threesls posted :
Leaving the Muslim faith is not easy. It's possible in Singapore - certainly easier than in Malaysia - but the likelihood is that family will remain with the faith, which means that the apostate will be automatically cut out of inheritance (which will remain governed by Syariah), for instance.
And it remains difficult for Muslims, especially Muslim women, to marry outside the faith, or to divorce outside the faith, compared to Chinese traditional-syncretist women or Chinese Christian women.
Of course the Rice journalist is culturally liberal, like most of us here, and doesn't see why this 'encouraged' piety would appeal to anyone to begin with, but it is certainly one heavily demanded by the overwhelming majority of Muslim Malays in Singapore (and
certainly demanded by Malays in Malaysia who would see it as their duty to defend the community interests of fellow Muslim Malays in Singapore via diplomatic pressure, fwiw).
The mistake the journalist makes is to assume that Singapore Malays in general are liberal and want the things that liberal Singaporeans want as the good society, when there is approximately 0% evidence that this is the case. Yes, there's the odd liberal Malay
individual, but the whole point of Singapore's limited consociationalism is that communities get to articulate their interests
as communities when forging the national interethnic bargain. In plain words, this means that liberal Malays should go persuade their fellow Malays first on what the Malay interest is or should be, rather than appealing to the national forum to tell Malays that it knows better.
Defining Article 152
Special position of Malays
Article 152 — “Malay privilege”
Advantage 1: The Syariah court and Muslim Law
Advantage 2: Minister-in-Charge for Muslim Affairs
Advantage 3: Education at a heavily subsidised rate
Advantage 4: Malay as Singapore’s National Language
https://www.ricemedia.co/does-the-s...lays-in-the-constitution-mean-anything-today/
https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/CONS1963?ProvIds=pr152-&ViewType=Within&Phrase=Malay&WiAl=1
Article 152
Is about Malay....153 about Muslims...
But never state m&ds must be Mudslimes
Article 152-156 Singapore Constitution 1963 - LawGlobal Hub
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Article 152-156 Constitution of Singapore 1963
Table of Contents
Article 152, 153, 153A, 154, 155, 156 of the Constitution of Singapore 1963 are under Part XIII of the Constitution. Part XIII is titled General Provisions.
Article 152 Singapore Constitution 1963
Minorities and special position of Malays
(1) It shall be the responsibility of the Government constantly to care for the interests of the racial and religious minorities in Singapore.
(2) The Government shall exercise its functions in such manner as to recognise the special position of the Malays, who are the indigenous people of Singapore, and accordingly it shall be the responsibility of the Government to protect, safeguard, support, foster and promote their political, educational, religious, economic, social and cultural interests and the Malay language.
Article 153 Singapore Constitution 1963
Muslim religion
The Legislature shall by law make provision for regulating Muslim religious affairs and for constituting a Council to advise the President in matters relating to the Muslim religion.
Article 153A Singapore Constitution 1963
Official languages and national language
(1) Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and English shall be the 4 official languages in Singapore.
(2) The national language shall be the Malay language and shall be in the Roman script:
Provided that —
(a) no person shall be prohibited or prevented from using or from teaching or learning any other language; and
(b) nothing in this Article shall prejudice the right of the Government to preserve and sustain the use and study of the language of any other community in Singapore.
Article 154 Singapore Constitution 1963
Impartial treatment of Government employees
Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, all persons of whatever race in the same grade of the service of the Government shall, subject to the terms and conditions of their employment, be treated impartially.
Article 154A Singapore Constitution 1963
Exemption
The President, acting in his discretion, may by order published in the Gazette exempt any transaction or class of transactions, from the application of Article 144.
Article 155 Singapore Constitution 1963
Authorised reprints of Constitution
(1) The Attorney‑General may, with the authority of the President, as soon as may be after 4 May 1979 cause to be printed and published a consolidated reprint of the Constitution of Singapore, as amended from time to time, amalgamated with such of the provisions of the Constitution of Malaysia as are applicable to Singapore, into a single, composite document.
(2) The President may, from time to time, authorise the Attorney‑General to cause to be printed and published an up‑to‑date reprint of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, incorporating therein all amendments in force at the date of such authorisation.
(3) Any reprint of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, printed and published under clause (1) or (2), shall be deemed to be and shall be, without any question whatsoever in all courts of justice and for all purposes whatsoever, the authentic text of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore in force as from the date specified in that reprint until superseded by the next or subsequent reprint.
(4) In the preparation and compilation of any reprint under clause (1) or (2), the Attorney‑General shall have, with the necessary modifications, the powers conferred upon the Law Revision Commissioners by section 4 of the Revised Edition of the Laws Act 1983.
(5) In the preparation and compilation of the consolidated reprint under clause (1), the Attorney‑General shall have the power in his discretion —
(a) to merge the existing provisions of both Constitutions, making thereto such modifications as may be necessary or expedient in consequence of the independence of Singapore upon separation from Malaysia;
(b) to re-arrange the Parts, Articles and provisions of the Constitution of Singapore and of the Constitution of Malaysia in such connected sequence as he thinks fit, omitting inappropriate or inapplicable provisions, in the latter Constitution;
(c) where provisions exist in both Constitutions on the same subject‑matter, to include in the consolidated reprint the provisions of the Constitution of Singapore on such subject-matter and to omit the duplicated provisions appearing in the Constitution of Malaysia from the consolidated reprint; and
(d) generally, to do all other things necessitated by, or consequential upon, the exercise of the powers conferred upon the Attorney‑General by this Article or which may be necessary or expedient for the perfecting of the consolidated reprint of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore.
Article 156 Singapore Constitution 1963
[Omitted in 1999 Reprint]
See also:
