www.newzzit.com Issue 4, September 16, 2013, Price S$1

­ 2 in 3 Malays and 3 in 5 Indians have faced discrimination at some point while applying for jobs: study finds

­ “Employment discrimination is not uncommon”: Suara Musyawarah

­ What concerns the Indian community in Singapore ­ The Narpani dialogue

­ Edusave for madrasahs: “long­standing issue” but a welcome development nevertheless

Still a long way to go ? What's inside? OVER A CUP OF TEA

The Fourth Estate Singapore has a history of racial 2 in 3 Malays and 3 in 5 1 violence. But as noted in one of Indians have faced Newzzit's earlier stories, it is discrimination at some point commendable that its first­ while applying for jobs: study generation leaders recognised that finds a racially harmonious Singapore, where everyone respects each­

Majulah Singapura! others belief and faith, was the way forward. Indeed, the city­state has left those horrible times of the Edusave for madrasahs: 5 1960s far far behind. “long­standing issue” but a welcome development Though with time, as can happen in any society, some sections may nevertheless develop a perception of “unequal opportunities” and “employment discrimination”, in­spite of all the best intentions of its leaders.

Kaleidoscope Similar concerns have recently been raised by minority races in Singapore. “Employment discrimination 8 is not uncommon”: Suara The Suara Musyawarah report, which was presented to the minister Musyawarah of Muslim­affairs, dealt with Malay issues, while a dialogue What concerns the Indian 11 organised by People's Association's Narpani Pearavai saw the community in Singapore: The Indian community enumerate their concerns. In this issue, we Narpani dialogue report on these two events in the Kaleidoscope section.

Complimenting it, is a report inside The Fourth Estate, on survey Close to Home findings recently published by the Institute of Policy Studies and 'Allah' in Malaysia: mine, 13 OnePeople.sg, which dealt with “perception of discrimination in yours or ours jobs and promotions”. A welcome development in PM Lee's National Day Rally speech was

The 3rd World the extension of Edusave to madrasah students, which he acknowledged has been a “long­standing issue”. We celebrate it in Northern Provincial Council 15 our Majulah Singapura section. elections: a chance for reconciliation in Sri Lanka Moving beyond our shores, we report on the ongoing tussle in Malaysia between Muslims and Christians over the right to use the word 'Allah'; and the widely anticipated win of Tony Abbott in The 1st World Australian parliamentary elections. Abbott's win not good news 17 for the “boat people” Finally, we report on the upcoming Northern Provincial Council elections in Sri Lanka being held after a gap of 25 years, which the Tamil­speaking population of Singapore is watching keenly.

Here's to a strong, prosperous and harmonious Singapore!

Gaurav

An e-newspaper from Singapore published on the 1st and 16th of every month at 6am SGT. Newzzit, as a policy is against monopolising knowledge, and thus holds no copyright on any material published in our newspaper. Any article or part of it can be copied, shared and distributed free of charge, and without any permission whatsoever. THE FOURTH ESTATE This is Newzzit's take on an event of bygone fortnight that is significant for Singapore. There is a reason why there's a perception of Singapore's media pro­ government bias. A survey of 1,092 Singaporeans on political traits and media use by the Institute of Policy Studies in 2011 revealed that about 57% respondents believed that there is too much government control of newspapers and television. To add to it, about 48% noted that these media outlets are biased when they report on Singapore politics, political parties and elections. It is not Newzzit's case to judge, but it's surely our obligation to report.

Quick Summary

While 33% Malays said that they have never faced racial discrimination in Singapore when applying for a job, 19% said they faced it rarely, 28% sometimes, 12% often and 8% said they always faced it. For Indians, these percentages are: 40% never, 18% rarely, 23% sometimes, 10% often and 8% always. Combining the above data illustrates that 2 in 3 Malays and 3 in 5 Indians have faced discrimination at least at some point while applying for jobs in Singapore.

1 This emerged under the “Perception of Discrimination” indicator of a recent survey report published by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), National University of Singapore (NUS), and OnePeople.sg, an organisation to promote racial harmony and bring different communities together in Singapore. The indicator was to “measure perceived discrimination by examining whether Singaporeans feel that they receive differential treatment as a result of race in public services – such as in hospitals or at police stations – as well as in their daily lives – while using public transport, or at work”. The survey which was conducted to gauge the country's progress in building harmonious racial and religious relations covered 4,131 Singapore residents. While the indicators were released to the public on the July 18, 2013, the details of the survey were provided in September at a joint forum where participants reflected on race and religious relations in Singapore. (See Table 1)

Table 1: How often do you feel racially discriminated in these areas of your everyday life? ­ When applying for a job

In job promotions

When the surveyors asked the respondents “How often do you feel racially discriminated when being considered for a job promotion?”, the results were similar. While 37% Malays said that they had never faced such discrimination, 19% said they faced it rarely, 27% sometimes, 10% often and 7% always. For the Indian community, while 42% had never faced discrimination in promotions, 18% faced it rarely, 22% sometimes, 11% often, and 7% said they have always faced it. (See Table 2)

2 Table 2: How often do you feel racially discriminated in these areas of your everyday life? ­ When being considered for a job promotion

“Perception of social exclusion”

The survey also used an indicator, “Perception of social exclusion”, to “examine whether Singaporean’s perceive that particular segments of the population have to work harder to achieve a decent life in Singapore and whether access to top positions were more difficult for them to achieve”. And its findings are also interesting. About 17.6% Singaporean Indian respondents and 19.6% Singaporean Malays believed that Indians and Malays had to work harder compared to other races to have a basic, decent life in Singapore. (See Table 3)

Table 3: How hard respondents felt members of different races had to work in order to have a decent life in Singapore?

3 Likewise, about 30.8% Singaporean Indian respondents and 36% Singaporean Malays believed that Indians and Malays had to work harder compared to other races to reach top positions in their organisations. (See Table 4)

Table 4: How hard respondents felt members of different races had to work in order to reach top positions in their companies/organizations?

The report also highlighted general trends from the data collected, and provided a baseline study that will allow tracking the state of racial and religious relations in Singapore over the years. “Minority respondents compared to Chinese respondents held more positive attitudes towards embracing diversity, colour blindness, inter-cultural understanding, social acceptance and cross-racial friendships. This is expected since minorities are more likely to be sensitive to issues surrounding diversity. Similarly those who were younger, better educated and were of higher socio- economic status tended to be more positive.” “Discrimination was more often perceived by minorities, those who were less educated, from lower socio-economic status backgrounds and who were younger,” the authors concluded.

Note: All graphs in this story are courtesy IPS and OnePeople.sg

4 MAJULLAH SINGAPURA! Or Onward Singapore. One of the widely­accepted principles of journalism is ­ identifying community goals, acting as a watchdog to see these goals getting achieved, and pushing powers that be against complacency. Too much of modern­day journalism has come to be about sensationalism and negativity. Newzzit tries to reverse this trend here.

Edusave

The Government started the scheme in 1993 One of the major announcements in Prime Minister by setting up the Edusave Endowment Fund 's National Day Rally (NDR) speech with an initial contribution of $1 billion. was extension of the Edusave scheme to madrasah The capital sum reached the targeted $5 students. “This is a long-standing issue. Malay PAP billion by 1997. This fund is invested and MPs have raised this with me over many years. We the interest earned is disbursed as grants have reconsidered this policy, and we have decided and awards to schools and students to pay to change it. We will extend Edusave accounts and for enrichment programmes and fund contributions to all students of school-going age, additional resources. whether they attend madrasahs, study abroad, or are home schooled,” Lee said in his Malay speech. After the National Day Rally announcement, any Singaporean child who is studying full- Specifics by MOE time in a government, government-aided or A day later, the Ministry of Education (MOE) in a press independent school, junior college, release on August 19, stated, “With effect from 2014, centralised institute, Institute of Technical Edusave contributions (EC) will be extended to all Education or special education school, or children who are Singapore Citizens aged 7 to 16. enrolled in madrasahs, privately-funded This will benefit 20,000 more children, including schools, as well as children who are home- those enrolled in madrasahs, privately-funded schooled or residing overseas, can benefit schools, as well as children who are home-schooled from Edusave. or residing overseas. Those aged 7 to 12 will receive the EC amount applicable to primary-level students,

5 Madrasah Alsagoff Al­Arabiah ­ the oldest surving madrasah in Singapore which is currently $200 per year. Those aged 13 to 16 will receive the EC amount applicable to secondary-level students, which is currently $240 per annum. Like students in MOE schools, children who are home-schooled or enrolled in non-MOE schools in Singapore will be able to use their EC to fund enrichment activities in Singapore organised by their education providers.” For some, this “policy shift” has been the most important take-away from PM's NDR this year. The opposition Workers' Party (WP) MP, Pritam Singh, in an interview to The Strait Times said that according to him, the announcement in PM's speech that came “close to a strategic shift was extending of Edusave to madrasah students”. The WP in a statement on NDR 2013 also “welcomed the use of Edusave for students in madrasahs, which is something that has been advocated by the Workers’ Party in Parliament”. Last year, Singh's colleague and fellow MP from Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC), Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap, while participating in the debate for Committee of Supply had demanded that Edusave be extended to madrasah students and argued, “Muslim parents send their children to either of the six full-time madrasahs in Singapore to teach them Islamic values in terms of manners, morals, humanism and courtesy. The religious curriculum taught there emphasises the values of community and solidarity, and the need to build a compassionate society where people live in harmony regardless of race, language and religion.” Strategic shift or not but its certainly a welcome development. The recently released Suara Musyawarah report [an independent committee set-up by Minister-in-charge of Muslim affairs last year to collect feedback on the concerns and aspirations of Malays in Singapore] also recommended extending Edusave to madrasah students.

6 “There are strong calls across the various groups the committee met, for the government to provide greater support for the six full-time madrasahs. Notwithstanding that madrasahs are Islamic religious schools that operate as private schools registered with MOE, madrasah students are required to sit for the PSLE since 2008. Further, the Joint Madrasah System (JMS) has made much progress in terms of reviewing the madrasah curriculum to be more in line with national education. These efforts go to show that madrasahs offer secular education components that are aligned to the national curriculum, on top of offering Islamic religious education. They also reflect the madrasahs’ efforts to ensure that the quality of madrasah education and that madrasah graduates are equipped with similar knowledge alongside their peers who go to national schools,” said the Suara Musyawarah committee in its report. The MOE has set a target to implement the extended Edusave scheme by the second half of 2014 and will be releasing more details on its usage later.

The madrasah issue

Last year, the Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) explained the madrasah issue in its third convention journal, The Next Decade: Strengthening Our Community’s Architecture. It stated:

“The madrasah issue emerged when the government introduced a new Education Act in 1999 which made it mandatory for all Singaporean children to attend primary schools. Given that madrasah education is considered private education, the implication was that children could only attend the madrasah at the secondary school level. The community opposed to the new policy. The issue worsened when the then Prime Minister remarked that the madrasah were churning out too many graduates who were not sufficiently trained in the modern sciences and hence could not find jobs in the competitive Singapore job market. In essence, the Singapore government felt that the madrasah were churning out more graduates than needed by the Singaporean Muslim community. Thus, the six madrasah in Singapore are now restricted to a student intake of 400 students each. Madrasah students who are already enrolled in the system are exempted from the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), a compulsory examination for all students before entering secondary school. Students admitted after the Act came into effect, that is the 2003 cohort onwards, are required to take the PSLE and achieve a certain benchmark set by the government.”

7 KALEIDOSCOPE We cover anything Singaporean under the Sun here. Like the instrument that has mirrors to reflect light and generate colourful patterns, Newzzit does the same. We reflect.

Quick Summary

• The Suara Musyawarah committee's report highlighted “perception of unequal opportunities” among Singaporean Malays.

• The committee also heard several personal accounts suggesting that “employment discrimination is not uncommon”.

• Concerns that the Malay community is not fully accepted as an equal and integral part of society, and that certain stereotypes, generalisations and negative perceptions of the community exists, were raised.

8 During the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festivities last year, minister for communications and information, Yaacob Ibrahim, who is also the minister-in-charge of Muslim affairs, announced the setting up of an independent, non-partisan committee to engage the Malay/Muslim community and gather feedback on the community's thoughts, concerns and aspirations. With Sallim Abdul Kadir as the chairman, and Alwi Abdul Hafiz and Saleemah Ismail as vice- chairpersons, the committee met over 500 individuals as well as representatives of groups and organisations from the Malay/Muslim community and conducted 35 focus group discussions. Recently, the committee submitted its report to the minister titled, ‘Suara Musyawarah: Conversations with the Community’. The report highlighted that while the Malay/Muslim community in Singapore “identifies itself as part of and belonging to the broader Singapore community”, there also exists a “perception of unequal opportunities” among the community. Employment discrimination Based on numerous personal accounts when employers expressed a preference for non-Malay employees , the Suara Musyawarah committee noted “there appears to be enough examples to indicate that discriminatory employment practices are a concern for the community” and that “employment discrimination is not uncommon”. “Interestingly, some participants shared that nurses in government hospitals are not allowed to wear the tudung while most private hospitals appeared to allow the practice. In addition, concerns were raised that competition from foreigners in recent years has aggravated the issue of discrimination and made it more difficult for Singaporean Malay/Muslims to secure jobs,” the committee said. The committee also noted that while there is a recognition of initiatives such as the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP) in mitigating discrimination, the community feels that “such measures are not very effective as they are voluntary with no penalty for non- compliance”. Hence, the Suara Musyawarah “committee recommends that in-depth studies on the discriminatory practices in Singapore and its impact be done at the national level”. The committee also called upon the state and larger companies in the private sector to reaffirm that their employment practices are non-discriminatory.

9 Armed forces There are concerns that “community is not fully accepted as an equal and integral part of society and that certain stereotypes, generalisations and negative perceptions of the community lead to what is perceived as discrimination”, the committee further said. During its various focus group discussions, the issue of Malay/Muslims being left out of certain parts of the armed forces was also raised, where the committee noted “there is common agreement that such policies or practices call into question the loyalty of the Malays to the country. This perception is unhealthy and may have spill-over effects, including a deeper divide among ethnic communities”. Thus, “while the committee acknowledges that more Malay/Muslim recruits are deployed across a wider section of our uniformed services today, we hope that policies in relation to security and the Singapore Armed Forces could be continually reviewed, so that the Malay/Muslim community is viewed in the same light as any other community and would have no reason to feel that their loyalty is questioned,” it added. The Suara Musyawarah committee also welcomed remarks made by Tan Chuan-Jin, acting minister for manpower, while addressing the Singapore Tripartism Forum (STF) conference on fair employment practices on May 20, 2013. “The minister acknowledged the issue and recognised that anti-discrimination legislation is one possible way ahead to tackle discriminatory workplace practices, besides the current approach of moral suasion”, the committee said. The minister had said then, “There are also calls for the Government to put in place anti- discrimination laws. I understand the arguments made in favour of such legislation and I fully appreciate the concerns that underlie these thoughts. Anti-discrimination legislation is one possible way to address these issues and we do not reject the idea entirely.” Repeated attempts by Newzzit to get the government's response on concerns and recommendations mentioned in the Suara Musyawarah report were unsuccessful. While minister-in-charge of Muslim affairs Yaacob Ibrahim was not available for comments, the ministry of manpower too declined a response. Note: We will publish the ministries' replies as and when we receive them.

Courtesy: Suara Musyawarah

While the Malay household income rose by 1.9% (real average annual growth) between 2000 and 2010 (from $2,709 to $3,844), about one­third households earn under $3,000. This is just enough “to meet a social inclusion level of income” as indicated in a study titled, Bottom Fifth in Singapore, by Jacqueline Loh of Lien Centre for Social Innovation, in 2011. Loh, in her study, had highlighted that a family of four in Singapore would need around S$1,700 per month to cover basic household expenditure and $2,500 to $3,000 to meet a “social inclusion” level of income.

10 Quick Summary

• General concerns such as high immigration, healthcare affordability and PSLE were mentioned. • Specific concerns such as job discrimination, housing issues due to HDB's ethnic quota policy and educational under-performance were also brought-up.

The minister for environment and water UN Special Rapporteur to Singapore on resources and People's contemporary forms of racism, racial Action Party (PAP) MPs , discrimination, xenophobia and Vikram Nair and , recently related intolerance, 2010 attended a dialogue with about 300 grass-root leaders and residents organised by Narpani The UN Special Rapporteur on racism, Githu Pearavai, or “Good Activity Council”, which is Muigai, visited Singapore on Government's an umbrella organisation of People's invitation between April 21-28, 2010, to gather Association 94 Indian Activity Executive Committees spread all over Singapore. “first-hand information on the main issues facing people living in Singapore in relation Vikram Nair, who represents group representation constituency in to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia Parliament, explained the issues concerning and related intolerance.” the Indian community in Singapore. After eight days, and a series of meetings and “The Indian community like any other race in discussions with Singaporeans from all walks Singapore is also concerned about high of life, Muigai said, “The authorities have immigration which may lead to job losses for Singaporeans, affordability of healthcare, and continuously and actively promoted social increasing competition in the primary cohesion, religious tolerance and what they education. The government has already refer to as racial harmony, through a number acknowledged these concerns, which is why of commendable policies and measures the PM in his National Day Rally speech emphasizing tolerance, understanding and proposed various strategic shifts in policies,” Nair said. respect among the diverse ethnic and religious groups living in Singapore.”

11 Regarding issues specific to the Indian community, he added, “I wouldn't say that the “While there may be no institutionalised issue of employment discrimination is a racial discrimination in Singapore, several prevailing perception in the Indian community policies have further marginalized certain across the board. But we keep hearing few cases ethnic groups,” he added, “this is a situation here and there. The ministry of manpower (MOM) takes a strong view on such cases and that must be acknowledged and acted upon acts immediately.” in order to safeguard the stability, “For housing, I can say only about my sustainability and prosperity of Singapore”. constituency, where because of the ethnic Acknowledging the peaceful coexistence of quota, it has become harder for the Indian diverse communities in Singapore as a community to buy a HDB flat. We have few such appeal cases as well. Educational under- remarkable achievement, Muigai raised performance has always been a issue for the various concerns relating to some “blind community but I am heartened to note that self- spots” in the policies and measures pursued help groups like SINDA are doing a wonderful by the Government in its quest for racial job on this front.” harmony. Though repeated attempts to contact the minister Vivian Balakrishnan were These include “restrictions on public debate unsuccessful, earlier media reports noted his and discourse on the issue of ethnicity, and comments that “employment discrimination is a the importance of ethnic identity in daily life, key concern raised by Indian community housing, education and employment”. leaders” during the dialogue.

The ministry of foreign affairs (MFA), on its Even the recent survey findings by Institute of part, issued a press statement and clarified Policy Studies and OnePeople.sg have highlighted such concerns. [Please read some issues raised by the UN expert. Newzzit's story under the section The Fourth Regarding restrictions on discussion of Estate for detailed survey findings] sensitive issues, the MFA said, “Here, we must Narpani Pearavai, when contacted declined to emphatically disagree with Mr Muigai. Race, comment on the matter as “the information language and religion will always be sensitive requested do not come under their purview”, it issues in Singapore. This does not mean that said. Hri Kumar Nair and Janil Puthucheary they cannot be discussed, but a balance must were also not available for comments. On the always be struck between free expression concerns expressed relating to employment discrimination, the MOM was approached, and preservation of racial and religious which declined to comment. harmony. This balance is only for the Singapore government to determine because Note: We will publish the ministries' replies as and when we receive them. only the Singapore government bears the responsibility should things go wrong. The UN bears no such responsibility and we see no reason to take risks for the sake of an abstract principle. We believe most Singaporeans agree with the government's approach.”

12 CLOSE TO HOME The world became a global village in the 21st century. Or so they tell us! Well, certainly it has become interdependent, and Singapore more so. The US sub­ prime mortgage crisis of 2008, worsening by the day Eurozone crisis, and even the recent haze crisis closer home, are all examples of that. Newzzit reports on the stories impacting Singapore from ASEAN and other proximate countries in this section.

The Real Issue

• The word 'Allah' is used by Muslims, Christians, Mizrahi Jews, Maltese and even Sikhs the world over. Most notably in Egypt, the Coptic Christians begin their Christmas Mass with “Bismillah” (in the name of God) and use the word 'Allah' throughout. • Some Muslims in Malaysia claim that Christians use the word 'Allah' as they want to confuse and convert Muslims to Christianity. This, they say, will pose a national security threat. • Contrarily, churches in Malaysia claim that such an assertion is baseless and the word used for God in the Bahasa Malaysia Bible (Al-Kitab) since its translation in 1731, is ‘Allah’. In English services, 'Allah' is not used nor the churches have ever suggested changing the word ‘God’ to ‘Allah’ in other languages of the Bible, Christians claim.

Malaysia, our next-door neighbour, is fast becoming infamous for a raging debate and legal battle over 'patenting' the word 'Allah'. The controversy started in 2007 when Malaysian Government ordered a catholic newspaper, The Herald [published by Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre in Kuala Lumpur], to stop using the word 'Allah' in its Bahasa Malayisa publication. Since then, after many twists and turns, the dispute has reached the Court of Appeal, which, on September 10, stated that it will announce its verdict “no later than October, and with written justification”. Importantly, Malaysia, has a population of about 28 million, of which 60% are Muslims, and Christianity is the third largest religion (after Buddhism) with about 2.6 million followers. Amidst all this chaos and wait for the final verdict, some sane voices have appealed for clam and harmony. Malaysia's former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, in a blog post titled, The 'Allah'

13 Controversy, wrote, “Malaysia is a multi- Case charge-sheet religious country and Malaysians respect each 2007: Government orders The Herald to stop others’ religions and the rights of the religious using the word 'Allah' in its publication. Herald practises of their followers. Unfortunately, now doesn't comply stating that it had been using we have this controversy on the use of the 'Allah' in its Bahasa Malaysia [the country's name of God, 'Allah'. Religious confrontations national language] publication since 1995. can lead to very serious consequences. While Subsequently, The Herald is banned from we can have political differences, we should publishing for two weeks. In response, catholic not resort to our religious differences to win church leaders sued the Government in the High elections. It is a double-edged sword and those Court for violating Article 11 of the Malaysian who live by the sword shall die by the sword. constitution which guarantees “the right of Let this controversy be settled behind closed religious practice for all without constraints or doors by responsible people. Let not the restrictions”. The church leaders also argued that extremists take over and exploit religious Christians of Malaysian provinces, Sabah and issues.” Sarawak, have used the word 'Allah' for Bishop Paul Tan, who is the immediate past generations and Malay bibles imported from president of the Catholics Bishops’ Conference Indonesia had been using the word 'Allah' “for of Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, while generations without complaint”. writing in The Herald said, “The use of the 2009: The High Court ruled that the decision to ban word 'Allah', is a non-issue really. It becomes The Herald was illegal, unconstitutional, and an issue when it is being politicised, which is therefore null and void. Judge Lau Bee Lan also the case in Malaysia.” added the Government is not empowered to impose Writer, academician and columnist, Azly a ban on the use of the word 'Allah' by Christians, Rahman, who recently published a book titled, who have equal right to use it. The 'Allah' Controversy and Other Essays on What followed was a wave of violence, ransacking, Malaysian Hyper-modernity. break-ins, fire-bombing and vandalising churches “At this point in human evolution, in this age of and other places of worships. Sikh temples were also reconciliation of the post-Mayan calendar, attacked, apparently because Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Malaysians (especially Christians and Muslims) Sikhism's holy scripture, contains the word 'Allah' as a need to be less childish in the fight over reference to God in 37 places. patenting and branding ‘god’. It is a name The Government in an attempt to appease extremist conceived differently anyway, as different as elements and control the ongoing violence appealed how each soul conceives the Divine. Whether against the High Court ruling. one calls god Allah, The Lord, Brahma-Shiva- Vishnu, Bhagwan, Waheguru, Yahweh, or 2011: The Malaysian Government in April, just ahead Hashem or not call it anything at all but refer of Sarawak elections, announced a 10-point solution to it in mere silence and reverie, the ultimate to resolve the dispute. It stated that Bibles in any aim is to ‘connect’, and hence the Latin term language can be imported into Malaysia and there ‘religio’ which loosely means ‘to connect’. will be no restrictions for people travelling between Herein lies the limits of language insofar as the East and West Malaysia to bring along their Bibles naming of ‘god’ is concerned,” argued Rahman. and other Christian materials.

2013: September 10: The Court of Appeal heard arguments from both sides. Government August 22: The Court of Appeal dismissed a defended the ban on The Herald saying that it request by catholic leaders which sought to strike had exercised its “absolute discretion” in out the Government's appeal against the earlier implementing the ban which was necessitated “in judgement of the High Court permitting the use of order to protect public safety and order”. the word 'Allah' to Christians. October: Verdict awaited

14 THE RD WORLD Going by its conventionally accepted definition, this section covers stories with a direct or indirect impact on Singapore from the regions of Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, and those developing countries of Asia which are not Close to Home. But, who is to say which country is part of the 1st world and which should still be stigmatised as the 3rd world? Certainly not Newzzit.

The Real Issue

On September 21, Sri Lanka will hold its first Northern Provincial Council elections in a quarter century, with about 714,488 people registered to vote. This has generated considerable interest all over the world, particularly in the Tamil-speaking population, and is providing a critical chance for reconciliation in post-war Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, himself has appealed to the Tamil-dominated Northern province to participate in the democratic process and elect their own representatives. "There were presidential and parliamentary elections but this is the first free election in 30 years afforded to northern people to express themselves in a vote. This is a clear indication of new freedom they are Courtesy: Google maps currently enjoying,” he recently told the local media. Analysts have also argued that Northern Province elections will be a major step in bringing Sri Lankan Tamils back to the mainstream in post-conflict period. This province has a peculiar place in Sri Lanka's history and politics, as it is geographically an area where Tamils are concentrated and are in majority, in an otherwise Sinhalese-majority country. Along with the Northern Province, two other provinces, Central and North Western, comprising of 10 districts- Kandy, Matale, Nuwara Eliya, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Vavunia, Mulative, Kurenegala and Puttalam, will also go to polls on the same day.

History of the provincial councils Sri Lanka has nine provincial councils in all, which were created when Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi brokered the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord in 1987, with Sri Lankan President J R Jayawardene. Under the Accord, Sri Lankan Government agreed to devolution of powers to provinces, passed the 13th Amendment Act to the country's constitution, and established provincial councils enacting the Provincial Councils Act. But soon after, the elections to the Northern province was suspended due to resumption of war between Sri Lankan security forces and Tamil militant groups – mainly the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which went on for over two-decades and ended in 2009 with the death of LTTE's chief Prabhakaran.

15 Major political players

The United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) of President Rajapaksa, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) led by lawyer R Sampanthan and United National Party (UNP) under the leadership of former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, are the major political players in the upcoming elections. While the UPFA and UNP are contesting in all 10 districts, TNA has put up its candidates in only five districts of the Northern Province. As expected, pre-poll surveys have given TNA an edge over UPFA in the Northern Province, while UPFA is expected to win in the Central and North Western provinces. Major issues in the Northern Province

Issues of land rights, increased Courtesy: Office of the President of Sri Lanka militarisation, and the long-term process of reconciliation and rehabilitation have dominated the election campaign. The challenge for any incumbent government will be to address these local issues as well as garner support for devolution of police and land powers at the provincial level, as mandated by the 13th Amendment. International observers The international community is keenly watching the island nation, with many organisations sending their observers to ensure free and fair elections. More so, as there have been allegations of gross human rights violation by the Sri Lankan Government headed by Rajapaksa, in a bid to end the 26-year-long civil war.

The Commonwealth Secretariat, which is a voluntary association of 54 independent countries, will deploy a Commonwealth Observation Mission in the northern province to “observe and consider all aspects of the electoral process and assess compliance with the standards for democratic elections to which Sri Lanka has committed itself”. The chairman of the Forum of South Asian Elections Management Bodies has also nominated a team of 20 from Afganistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Pakistan, to meet the representatives of contesting political parties in the Northern Province. On its part, Rajapaksa's ruling coalition, which is banking on initiatives of rebuilding the devastated infrastructure to entice the voters, has promised full cooperation and access to the international observers.

16 THE ST WORLD For Singapore, or at least for its leaders, being part of the so­called 1st world has always been very important. Singapore's transformation “from 3rd world to 1st world” is hailed as nothing short of modern miracle. While Newzzit doesn't endorse an international hierarchy of countries that smells of strong evolutionist bias for achieving Western levels of economic growth as the ultimate goal, it certainly reports on the events from these regions impacting Singapore.

Australia's opposition leader Tony Abbott is the country's 28th prime minister after his Liberal-National Quick Summary coalition defeated the governing Labour Party by winning 88 seats in the 150-seat parliament. While the • Dealing with asylum­seekers coming to two parties differed on issues such as measures for Australia by boat was a major issue in the tackling an expected economic slowdown and reducing just concluded elections. the controversial carbon emissions tax, both displayed • The out­going Rudd Government had put politically expedient bi- in place the “Final Solution” in July this year. partisan urgency on supposedly “vote-winning” • With Abbott coming to power, “By Boat, issue of reducing the No Visa” policy set to get stricter. number of asylum seekers arriving by boat, or “boat people” as they are called. As recently as July, the then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had announced all asylum-seekers, even women and children, arriving by boat with no Australian visa will be sent to the impoverished Papua New Guinea or Nauru for further processing or resettlement. “The asylum-seekers will not enjoy any right ever of being processed to go to Australia. There will be no cap on the number of people who can be transferred or resettled in Papua New Guinea or Nauru,” his government said. 17 Courtesy: Department of immigration and citizenship, Australian Government

While Rudd claimed “this policy is designed to stop people smugglers and stop further loss of life at sea”, critics have dubbed it as Rudd's “Final Solution”.

Who are these “boat people”? These asylum-seekers are mainly people fleeing from war-infested zones such as Middle-East, Iraq and Afghanistan, and from countries like Indonesia and Sri Lanka, who bribe “people smugglers” in hope of a better life in Australia. As the boats used in smuggling people are not well-equipped, many drown en-route. Those who survive, are sent to the detention centres[or “concentration camps” as critics call them] in isolated islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Even when Australia detains the “boat people” on its own territory, the conditions are bad. There were 7,632 incident reports between October 2009 and May 2011 across the country's operational immigration detention facilities including self- harm, assaults, hunger strikes, riots and Manus disturbances. For Australia, a land of immigrants, nothing Nauru can be more farcical. As noted by award-winning investigative journalist John Pilger, in The Guardian recently, “For Aborigines and refugees, the irony is self-evident. Only Aboriginal people are true Australians. The rest of us – beginning with Captain Cook – are boat people.”

Courtesy: Google maps

A new film on Australia by John Pilger, Utopia, commissioned by ITV and produced by Dartmouth Films will premier on October 3, which explores the country's suppressed colonial past and its treatment of the Aboriginal population, against the backdrop of a huge mineral boom.

18 History of the “boat people”

1992: Mandatory detention for refugees arriving in boats was put in place.

1998: A report by Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) stated that such detentions violated international as well as Australia's own human rights obligations.

2001: As known colloquially, “Pacific Solution” is implemented by the John Howard Government. This entailed detaining asylum-seekers in the Pacific islands, Nauru and Manus (in Papua New Guinea), while their asylum claims were processed. Such claims were not processed under Australian law and claimants had no access to legal assistance or judicial review.

2004: HREOC publishes a report criticising Australian immigration laws and stated that the “Pacific Solution” is fundamentally inconsistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

2008: “Pacific Solution” ends. Now, Asylum-seekers were sent to the Christmas Island, a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean, instead of Manus and Nauru.

2012: The Julia Gilliard Government ties-up with the governments of Nauru and Papua New Guinea again and restarts offshore processing of asylum-seekers. By year-end, 414 people were transferred to Nauru and 155 to the Manus Island.

July, 2013: The Kevin Rudd Government implements “Final Solution”, as known colloquially, which means all asylum-seekers will be held indefinitely on Papua New Guinea, with no chance of ever going to Australia.

August, 2013: A UN human rights committee calls Australia’s indefinite detention of 46 recognized refugees on security grounds amounting to “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, inflicting serious psychological harm on them”. The refugees - 42 Tamils from Sri Lanka, three Rohingya from Myanmar and a Kuwaiti, are in detention for the last two and a half years.

September, 2013: Tony Abbott storms to power. Earlier, during his election campaign, Abbott had stated that if his party wins, he will deport refugees already in Australian detention centres and will not hesitate to use the Navy to stop asylum boats. He also plans to create a new “tent city” on Nauru to house the “boat people”.

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