Jurnal
Race
Category: Jurnal
Tags: malaysia, race, Singapore
While Singapore may be a country which supposedly guarantees equality of race, the mood on the ground may be different. Singaporeans still do discriminate according to race. There are still people who cannot leave Malays alone. Like when we have our void deck weddings, or when we rush to the mosque every Friday, or when we’re required to wear the veil or when we try to have a nice, decent, halal meal. Racial and religious subscriptions still do determine your social status in Singapore. more »
HSBC different races ad reflects lack of successful Malay businesses?
Category: Jurnal
Tags: family values, hsbc, improve, malay businesses, race, successful
Click the picture to reveal the other family
I was walking around Ang Mo Kio yesterday, when I chanced upon this wall ad on HSBC’s Ang Mo Kio Branch. It’s trying to brand itself as a global local bank that knows and understands the different cultures here. But the thing that struck me was the use of generalisations in this ad. For example, on one side, there is a picture of a Chinese family who runs a jewellry shop in where else but Chinatown. It reflects a sense of upper class that seems to suggest that the Chinese are rich. Very rich. Using a jewellry shop as an exemplary Chinese business seem to mean that the Chinese could afford them. more »
Even the Muslims are afraid of Islam
Category: Jurnal
Tags: democracy, headscarf, islam, muslim, secularism, Singapore, turkey, xenophobia
In breaking news today, the Turkish Constitutional Court has annulled a parliamentary reform to lax the ban on wearing headscarves for female students attending university, on the basis that the reformation was against the nature of the secular state. Turkey is 98% Muslim, yet the observance of the religion, or the lack of it, doesn’t bring justice to the enormous Islamic heritage which the former capital of the Ottoman Empire upheld for hundreds of years. more »
The genius within us
Category: Jurnal
Tags: academic success, ainan, education, malay child genius, parental duty, Singapore
I read with much interest, the story about a Singaporean Eurasian (Part Irish, Part Malay) boy, age 8, who has passed his Chemistry O level paper at age 6. He’s probably Singapore’s first known child genius. Recently, he had given a lecture on Chemistry to several primary school students. His ability to articulate his thoughts in an animated, child-ly manner allowed him to impart his knowledge to his peers who would be more than happy to learn from this underaged prodigy.
Ainan, and the Malay child prodigies before him, seem to debunk the myth that Malays are (in very tame terms) less gifted educationally. While many would be quick to point out that Ainan is not a pure Malay (as with Sufiah before him), it should be noted that, like his father, his Malay mother is ambidextrous, suggesting that her left and right brains are equally developed, contributing further to Ainan’s super-genes. It should also be noted that Ainan seems to get most of his genes from his mother as he has clear Malay facial features and therefore is as much a Malay as he can get.