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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ScholarBank@NUS 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 Page | i 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. Similarly, I‟d like to thank Dr 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. Page | ii 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 86 Building Challenges of Nation State and Nation Building 86 Responses of Malay Community and Its Leaders 99 Chapter Five – Malay Identity and Challenges of National 137 Integration The Construction of National Identity 138 Challenges of National Integration in the Formulation of Singapore Malay 144 Identity 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 Page | iii 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 examine the impact of Singapore‟s position in the presence of 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 Page | iv 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 assimilated into the society‟s consciousness. As the leading sociologist, Karl Mannheim explained: “It is not men in general who think, or even isolated individuals who do the thinking, but men 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 maintain it in a given condition.” 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. Page | v 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. Page | vi 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 does a group‟s identity comprise of and what are the conditions that shape and condition a group‟s identity? Is identity based on primordial or core values inherent within a group that is fixed and determinable and also distinguishable from others, or Page | 1 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 how it is understood by the community‟s elite. It is important to recognize that a 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, “It has long been 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 Joel S.

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