Terrorism linked to social ills? Not true

Mafoot Simon, The Straits Times, Asia News Network, Singapore

Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong seems to extol himself as an expert in handling Muslim affairs and is a leading commentator in handling the Muslim population. Have his own Muslim citizens excelled themselves to the extent that he can now advise others on how to manage Muslims? Surely someone must have briefed him on the social ills affecting his own Muslim community. If not, let me refresh his memory.

So said Mohamad Jusoh Mustapa, writing on news website Malaysiakini last month soon after PM Goh delivered his speech on post-Cold War geopolitics at the United States Council on Foreign Relations in Washington DC.

Without giving exact numbers, the Malaysian columnist pointed out the "social ills" affecting the Muslim community in Singapore: A high divorce rate; a disproportionate number of Malays in prison, drug rehabilitation centers and juvenile detention centers; a high unemployment rate; and a smaller intake at universities in Singapore compared to other races.

What Muslim Singaporeans needed, he went on to proclaim, was a level playing field, which he asserted "evidently does not exist" despite Singapore's claims of being a meritocratic society.

His proof: Advertisements in the local media that "blatantly seek Chinese-speaking applicants and virtually all matters dealing with government-related agencies require the applicant to declare his or her race, mother tongue and religion".

Jusoh's column was a tiring and tiresome "show of concern" from someone outside Singapore and should have been ignored -- but for the dangerous idea he tried to plant: Namely, that the circumstances of local Malays could lead to acts of terrorism.

"If left unattended, these social ills can breed terrorism or even agitate restless and frustrated minds into physical violence against the state," he said.

He cannot be more wrong.

If he had cared to look more closely at the background of members of the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) arrested by the authorities, he would have realized that they were not "restless and frustrated minds".

Instead, they were going through a "spiritual vacuum" -- as they had admitted -- due to their lack of religious education when young. They were intent on filling that "vacuum" when they were exploited by the JI.

And far from being the poor, troubled marginalised Malays, the JI members earned between US$1,500 and $2,500 a month, with one even earning more than $5,000. They also owned their homes and had at least secondary or technical education.

At the broader level, Jusoh was plain wrong about the lack of progress, in his mind, of the Malay-Muslim community here.

A report released late last month showed that the percentage of Malay drug addicts had dropped drastically over a decade. From 54 percent at the height of the problem 10 years ago, the percentage went down to 26 percent last year. True, the percentage was higher than that for other races, but, hey, everything is work in progress.

The latest available figures on other fronts show that the vast majority of Malays own their homes (94 percent in 2000, up from 92 percent in 1990); the total number of Malay graduates has increased by more than 3.5 times -- from 1,518 in 1990 to 5,683 in 2000; and 23 percent hold professional, technical, administrative and managerial positions compared to 12 percent in 1990.

Jusoh might also like to know that a quick poll of about a dozen Muslim Singaporeans showed that they appreciated the remarks made by PM Goh, although some would have liked him to criticize the U.S. more.

But that's human nature. Nothing is ever enough.

Representing the view of many of those interviewed, religious leader Ustaz Hannan Hassan thought that PM Goh's remarks were "strong and brave", particularly since they were made on American soil.

Civil servant Irwan Jamil pointed out that Islam has come to be associated with terrorism since Sept. 11 but, in reality, these terrorist acts were masterminded by deviationist groups.

He also called on media organizations to take more care in reporting and to "de-link" terrorist bombings from Islam so that terrorists would not have anything to capitalize on.

For community leader Abdul Halim Kader, the effort by what he called "a segment of the world Muslim community to mislead and misinform a significant part of the same community under the guise of Islamic internationalism as part of a quest for past Islamic glory" was ironic, because it was more detrimental to the community that they claimed to champion.

That adverse impact was a poignant reminder to Muslim community leaders anywhere in the world, to first serve the needs of the local Muslim community rather than the needs of some groups that had nothing to do with the local community, he said.

Let's hope Jusoh's memory is now sufficiently refreshed on these points: That Muslim Singaporeans are not marginalised; that whatever "social ills" the community is afflicted with are being steadily addressed, and that it certainly wasn't those "social ills" that led to local Malays joining the JI.