I had posted a comment on one of The Online Citizen (TOC)’s Facebook links regarding a New Paper article by veteran journalist, Sylvia Toh Paik Choo, and perhaps my words struck a chord with many of TOC’s readers. I did not expect such strong support for what I had to say and perhaps, it was the most Likes I’ve earned from fellow netizens. So I decided to re-post this on my blog for the benefit of all Singaporeans whom I hope can now better frame their heritage in the proper context. I would like to point my readers to this article (Google Translated from Malay to English), this article and this video, for a better perspective of how I draw my arguments. As a continuing student of local history, I’m amazed how much information we Singaporeans don’t really know about Singapore. So I hope, I’ve contributed somewhat to a more enlightened Singapore society.

A People's History of Malaya. A book written by members of Federation of United Kingdom & Eire Malaysian & Singaporean Student Organizations

Sylvia. You forget that when you migrated to Singapore from Penang 60 years ago, we weren’t yet another country. I’m sorry but Singapore was still considered a part of Malaya. Penang was still a Straits Settlement and so was Singapore. The governor, my dear, was still the same white man.

So your argument that you were an immigrant is complete moot. None of us were immigrants. If you were born in Malaya before 1965, anywhere in Malaya, you were local born.

I remember another young man born in Penang and migrated to Singapore. His name is legendary in these parts. Have you heard of P. Ramlee who became Malaya’s silver screen hero in the 50s? I’m sure you know that P. Ramlee made a living in Singapore. Did you forget that Singapore was the center of Malaya’s movie making industry? Front and center, Singapore was the poster boy of a new, independent Malaya.

So when August 9, 1965 came, did we all suddenly become immigrants? Sylvia my dear, we were always local born. It’s our bloody text books that sold us this idea that Singaporeans were made up of immigrants.

Now, I have no problem with foreigners. But please don’t make me a foreigner in my own country. I’m a 3rd generation Singaporean. But my grandparents who called this place home came from Johor and Java. They never saw this place as a foreign land. Indonesia didn’t even exist before 1945. There was freedom of movement. Malayans from Johor joined Malayans in Singapore. And fellow friends from across the Malay archipelago in Riau, Sumatra and Java joined us too. Did they see Singapore as another country and therefore considered themselves immigrant? No. We lived in colonial times. There was no such thing as borders.

Immigrant nation? Nope. Not Singapore. Not even Chinese and Indians born anywhere in Malaya. That includes you Sylvia.

When I coined this term back in November 2008, it was a term I used to define this movement which I co-founded with other Malay New Media professionals and practitioners as well as to initiate a culture of improvement within the Malay community.

I was present about 9 years ago when the “Melayu Baru” debate came up. As a teenager, sitting in the old MUIS building’s board room, listening to the older youth (then about 30+ years old) discussing definitions and semantics to the Melayu Baru debate. It was afterall the year 2000. A new Millenium. An “Alaf Baru”.

A lot of politicising was happening. There was the Collective Leadership issue between AMP and the government, the Tudung issue of Fateha.com and Madrasah issue of the respective Madrasahs and their stakeholders.

9 years has passed and exactly what have the Malays achieved? For all the politicking, debates and constant chatter about these and many other issues especially post-9/11 Singapore, all we had to show for, was the incidental PSLE top scorer in a certain 12 year old from a blue-collar, lower class, Malay family.

Her success was not the result of some concerted effort by the Malay community. It was her own success. No one intervened to help her achieve it.

If anything, the Malay community needed a revitalisation which would help them renew their efforts towards this Muslim community of excellence that is prescribed across all the relevant Muslim bodies.

I wanted the Malay community to upgrade itself, yet retain its Malay-ness. I wanted the Malay people to have a more technological definition, yet still remain true to what is a Malay, self-defined, on your own terms.

Thus, I coined the term Melayu 2.0, a combination of the word Melayu, and Web 2.0. On its own, Web 2.0 is a definition of what the web is today, an amalgamation of social technologies and networks. It is from this web-derived vocabulary that the term Melayu 2.0 should be understood.

When we first came onto the scene on Facebook, much of the criticism of the term Melayu 2.0, came from the Malaysians. As this was a Singaporean effort, we responded that we’re not out to redefine orang Melayu such that the essence of the Malays are lost. There were questions on what’s the need for another identity? Melayu je lah. Kan senang.

My response is simple. If you want to identify yourself as simply Melayu. Then that’s your own prerogative. No one is forcing you to be a Melayu 2.0 if you even understand what that means. Melayu is still a race. Melayu 2.0 is not a race. It’s a Web 2.0 movement consisting of Malays who upgrade themselves to better their society.

If you cannot appreciate the intent of this movement, then you should look in the mirror to see if you have indeed justified the meaning of being a Malay? The word Melayu, defined by Javanese vocabulary, means to run as fast and far as possible. The entire Malay culture was seafaring. Malays expanded throughout the globe all the way to the ends of South Africa from the first anthropological evidence of Malays in Hainan Island. We’re a race that defines globalisation without eroding its culture. The Chinese have lost much of their culture through modernisation. But Malays everywhere, whether they are in Taiwan, Cham, Papua, Manila, Sandakan, Cape Town, Kuala Lumpur and Geylang have rode on the waves of globalisation and have not lost the essence of their Malay-ness. We keep our heritage proudly.

But as Singaporean Malays, where are we now? As a community, have we truly, really progressed in the past 10 years since the Melayu Baru debate first arose?

Have we built a confident informal Malay leadership in the absence of a Collective leadership? Have we managed to build trust and greater confidence with other races, so much so that they better appreciate and understand our differences and religiosity? Yet, most pressing, have we improved educationally? economically? spiritually or religiously enlightened?

The reality is that we’re nowhere near these things.

Thus Melayu 2.0 defined itself 3 areas of focus, in Education, Economics and Enlightenment (to be read as both spiritual and religious).

To create a pleasant environment for people participating in the discussion, we prescribed the OB markers of the debate. We believe in Free Speech. But hate speech is not free speech. We also believe that discussions need to be productive, and people need to come away with a sense of fulfillment. So we want to avoid potentially divisive chatter which more often than not revolves around religion.

I personally laid down the rules of engagement. Islam is not up for debate. I did not say you cannot talk about Islam. You can! You can make points with religion as a reference. What you cannot do is debate religion based on political schisms. We recognise that there are Malays of other Mazhabs like the Shia. And instead of excluding them from the discourse, we’d rather include them. They’re still Muslims all the same. So what I do not wish inside the discussions are questions over someone’s religiosity, or someone’s particular flavour of Islam. This is not respectful and not productive, and I cannot allow this in the discourse. The few Shia Malay/Muslims have taken the initative to write Shia-centric postings, so that Sunnis are better informed about their Shia brothers. It is this culture of respect and tolerance that make us Singaporean Malay/Muslims so much more different than the warring Arab tribes as we can see in the Middle-east.

Next, we’re an independent movement. We’re not created by the government. We don’t work for the government. The government works for us and we ensure that the government works with us with mutual interests in mind. We’re part of civil society engaged with the government over policies that affect the Malay community. We’re an informal leadership, allowing others within the Melayu 2.0 community to take up an issue so long as it is with our blessings and approval.

Do we discuss politics? Yes. We’re a non-political movement. That means we’re not a political party. That does not mean we’re apolitical. We’ve defined the focus areas which we want to see an improvement, and these are social issues at its core. So what we want in discussions are not political discussions that are rants of displeasure. We don’t want to have discussions that light the flame of discontentment. What we want are discussions that are productive and arrive at solutions which in turn could become policies the government may implement. This is a community with many different political affiliations. I am not a PAP member. I criticise quite openly, the affairs of this government. But politics is a divisive matter. And what we want is to put aside political ideologies and focus on getting things done for the greater good of the community. The Malays need to stand united as one people in order to improve. Not bicker over politics.

Our channels with the government are clear. We work on respectful, mutual interest basis. We do not believe in locking horns with the government. We give direct criticisms to the proper channels. But we do so respectfully. The fact that we are re-invited for more dialogue is a step in the right direction. The government is listening. The people are speaking up. Isn’t this way so much more better than the aggressive, combative methods used by different community movements of the past?

When we discussed the name Melayu 2.0, we recognised the limiting definitions that affect our mode of administration. So we arrived first by public vote and then by internal vote to choose the name Generasi ME as the official name of the movement, and Melayu 2.0 as the concept of the establishment of this movement. This allowed us to purchase a domain name gen-me.org which would not be possible with Melayu 2.0. Because melayu2.0.org is simply technically impossible.

We then prescribed ME as self-defining. We established that ME means MElayu, Millenium, ME (a collective success of self). You can intepret ME however you like to suit your tastes. We’re not going to push the meaning down your throats. You define your own idea of success. It is about yourself and your success.

It is hoped, through this informal, lightly-managed movement, the Malays will take the initiative on their own to carve a future that defines who they are in this new Knowledge-Based, highly globalised economy. We only established the parameters of this success. You, the Malays, are the ones responsible to realise it. You fail in 10 years time. That’s your own fault. You succeed, that’s your own success. I’m not responsible for your success. You are. You don’t owe me anything. I don’t owe you anything. But in order to achieve this success which you crave for, we need to work collectively.

So enough of this debate on semantics. You can argue all you want but you know as much as I do that it is not helpful. If you want progress, we need to move away from debating about these semantics, and more about finding solutions to pressing problems like the education of the Malays, the economic standing of the Malays, and the spiritual or religious enlightenment of the Malays.

Every morning reciting the pledge, repeating every word, instilled in me a belief of the greatness of this nation. When I grew up, everywhere I turned, I had friends of different races and faiths. I could go to the mainstream PAP kindergarten in the mornings and I also went to the mosque kindergarten in the afternoon. I was exposed to different customs and languages and I had the opportunity to bask in the rich multi-racial flavour of our nation.

“Pledge ourselves as One United People, Regardless of Race, Language or Religion…”, I oathed. Every pledge taking ceremony, this line mattered to me most.

This was what made me different. Whether you’re Malay, Chinese or Indian, this is what makes us different from our ancestral nations. Chinese law states that you must be ethnically Chinese to be a citizen of (PRC) China. In Malaysia, non-Malays don’t get Bumiputera rights. And in India, while you could now naturalise as an Indian citizen, one needs to be a resident of India for at least 11 years. Of course, it would be quite difficult to find Indian citizens of non-Indian ethnicity in India though there is evidence of mixed ethnicity due to the large diaspora of Indians who have since returned.

But in Singapore, no matter what colour your skin is, what language you speak, or what religion you profess (or not), you are always welcome. So long as you pledge yourself as One United People.

The British Surrender

I used to frequent Johor as a child. I have relatives in a kampong at Jalan Setanggi. I remember one morning when my cousin and I talked about our countries, and learnt what it was like in our different countries. I was curious what it was like living in my ancestral land. I asked what was school like, and what they do in school. And we suddenly broke into patriotic competition. We’d sing our national anthems and we’d recite our pledges. I was a darn proud Singaporean but I respected my Malaysian cousins for what they have.

We don’t have kampongs anymore. Gotong-royong is still alive across the border. Here, it’s a different story. We exchanged our simple pleasures for the ones provided to a metropolis. Without the Internet, we wouldn’t know what to do with our time, as evident when I made my trips to Malaysia and Indonesia. Or perhaps, the connectedness with our virtual reality is a way for us to escape the realities of life.

I remember in one of my trips to my cousin’s kampong, I flipped through their photo albums, and in one of them, I discovered a historical relic. There slit behind the clear plastic was a Japanese banana note.

This was a time when Singapore was a significant part of Malaya. What Singapore went through, is shared with our brothers up north. This was a time when you could cross the causeway without a passport. A time when Singapore residents got along with each other, no matter what race.

The table where the surrender negotiations happened

“I want you to surrender without conditions! We shall stop all firing by 0700 hrs ” said General Yamashita to the British officers, led by General Percival. Percival tried to negotiate a later end to hostilities so that there would be enough time to destroy all British government documents. It was a convenient solution for them. Our men battled at the front, bled and died. And they raised their hands in surrender to save their lives.

What Percival didn’t know was that Yamashita was forcing the British to accept a quick surrender as the Japanese had almost run out of ammo and supplies, and had far less men than the Allies.

Had the British any idea of the custom of Ta’at Setia, Singapore as with the rest of Malaya would not have fallen to the Japanese. It was a war of attrition. A war which apparently was in our favour to win, despite the odds and the well-trained Japanese army.

Percival nodded, eventually agreeing to the Japanese terms. “I want to hear from your mouth that you agree to the unconditional surrender!” demanded Yamashita. Percival said in a dejected tone, “Yes, I, on behalf of the British and Allied forces in Singapore and Malaya, agree to surrender and stop all hostilities at the agreed upon time”.

Malay women used as comfort workers turning Geylang into a Red-light district

And then began 3 years of military internment for all in Malaya and Singapore. The Japanese used the British system of administration by race. Colonial master to colonial master, race was seen as an efficient way to administer its territory and subjects. The Chinese would suffer the worst from the racial discrimination of the Japanese. Chinese men were executed at random. They were tortured, and mutilated. Shot and bayoneted.

Every race was used differently by the new colonial masters. The Chinese were treated worse than animals. The Indians were to be re-used as soldiers to fight for the Japanese against British India. But the Japs weren’t quite sure of what to do with the Malays, so they tried to put them to work as labourers in place of the Chinese to revitalise the Japanese administered Syonan and Malayan economy.

Despite the better treatment to the other races, the Japs didn’t pay well. Inflation soared and life was hard. Everyone suffered under the Japanese. Food was rationed and the Japanese encouraged planting our own crops. But hard as it was to buy anything to plant, the only cheap crop was tapioca.

Zaman Ubi Kayu

My uncle described how it was like under the Japanese. “Zaman Jepun, kita takde apa-apa nak makan. Semua mahal. Ubi Kayu aje lah.”

I couldn’t quite imagine eating just tapioca.

“Kalau dapat ayam tu masa raya je. Tak macam zaman sekarang, hari-hari makan ayam,” he continued explaining how luxurious our life is today.

“Duit Pisang ni, jangan di bawak keluar. Ni lah kenangan Zaman Ubi Kayu tu,” he ended his short story about the hardships of war.

I could not help being reminded of the Banana Note as I crossed back the causeway into Singapore. No one in class had ever seen a real Banana Note. Most of my friends in class were Chinese.

And then it struck me. Of course none of them had seen it. Most of them were killed. And these memories were too painful for their grandparents to have. Why would they keep a relic of the past that reminded them of the discrimination against them?

I don’t have fond memories of my time in PAP kindergarten. As much as I appreciated being exposed to the richness of multi-racial cultures, my best memories were the afternoons at mosque kindergarten. Mostly because after lessons, we got to play at the neighbourhood playground, supervised by our teacher. I learnt the same things in mosque kindergarten, except for Chinese language and the ritualistic Islam that were taught to me.

Why? Because I enjoyed mosque kindergarten. People were nice to me, and we had lots of fun. We were taught Malay and English but were mostly instructed in English. At PAP kindergarten, we didn’t get to play. But it was ok. I made some friends there, mostly Chinese. For a kid, if you had a friend, it was fine.

Malay students learning Japanese under occupation

But what made my time there least memorable was how I was discriminated as a non-Chinese speaker. Everyone was expected to take the same subjects. And even if you were a Malay or Indian, you had to learn Chinese. Other mother tongues were not offered yet because the resources were not yet available.

I couldn’t understand a single thing in Chinese class. The teacher kept speaking Chinese! I sat at the back everytime she came in, and she often gave me the least attention. Perhaps, she didn’t think Chinese was important to me. But I tried hard to absorb whatever was taught in class. I didn’t care what the mother tongue was, passing was very important to me!

In my 2 years there, all I understood were the words “mouth” and “people”, mostly because of the gestures and the occasional slip into English. I could write those words too and I was proud of it. But what I couldn’t do was pass Chinese. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t because firstly, my Chinese friends spoke to me in English, and secondly but most importantly, my Chinese teacher did not give me the desired attention of a non-native Chinese speaker. So only knowing those 2 words, imagine how shocked I was when I arrived for school to take an exam. Apparently, even the words “exam” was instructed in Chinese, and I was hardly prepared.

Like the British, and the Japanese masters, this one Chinese teacher didn’t know what to do with the Malay boy sitting by the window. She probably thought I was lazy for not studying hard enough, but I tried very hard to get along. I’m a Singaporean! Regardless of race and language remember?

Malays were given free education under the Japanese to prepare them for economic revival.

Mum was mad at me for failing Chinese. Mum, a Malay lady, mad at me for failing a language I hardly spoke at the age of 5 or 6? I rebutted Mum, “It’s not MY language!”, only as a frustration of how difficult it was to pass the darn thing when my teacher did not make the effort to teach me well. I aced all other subjects, so don’t tell me I was stupid or lazy!

And then, primary school came and I was introduced to the pledge. I already understood the national anthem. It was in Malay! I felt patriotic everytime I sang it, because I understood what it meant. This is my country, and I was singing my anthem in my language! In a way, I pitied my Chinese friends who struggled learning the anthem and could never quite get the words right. I was there before just a year ago, never understanding what was it I was asked to mouth during Chinese lessons. We were an anglicised society and my generation no longer had Malay as the lingua franca. We were asked to preserve our individual community’s languages and customs, maintaining Malay as the only official language at the risk of it being used only for ceremony, whilst using English as a common tongue even though our former British masters had left us to our doom during the war.

The only thing that bonded us, that we often used as inspiration, was the pledge. It was the only thing we understood as One People. In a country where we sing Majulah Singapura, perhaps our disconnectedness from our anthem is a way for us to escape the realities of Singapore life. Maybe we could do better if “One United People, Regardless of Race, Language or Religion”, meant that we embraced each other’s cultures and languages, and treat them as part of our own. Have we surrendered too much of our heritage and our common sense for the sake of “progress and prosperity for our nation”?

Memories at Old Ford Factory. Where the British surrendered.

(End of Part 3)

When I go to the coffeeshop to order a cup of coke, I am greeted by a China-girl, who can’t speak an inch of English, and tried to mouth back my order in barely comprehensible mainland Mandarin. The local prata shop staff which resides in the coffeeshop, is constantly frustrated at her, to the point of bad-mouthing in terms I can only say are ungracious. They’ve tried so hard to communicate, telling her in English, that the used plates are to be placed inside the bin, not on their counters, but to no avail. All she knows is Hua Yi.

Several months later, I observed the China-girl was still around, slightly improved, yet still barely comprehensible Mandarin. I wonder how does someone with zilch English continue to have a job, when born and bred Singaporeans who are of a similar or better educational level are struggling to find one today. The service is obviously shoddy. The patrons are obviously frustrated. This is a coffeeshop, where all races converge. Whether for a cuppa, or a meal of hor fun and nasi ayam, beer and coke alike. Yet the coffeeshop owner probably found it logical to employ someone who does not speak in a common language (read: English), leaving those that cannot speak Hua Yi to leave, perturbed.

In another case, a friend of mine who happens to be a Malay, and who has been working in a large IT company had already upgraded to a degree. He submitted his transcripts, and applied for a raise. HR never acted on it. Months later, the company employed a young diploma holder, with zero experience, and paid him $600 more than my friend! That young diploma holder, happens to be someone of Chinese ethnicity.

Obviously, my friend was upset. This should not happen in a country that practices meritocracy. Not affirmative racial discrimination like our neighbours upstairs. We believed in the Singapore system, only for us to realise that the Singapore system treats us like 2nd class citizens.

Another friend of mine. No. wait. Several friends of mine of a minority race, applied for jobs at a government agency which was non-security related. They were well qualified. They had degrees. Some with Masters. Some others with Honours. All rejected. And the funny thing was, this agency was suffering from a lack of civil servants which were to be deployed to institutions of enlightenment, leading them to go on a massive campaign to attract more of such civil servants.

It puzzles me, this Singapore I live in today. How could a country I so dearly love, as I grew up in the 80s, which embraced multi-racialism suddenly become so un-Singaporean? The tide of discontentment is growing, even among Chinese Singaporeans. People are unhappy. I’ve never seen such a level of discontentment with the country in my life, and this is probably unprecedented.

I have nothing against speaking Mandarin, so long as you give equal treatment to the other official languages, especially our national language. I love the fact that I can understand some Mandarin, enough for me to survive, especially when I’m faced with China service staff. I’m partially Chinese myself! But this country, I feel, has lost its soul.

I dare to ask you Singaporeans, especially those who are not trained in the National language (Malay), do you really know what each verse in our anthem means?

Mari kita rakyat Singapura sama-sama menuju bahagia.

Do you know what bahagia means? It means, happiness. That’s the first stanza in our anthem. The first stanza asks all Singaporeans achieve happiness as one people. As one nation. Yet, what are we today? Are we happy? Are we one people? One nation?

After nearly 44 years of independence. After nearly 44 years of secession from Malaysia, where they practise open, affirmative, discrimination. We are a shame to our own ethos. How in the world did we end up practising discrimination here?? And how did we become so unhappy with nearly everything around us?

So many people are finding this country to be increasingly foreign to them. Its like we’re foreigners in our own home. Obviously, this country needs change.

Do we vote in the opposition? Its quite obvious, most people feel the opposition does not possess a better calibre of candidates that the incumbent possesses. So personally, I’d rather not vote in an inept government. We will have more to be unhappy about.

I’d rather ordinary Singaporeans do extra-ordinary things to change this country. Being a Libertarian, that’s the only thing I know best. That things will not change, unless you take ownership of your problems and your issues. The government cannot be depended on for everything. So take charge of the things you’re unhappy about and change it.

If there needs to be a campaign to enrich Singaporeans with our other official languages, then so be it. We need to wake up some Singaporeans who are not sensitive to the minority groups. If there needs to be a movement to end racial discrimination in the workplace, then so be it. We need to kick out racism in Singapore because it is inconsistent with our Singapore pledge, “… regardless of race, language or religion …”. If people are losing jobs because someone decides to let go of people who are not his kind, its time we gave people a wake up call, that we are Singaporeans first. Not this race or that race.

We are Singapore. Not Chinapore. We are Singaporeans. Race should never be a factor. We are a country that embraces multi-culturalism, not a country that tries to force a culture’s language over its disgruntled minorities.

I love this country. And I want it to regain its soul. Her citizens need to learn about her heritage and her history. Her people needs to be united in order to progress further.

We, the citizens of Singapore
Pledge ourselves as One United People
Regardless of race, language or religion
To build a Democratic Society
Based on Justice and Equality
So as to achieve Happiness, Prosperity and Progress for our nation

We are the only country in the world that has a minority language (Malay) as the ONLY National language of its country. But her citizens do not speak her tongue. We are a country that believes in meritocracy and racial equality. Yet somehow, we’ve managed to not practise them.

Singaporeans, this NDP, things will change. The theme for this year is called “Come Together”. The NDP committee has drawn its inspiration from the pledge. And asks her people to reflect on it. Particularly the bit that says, “One United People”.

Singaporeans, we’ve come a long way from third world to first. We’ve attained so much wealth, but we are not wealthy. Not where the heart is. So I ask you to reflect with me and other like-minded Singaporeans on this country we call home; it’s anthem, its pledge, its crescent and stars, its red and white. Have you been Singaporean enough?