but instead consider him as a very senile old man.'
Syed Hassan Syed Ali, Perkasa's secretary-general
CALLING IT AS IT IS
'Funny, if you say the same thing in Europe, you will be crucified. At least somebody who is calling a cat a cat.'
A reader on the Jakarta Globe website
PLAYING WITH FIRE
'It is not wise to zoom into the religion or belief that these Malays hold. Asking them to be less strict (with) their religion is seen as a dubious idea which may create hatred.'
From another reader on the Jakarta Globe site
