The Malay pushback to the HLP protest

Former Member of Parliament, Mr Maidin Packer made a comment on Facebook about the sit-in protest organised by civil activist Gilbert Goh, which will take place tomorrow at Hong Lim Green.

Mr Packer asked people to put this matter into perspective and to consider the ramifications of what some segments of our society are doing in the name of being fair and open.

Some netizens have voiced out openly about the unfairness of the electoral process and for denying Tan Cheng Bock of his presidency and have rallied around Gilbert Goh to put-up a strong protest tomorrow. This comes at a strong price of keeping the peace between the various racial groups, some feel.

Another Malay Singaporean said that netizens have also put-up various posts, further exacerbating the issue. Their posts have attracted much vitriol and resentment against the government and some members of the Malay community have asked people to exercise calm in this matter.

To put it into perspective, the Malay community have sacrificed much for the sake of unity and progress of Singapore. There have also been feedback in the past about Malays not given key appointments in the military. A sore point among some Malay youths and their disenfranchisement from the mainstream may lead them to seek alternative paths, which may pose as a threat to Singapore and the region.

Mdm Halimah’s appointment as a Malay president comes after 47 years – even though one may argue about her Malayness, or the lack of it, she has been acknowledged as a Malay by members of the Malay community. We should put this matter behind us and move on, they said.

Now that the Malay leaders have spoken-up, pushing the current line of argument of “unfairness of the system” will only rapture the delicate race balance in Singapore.

SENSITIVE! BUT I AM SAYING IT AS A MATTER OF FACT:

Some people are organising a protest against Reserved Presidential Election tomorrow @Hong Lim Park. They claim it is for fairness & an open system. This year’s EP was RESERVED FOR THE MALAYS.

They can do as they wished. I only wish to ask the organiser/s & supporters:

(i) Did you protest when the Government build SAP schools RESERVED FOR THE CHINESE?

(ii) Did you protest when Malay-Muslims were not recruited to serve the military [NS or full-time]? Thus well-paying jobs in our armed services were RESERVED FOR NON-MALAYS / NON-MUSLIMS.

Why you only protest against an EP RESERVED FOR THE MALAYS? It involves only ONE JOB OPPORTUNITY & ONCE AFTER 47 YEARS!

And you do it for fairness & an open system? Come on! Let’s not lose our ability to give & take in some cases. I thought we are used to it. All for the sake of national unity.

by Maidin Packer

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