Rejection of Malay worker worrying: Maliki Osman
Recounting a recent incident in which a Chinese woman shut out a Malay man responding to a work call outside her home, Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman said that it was “worrying” and such behaviour must be corrected because it is divisive.
Recounting a recent incident in which a Chinese woman shut out a Malay man responding to a work call outside her home, Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman said that it was “worrying” and such behaviour must be corrected because it is divisive.
The Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs was speaking to reporters in Siglap in between giving out aid packages to needy families for the upcoming Hari Raya Puasa celebrations.
Giving details of the incident, Dr Maliki said that the woman had called a pest control company, and when the worker arrived to examine the area outside her unit, she asked him to “go away”. The pest controller explained that he was just doing his job, but she told him that she had “heard so much about terrorism and that (she) needs to be aware of who’s around (her)”.
After hearing about this from the worker’s employer, who is a friend of his, Dr Maliki said that he was “saddened and shocked”, and said that such Islamophobic views are “not healthy”.
“If you know of such incidents, please let us know so that we can correct misperceptions,” he said.
“There’s no place for Islamophobia, or any form of phobia, in Singapore, because we can’t afford to divide society ... The last thing we want is for the inter-ethnic cohesion that we’ve built for so long (to be) divided by people who have the wrong ideas and wrong understanding of the Muslim community.”
While Dr Maliki lauded the Muslim community’s efforts in making Singapore more inclusive, citing the example of mosques opening their doors to non-Muslims to have breaking-of-fast sessions together during Ramadan, he said that more can still be done.
“We must continue to deepen (this inter-ethnic) trust on a daily basis, so that when something happens, you are not shaken, not easily rattled, and our social fabric will not be easily undermined,” he said, reiterating the community’s firm rejection of radicalism and extremism.
“We must bond together, we must remain together, we must remain united.” JOEY chua