it shows up in my radar clearly as i have replied earlier in
this topic...thats y i didnt generalise...
kudos to people like that in the service...
we're talking abt the the society...
i'm not saying anything...but are u malay?
if yes...i rest my case cos malays got different views on topics
like this and u are one of the impressive cases and respect to u
from me......
if no...grow up in a malay society and u'd understand...
thats y i said earlier in this topic that there are 2 kinds of
malays...those that are very impressive like the ones u have given
in ure reply....
and those that couldnt be bothered....
no in between one...i stress it again......
thank you for giving such good examples of impressive
malays.....and i am not meaning to be sarcastic...its nice that
there are people are giving examples like that than giving exaples
like 'Would u malays kill a malay enemy'....
No, I'm Chinese. I just took exception to that specific remark,
& IMO itwon't help the community to get thus slighted if more
people thought like that.
I'm cognizant enough to know where the Malays are coming from. Fact
is, their earlier generation of baby-boomers, nee born between '46
& '55 or so, ended up completely alienated, & it's this
context that politicians refer to when they talk about
"reintegrating into society."
Beyond their control was the "forced" urbanization that began in
the '60s, along with the Chinese squatters as the HDB geared up its
flat building (20,000 in '60; over 200,000 by '75) due to the Bukit
Ho Swee fires. Then came the emotional Separatism from Malaysia,
followed by the British withdrawal in the early '70s (which Tim
Huxley said 20% of the Malay population worked for).
But they were also, at best, left to fend for themselves &, at
worst, actively discriminated by the S'pore Govt. The latter was a
pragmatic move, cuz it was sensitive time (Malaysia would witness
racial riots three years after we left). What happened was that the
Govt. deliberately phased out the Malay regulars - justified as "a
fairer ethnic distribution of military personnel" - then
unofficially shut out Malays from NS & the SAF between '68
& '73.
So on the one hand, the Malays were trying to keep up with the
zealous national drive towards industralization, all the while
trying to settle into a new HDB lifestyle. Yet on the other, the
old source of colonial employment was gone, & ditto the new
SAF. Worse yet, they couldn't get permanent jobs outside cuz either
they weren't certified as already dischared from NS, or prospective
bosses were fearing they could be called up for NS anytime!
All this is mentioned in Huxley's book. He also referenced LHL's
1987 Parliament speech where the racial mistrust was officially
admitted, but which LHL said the SAF had already "doubled" its
Malay intake since '77 & that all eligible ones were
conscripted by '85.
How does that connect with today? Simple, it means that the 2nd
generation of NS servicemen (those whose fathers also served)
generally started enlisting during the beginning of the '90s. But
for the Malays who were first called up in the late '70s/early
'80s, their male offsprings were logically only called up to serve
during these last few years.
I'm a believer that the purported institutional distrust will be
obsolete by the end of this decade, once all of the 2nd-generation
Malays finish NS like their dads (& had earlier gone through
the national education system).
But I agree, the idea of whether Muslims would fight fellow Muslims
is a concern as far as SAF operationality goes.
Slackers tend to be racial-blind but, if I have to arrow a group,
I'll name the Hokkien peng as the most traditionally bo-chap.
That's why the regimentation was so strict in the '70s, with famous
Enciks earning their reputations & a whole dictionary of
Singlish/army lingo was invented, cuz not many Malays were
conscripted then.
