Bebel Without a Clause

Bebel Without a Clause

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Musim Banjir buek den tokonang Mee Banjir ORI Masjid Tanah



"Mee banjir original Masjid Tanah cerita pengajaran yang baik. 
Bermula oleh seorang wanita kematian suami yang dalam keadaan susah. 
Kerana ingin mencari wang untuk memperbaikikan kesempitan wang untuk hantar anak ke sekolah, wanita ini telah berniaga dan perniagaan yang laris sehingga beliau dapat menunaikan haji. Dalam tahun 70'an ia bermula. 
Resepinya sebenarnya rahsia melainkan pada mereka yang rapat kepadanya. 
Arwah Ibu saudara saya,  yang juga kematian suami dalam keadaan yang sama telah berjaya untuk mendapatkan resepi ajaib ini setelah merayu kerana ingin memperbaiki perniagaan kantinnya."

Ini adalah antara komen yang pernah saya berikan.

Ibu ini bernama Maznah dan beliau menjadi balu beberapa orang anak dan pandai mengandam.

Beliau sebelum itu memenangi tender kantin sekolah menengah di Masjid Tanah dan berjaya dalam hidupnya sehingga membuka sebuah gerai didepan masjid dekat pos ofis Masjid Tanah.

Dan saya bersekempatan untuk menjamahnya sekalai lagi di depan KFC Masjid Tanah. Saya percaya ini bukan yang asal.

Menurut pengusaha kedai itu, ada dua gerai mee banjir.

Walaupun tidak dapat merasa yang asli, rasanya masih sedap.

Mungkin, lain kali akan saya singgah dan cari mee banjir Ori Masjid Tanah, satu-satunya resepi yang berasal dari Masjid Tanah selain dari Assam Pedas Melaka Ramuan Asli Masjid Tanah.

Menurut seorang rakan, anaknya pernah mengusahakan Mee Banjir Ori di Puduraya sebelum ia berwajah baru.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

THE UNTOLD STORY: Pengikut Amanat Al-Hadi disahkan sesat dan terkeluar dari landasan Islam ?

Saya kebetulan berada dalam sebuah kereta bersama dengan Hassan Ali. 
Saya duduk dibelakang bersama dengan lapan (terlupa nak kira) orang yang lain.

Maklumat yang baru saya terima menyatakan sudah ada fatwa yang menyatakan Pengajaran Amanat Al-Hadi adalah sesat dan terkeluar dari Islam dan pengikutnya diwajibkan bertaubat dan kembali kepangkal jalan (kosong-kosonglah kot).

Soalan yang akan menjadi cepumas adalah apakah hukum kalau solat berimam dengan pengikut Amanat Al-Hadi? Berat, berat.

Sumber: gelombang

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Buta Hati: Wahai ahli-ahli PAS, kalau kezaliman begini didepan mata kamu pun tak nampak


Kenapa kalau perjanjian antara dua pihak kenapa mesti dizalim,  orang yang lain, iaitu pihak ketiga, isteri dan juga anak-anak mereka?
Talak 3 pulak itu. Adakah masih ramai ahli DUN yang terperangkap dan rimas untuk bebas dari Agama PAS-DAP.
Ish3x.

Untuk informasi yang lebih lanjut... sila ke CTS

Monday, December 17, 2012

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Scandal STAR against MCA: Move Over Hannah Yeoh, here comes Wanita MCA

Cuba amati wanita MCA yang tidak kurang penampilan mereka seperti di siarkan di blog Helen Ang. Posting beliau memaparkan tindakan Anwar cuba campurtangan dalam pemilihan DAP baru-baru ini. Ketepi Hanna Yeoh, here come Wanita MCA.
Helen Ang menulis bahawa ada komplot theStar untuk menjatuhkan MCA dengan memberi ruang yang lebih kepada DAP.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Dilema perayu undi BN: Menjawab isu yang hanya DS Najib boleh menjawab @NajibRazak

Da lama aku tidak membuat rujukan kepada blog APA, kali ini aku terpaksa link kerana apa yang ditulis ada kebenarannya.

Aku tidak boleh tidak bersetuju dengan apa yang DISARANKAN sahabat aku Minaq Jinggo kepada PMO.Minaq Jinggo yang merupakan Photographer cum Blogger memang tidak asing lagi dalam kancah politik negara dan beliau adalah satu satunya photographer/blogger yang boleh diterima baik oleh semua pihak kerajaan mahupun pembangkang dalam apa jua majlis dan program anjuran kedua belah pihak ini. Sumber: Deepak dan Musa

Ini memandangkan aku benar jadi perayu undi semasa pilihanraya yang lampau. Sentimen yang sama telah diutarakan kenapa orang UMNO sepi kurang menjawab hujah yang dibawah oleh pembangkang laknatullah itu.

Kita sebagai perayu terpaksa menjadi seorang yang pandai berhujah bila cuba menjawab soalan cepumas yang berkitar dengan isu seperti KJ, Budak Tingkat 4 yang kita tidak tahu kebenarannya kerana kita ini adalah ahli kecil2an.

Sekarang ini perayu mesti menjadi lebih bijak dari bijak dan peka dari peka kerana kali ini persoalan2 seperti FLOM, Deepak, perlu dijawab dengan lebih terang.

Adakah pucuk pimpinan biarkan kami dibawa menjawap sesuatu yang nampak dari lahirnya, dan tidak mungkin benar. Namu sikap DS Najib kurang menjawab soalan perlu dijawab oleh Menteri2 yang lain. kalau menteri2 ini tidak dapat menjawab nampaknya kali ramai perayu undi akan cuba mengelentong. Namun, DS Najib perlu jawap dalam PAU yang akan datang bila beliau bertanding untuk menjadi Presiden UMNO seterusnya.

Kali ini ramai yang kata kita bagi 'chance' untuk menangkan BN, namun kita tidak akan senyap keatas kesenyapan DS Najib berkenaan isu yang dibawa oleh DS Anwar Ibrahim itu serta konco-konco dan juga isu-isu yang lain.

 

Lompat Parti: Musim Tukar suka sama suka

Selalunya semasa hujung tahun, maka ramailah dikalangan pegawai kerajaan akan membuat carian pasangan untuk tukar suka sama suka tempat kerja mereka.
Kali ini pula sudah dekat pilihanraya umum maka kita kan kendengaran pula aktiviti Lompat suka sama suka.
Blogger UMNO ke PAS/PKR
Pemuda PAS/PKR pula ke UMNO
Ini semua kerja sewel.
Mungkin eluk adakan papan iklan sahaja.
Tak payah kecuh2.
 

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Meritokrasi Singapura-pura: Sistematik diskriminasi Kaum yang berpura-pura

Dah namanya Singapura-pura.
Meritokrasi yang dilaung2kan oleh PAP hanyalah satu bidai untuk dimanipulasikan oleh masyarakat elit di Singapura.
Tidak hairan sekiranya DAP dan anjing-anjingnya akan menyalak sedemikian rupa.
Sekarangpun, parti ini semua mengamalkan Parti Anak Beranak, dimana keduduakn menteri dan jawatan parti ada lah terdiri dari keluarga sendiri.
Karpal Singh, Deo dan segala Singh dalam itupun ada berkait rapat. Sekurang2nya ini bukan Singh-purapura. Lim sekeluarga , Ngeh-Nga bersaudara.
kalau dari awal sudah berkroni apa pula selepas memerintah. Ingat tak kisah Betty Chiew bini Guan Eng yang duduk dalam dewan walaupun beliau tidak layak untuk menduduki kerusi didalam dewan.
PAS pula dengan Nik Abduh dan menantunya. Fikir2kan lah.
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While meritocracy as a fundamental value of society is a given, the way it is set up in Singapore deserves examination (“‘If not meritocracy, then what?’”; Monday).
Meritocracy’s underbelly reveals an elite group that has been bred in Singapore, where teenagers, at the age of 18, are given prestigious scholarships on account of their academic performance and extra-curricular experience.

Such a system has repercussions on the spirit of learning and personal growth for the next generation.

It is not uncommon for brighter students to attempt to shape their entire education towards obtaining that prestigious scholarship.

Netting such a scholarship will eventually place them in important positions in the public sector, where they are given more opportunities to shine and where their “career end points” are immediately deemed further and higher than those who enter government service without scholarships.

This elite scholarship system creates a socio-educational climate where the young are not given enough time to reflect on what interests them most in life.

It also disadvantages, if ever so implicitly and subconsciously, non-scholarship holders who serve with passion and intelligence.

A meritocracy that, on the one hand, aims to promote people on account of their performance will be perverted if, on the other hand, it is predisposed to advance people largely because they were scholarship holders.

This is because there is no necessary connection between performing at work and being awarded a scholarship.

Indeed, anointing 18-year-olds as having the right aptitude and attitude for particular kinds of work, even before they have gone through life as such or the baptism of tertiary education, is not true meritocracy. It is manufactured meritocracy.

.

Harvey Neo
Posted at Temasek Review

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Dimana perginya DAP dan Pakatan Pembangkang bila Melayu di hina?

Ini artikel diambil dari blog takemon.
Cuba baca yang terakhir.
Bila orang Cina menghina Melayu, tiada seorangpun dalam DAP atau Pembangkang bersuara kerana takut akan di templak oleh Lim Anak Beranak. Mana pergi Nurul Izzah anak Anwar. OOps sori mereka ini dah jadi Mutant Muslim.


This is Amy Cheong. The article appearing below the line is extracted in its entirety from Yahoo Australia. The article itself is credited to its writer Rhianna King of the West Australian published on 11 October 2012. Not the comments I have added. They are the comments of this blog and this blog alone.
That thin veneer of respectability the Chinese led opposition in Malaysia have hidden behind for so long is beginning to peel. And revealing whats hidden beneath it is a contemptible bunch of racists. Chine racists. Anti Malay, anti Muslim and anti human to the core. It appears that the more things change, the more they remain the same as far as this Kuomintang indoctrinated pool of political swill is concerned.
But whatever you do don’t mention the word Chinese when referring to racists in context and when the Chinese like this woman are caught out with their pants down. Pointing out other people’s faults is a Malaysian Singaporean Chinese monopoly. Especially so if that exercise of nit picking by them is directed at the Malays and Muslims.
Amy’s tirade against the Malays is nothing more than an extension of that Singapore driven and orchestrated Chinese campaign to topple the Malay led government of Malaysia. Lets see how the opposition and Chinese groups in Malaysia now react to exposure of this racist rant by a Singapore government official born in Malaysia.
Will they now demand Amy and the Chinese behind her be referred to as Malaysian instead of Chinese and want their views to be dealt with as such? or will the Chinese “persecuted minority” complex rear its ugly head as their defence.
Sumber: Takemon
__________________________________________
Amy Cheong, fled Singapore after an outcry over a Facebook post about Malay weddings.
A Perth woman at the centre of a racism storm in Singapore has fled to WA after she was sacked over a Facebook post that sparked a public outcry. University of WA graduate Amy Cheong, 37, caused outrage across the South-East Asian republic on Sunday by posting a comment about Malay weddings, which are often held in public spaces beneath housing blocks in Singapore.
Apparently frustrated by the noise from a wedding, she wrote: “How many f…ing (sic) days do Malay weddings at void decks go for? Pay for a real wedding you a……, maybe then the divorce rate won’t be so high. How can society allow people to get married for 50 bucks?”
The post went viral within hours, leading to Facebook groups calling for Ms Cheong to be sacked, YouTube videos accusing her of racism against the Malay community and a barrage of malicious online posts. Ms Cheong, a Malaysian-born Australian citizen, was sacked on Monday from her job as assistant director of Singapore’s National Trade Union Congress for Membership Partnership and Alliance.
She issued a long apology, but Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said it had come too late and the damage was done. He condemned the comments as unacceptable and offensive to Malay Muslims.”It sharply reminds us how easily a few thoughtless words can undermine our racial and religious harmony,” he said.
Ms Cheong told state media on Tuesday she was leaving for Perth because of threats to her and her family and to “ease the tension”. In her apology, Ms Cheong wrote: “I am terribly sorry to all who were affected emotionally, mentally and in all other aspects. I am aware of the pain I’ve caused through my insensitive remarks on social media.
“There was no racism intended in my post. I was trying to rest and the noise was affecting me greatly, however, I do understand this is not a valid reason to post what I did.”
Her boss, Lim Swee Say, said firing Ms Cheong was a difficult decision and urged Singaporeans to “spare a thought for Amy and the pain she is going through”. He said the NTUC “would not accept … any words or actions taken by staff that are racially offensive”.
It is understood she had been working for the union for a year, but had been living in Singapore for 10 years after moving from Perth, where she grew up. Singaporean local Ryan Soh, a sales consultant, said the comments had come at a sensitive time in Singapore.
“The Government is trying hard to create a picture of racial harmony because we have a lot of races here, Chinese, Indians and Malays,” he said. “It is a balancing act and when these comments came, they touched a lot of raw nerves.”
__________________________________________________________
Strangely enough the Nut Graph, Malaysia Kini, Ambiga Sreenivasan and other vitriolic critics of government in Malaysia (a government they often refer to as racist) have been deafeningly silent over this matter. We have constantly referred to the oppositions plans for Malaysia as being a regurgitation of the Singapore model the Chinese of Malaysia would like to remould Malaysia into under their rule. Wishful thinking on their part?
And to those Malay opportunists lacking any self respect who write anti Malay and anti Muslim articles and yell slogans like Miriam Mokhtar does espousing the ‘virtues’ of the Singapore government and its majority Chinese people, take a read of this article and hang your collective heads in shame.
To the Malays and other non Chinese apologists of the anti Malay mould, this is in truth what the Chinese think of you. If there is genuine concerns over the misconduct of government, its policies and its governance of the country, then everyone ought to all be involved in the process and participation of change. Not simply those who are on the purse strings of foreign groups who operate as a policy free zone agitating for the marginalization of a majority in preference of a vocal and racist self serving minority with deep pockets

Monday, December 3, 2012

Apa yang salah hujah "Tiada Paksaan Dalam Ugama" oleh Mutan Muslim Nurul Izzah?

Cuba bayangkan senario Muslim di Malaysia kalau diguna pakai hujah Nurul Izzah yang menggunakan ayat Quran untuk menolak al-Quran.
"No compulsion in religion":
Apa akan jadi sekiranya seorang Melayu yang ditangkap bersekedudukan dengan wanita lain yan bukan isterinya berkata, "Islam aku Islam Versi 4.0, boleh minum arak dan bersekedudukan dengan Wanita bukan muhrim. Tiada paksaan dalam ugama termasuk Ugama Islam. Hubungi Nurul Izzah kalau tak percaya."
Tidak kah harubiru masyarakat Islam nanti.
Orang yang mahu murtad ada tatacara dalam Islam tetapi tidak perlu di sebutkan disini. Jalan senang, sesiapa yang nak murtad, masuklah PAS atau PKR.
Ada peguam bela yang sanggup untuk menyenangkan laluan dengan kadar percuma kot?

Dan kalau dipandang dari segi perlaksanaan hudud pula. Bila seseorang Melayu ditangkap mencuri, apa akan jadi bila pencuri itu mengaku ia telah murtad?

Sudah tentu perkara ini boleh terjadi kerana Kerajaan Pembangkan akan merelakan murtad.
Apa akan jadi sekiranya seseorang melayu yang mengishtiharkan dirinya murtad apabila di tangkap mencuri dengan seorang bukan Islam yang akan terlepas dari hukum hudud ala PAS yang ramai menganggapkan terlalu biol?

Umat Islam telah beratus tahun mengamal prinsip Melayu itu Islam, mengapa sekarang kita mahu tunduk atas desakan puak-puak Kristian Evangelis Cina DAP.

Rakyat Malacca/Malaya/Malaysia sudah sebati dengan konsep Melayu sebagai tuan tanah dan yang lain terima untuk bermaustatin dalam acuan yang kerajaannya Melayu dan Ugamanya Islam, dan tuhan kita adalah satu, dan tiada lain melainkan ALLAH.

Suzuki Cup: Pondan Siam kini sedang bertungkus lumus buang Saka Harimau Malaya?


Lihat bagaimana susahnya hendak keluar saka rimau.
Ramalan Malaysia 2 -1 Thailand
Go MALAYSIA

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Apa salahnya Parti Kristiankan Rakyat? Plural atau singular?

Kajian-kajian telah dibuat dan hamba Allah ini telah mengupas satu persatu tentang pluralisma yang sampai sekarang Anwar tidak pernah menafikan prinsip ini sudah sebati dengannya.
Plural atau singular? Satu perkataan yang tidak boleh main-main bila kita menyebut nama Allah kerana sebutan itu ada makna kognitif dalam sanubari.

Sesiapa yang ada di PWTC beli-beli lah buku tuan hamba ini....

Perkataan Allah tidak boleh sewenang2 digunakan di Semenanjung Malaya sejak 500 tahun yang lalu. Di Sarawak dan Sabah, itu lain cerita. Kita orang Malaya tidak masuk campur.

Tapi kalau setakat nak cuba mengelirukan orang Melayu, kita mesti menentang!
Kita mesti tentang Parti Kristian Cina yang juga cuba untuk melagakan orang2 Melayu dengan Bumiputera Kristian di Sabah dan Sarawak.
 

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Cerita Semerah Padi berulang lagi. Aduka Taruna dan kawan kawan Rnya yang tidak faham bahasa

Tergelak aku membaca posting APA bagaimana Aduka Taruna dan kawan kawan Rnya kencingkan mantan blogger numero uno BN . Mereka kononnya nak tunjuk pandai pasal isu royalti minyak ini.
Ini lah kalau nak tunjuk hero, tapi hero bodoh buat apa.
Royalti minyak berkisar atas perlembagaan Malaysia bukan pasal negeri Kelantan sahaja.
Dengar kenyataan Anuar Musa. Kita tukarkan dulu perlembagaan Malaysia agar kedudukan royalti minyak seperti kes Kelantan dapat dilayakkan.

Janganlah duduk usha sana sini kononnya ingin memperjuangkan rakyat Kelantan tetapi sebenarnya memperjuangkan pembohongan besar yang boleh mengharamkan duit royalti itu. Kelantan tidak ada hak selagi ia terletak lebih dari 3nm dan didalam perairan EEZ Malaysia, bukan Kelantan.

Ini kes Kelantan tuntut hang orang lain. Haram namanya.

Ikuti Aduka membohongi APA.
Ini macam cerita Semerah Padi. Mungkir janji. Namapun Aduka juga. Aduka Aduka. Bahaya kalau dia duduk dekat bini orang.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Jersi warna biru punca Rimau di baham Singa pura-pura

Teman dah lama dah kata.
Jersi yang dipakai oleh pemain kita tidak ada aum...
 
Sekali tenguk tidak macam mengancam kepada pihak lawan.
 
Teman suke jersi biru merah.
 
Yang jersi kuning tu tidak mengancam. Kuningnya hanya ala kadar. Kadang2 itu macam kuning tahi.
 
Kuning diraja lain kod warnanya.
 
Malaysia harus mengambil iktibar dari Pasukan Brazil yang menukar kuningnya kepada kuning yang lebih bersemangat dan mengancam  lawan.


 

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Gabungkan Gaza dengan Sinai, Mesir: Usaha sedang dijalankan oleh Obama.

Ramai yang kini sudah lupa tentang sejarah konflik Palestin dan Israel. Dan ada pula kita dengar pengikut tegah dari Pakatan Rakyat, terutama dari DAP dan PKR. PAS kini tidak nampak kezaliman Israel dan hanya nampak bagaimana mahu berkerjasama dengan Syaitan ini untuk membunuh UMNO.
Kalau pun PAS berdoa, hanya untuk menghancurkan Umat Muhamad dan bukan untuk kesejahteraan penduduk Palestin yang di 'bully' bagai nak rak dengan senjata yang dilapurkan dibina dengan dana dari Singapura. (Lihat posting saya dari Temasek Review, akan saya cari link ini mengenai DOME).
Saya terbaca penulisan dari orang MONCINO ini (Ramuan China, Melaka) dan ingin saya kongsi bersama.
Sifat kalangan ramai ahli PKR sekarang ini adalah mereka ini senang berpendapat menyalahkan Palestin dan tidak Israel. Yang sebenarnya mereka ini hanya ingin untuk medapat sokongan dengan cara rhetorik namun kalau diteliti pendapat pemimpin mereka seperti Anwar amatlah tidak konsisten. Mereka mempunyai cyber trooper sekarang ini untuk cuba menukarkan pemikiran rakyat Malaysia agar berlembut dengan Yahudi Israel yang ada menyiapkan dana untuk Pakatan Rakyat dalam PRU13.
Ini yang sedang bermain didalam otak pluralisma Nurul dan Bapanya (anak kamu yang jantan itu mana, dengar dah nak masuk UMNO).
Kini dengar ulasan OBAMA untuk berperang di Sinai, Mesir untuk menyelesaikan masaalah Palestin.
Yang kita musykil kenapa Semenanjung Sinai, yang dulu pernah dirampas oleh Mesir dari Israel akan dijadikan medan perang.
Dan Mesir diwar2kan akan mengubal perlembagaan.
Tidak hairan kalau Gaza mungkin dirampas dan digabungkan denga Sinai.
Ini sudah tentu melanggar setiakawan antara arab dan negara2 Islam.
Kita tunggu dan lihat sehari dua.

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"WHO STARTED IT" is not the point, genocide is. I don't blame few readers who condemned the Palestinians for firing rockets into the Israeli territory, giving Tel Aviv a valid reason to level Gaza Strip. They (the readers) don't know history.

So, let me tell them - Malaysians and others - something they should know.

Since 2007, Israel has laid siege to Gaza, controlling its air space, its coast line, its long border with Israel, and via compliant governments in Egypt its tiny border with that country. The fact that these Israeli attacks preceded the firing of primitive rockets from the Gaza Ghetto is both undeniable and irrelevant

Click Here for more ramuan chino.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Orang putih Baru tahu Singapura itu macam Israel?


http://www.tremeritus.com/2012/11/21/young-sporeans-strike-back-at-jim-sleeper/

Last week, Yale political science professor Jim Sleeper wrote a column titled Blame the Latest Israel-Arab War on… Singapore?”, which linked Singapore to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

It alluded to the links between both countries as well as the similar geopolitical situation both countries were in, and then went on to attack the Yale liberal arts college in Singapore.

The piece, however, did not answer nor explicitly state, why he thought Singapore was responsible for the conflict but it was enough to spur several young Singaporeans to write sharp ripostes to the academic.

One that went viral was by a blogger named Nur Fikri, a political science student in the London School of Economics. She has kindly allowed us to quote from her blog.

In the piece, which has since attracted more than 2,000 likes, she says that it was a bold claim by Dr Sleeper to say that Singapore is “behind this particular revivial of an age-old conflict.

“Not yours which has been involved in more military conflicts that we can reasonably know about, much less count, but my tiny nation, which many people aren’t even sure how to locate on a map, much less link to Middle Eastern turmoil. I’m almost grateful for this new angle on an otherwise stagnant issue.”

Acknowledging that there are several similarities between both countries, she points out the professor had conveniently left out the differences between the two countries.

“Let me give you a few more: we have not been engaged in military hostilities for most of our sovereign existence. We do not believe we have a god-given right to our land that we have to literally fight to protect. Our “less-than-friendly Muslim neighbours” not only acknowledge the legitimacy of our nation, but are among our largest trade partners and freely & willingly participate in the same international organisations we do.”

So, the real reason for writing this piece? Ms Fikri believes that the professor just simply dislikes the country.

“You don’t like us. I get that. That’s okay. I mean, there are lots of things in which my country could stand to do better, and I’d definitely put the state of our democracy and the extent of our militarisation near the top of that list.. But what I don’t get is how you, a Lecturer in Political Science at Yale University, are letting a less-than-perfectly-logical bias against one country cloud how you cut through the complexity of other issues…

“You just tried linking Yale-NUS to a 70+-year-old conflict in a completely different part of the world, Jim. Take a step back and get some perspective.”

She ends off her post with a “plea” to Dr Sleeper and “others of your ilk”:

“Stop writing about us like bizarre science fiction. For all our illiberalism & paradoxes & illogicality, we exist…

Our existence does not undermine your democracy or your education system or peace in the Middle East — for the simple reason that we do not exist for you. We do not exist for your country, or for your university, or for your ideals of democracy. In fact, we do not exist for “democracy” at all; we exist for real actual people, we exist for ourselves;and that means that our struggles (for democracy/freedom or otherwise) are ours and ours alone.”

She later wrote a post-script to her original blog and explained the rationale for posting such a strong rebuttal to Dr Sleeper.

“Most of all, independent of this particular article/issue/whatever, I wrote that first blogpost — and it is a personal blogpost, not an article! — because I am very, very tired of condescending neocolonialist sentiment masquerading as progressive, liberal discourse. I am tired of being described as living in a “dictatorship,” I am tired of being talked about like an anomaly to be dealt with. I am tired of HuffPo contributors deciding for me what my problems are.”

Her post brought on huge cheers from the Singaporean audience, who praised her for her sharp wit in dismantling Dr Sleeper’s piece. She was also joined by other young Singaporeans who also took aim at Dr Sleeper’s commentary.

One is National University of Singapore student Koh Choon Hwee who also wrote a stinging critique of Dr Sleeper’s piece. And she kindly allowed Singapolitics to repost it on our site. You can find it on the next page.

Mr. Sleeper, a lecturer of Political Science at Yale University, recently published an article titled, “Blame the latest Israel-Arab War on… Singapore?”, on the Huffington Post.

This sensational title certainly garnered some attention in Singapore/ amongst Singaporeans – judging by the comments on his article, as well as the few friends who emailed it to me and posted it on their Facebook walls. It also refocused some attention on the long passé subject of Yale-NUS College and the controversy surrounding it; and this Yale venture is, ultimately, Mr. Sleeper’s main target.

I do empathize with Mr. Sleeper and his efforts at reviving public awareness on this controversial venture. While an undergraduate at the National University of Singapore (NUS), I too had objected to the Singaporean government spending millions of dollars on importing the “Yale” brand and ‘expertise’ to establish a liberal arts college, and had expressed these objections in articles (here and here) at the Kent Ridge Common, an independent online student newspaper.

Indeed, as an alumna of NUS, I am well aware of the resources and home-grown talents we have who are equally capable of creating an intellectually-challenging academic program for Singapore’s next generation. So why waste taxpayers’ money to buy this ‘brand’ name – why not create a local, home-grown brand that Singaporeans can be truly proud of?

Nevertheless, this recent article by Mr. Sleeper brings his cause to a new low, and as somebody who supports the continuation of critical debate on Yale-NUS College, I object to the offensive associations Mr. Sleeper has cast on this subject.

Mr. Sleeper links the recent Israeli attacks on the Gaza strip to discrimination in Singapore against ethnic minorities. It is offensive not only for all those of us who call Singapore home, but also, more pertinently, to all the Palestinians who are suffering and dying under Israel’s fire at this very moment. This travesty of an analogy trivializes their plight to an almost ludicrous extent, and Mr. Sleeper has, like many before him, shamelessly exploited the Palestinian cause for his own ends.

Students of the region are well-aware that Israel’s attacks on Gaza this time – as in all previous times – are only possible because of military, financial and political support from the US. Added to this is the subservience of the American media to the Israeli cause, which keeps the American public from protesting Israeli aggression to her neighbours. If ever there were an appropriate title for Mr. Sleeper’s article, it would be “Blame the latest Arab-Israeli war on… the US.”

It is farcical that Mr. Sleeper has somehow managed to leave out the critical role of the US in his diagnosis of the recent Arab-Israeli war, focusing instead, rather irrelevantly, on a Southeast Asian nation-state, Singapore. Even then, Mr. Sleeper’s article is full of inaccuracies alongside willful misrepresentations and half-truths.

Let us begin with the half-truths.

Singapore’s military was indeed formed, groomed and trained with Israel’s help, as Mr. Sleeper documents. There are similarities in Singapore’s and Israel’s geopolitical positions – both are small majority non-Muslim nation-states in majority Muslim regions. Singapore does indeed have a majority ethnic Chinese population, and there is real discrimination – both official and unofficial – against minority ethnic groups (“races”, in official-speak).

In fact, recently-arrived Chinese nationals (from China), who are referred to locally as “P-R-Cs” (PRC stands for the People’s Republic of China), are arguably subjected to more and harsher discrimination and racism than Singaporean Malays or Indians. Earlier this year, a Chinese national was at the wheel of a red Ferrari that crashed into a taxi and caused the deaths of the Singaporean taxi driver and his passenger. This sparked a national outrage directed primarily at PRCs, with many xenophobic comments made online against Chinese nationals.

Typical examples may be found on the comments thread of this Temasek Times article, which highlights the responses of the Chinese national’s family. A commenter called Desmond wrote,

“is there any way we can ask these china dogs to **** off from our (used to be) lovely island? 10yrs ago, our island was so peaceful, till these dogs crawl onto our shores……..”

This may sound odd to Mr. Sleeper, but the “Han Chinese” majority in Singapore is not the homogeneous, monolithic bloc he imagines it to be. As this New York Times article , “In Singapore, Vitriol against Chinese Newcomers” points out, “Tensions over immigration bedevil many nations, but what makes the clash here particularly striking is that most of Singapore’s population was already ethnic Chinese, many of them the progeny of earlier generations of Chinese immigrants.”

Racism and discrimination are very real in Singapore, especially those directed at newly-arrived Chinese nationals, and I condemn these wholeheartedly.

Mr. Sleeper, in belabouring the parallels between Singapore and the Israeli model of a dominant ethnic group subjugating a native minority, has shown himself to be grossly misinformed about contemporary Singaporean realities. More importantly, the majority ethnic Chinese in Singapore have not ghettoized any minority, systematically deprived them of housing, water, transportation, mobility and then regularly subjected them to air raids and bombing.

In his article, Mr. Sleeper also equated the position of “Han Chinese” in Singapore with the position of the Jewish in Israel/Occupied Palestine, noting, “ In Singapore the Chinese have a status, power, and reputation that will sound familiar to Palestinians and others who regard Israel’s Jews as arrogant interlopers.”

He further underscored the fact that “the politically dominant majority of Singapore’s population consists not of indigenous natives but of “overseas” Han Chinese,” which he deems a “striking analogy” with Israel.

Through these parallels, Mr. Sleeper implies that the “Han Chinese” came to be in Singapore in the same way that the Jewish came to dominate Palestine; yet he neglected to mention anything about Zionism in his article. Indeed, there is no “Han Chinese” equivalent of this dogged ideology aimed at reclaiming a certain piece of real estate for the establishment of a nation, no equivalent to a divinely promised homeland, no analogue of the idea of “right of return” etc.

The Chinese, like the Indians, arrived in Singapore in different waves, but most significantly during the colonial era in the 19th century. At the time, European colonial powers in the region asserted control over colonial states by engaging collaborators, and minorities in the region proved to be more willing to collaborate. These European colonial powers then played off different ethnic groups against each other and deepened the fault lines between them to keep the native population divided. This accounts partly for the continued, contested use of racial categories as a form of social organization in Singapore, despite its myriad problems. For example, there are many Singaporeans who are of mixed heritage, but have opted for one reason or another to be classified under one ‘race’ or other for practical purposes.

The immigration of Jews into Palestine in the same time period was a very different phenomenon. The establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine was also facilitated by a colonial power, but it entailed the expulsion and dispersal of over 750,000 Palestinians from their own homes – there is no comparable analogue in the Singaporean case. The founding of the state of Israel thus created the longest standing refugee situation in the world, with Palestinian refugees today numbering 4.5 million. Moreover, the Zionist project has been continuously fought over since its founding in 1948, engaging in major wars and invasions of neighbouring countries in 1967, 1973, 1982, 2006, 2008, and, with 75,000 reservists called by up PM Netanyahu this week, maybe 2012. For all of Singapore’s military strength, which Mr. Sleeper so assiduously documents, he failed to note that we have not once resorted to military force against our neighbours or citizens since our independence.

Moving on to the blatant inaccuracies, Mr. Sleeper wrote,

“Singaporean university students receive substantial tuition subsidies after military service but must accept what the National University of Singapore calls “a service bond under the terms of the tuition grant to work for a Singapore-registered company for three years upon completion of their degrees so as to discharge some of their obligations to the Singapore public.” In some professions, the mandatory service is to government agencies, for up to six years.”

Firstly, I am unaware of tuition subsidies that specifically target Singaporean students who have served in the military – these subsidies are applicable to the female population as well, and we do not serve in the military.

Secondly, there are a plethora of scholarships available to Singaporeans and to foreigners, each with their own conditions. Contrary to how Mr. Sleeper has depicted these scholarships, they are strictly voluntary (and highly-coveted). Those with a bond period of up to six-years are overseas scholarships, which enable many meritorious Singaporean students to study abroad, with the largest numbers congregating in the US and the UK.

Those with a bond period of up to three years are also voluntary, and are awarded to students from ASEAN countries, China or India who come to Singapore for university – and male students from these countries are not required to serve in the military. Mr. Sleeper failed to check his facts.

By highlighting the similarities and neglecting to mention the differences between Israel and Singapore, and by failing to verify the veracity of his information on Singapore, Mr. Sleeper is irresponsibly misleading the general public, most of whom would have little idea about Singaporean history. Singaporeans themselves, who are mostly unfamiliar with the intricacies of the Arab-Israeli conflict, are also liable to be misled.

Jim Sleeper’s History of Opposing Yale-NUS College and Singapore

For readers encountering Jim Sleeper for the first time, some context is needed to better understand his latest article. Jim Sleeper has long been opposed to Yale-NUS College and the corporatization of Yale University, especially what he perceives as Yale University’s signing over her valuable name to an “authoritarian regime” like Singapore. His attacks on Yale-NUS venture thus very often spill over into a castigation of the whole of Singapore.

Mr. Sleeper had previously tried to deny that his opposition of Yale-NUS College was linked to his views on Singapore. In my article, Do We Need Yale?, Mr Sleeper had left the following comment :

“For some of us who teach at Yale, the Yale-NUS controversy has never been primarily about the sins of Singapore, real or imagined.”

A short glance at recent articles from him – While You’ve Been Following the Campaigns, Singapore Has Been Romneyizing Yale (Romneyizing here used pejoratively) and As Yale’s Blunder Deepens, Singapore Bares Its Teeth – shows otherwise. It has been Mr. Sleeper’s habit to routinely assassinate Singapore’s character, as he is seemingly unable to critique Yale-NUS College without slandering a whole nation.

He is apparently unable to conceive of political systems, other than democracy of the American-type, in a sophisticated, nuanced manner. Hence, he blithely refers to Singapore using the reductionist label of an “authoritarian regime” , which could describe everything from Putin’s Russia to Communist China to Saudi Arabia, and is unable to imagine the complex reality on the ground in Singapore. It is much easier, after all, to defame a little-known nation-state in the Far East than to actually make the effort to do the necessary research on it, and to use one’s cerebral powers to formulate respectable arguments against this venture – which is unpopular amongst Singaporeans too, myself included. It is a disgrace for Yale University that Jim Sleeper is on its payroll.

Conclusion

Ultimately, Mr. Sleeper’s roundabout attempts to drum up opposition to Yale-NUS College by associating Singapore with Israel and exploiting current public attention on the attacks on Gaza are irresponsible, at best.

Mr. Sleeper, trash Yale-NUS College if you want, but please don’t insult the Palestinians.

In fact, trash Singapore as you always do, but leave the Palestinians out of it.

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Koh Choon Hwee
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* This article first appeared on http://thepoliticaltadpole.com/jim-sleeper-trash-yale-nus-college-if-you-want-but-please-dont-insult-the-palestinians/

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Related:

Blame the latest Isreal-Arab wars on… Singapore

Blame the Latest Israel-Arab War on… Singapore?

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