Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05SINGAPORE312
2005-02-03 01:09:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Singapore
Cable title:  

MUSLIM MPS IN SINGAPORE: PART 1 OF 2

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PINR PREL PTER SN SOCI 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 SINGAPORE 000312 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INR/B

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL PTER SN SOCI
SUBJECT: MUSLIM MPS IN SINGAPORE: PART 1 OF 2

REF: A. 04 SINGAPORE 3001

B. 03 SINGAPORE 926

Classified By: Amb. Franklin L. Lavin, Reasons 1.4 (b)(d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 SINGAPORE 000312

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INR/B

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL PTER SN SOCI
SUBJECT: MUSLIM MPS IN SINGAPORE: PART 1 OF 2

REF: A. 04 SINGAPORE 3001

B. 03 SINGAPORE 926

Classified By: Amb. Franklin L. Lavin, Reasons 1.4 (b)(d)


1. (C) Summary: Concerned about preventing racial and
religious conflict in Singapore, the ruling People's Action
Party (PAP) actively co-opts talented Muslims, especially
potential critics. In addition to holding a modest number of
senior positions in the government, representatives from
Singapore's Muslim community have 12 seats in parliament, of
whom one holds a ministerial portfolio. These MPs maintain
close ties with community organizations and the grassroots,
project a moderate image and condemn extremism, and defend
unpopular government policies. Community leaders give them
mixed reviews and Muslim MPs have been given charge only of
lower profile ministries. The PAP has been recruiting more
highly educated Muslim MPs and has taken several steps to
raise their position in the cabinet. Starting in para 8 are
bios for five of the MPs. Septel will cover the remaining
MPs. End Summary.

Guaranteed Representation
--------------


2. (C) There are 12 Muslim MPs in Singapore's parliament,
elected in November 2001. All 12 are from the ruling
People's Action Party (PAP),which controls 82 out of 84
seats. Singapore's electoral system guarantees
representation in parliament for Malays, Indians and other
minorities. (Note: Singapore is approximately 77 percent
ethnic Chinese, 14 percent Malay, and 7 percent Indian. End
Note.) Singapore's electoral system for parliament is
divided between nine Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) and
14 Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) which have
either five or six members. Under the electoral law, each
GRC must have at least one Malay, Indian or other minority
MP. The PAP has justified the GRC system as a way to
guarantee parliamentary representation for minorities, which
it has done. However, the electoral system has also made it
more difficult for opposition parties to win seats (Ref A).


Role of the MPs
--------------


3. (C) The Muslim MPs serve a number of functions for the
ruling party. First, the MP positions are an important tool
for the PAP to co-opt bright and talented Muslims, especially
any potential critics. This was the case with businessman MP
Ahmad Magad, who helped found a group that was critical of
the PAP government and its Muslim MPs, but was later
recruited by the PAP to run for parliament. Second, the MPs
provide important constituent services, meeting with the
public at weekly "Meet the MP" sessions, as do all MPs. In
addition, these MPs also work with community organizations
and grassroots leaders to uplift Singapore's Malay/Muslim
minority, which lags behind the other races in education
level and income. Four junior Muslim MPs are responsible for
coordinating efforts in the four key areas identified by
community leaders: youth, education, employment, and family
development. Third, the MPs project a moderate image for
Singapore's Muslim community. Following the 9/11 attacks and
the detentions of Jemaah Islamiyah suspects in Singapore,
Muslim MPs have been expected to take a clear stand against
terrorism and lead the community in condemning Islamic
extremism. Fourth, the Muslim MPs actively defend government
policies that are unpopular in parts of the community, such
as the 2002 ban on girls wearing the Islamic headscarf
(tudung) in public schools. Finally, these MPs help the PAP
project its desired image of Singapore as a multi-racial,
multi-religious meritocracy, even though real political power
is wielded by a small inner-circle of mostly ethnic Chinese.


4. (C) Community leaders give the MPs mixed reviews. While
they are seen as hard-working and talented, the MPs are also
considered agents of the government. The former president of
the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) Maarof bin
Haji Salleh told emboffs that the MPs were constrained from
aggressively promoting the interests of the Malay/Muslim
community. This was due to electoral reasons -- they could
not afford to antagonize the majority of ethnic Chinese
voters in their districts -- as well as the PAP's firm line
against any use of religion for political purposes.

Low Profile Ministries
--------------


5. (C) For the last fifteen years, every cabinet has had one
Muslim Minister (or Acting Minister),either as Minister of
Environment or Minister of Community Development, Youth, and
Sports (MCDYS - the major source of government funding for
community and ethnic groups). This minister has also doubled
as Minister-in-Charge of Muslim affairs. Community members
have noted the absence of Muslim MPs in more senior and
sensitive ministries, Rashidah Abdul Rasip -- CEO of MENDAKI,
the leading Malay/Muslim education self-help group linked to
the government -- told emboffs. Aren't these MPs good enough
for higher profile portfolios in the cabinet, she asked. In
the last cabinet reshuffle in August 2004, the PAP made some
modest moves to raise the profile of its Muslim MPs in the
cabinet. For example, the Ministry of Environment was
reorganized and renamed to include water resources, which has
strategic importance for Singapore and is a sensitive issue
in its relations with neighboring Malaysia. Also, while
there is still only one Minister, there are now two Muslim
Ministers of State, one each at MFA and in the Prime
Minister's Office. There has also been speculation that the
current Speaker of Parliament, Abdullah Tarmugi, could be
selected the next president later this year.

The Modern MP
--------------


6. (C) Muslim MPs are expected to serve as role models for
the community. In recruiting new Muslim MPs, the PAP has
increasingly sought candidates who are professionals like
lawyers, doctors, and engineers with advanced degrees. In
the past, Muslim MPs were not seen as well-qualified as their
Chinese counterparts and were chosen for their grassroots
ties, according to Rashidah.

==============
MP Biographies
==============


7. (U) These biographies are designed to be stand-alone
documents, so acronyms and organizations are described in
each biography.

Abdullah Tarmugi - Speaker of Parliament
--------------


8. (U) Adbudllah Tarmugi has been an MP since 1984 and
Speaker of Parliament since 2002. He has held a variety of
cabinet posts, including Minister for Environment and for
Community Development and Sports. He was also
Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs from 1993-2002. He may
be in line for the largely ceremonial position of president.


9. (C) Abdullah has had an uneasy relationship with the Malay
community in Singapore. A private person, he has publicly
expressed his discomfort with the additional scrutiny and
higher expectations to which Malay/Muslim MPs are subjected.
While he has stated that being a Malay helped him relate to
the community's concerns, he has said that he must serve all
his constituents and look at issues from a national
perspective. Some Muslims have criticized him for not being
religious enough and for the very "modern" style of his
ethnic Chinese wife. He has firmly supported the government
line in controversial issues, such as the 2002 decision to
ban Muslim girls from wearing the tudung (Islamic headscarf)
in national schools. As Chairman of MENDAKI (the leading
Malay/Muslim education self-help group linked to the
government) from 1994-2003, he urged Malay/Muslim groups
(both religious and secular) to cooperate and focus on social
problems confronting the community, such as divorce, drug
abuse, and poorer educational performance.


10. (U) He was born on August 25, 1944, to a working class
Javanese father who emigrated to Singapore as a teenager and
an ethnic Chinese mother raised by a Malay father. He
graduated from the prestigious Raffles Institution and earned
a B.S. in Sociology at the University of Singapore on a
government scholarship and a postgraduate diploma in Urban
Studies from the University of London using a Commonwealth
Scholarship. He spent ten years at the Ministry of National
Development as a civil servant and later worked for the
Straits Times as a writer and associate news editor. His
ethnic Chinese wife is a retired school principal and
converted from Catholicism to Islam when they married. They
have two children.

Yaacob Ibrahim - Minister of Environment and Water Resources
-------------- --------------


11. (U) Yaacob Ibrahim has been Minister of Environment and
Water Resources since 2004, following two years as Minister
of Community Development and Sports. In 2002, he was
appointed Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs. He was first
elected to parliament in 1997 and was quickly promoted to the
sub-cabinet position of Parliamentary Secretary at the
Ministry of Communications in 1998. In December 2004, he was
selected Vice Chairman of the People's Action Party's
policy-making Central Executive Committee.


12. (C) Since his college days, Yaacob has been very involved
in Singapore's Muslim organizations. He was a youth member
of the Muslim Missionary Society (Jamiyah) and is a long-time
volunteer at MENDAKI (the leading Malay/Muslim education
self-help group linked to the government). He was also
actively involved with the Islamic Religious Council of
Singapore (MUIS),serving on its council from 1992-1996. As
Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs, he has encouraged
community organizations to specialize and avoid duplication
of services. He has also been given a role in Singapore's
outreach effort to the Middle East. In 2004, he led two
business delegations to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and
Egypt. While in Egypt, he met with Singaporeans studying at
Al-Azhar University, as part of the government's efforts to
ensure that its citizens studying in the Middle East keep
Islamic teachings in a Singapore context. Several contacts
have asserted that, since his hajj in February 2004, Yaacob
has become less of an integrationist. These contacts said he
has come to believe that there were two distinct spheres in
Singaporean society: public and private. While he envisioned
that Singaporeans of all races would continue to interact in
the public sphere in areas of common interest, they could
choose to limit their private interactions to people of the
same race and religion.


13. (U) Dr. Yaacob was born in Singapore on October 3, 1955,
the fourth of nine children of a minor civil servant. All of
his siblings have excelled as professionals. His eldest
brother was the first Malay chosen as a Presidential scholar
and a younger sister is political editor for the Straits
Times. He graduated from the University of Singapore with a
Civil Engineering degree in 1980. He obtained a scholarship
to do his Ph.D. at Stanford University. He graduated in 1989
and worked subsequently as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Cornell
University. His wife is an American citizen who grew up in
Puerto Rico. Yaacob told emboff that he has a more
open-minded interpretation of the Koran and said his wife
converted to Islam to satisfy the conservative standards of
Singapore. They have two children, both American citizens,
and they travel to the U.S. frequently to visit his wife's
family.

Zainul Abidin Rasheed - Minister of State, MFA
-------------- -


14. (U) In 2004, Zainul Abidin Rasheed was promoted to
Minister of State at MFA; he was previously Senior
Parliamentary Secretary from 1998-2001. He was first elected
to parliament in 1997. He was active in Malay/Muslim
organizations before being recruited by the People's Action
Party (PAP) to run for political office. From 1990-1993, he
was CEO of MENDAKI (the leading Malay/Muslim education
self-help group linked to the government) and was also
President of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore
(MUIS) from 1991-1996. He is currently Deputy Chairman of
the Malay Heritage Foundation. He has urged local Muslims to
avoid extremism and conservatism and to think of themselves
first as Singaporeans. He does not want concern for Muslims
in other countries to cause disunity at home. Friendly and
open, Zainul was the highest ranking GOS official at the 2004
Iftar hosted by the Ambassador.


15. (U) Zainul was born on March 17, 1948. He attended
Raffles Institution and earned a B.A. in Economics and Malay
Studies from the University of Singapore in 1971. After
graduation, he became a Research Editor/Manager of the Asia
Research Bulletin and also served as an editor of the Malay
language newspaper, Berita Harian, as well as at the Straits
Times. He is married and has four children.

Ahmad Mohamed Magad
--------------


16. (U) Ahmad Mohamed Magad was first elected to parliament
in 1997 and chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee
(GPC) for Finance and Trade and Industry. He is one of the
few businessmen in parliament. Since 1988, he has been
Managing Director of II-VI Singapore Ltd., a subsidiary of a
U.S. multinational corporation that manufactures infrared
optics. He travels frequently to the U.S. for business and
is very accessible to emboffs. He is a member of the Action
Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE),a private-public sector
movement to build an entrepreneurial culture in Singapore.


17. (C) Before being recruited by the People's Action Party
(PAP) for parliament, Magad was co-founder and later chairman
of the Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP). The group
was formed in 1991 to provide an alternative voice to MENDAKI
(the leading Malay/Muslim education self-help group linked to
the government) and to the PAP's Muslim MPs who were seen by
some local Muslims as ineffectual and unrepresentative.
Magad stepped down from AMP in 1995 and joined the PAP
shortly thereafter. As an MP, Magad supported then Prime
Minister Goh Chok Tong when he rebuked AMP for attempting to
establish an alternative Muslim leadership distinct from the
MPs and government-linked organizations. Former Islamic
Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) President Maarof bin
Haji Salleh told emboff that Magad's recruitment by the PAP
was an indicator of its desire to weaken independent
organizations.


18. (U) Born on December 22, 1952, Magad is married and has
three children. He won a Public Service Commission
scholarship to study precision engineering-optics in West
Germany and finished his degree in 1974. He earned an MBA
from Brunel University in the UK in 1990 and his Ph.D. in

2003.

Hawazi Daipi
--------------


19. (U) Hawazi Daipi was been an MP since 1996. In 2004, he
became Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of
Education as well as for the Ministry of Manpower. He had
previously served as Parliamentary Secretary at both
ministries.


20. (U) A former teacher, Hawazi has stated that education is
the key to uplifting Malay/Muslims. He has chaired a number
of government committees seeking to improve Malay language
instruction and to encourage racial mixing in schools. He
has advocated devolving more authority to individual schools
to develop initiatives rather than having the Ministry of
Education impose measures. While at the National Trades
Union Congress, Hawazi was in charge of its program to help
retrain the growing number of retrenched workers --
frequently Malay/Muslims -- with limited education and few
marketable skills. Hawazi also spent fourteen years as a
reporter and editor for the Malay language newspaper Berita
Harian. He had a variety of overseas assignments, including
Cyprus, southern Philippines, and southern Thailand. He has
said that these experiences taught him that social cohesion
in a multi-ethnic society is vital but fragile and must be
carefully nurtured.


21. (U) Hawazi was born on February 13, 1954. He comes from
a humble background -- his father was a boat pilot and his
mother was a maid and he grew up in what he called an "urban
slum," with many families crowded together. He earned a B.A.
in economics and geography from the University of Singapore
in 1977 and earned a Diploma in Education in 1979 from the
Institute of Education. He is married and has two children.
LAVIN