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SINGAPORE MALAY IDENTITY: A STUDY OF DOMINANT

PERCEPTIONS OF ISLAM IN POST-INDEPENDENCE SINGAPORE

NORASLINDA MUHAMAD ZUBER

(BA (Hons), NUS, MA, NUS)

A THESIS SUBMITTED

FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

DEPARTMENT OF MALAY STUDIES

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

2010 brought to you by COREView metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.ukprovided by ScholarBank@NUS

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to record my thanks and gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Noor Aisha, for her guidance throughout this postgraduate study journey. I have benefitted from her many insightful and discerning reflections. Shaharuddin Maaruf, who had guided me in the early stages of my studies and who had believed in my ability. A huge thanks to my parents for their prayers and encouragement throughout the years of my studies. Without their support, this journey would have been impossible. Lastly to my colleagues and superiors, I also wish to thank them for their understanding and cooperation especially considering that this journey is a heavy commitment of which I have had to balance both work and studies.

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CONTENTS

Page

Acknowledgements i

Table of Contents ii

Summary iii

Chapter One Introductory Remarks 1

Chapter Two Attributes of Singapore Malay Identity 25

Overview of the Singapore Malay Community 25

The Meaning of Being Malay in Singapore 33

Chapter Three Islam and Singapore Malay Identity 48

Islam and the Malays 48

Singapore Malay Muslim Identity 57

Chapter Four Singapore Malay Identity Amidst Nation State

Building

86

Challenges of Nation State and Nation Building 86

Responses of Malay Community and Its Leaders 99

Chapter Five Malay Identity and Challenges of National

Integration

137

The Construction of National Identity 138

Challenges of National Integration in the Formulation of Singapore Malay

Identity 144

Chapter Six Islam and Muslim Identity Post September 11th 177

September 11th Attack 178

Impact of Global Terror on Singapore 184

Responses of the Singapore Malay Community 197

Chapter Seven Concluding Remarks 218

Selected Bibliography 228

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SUMMARY

This thesis is a study of the Singapore Malay community. It examines issues of identity pertaining to the Singapore Malay community with a focus on self perception as a group and how they are in turn viewed and understood by the rest of the Singaporean communities particularly that of the ruling elites. An exploration of this sense of understanding of being Malay and also recognised as Malay is important given the context in which the Singapore Malay community is residing in, namely as a minority group in a country that is largely predominantly Chinese but yet having the tenets of multi-ethnicity, multi racialism and multi-religiosity as the fundamentals of the structure and governance of the Singapore society. With this reality, it is significant to examine how the Singapore Malays identify themselves as a community and how they navigate their identity as Malay in the context of this pluralism. The experiences of Singapore after its independence in 1965 without doubt, will have borne a tremendous influence in the life of its populace, and will thus have to be considered when we examine the development of identification and also the process of identity formulation among the Singapore Malays. While the impact of local context in the process of identity formation of the Singapore Malays is pertinent, geo- politics of the region is no less significant. It is therefore also critical that we other Malays in neighbouring countries who are a majority. The fact that Singapore is surrounded by a largely Malay populated neighbouring countries, the closest of which is Malaysia, has implications on the way the Malays in Singapore are perceived and understood by the non-Malays, and also how they are managed within a non-Malay landscape like

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Singapore. This element of a regional Malay majority also influences how the Singapore Malays identify themselves and how the non-Malays view their Malay counterparts in their home country. In exploring issues of identity and identity formation of the Singapore Malays, this particular element will have to be factored in. This study primarily explores the expression and understanding of Malay identity as viewed by the elite, namely the Malay elite. For the non-Malay elite, the focus will be on the ruling or national leadership in Singapore. A study of the perception and understanding of the elite is pertinent because of the influence they exercise in various social domains, be it political, religious, academic, and even in the professional fields. As elite, they also have the capacity to influence the type of values and value system in the community and how they are concretised and embraced by society. They also have the capacity to determine what is rejected or

As the leading sociologist, Karl

Mannheim explained:

in certain groups who have developed a particular style of thought in an endless series of responses to certain typical situations characterising their common position...these persons bound together into groups, strive in accordance with the character and position of the groups to which they belong to change the surrounding world of nature and society or attempt to 1 Hence, it is only apt that an understanding of the viewpoints and expression of identity among the elite be examined. In so doing, we shall also be looking at how their understanding of Malay identity and what it means to be Malay in Singapore, has impacted how they shape and determine problems within the Malay community, and their responses and solutions to problems that directly involve issues of identity.

1 Karl Mannhiem, Ideology and Utopia: An Introduction to the Sociology of Knowledge, p.3.

Routledge and Kegan Paul, London 1936.

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A study of perception and understanding of Malay identity involves examining the basic ingredients of that identity. These are language, culture and religion. As religion is a major element integral to Malay culture and tradition, the understanding and perception of how Islam is woven into Malay identity and its impact will form the central theme of this thesis. While this study also identifies and discusses the impact of other socio-historical factors that shape the experiences and realities of Singapore Malays, how these affect perception and understanding of the core identifier of Malay identity namely Islam, and how religion is appropriated to confront the challenges, will also be discussed.

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

This thesis attempts to examine dominant perceptions of the contemporary elite within the Malay Muslim community of Singapore on the question of Malay cultural identity. In this dissertation, the term elite is used to refer to not only the dominant Malay political leaders, but also those who enjoy position of leadership within their own fields. They include journalists, academics, religious scholars and teachers. Although the latter are not part of the ruling political elite, their values and ideas are influential with the Malays, and may be given recognition by the political elite. What the elite as a whole deem to be integral elements of the identity of Singapore Malays constitute the major thrust of the study. In this respect, the Islamic component of that identity forms the particular focus of attention. How Islam is conceived, articulated and appropriated by these significant social groups in response to the major problems and challenges confronting the community since independence, is one of the major themes that will be explored. This thesis will also identify and analyze specific socio- historical factors that have strongly conditioned the identity formation of Singapore Malays. These include significant historical experiences, ideology and demands of economic development that have impacted upon the identity of the Malays from the feudal period through colonialism and to the present. When we speak of cultural identity, we are essentially referring to the sense of being or that which constitutes the individual or group sense of self. But what exactly within a group that is fixed and determinable and also distinguishable from others, or

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is it conditioned by specific socio-historical and political circumstances? Is there a dialectic at play in which the primordial or core values of a group which constitute its identity change in response to circumstances affecting the groups, hence identity is constructed and reconstructed to suit the circumstances? Is it even possible to speak of the identity of a community or group when the community itself is neither a homogenous nor harmonious whole?2 This thesis seeks less to define what comprise Malay cultural identity but more community is never homogenous but comprises different competing and conflicting social groups, each with its own beliefs, attitudes, ideas orientations, class affiliation and many other distinguishing markers. As Alatas asserts, recognized by social scientists that we should not view society as an overall equilibrium, an overall harmonious integration. In every society, there are elements of conflict and strain. There is the process of differentiation in the values system of society. The dominant and subjugated classes do not entirely share a common value system.3 Chandra Muzaffar also argued that any society including Malay society, would at any given time generate and manifest different ideas, beliefs and attitudes hence there will always be differing values in the society.4

2 Construction of Malay Identity,in Modernity and Identity: Asian

Illustrations, edited by Alberto Gomes. La Trobe University Press, 1994. See also writings of

anthropologists like Stephen Cornell and Douglas Hartman, Ethnicity and Race: Making Identities in a Changing World. Thousand Oaks, Pine ForgePress, 1988. They are among a group of anthropologist that had written on the dialectics of identity.

3 Syed Husein Alatas, Modernization and Social Change: Studies in Modernisation, Religion, Social

Change and Development in Southeast Asia p.102. Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1972.

4 Chandra Muzzafar quoted Wertheim as saying: That no human society is a completely integrated

entity. In any community, there are hidden overt forms of protest against the prevalent hierarchical

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The focus on the elite definition and understanding of Malay identity is based on the sociological insight of various scholars who uphold the view that generally it is the elite or power holders within the political and other allied spheres of activity who determine or condition the thought of the people and are able to exert influence over the community largely due to its position at the apex.5 They are the social group that yields control and influence over the masses. Their influence is further facilitated by the masses willingness to acknowledge and recognize the power of the elite including its ideas and beliefs.6 The idea of the elite playing a vital role in determining or conditioning ideas has been heavily analysed by the renowned sociologist, Karl Mannheim. In his Sociology of Culture,7 Mannheim analysed the relationship between ideas of the dominant group

structure. In general a more or less dominant set of common values can be discerned else the society

would not have sufficient cohesive power to subsist. But beneath the dominant theme, there always

exist different set of values which are, to a certain degree, adhered to among certain social groups and

which function as a kind of Chandra Muzaffar, Some Dominant Concepts and Dissenting Ideas on Malay Rule and Malay Society from the Malacca to the Colonial and Merdeka Periods. PhD thesis, University of Singapore, 1977.

5 Ibid. According to Chandra Muzaffar, dominant concepts resides with the ruling class primarily

tion which is at the root of the ruling class strengths. He quoted Marx as saying:

material force of society is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class which has the means

of material production at its disposal has control at the same time over the means of mental production

so that thereby, general speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it. The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material

relationships grasped as ideas . . . in so far as they rule as a class and determine the extent of an epoch

6 Ibid. This view, according to Chandra Muzaffar, was aptly noted by the renowned fourteenth

the ruler dominates those under him. His subjects

imitate him because they see perfection in him, exactly as children imitate their parents, or students

7 Although Karl Mannheim, a leading sociologist of early 20th century, was more known for his

contribution in the study of sociology of knowledge, his study on the sociology of culture is just as

important, and cannot be ignored. Karl Mannheim, Essays on Sociology Of Culture. Routledge and

Paul, London, 1956.

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and how they shape and determine the culture of society. Arising from the position of power, the dominant group wields dominance over concepts, ideas, consciousness and understanding of the community. In this way, the dominant group plays an important role in shaping and formulating the sense of identity of a community. Although underlying tensions may occur within the community due to the presence of other social groups, for example when these groups disagree with the public or identity that is attested to by the different social groups,8 the views and perceptions of the elite have an impact on the way the people identify themselves as a community. This does not mean that dominant ideas of the group on identity are uncontested by other social groups within the community. Challenges and conflicts between the dominant group entity exist and this could create tension and potentially cause a rift within the community. However, the dynamics of group thought and their interaction will not be the major focus of this thesis. It is pertinent to note that while the elite uphold certain fundamental elements of Malay identity in common, the elite perceptions of what these mean are neither homogenous nor static. They evolve in relation to socio-political factors that continually impact upon the community. It is also pertinent to point out that the idea that the elite have regarding its identity cannot be equated with Malay identity as such. At best, they reflect the thought of the specific group within the community

8 For example, the idea of the Malay new rich has been put through contestation - there is the academic

version of what it means to be a new rich versus the popular understanding accepted by the masses. Sh Michel Pinches, Culture and Privilege in Capitalist Asia. Routledge, London, 1999.

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which may or may not mirror its identity. identity and how it is relevant to the community has long engaged the attention of the Singapore Malay elite not in abstract, but in response to the problems and challenges confronting the community. Indeed questions bearing on the identity of the Malays predated independence but persisted in the context of changing socio-political conditions that impacted upon the community after separation from Malaysia in 1965. In the new socio-political context of a newly independent nation state, the articulation of what it means to be a Singapore Malay is exacerbated by the problems and challenges induced by social change, the result of extensive development and industrialisation that Singapore has embarked upon since its independence. Geopolitics within the region has also played a role in the with Malays in the region have been perceived. This has impacted u political consciousness and identity as Singaporeans.9 While there are numerous studies that indirectly bear on the issue of Malay identity, few delve into the question directly. Much of the numerous literature on

Singapore Malays in the

socio-economic challenges and problems, although they indirectly bear upon aspects relating to Malay identity. Examples of these works include the study by Lily Zubaidah, which analyses the problems of under-development of the Singapore

9 Often the comparisons are in terms of educational achievements, economic success and political

freedom. For example, see article Our Malays are Happier than Yours. Economist, Vol 358, Issue

8207, Mar 2003.

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Malays in the socio-educational domain.10 This work examines to some extent perceptions of Malay identity and values, and their implications on the socio- economic problems of the Malays. e state of the Singapore Malay community post-1965 reflected upon presumptions that ascribed the problem of the relatively poorer socio-economic status of the Malays to its identity and values embraced by the community.11 Little systematic research has been done that can shed light on the analysis of problems of identity and identity formation as perceived and experienced by Singapore Malays themselves, in particular that which involve perceptions of various elite within the community - elite whose views have an impact on the way the Malays see themselves. Studies specific to Singapore Malay identity are largely contained in academic exercises by students at the undergraduate and graduate level. Thesequotesdbs_dbs20.pdfusesText_26

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