Is the Malay community in Singapore marginalized?

Is the Malay community in Singapore marginalized?

By Goh Chok Tong

SINGAPORE: I want to use this occasion to focus on your achievements in the last 10 years.

In the last century, we were one of the few new countries that made solid progress. One major reason for our success was because every community in Singapore progressed, not just an anointed few.

Without this shared progress and prosperity, it would have been difficult to maintain harmony among the different races. And without racial harmony, we would not have had stability and achieved so much in so short a time.

Thus, when some people in Singapore and outside alleged that the Malay community in Singapore was "marginalized", I asked for a study to see if this was so.

In particular, Lily Zubaidah Rahim's book, The Singapore Dilemma -- The Political And Educational Marginality Of The Malay Community, provided the excuse for Malaysian media interest in the fate of Malay Singaporeans.

I say "excuse" because it struck me as odd that the Malaysian media should discuss the book only now, when it was published in 1998.

Be that as it may, I welcome an open, rational and constructive debate on the question: Is the Malay community in Singapore marginalized?

The answer lies in whether the Malay community has made significant progress over the years. If the Malay community has kept up progress with the other communities, it cannot be said to be marginalized.

It is marginalized only if it is stuck in a stagnant pool, and the lives of those in the community have not improved while others' have. And if the Malay community is indeed marginalized, then I and the People's Action Party government should be indicted for failing to discharge our responsibility to an important pillar of Singapore's multi-racial society.

My officials have prepared a paper on the progress made by the Malay community in education, occupation, income and quality of life.

I will highlight some of the findings, and leave the paper with you to analyze and draw your own conclusions.

First, in the area of education, the Malays have attained a high level of literacy. In fact, the achievements in literacy surpass the national average.

The Malay community has improved its educational profile. Half of its non-students aged 15 years and over last year had attained secondary and higher qualifications, compared with just over one- third in 1990.

Of the Malay students who take PSLE, more now qualify for admission to secondary school. In 1990, 74 per cent were eligible to enter secondary school. In 1999, 91 per cent qualified. The corresponding national averages were 88 per cent in 1990 and 96 per cent in 1999.

The gap between the Malay community and the national average has thus narrowed -- from 14 percentage points to 5 percentage points in just 10 years.

More Malays in each cohort now complete secondary school. In 1990, 61 per cent of a Malay Primary 1 cohort completed secondary school.

By 1999, 88 per cent did. The corresponding national averages were 80 per cent in 1990 and 93 per cent in 1999. The gap has narrowed from 19 percentage points in 1990 to 5 percentage points in 1999.

The improved secondary-school-completion rate has been accompanied by increased admission into university and polytechnic.

The percentage of a Malay Primary 1 cohort entering university and polytechnic has more than doubled from 13 per cent in 1990 to 28 per cent in 1999. The percentage entering university has increased by almost 1.5 times, from 2.9 per cent to 4.2 per cent. The total number of Malay university graduates has increased by more than 3.5 times.

In particular, there were significant increases in the number of Malay graduates in the fields of engineering, medicine, dentistry and information technology.

But here, while there has been good improvement, the gap between the Malay community and the national average in admission to tertiary education is widening.

This is one area you want to focus some attention on. Admission into university and polytechnic is limited to the cream of the cohort, and on the basis of merit.

The Malay community has made significant improvements in the number of passes at primary, secondary and post-secondary levels.

However, in order to compete successfully for places in universities and polytechnics, you need to improve the quality of such passes. In particular, you must do well in the subjects that have most application and relevance for university and polytechnic education. I refer in particular to English, and mathematics and science subjects.

Let us now turn to the economic arena.

The proportion of Malay Singaporeans holding higher-level and skilled jobs has increased over the years. In 1990, only 12 per cent of Malays were holding administrative and managerial, and professional, technical and related jobs.

By last year, 23 per cent did. There were significantly more Malay professionals such as accountants, engineers, doctors and lawyers. Correspondingly, the proportion of Malay workers holding blue-collar jobs has declined from 57 per cent in 1990 to 41 per cent last year.

The median monthly income of resident Malay workers rose from $954 in 1990 to $1,790 last year.

The median resident Malay household income has also risen, from $1,880 to $2,708.

The median CPF account balance of working Malays has more than doubled over the last 10 years, from $32,800 in 1990 to $79,700 as at the end of last November. The respective CPF figures for all Singaporeans are $34,200 and $85,100.

Malay Singaporeans have also seen considerable improvements to their quality of life.

More Malay households have upgraded to better housing. In 1990, 41 per cent lived in HDB four-room or larger flats and private housing. By last year, 65 per cent did.

The vast majority of Malay households own the houses they live in. Malay households, which already enjoyed a high level of home ownership in 1990 (92 per cent), registered further improvement to 94 per cent last year.

In 1998, 16 per cent of Malay households owned cars, up from 13 per cent in 1990; 28 per cent owned air-conditioners, up from 8 per cent; 40 per cent owned mobile phones, up from 1 per cent; 37 per cent owned personal computers, up from 8 per cent; and 61 per cent owned laser-disc or VCD players, up from 12 per cent.

I hope the ownership rate of computers will catch up with that for laser-disc and VCD players in the next few years.

In 1990, 3,522 Muslims from Singapore went on the haj. This number has gone up steadily, to 4,413 last year. Since 1990, eight new mosques have been developed in Singapore, and another 11 old mosques upgraded, resulting in an increase of about 29,700 prayer spaces.

Another way of seeing whether Singapore Malays are marginalized is to compare their education and economic profile with Malays in Malaysia. If their profile is the same or better, then they cannot be said to be marginalized. Because nobody would say that the Malaysian Malays are marginalized.

Compared to Malays in Malaysia, Singapore Malays have done well educationally. Last year, 25 per cent of the Singapore resident Malay workforce had upper-secondary or higher qualifications.

In 1998, which was the latest Malaysian statistics available, the equivalent figure for Malaysian Malays was 14 per cent. The proportion of Singapore Malays who enter the tertiary level of education is also comparable to that of Malaysians, that is, Malaysian Malays, Malaysian Chinese and Malaysians of other races considered as a group.

The occupational distribution of Singapore Malays also compares favorably with that of Malaysian Malays. Last year, 23 per cent of the Singapore resident Malay workforce were holding administrative and managerial, and professional, technical and related positions.

In 1998, the equivalent figure for Malaysian Malays was 16 per cent.

In terms of possession of consumer durables, Singaporean Malay households also compare favorably with Malaysian bumiputras.

There are, of course, areas where the Malaysian Malays have done better than Singapore Malays. For example, there are proportionately more doctors and lawyers among them.

Also, although we do not have the data, it is obvious that they have more millionaires and more Malays holding top positions in the public and private sectors. But overall, our Singapore Malays fare well when compared with the Malaysian Malays.

You can be proud of what you have accomplished. It is counter- productive to imagine yourself marginalized when you have made real gains, and can achieve more. It is, in fact, dangerous for your community, as it will result in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Malay Singaporeans live in a multi-racial, multi-religious society. When they make an effort to widen the common ground with the other communities, they will maximize the opportunities and prospects for themselves.

On the other hand, if they choose to emphasize their separateness and reduce the common area, the other communities will instinctively keep their distance.

This will mean, in extremes, 400,000 Malays fending for themselves, for example, in educating their own children and in creating jobs for them.

Put in another way, you can choose to fish in the ocean or you can decide to fish in a pond. If you choose the latter, you are not likely to catch fish as big or as many fishes as those who fish in the ocean.

Fortunately, my understanding is that our Malays want to be an integral part of the larger Singapore 'family'.

Looking ahead, I believe that you now need to pay attention also to improving the quality of achievements. In the past, we used to focus on "Sports for All", to improve the health and fitness of the general population.

But such a broad-based effort would not produce medal-winning performances. If we want to succeed in international competitions, we must identify and nurture a smaller group of talented and dedicated sportsmen and sportswomen.

"Sports Excellence" is the program we have now put in place to provide our particularly-talented sportsmen and sportswomen with the additional training and support to groom them to be internationally competitive.

Likewise, you have made tremendous progress in uplifting the general Malay community, in education, occupation, income and quality of life.

But in the next phase of development, if you want to produce many more outstanding individuals of Singapore society, and not merely of the Malay community, you should put in place a focused program which seeks to improve the quality of achievements.

If you want a higher proportion of Malays to gain admission to polytechnics and universities, the community must secure better passes in core subjects. It would not be sufficient to merely have a higher proportion of passes at the O or A levels.

In this context, the Malay MPs have sought my support for a program to identify and develop top talents within the community.

I support generally this new thrust, but I would like it broadened to one of pushing for excellence in all areas, from education to occupation.

I am honored that you feel that my contributions to the Malay community and to Singapore are worthy of a special tribute, when you have already paid me one with your significant progress and contributions to Singapore.

The next time we get together, I hope to hear from you how much more progress you have made, as a community, and in your contributions to a more integrated, multi-racial, multi-religious Singapore. That would be a tribute I would welcome.

The above is based on Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's speech to Malay community leaders on Sunday.

-- The Straits Times