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