How should our leaders handle the Malays in Malaysia ?
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This is the most important message to our politicians - understand your adversary.
In foreign relation, often history has shown that both sides wanted and dominate the other and at the end none is the winner and both are the losers.
Singapore leaders as shown by their own policies towards their own people for the past 41 years always maintain the top-down domineering Kiasu stance toward the people.
They are high on tasks and presentation but very low on understanding the needs and aspirations of others in dealing with people or other countries.
Legalistic abilities pr IQ is not enough in overcoming problems with others especially in dealing with equals or higher personage.
The Malaysians on the other hand may be difficult to handle because of the Malay dominance, and precisely because of this we have to understand the need to handle them with care and consideration.
The Malays are a proud and sensitive race as well made more so by religion. If they turn inward, and refuse to deal with anyone and become claustrophobic, they would become more problematic.
To work with the Malaysians' Malay, Singapore has to come up with a package which will respect their feeling and sovereignty and yet will by based on multi-racial and multi-religious co-existence as the fundamental principle which will take a little time for them to assess and respect.
Singapore Malays have been accommodated to the extent that they are economically more independent now and are likely to offer the Malaysian Malays the comforting feeling they eventually could aspire to be like them if both sides cooperate.
From such people-to-people cooperation, more trust can be created and the politicians will eventually have to give up their past distrust on both sides and learn to flow with the people's tide.
Why can't our leaders chart such a people-to-people cooperative strategy in making them understand our approaches towards the Malays in Singapore and win them over to our policies.
The above can be implemented through various people-to-people cooperative projects like being done with Indoneia after the Tsunami.
Do not play up to the press or get entangled in so many emotional issues with them. Just work on the positive and concrete tangible advantages that Singapore has achieved - the Singapore Malays have got better than the Malaysian Malays without any special Bumiputra privileges and in the long run this might be the course for the Malaysian Malays as well as they will not forever depend on such policy to maintain their position resulting in racial strife and brain drains of the talented foreign and Chinese population.
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aiyoh.... how can you call them adversary?? that is so undiplomatic.
i know lah... you can call them watever you want... MF bald monkey with no banana... or whatever lah... just do it inside your toilet..
in public.. please address our neighbour using the proper title...
like when malaysia PM comes.. . we must say... welcome BANG.(i heard it means brother?)
when indonesia president comes.. we must shout... welcome BIG BANG!! (BIG BROTHER!!)
they sure will be very happy....one.
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Personally, I feel that due to Singapore's geological disposition, our leaders when the speak about our neighbors should speak like their walking through a Mine Field. Because a few misplaced words, can potentially be explosive.
Where's their sense of tact?