Very easy to say Malays are barred from so many units here,
Indians are barred from so many units here. Talk is easy.
In Malaysia they have to encourage the Chinese to join the army,
and few are taking it up. They have their own aversion.
As for the discrimination agains Malays in SAF, it is the same
as haunted toilets. People believe it, with no basis.
You observe Chinese in Malaysia Armed Forces, but is blind to
Malays in the ranks of the SAF.
BTW, the Malays in the SAF are not there due to affirmative
action, they are where they are on their own merits.
Units which don't admit Malays are a fact of life. I am not
insulting the SAF without basis.
One such unit is SAF Ammo Command (manages and services
ammunition depots). Their officers openly tell you that in all its
history since the beginning of SAF, no Malay has ever been posted
there. You need a higher security clearance to be posted there.
As for the Air Force, in all my years of serving on air base,
reservist and attending open house after that, I have never ever
seen a Malay pilot or ground crew. Not a single
one. Likewise you need an even higher security clearance
to be one.
And yet I see there are more Malay and Indian regulars in some
vocations than in civilian jobs, indicating Malays are eager to
join. I wonder why some units have zero of them.
SM Lee Kuan Yew, Straits Times, September 19, 1999 on
Malays in the Singapore Armed Forces: "If, for instance,
you put in a Malay officer who's very religious and who has family
ties in Malaysia in charge of a machine gun unit, that's a very
tricky business. We've got to know his background... I'm saying
these things because they are real, and if I don't think that, and
I think even if today the Prime Minister doesn't think carefully
about this, we could have a tragedy."
It was revealed in 1987 that the SAF was cautious about putting
Malay officers in key posts. PM Lee Hsien Loong
(Second Minister for defence at that time), made the following
comment when asked why weren’t there any Malay pilots in
the SAF. "If there is a conflict, if the SAF is called
upon to defend the homeland, we don’t want to put any of our
soldiers in a difficult position where his emotions for the nation
may come in conflict with his emotion for his religion, because
these are two very strong fundamentals, and if they are not
compatible, then they will be two very strong destructive forces in
opposite directions."
Lee Kuan Yew, Jaunary 2011:
“I would say today, we can integrate all religions and races
except Islam,” he said in “Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths to Keep
Singapore Going,” a new book containing his typically frank views
on the city-state and its future. “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…” he stated. “I think the Muslims
socially do not cause any trouble, but they are distinct and
separate,” Lee added, calling on the community to “be less strict
on Islamic observances.”