Rethinking the “Malay Problem” in Singapore

Image, Rhetoric and Social Realities1

Bibliographic Data

ID7438877
AuthorsKamaludeen Mohamed Nasir (0000-0002-9877-3225, corresponding author), Kamaludeen Bin Mohamed Nasir
Year2007
Volume27
Issue2
Pages309-318
Publication date2007-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInstitute of Muslim Minority Affairs Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0266-6952 • E-ISSN: 1469-9591
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13602000701536224
OpenAlexW2077663366
LanguageEN
Citations received15

The Malays in Singapore may be characterized as a community in transition from the state of “mechanical solidarity” to “organic solidarity”. This paper will analyze the notion of the “Malay Problem” in Singapore through the lenses of the 19th-century French sociologist Emile Durkheim and the intellectual tools that he has developed. It will look at past attempts in trying to make sense of the Malay predicament and delineate the impediments and flaws in the arguments of scholars and politicians. Available literature on the “Malay Problem” tends to be polarized along two main arguments: that of blaming the state and that of blaming the Malays themselves. This paper will argue that in order to comprehend the “Malay Problem” in all its complexities, one has to take a more nuanced point of view, that is, to uncover various shades of social reality and not indulge in essentializing. It will be demonstrated that in actuality, the “Malay Problem” sits somewhere uncomfortably between the two points of view mentioned above. Notes 1. The original version of this paper was presented at the 2006 International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, University of the Aegean, Island of Rhodes, Greece, 18–21 July 2006. 2. Lily Zubaidah Rahim, The Singapore Dilemma: The Political and Educational Marginality of the Malay Community, Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1998. 3. Ibid., p. 58. 4. Mahathir bin Mohamad, The Malay Dilemma, Kuala Lumpur: Federal Publications, 1982. 5. Michael D. Barr, “Lee Kuan Yew: Races, Culture & Genes”, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 29, No. 2, 1999, pp. 145–66. 6. Speech by Mr Goh Chok Tong, Senior Minister, At the Malay Community's Tribute High Tea, Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore, 12 February 2005, available online at: (accessed 30 January 2006). 7. Michael Hill, The Elite-Sponsored Moral Panic: A Singapore Perspective, Singapore: Centre for Advanced Studies, 2002, pp. 21–4. 8. The Straits Times, 10 October 1992. 9. For a more thorough discussion on Islam and the Protestant Ethic Thesis, see Syed Hussein Alatas' chapter on “The Weber Thesis and Southeast Asia”, in his book Modernization and Social Change: Studies in Modernization, Religion, Social Change and Development in Southeast Asia, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1972, pp. 1–20; and Bryan S. Turner, Weber and Islam, London and New York: Routledge, 1998. 10. See Tan Ern Ser, Does Class Matter?: Social Stratification and Orientations in Singapore, Singapore: World Scientific, 2004. 11. In early 2002, four Muslim parents insisted that their seven-year-old children be allowed to be sent to secular schools wearing the tudung. Although the term has been employed interchangeably with that of hijab, it is not the veil that covers most, or for that matter all, of the face. Rather, in Singapore, the tudung is a headscarf that leaves the face uncovered. Upon continued resistance by the four parents, the girls were suspended from school (Straits Times, 28 January and 3 and 12 February, 2002). 12. Emile Durkheim, “The Dualism of Human Nature and Its Social Conditions”, in On Morality and Society, ed., Robert N. Bellah, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973, p. 162. 13. Zygmunt Bauman, Postmodernity and its Discontents, Cambridge: Polity Press, 1997. 14. Jon S.T. Quah, Curbing Corruption in Asia: A Comparative Study of Six Countries, Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, 2003, p. 107. 15. John Andrews, The Economist Pocket Asia, London: Profile Books, 2002, p. 15. 16. Examples of such routines and rituals can include socio-cultural and religious activities like the Maulidur Rasul, berkhitan (circumcision), wedding celebrations, prayer and zikr congregations. 17. Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, London: Verso, 1991. 18. Emile Durkheim, The Division of Labor in Society, trans. by W.D. Halls, New York: Free Press, 1984, p. 23. 19. Wan Hussin Zoohri, The Singapore Malays: The Dilemma of Development, Singapore: Kesatuan Guru-Guru Melayu Singapura, 1990, p. 1. 20. The Sunday Times, 4 April 1993. 21. Census of Population 2000: Demographic Characteristics, Singapore: Department of Statistics, 2001. 22. The Shariah Court in Singapore does have some problems. For more problems of implementation of policies of the Shariah Court in Singapore, read Noor Aisha bte Abdul Rahman, “The Shariah court and the administration of the Muslim law on divorce in Singapore”, unpublished PhD thesis, National University of Singapore, 2000. 23. Raj Vasil, Governing Singapore: Democracy and National Development, Singapore: Allen & Unwin, 2000, p. 188. 24. Kevin Y.L. Tan, “The Legal and Institutional Framework and Issues of Multiculturalism in Singapore”, in Beyond Rituals and Riots: Ethnic Pluralism and Social Cohesion in Singapore, ed. Lai Ah Eng, Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, 2004, p. 104. 25. A copy of the press release issued by PKMS on 31 January 2002 is available online at: (accessed 18 August 2006). 26. Raj Vasil, Governing Singapore, op. cit., p. 103. 27. Charles Tremewan, The Political Economy of Social Control in Singapore, New York: St Martin's Press, 1994. 28. Emile Durkheim, The Division of Labor, op. cit., pp. 38–9. 29. Annual Report 1951—Department of Education, Singapore: Government Printing Office, 1952, p. 79. 30. Hussin Mutalib, “Singapore Muslims: The Quest for Identity in a Modern City-State”, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. 25, No.1, 2005, pp. 53–72. 31. Eugene K.B. Tan, “We the Citizens of Singapore... Multiethnicity, its Evolution and its Aberrations”, in Beyond Rituals and Riots: Ethnic Pluralism and Social Cohesion in Singapore, ed., Lai Ah Eng, Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, 2004, p. 85

Malay · Asian Studies and History · Islamic Finance and Banking Studies · Socioeconomic Development in Asia

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