absolut bitch

Hebitch

follow me on Twitter

Bitch here

Shazi Ezan

Create Your Badge

Favourite Photos

Credits

Icon: LJ/sixthmile
Layout: tues day night
Inspiration: DayBefore!Misery

Layout: Like a knife.
Best viewed: Mozilla Firefox.
Resolution: 1280X800.

'Perempuan Melayu Terakhir'

Bitched on: Monday, March 05, 2007
Time: 3/05/2007 11:13:00 PM

That's the most Malay you can get from my blog.
The title means 'The Last Malay Lady' in Malay (Bahasa Melayu).
Its the title of some Malaysian movie a few years ago.

Just thought of it suddenly. Cause I remembered a few years back when one of my Malay girlfriends was making a statement that I won't go for Malay girls. Which is so not true.

And also recently I found myself in this situation where I had to defend the beauty and 'honour' of Malay girls.

To cut the long story short, I overheard someone saying something in Chinese that people thought that this particular someone was Malay at first glance and she said she was insulted. Well, that's what I thought I heard (of course, Chinese isn't my first language, neither is it the second, so I might still be wrong).

Crossed, I approached her (ermm... on SMS... ermm... later that night but still I was quite angry lah) and inquired her about this alleged comment. But she denied it. Maybe I was wrong and she didn't say this. Maybe I could have handled it better instead of saying some quite nasty stuff to her on that SMS.

But if she did say those things, I wasn't going to let it pass. It just goes to show how much pride I have for the lovely Malay ladies out there (ermm... maybe not the minahs). But still, a passing remark might never go unnoticed. Especially, with me.

And let me warn you first.

Labels: Malays, race

0 comments

With Pride We Lead.

Bitched on: Friday, March 02, 2007
Time: 3/02/2007 09:26:00 PM

I hate being the 'unofficial' leader...

People just turn to me whenever there's a need for a leader. I know its like shameless to announce this, but in fact, I can't stand this...

Group work, studio work... Whatever work... Why me?

I have my hands full with being the FOC Head and my own studio work, so why choose me again as a project leader...?

The 'Indian' part of me wanna be the 'Indian Chief' and be 'garang'; take up any and every responsibility. But the 'Malay' part of me wanna slack and lepak...

I think I just insulted two groups of people with one 'stone'... lol...

But really, I need a break.

PS: 'Heroes' is really awesome no matter what people say. At episode 15 now. Hehe...

Labels: Malays, race, school

2 comments

Is this supposed to be funny?

Bitched on: Friday, February 16, 2007
Time: 2/16/2007 12:43:00 AM

Am I missing something or is this voice recording supposed to be funny?

My friends were pissing their pants off laughing (not literally, otherwise the studio would have stunk) but really, is it funny?
Or just plain wrong?

The pranksters (assholes, I think; original, but assholes nevertheless) have clearly crossed the line; pissing off the waiter of some Indian Muslim restaurant.

I admit, I laughed a bit... a lot actually... and I'm ashamed...
But I still don't understand what's so extremely funny about it?

Is it the guy's thick accent? Is it the persistent 'pork' joke? Or is it because of how the guy blew his top off?

Despite whatever reason, I just think its very racist, insensitive and extremely immature.

What pleasures did they (the pranksters, and the people watching) get from this?
These imbeciles recorded it, uploaded it onto Youtube; surely they want to be heard, and popularised.

Does this count as racism? Or harassment?

So I'm still wondering if this intolerable act is supposed to be funny.
We're in Singapore, for God's sake...

In China, for example, the media (newspapers, tv, wadeva) is not showing any images of pigs (despite the coming lunar new year; 'year of the pig') so as not to offend the Muslim minority of the country. But we're not doing that in Singapore, are we?

In fact, we are laughing at that fact; making that sensitive issue a joke. Stop taking our religious harmony for granted, I say.

PS: Wishing Happy 'Pork' New Year to all my Chinese friends.

Labels: race, religion, ugly Singaporean, YouTube

0 comments

Good for Hady.

Bitched on: Monday, October 02, 2006
Time: 10/02/2006 10:25:00 PM

Been a while since I have last updated the blog.
So this entry might sound stale but I just have to say it.

I am so surprised that Hady won Singapore Idol by such a huge landslide (70-30 split).

No doubt Hady outshined Jonathan Leong during the finals (at least I thought so). And personally, I feel that he is the more versatile singer of the two (both are fantastic singers by the way, and I thought Jonathan was a tad 'fake' during the finals, like he was overly 'chirpy')

But, another Malay Singapore Idol?

Clearly I underestimated Singaporeans' 'colourblindness'.

But also add to that the judges' inclination towards Jonathan being the next Singapore Idol.
Admit it, they were already swaying towards him since Day 1.

And Ken was clearly displeased when Hady was eventually announced as the winner. Come on lah, his initial reaction of disdain was undeniable (on 'live' TV 'some more').
And he showered praises not to the winner but to the runner-up before bringing the newly-crowned idol back down to Earth with his 'stern warning'.

But what's the big deal right?
Wrong.
It didn't stop there.
He even said he wasn't confident of investing something he didn't believe 100% in a newspaper interview.
Ouch.

Poor Hady.

So why, Ken?
Is it because Jonathan would be more successful in the regional entertainment industry (read: Chinese entertainment scene; ie. sing Chinese songs which Jon, being the 'atas' uni student that he is, can't sing for nuts)

And also the last time I checked the atlas, Singapore's regional neighbours are not Hong Kong or Taiwan...
Hmm... I should really buy the edition that Dick and Ken have.

I did a bit of snooping in Singapore Idol forum (yes, I was 'inspired' to do so after reading a friend's blog).
And there were forums dedicated to anything Singapore-Idol-related (how 'no-life' is that?), from Gurmit's complexion to Ja-scratch-head-comments.

And the inevitable race factor HAS to be brought in; its disheartening to know, people still put importance of the colour of skin above talent.

"...another malay can't win, so Jon will most probably win.Well, it's like a pattern, one race will never win twice in a row!"
"well well well. another MALAY has won dis. well it *****s. no doubt i HATE malays. but i have to say taufik is way better. JONAHAN shld have won! y let the malay commmunities dominate the markets?! @ this rate...... 2 time a malay is winning. honestly i cant believe it. i hate hardy"

But that's just the few 'rotten apples' (no doubt i HATE racists).

Here are more comments I find rather interesting.

"I think you tok nonsense.if hady don't win mean singaporean racist?
so if chinese like jon win means racist? so every year must not be chinese
win right or else racist??I think like that not fair.if how come all the chinese go out first this year?you know how many chinese last year vote for taufik? how many malay last year vote for sly? so don't anyhow say we racist.i don't want to fight or anything but just cos a malay/indian/whatever don't win SI... everytime people say singaporean racist make me angry. also just
blame chinese only."

"...the Chinese DJs are really damn biased abt the Malays 'being united in voting for Hady'... the way they said it is as if 'only Malays
vote for Hady'. WRONG... some of my Malay friends actually vote for Jonathan, while some of those who vote for Hady are Chinese."
"Mathilda d'Silva was definitely the best vocalist. Why did she get voted off so early? ... WHY did she get voted off? Could it be that she was Indian? That the people, being mostly Chinese, overlooked the fact she was in fact better than everyone else vocally and gave their vote to unworthier Chinese?"
"Why do so many people like Paul Twohill? He's NOT the best looking guy around, definitely not the greatest vocalist in the competition. People allegedly like him for his personality, but face it: outgoing and spontaneous as he is, he airs on the wild side-- especially by the standards of conservatively-inclined Singaporeans. Singaporeans have been accused of giving "special treatment" to "angmoh" (Caucasian). Is Paul cruising on that tendency?In other words, if he were as ...flamboyant as he is but full Chinese, or Malay, or Indian, would he still be as well received, despite his limited vocal abilities? Are singaporeans cutting him some slack cuz it's fun to have a crazy pseudo-angmoh around?"
See more comments at the Singapore Idol forum.
For those really-have-nothing-better-to-do (like me...).
PS: all the comment bad engrish not I write one hor.
Labels: race, Singapore Idol

0 comments

Lighten up, lah...

Bitched on: Friday, September 15, 2006
Time: 9/15/2006 09:17:00 PM

I saw this piece of news online.
(Yes... I surf the net to read up on news too. Surprise, surprise...)

"Muslims angry over pope's remarks"

Which makes me wonder... I'm a Muslim. So should I be angry?
Are ALL muslims angry now?
And this coming from a respectable online News website.

Anyway, what was it that supposedly 'angered us'?
What did the pope even say?

Pope Benedict XVI had quoted from a book recounting a conversation between 14th century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and a Persian scholar on the truths of Christianity and Islam.

The pope said, "The emperor comes to speak about the issue of jihad, holy war. He said, I quote, 'Show me just what Mohammed (SAW) brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.'"

He was just quoting what a dead emperor said centuries ago!

Yet, the media in Islamic countries and thousands of Muslims worldwide must have 'ignored' that fact and heard, "Mohammed (SAW)... blah...blah...evil and inhuman... blah..."

And what I think the Islamic extremists heard was, "Jihad... blah... blah... Jihad... blah... Jihad... blah..."

So what do I think? Lighten up, lah...
Its not like he said he agreed with the quote (neither did he repudiate it... hmmm... Now that's wrong.)

But why the ultra-sensitivity?
First the Danish caricature controversy, and now this.
Its things like these that makes us look like cry-babies with violent tantrums.

Goodness...

That said, it does not mean that I would just stand and watch if our names have been tarnished.
And I am not saying that we should not care or respond.
But why fight fire with fire?

And that said, I am not implying that I won't fight for Islam if ever I feel our existence is threatened.
I would die for my religion.
I would die for what I believe in.

Wah... heavy stuff...

And that is true for anyone with any faith.
Christian. Jew. Hindu. Buddhist.

Recently, I saw this vandalised onto the toilet wall;

It says; "ISLAM TERRORIST."
Along with other hurtful and insensitive statements.

Like "F*ck Islam", "F*ck all Muslims" and lastly "F*ck 'ALLAH'".

The last one was damn hurtful. Not only because of the obvious, he (it was a male toilet, so... duh) had actually put inverted commas, implying that the Almighty is not real or true.

The first thing that went through my mind was anger and outrage.
This is Singapore. Home to sensible and tolerant Singaporeans of many races and religions.
Muslims here are generally moderate and have done nothing to have angered or hurt the others (cept maybe that JI-Yishun-bomb-scare-thingy...yikes...).

So why was this son-of-a-bitch saying all this?
Did we hurt him or his family? Did we insult him or his faith? Are all muslims terrorists in his eyes? What drove him to write this?

But now, come to think of it, I pity him. This person must really have a small mind like that of a child's; blinded by the negative images he sees of Islam in the media. He is without a doubt, ignorant about the truth and beauty of the religion. He is also a coward, expressing himself on a stinking toilet wall, of all places.

Plus, he is SO going to hell.

So, let people say what they want.
Let them do what they want.
Let God punish them if thay are wrong. Not us.
That is why its called the Judgement Day.

And I will pray for their souls then...

Ya rite...
Labels: race, religion

0 comments

The Fine Line.

Bitched on: Saturday, July 22, 2006
Time: 7/22/2006 12:38:00 AM

21st July was Racial Harmony Day in Singapore.

I totally forgot about that until I saw a bunch of school kids wearing ethnic costumes in the bus interchange as I was heading to school (wah.. School... School... Its been a while since I used that word...).

It used to be my favourite event in school when I was younger.
We will all dress up in one another's ethnic costumes or even other national costumes.

Sigh...

Those were the days...

Those naive innocent days.
21st July was the only day when race will matter more than any other day in the year.

For the rest of the year, you would have never cared if the best friend you had is a Chinese.
You would have never cared if you are neighbours with an Indian family.
You didn't find it wrong to have crushes on girls who are not Malay.
And you had never given a damn about hanging out with closest friends of many different races.

Cause you never knew what race or heck, racism, was all about.
Even if racism had slapped you in the face, you wouldn't have realised it back then.

My first touch with racism came from an unlikely source, my mother.
Erm...
My closest friends will all know that. Haha...

Worried that I might be hanging out with too many friends of other races and not my own, she dropped subtle hints that she would like me to hang out with 'my own kind'...
I tell you, if I had taken her advice back then, you would be seeing me kicking a soccer ball across half the soccer pitch by now (now, I consider myself fortunate if I can kick as far as a quarter of the field).

Well, she flipped (when I was in JC) when she thought that my overly-friendly and zealously-helpful Chinese female friend, who came to my house one day, was my girlfriend.

That argument was hysterical... in a really funny way... I tried pushing her buttons by implying she was right... Lol...

Till this day, she would still threaten to have a heart attack on the day I bring a Chinese girlfriend home...
Who is she to control my life right?
Especially when she herself is married to an Indian Peranakan (my dad, duh...).

Its not only my mum, I'm sure.
Though we can now wave the Singapore flag happily, say the pledge with our heart and soul, hang around with friends of different skin colour and beliefs, there will still be people like my mum.

From the little people, like the Chinese taxi driver I encountered earlier this year who said he won't take Indians around in his taxi, to big organisations like the Army.

Come on, I'm not gonna mince my words about the Army (or Navy, or Airforce especially).
You know it, and I know it.
The number of Malays in restricted areas or battalions like in Signals, Armour, Engineer or other support battalions are really really pathetic (non-existent even).
Airforce? Commando? Almost kosong (zero).

Is it coincidence? I doubt so.

Heck. I can't be bothered about that.

And I can't be bothered to invite any controversy especially with anything about the Malay community.

I have had my say (in Mats Boleh!)...

Recently, my twin drew some flak from some girl when she (my twin, in her blog) commented that while helping out a teen (discouraging him from joining bad company etc.), she 'subconsciously' slammed the state of the Malay community in Singapore.
And I can understand why my twin ended up doing that.

That girl wrote in my twin's tagboard,
"...no point looking bak (back) and mengata orang (talk bad about) or even a particular society. As a muslim and a teacher, shdnt u do sumthing +ve?? cant believe ur shaping the future! get a life!"
Like I said in the blog tag (in response), in order to define what's the positive, you need to define what's the negative.

Besides, why is it my twin (a Malay, duh...) receiving the brunt of all this when in the news (day in day out) you hear about our Malay society in not so flattering light?

Drug abuse, domestic violence, juvenile deliquency and other criminal acts.
We dominate the headlines!!!

The news reports speak for themselves. So what is wrong for one person to voice it out?
Especially one person from your own community?
Trust me, it seriously hurts when someone from outside the community points out the obvious.

I remember back in my secondary school days, during History, my teacher was explaining that back in the old days, the Chinese were coolies, businessmen, etc. whereas the Indians were mostly in the banking and laundry businesses.
And she asked us what was the career the Malays were predominantly in.

My smart ass classmate said, "toilet cleaner."

I glared at him. But I shrugged it off.
Back then, it didn't occur to me that what he said was EXTREMELY hurtful and racist (I doubt, back then, that retard realised it too).

But now I will always remember that, even though it has been 8 years, I will never forget that.
Come to think of it, I should have seriously kicked his fat motherf#$king ass back then.

He was clearly trying to make a joke.
But being funny and being racist is really a fine line.

Which is why I am writing this entry.

The Fine Line.

And Russell Peters.

Have you heard of him?
If you haven't, he is this really funny comedian of East Indian parentage (brought up in a white Canadian suburbs).
His jokes seem to really blur the fine line.

Some might say he is racist (making fun of other races and his own especially).
But some say he is a comic genius.

I say he is the latter.
His jokes usually revolve around the stereotypes and he is really unrestrained when it comes to making fun of a particular race.

Sneak preview of the most-downloaded stand up comedian.

Click here to see the full version of his stand-up act (part 1 to 6) on YouTube.com.

Strangely, I was hardly surprised when I learnt that he had a racist encounter when he was younger, 5, while cycling in his neighbourhood.
His neighbour who was watering his lawn turned to hose little Russell before yelling, "Go home you f#$king Paki!"

Back then he said he didn't realise it, he (being a naive and innocent boy) had thought that his neighbour was helping him to cool down on the hot summer day.

Its the small things like this that makes you remember, no?

Back then, you never knew what a nigger, chink, paki, redneck or white trash was.

Singapore too has its equivalent.
Aneh, cheena, orang, keling-kia...
Mats, bengs, lians and minahs...

Even the foreigners are not spared.
Banglas, study mamas and the Marias...
Shame on us, cause we look down on these people.

Angmohs and their SPGs.
The SPGs being equivalent to blondes in the West.

This has to be the most 'racist' entry I have ever written... lol...

Update: I was discussing with a friend (from another race) about my views on my community (and I admit, it wasn't that positive).
And I told him that honestly I wasn't really helping out my community.
Here I am whinning about my community's deteriorating state and I'm doing 'jack' about it.

Nothing... Its easier to sit back and complain, without lifting a finger.

But he told me that I am.

I am helping out my community. In my own way.

I am going to university.
I am going to contribute to the small percentage of Malays going to university, the 1.9%, as compared to 11.7% of the whole population.

I'm not doing drugs.
Or any other vice.
So I'm not further contributing to the number of juvenile deliquencies or other criminal acts commited by the community.

So I am helping out.
In a small but significant way.

Labels: Malays, race

0 comments

Uniquely Sino-pore Part 1

Bitched on: Friday, March 31, 2006
Time: 3/31/2006 06:23:00 PM

I was on the cab and I met a racist cab-driver.
What's new?
Well, this is Singapore and racism doesn't just slap you in the face.
Everyone is discreet, everyone I know, that is.
Racism is all around but no one says it straight to your face.
Period.

What did this particular Chinese driver say to me?
Well, initially the conversation was fantastic, about the Army (he was slamming it too) and my ORD.

Then, it soured...
We saw an Indian lady flagging down a cab.
He pointed her out to me.
He told me he will never take her. Why?

He would never take cats, dogs, durians and Indians.

I slumped into my seat.
I am part-Indian.
I was horrified.

I felt like he dug deep into my heart took it out and smashed it. My thoughts wandered to my Indian friends. I pitied them, to encounter people like him. What did they do wrong?

Well, according to the cab driver, they are noisy, complain a lot and finally, they take out the money too slowly! Such a silly down-right moronic stereotyping of the entire race of people! Unbelievable! Amazing!

To make it worst, he slipped to say that they were worst than my kind (I am Malay). I was stumped! What did we Malays ever do to you?

I wanted out of his Ku Klux Cab, prompto! I got ready with the cash (in case he accused me of taking out my money slowly...) and paid him as soon as my taxi came to a halt.

The taxi fare shocked me. I guessed he must have taken a much much longer route than necessary. I couldn't help but think, cheating Chinaman...

Racist remark I know but he is just one of the true representative of that stereotype. An eye for an eye. "But Shazi," you would say,"two wrongs do not make a right." I didn't care at that time.

Screw you, for being a racist.
And hopefully this will be my last encounter with an arse like him.

Labels: race, Singapore stories, ugly Singaporean

0 comments

Mats Boleh! Revisited

Bitched on: Friday, February 24, 2006
Time: 2/24/2006 09:41:00 PM

Hmmm... No more racist jokes this time.

In the previous Mats Boleh! entries, I 'slammed' (ok, not really slammed) my own race (more like I flicked the finger..) about our educational and other statistics but this time, I am going to talk about something more serious and worrying (...yawn).

I won't beat around the bush and let me dive straight into the matter... Our health, or lack of it. Take a look around you and look at the makciks and pakciks (aunties and uncles in Malay). What do most of them have in common?

If you notice our bulging tummies, then you are right, my friends. A lot of us Malays are obese!

Another cheena (Chinese) friend of mine was commenting how curvy our Malay gals are (I do indeed agree whole-heartedly) but then another Malay friend of mine went on to joke that soon after marriage, the chicks will become round hens (this friend of mine is so sexist duncha think, I will not name him for his sake...).

Well, us Malay guys should not be spared too. Just look at some pakciks' waistlines and all the spare tyres hanging around (and I'm not talking about the ones in the overly modified Malay-owned cars)...

And also speaking as an instructor from BMTC (school for Army recruits), my neighbouring company (which is currently taking in and teaching obese recruits) has roughly 70% of the recruits who are Malay! And they are like morbid (how I can I put this nicer?) obese!

Are we a race that raises our children to become sumo wrestlers?

Before you pro-Malays start thumping your chest again and start chanting Hidup Melayu (Live On Malays) again... let me slap you (not physically, of course) with the following statistics from the Ministry of Health (MOH), Singapore.

In 2004, the prevalence of obesity amongst Malays (i.e to say the tendency for us to become fat) is 19.2% compared to the Chinese (4.3%) and the Indians (13.5%).

However, our Indians friends are more prone to abdominal fatness.
Hmmm... I'm part Indian too...

Those Malays who are not catergorised as obese should not be relieved as Malays are also more at risk of becoming obese. 33.6% of Malays (aged 18-69 years) have high BMI (Body Mass Index, kg/m2). That is like 1 in 3 of Malays may become obese (that explains the chicks to mother hens joke).

Looks aside, obesity also brings along other harmful and potentially fatal complications like heart risks and diabetes.

We are the ethnic race with the highest % with high cholesterol (27.9%) compared to the total population's 19.8%.

11.7% of Malays have diabetes (Diabetes Mellitus) compared to 8.9% of the population. However, our Indian friends are more at risk with a staggering 16.3% of them having diabetes...

Which makes up wonder...
Is Indian food really that sweet and sugary? Or izzit because of the genetic make-up? Or izzit just a combination of both? Whatever it is, I am really worried...being part Indian too...

Sigh...

Another thing you will notice about most Malays is that we smoke (like in cigarettes, duh!).

A very beng (slang for a Chinese... erm... mat?) colleague of mine asked me for a stick and when I said I don't smoke, he gave me a shocked expression. He broke into a grin and told me not to be selfish with the cigarettes and I should come up with a better excuse next time. It took me a while before I finally convinced him that I really don't smoke. And finally he blatantly told me that he assumed I smoke because of my ethnicity (how racist was that? haha...).

But who could blame him? Look at the statistics (page 9 0f 13) and judge for yourself.
18.6% of Malays are smokers compared to 11.7% of Chinese and 12.1% of Indians.

Before you brush it off as a only a small percentage, get this, 29.9% of male Malays smoke (that is like 1 in 3 Malay mats), again the highest amongst the other races in Singapore.

For us Malays, being Muslims and all, we are prohibited to consume alcohol but that has not stopped 7.6% who are occasional drinkers, 1% frequent drinkers and 0.6% regular drinkers (you know who you are...). Good for you, the remaining 90.8%.

To make matters worst we also tend to not have medical check-ups (page 11 onwards) like Breast Cancer screening, Cervical Cancer screening and Colorectal Cancer screening.

Only 34.8% of Malay women have gone for mammography (for breast cancer) compared to Chinese (53.7%) and Indians (46.2%).

What is it with us Malays?

Before you Malay readers start to despair and see ourselves to be doomed to an early grave. Hear this out, the % of us who exercise regularly (page 5 of 16) are higher than total population (28% compared to 24.9%).

That's great news!

For more details on all of the statistics see here.

However people, we still need to get our fat asses to the nearby clinics or polyclinics for our medical screening (I am nagging my mum to go for her mammography soon).
Dispell the belief that all medical check-ups involve needles and pain. If your mum is over 50, nag her to do the mammography! And tell your dad to watch his cholestrol intake and monitor his weight.

If you truly love your love ones, remind them to lead a healthier lifestyle...

The reason as to why I suddenly wrote this (sombre...ok...quite serious) blog entry was because a cousin of mine is recently warded in the hospital. For the sake of her two daughters (who might be reading this), I wish her a speedy recovery.

God bless...

Take a quiz: How 'Mat' Are You?

Labels: Malays, race

1 comments

Mats Boleh! Part 3

Bitched on: Thursday, February 02, 2006
Time: 2/02/2006 03:56:00 PM

Gosh... this will never stop huh?
To first time readers, check out Part 1 and Part 2 before you embark on this reawakening...

continued...

We Malays have this inferiority complex when we compare ourselves with the other races in Singapore (just look at the barber story in Part 1).

Libertas wrote,

"The Malay community needs to get out of the habit of having the self pitying
refrain of "Melayu ape. Macam mana nak naik?".... Accepting this sad
predicament only seeks to perpetuate this endless racist trend of the Malays
being cultural inferior to the Chinese."

Eventually, ever so often we hear the excuses that a Malay can never go far in his career or education because of this and that (oh... his employer is racist that's why the promotion went to his new Chinese colleague...Or he didn't do well because the teachers were bias against him... Or he can't find a job because they saw his name on the interview list and it said 'Mohamed...')

Come on people, have you heard of qualifications? That's what you need to have to work... and potential employers find that appealing, you know...

If you were an employer and you had to choose between a university graduate (only 1.9% Malays are graduates compared to 11.7%f the total population) or one without a diploma, 'A' Level or ITE certificate (27% of Malays don't), who would you choose?

Gee...

Furthermore doesn't the government pay for our education fees up to Junior College? See Book Review of The Singapore Dilemma. Under 'Section 152' of the Singapore Constitution.

So sadly what happened to the 27% of the Malay students who did not move on to post-secondary education? The financial burden is surely reduced right?

However, I won't entirely say racism is absent in Singapore. Just look at the newspapers and you will see under the employement classifieds 'must be billingual in English and Mandarin'
Gee... Look at the Army. Ehem...

So can it people! Stop blaming others for your own shortcoming! Take a look at what Cray-Z5200 said,

"The one thing that pisses me off about this general malaise (haha!
malay-se) is that there's always the idea that it's a general conspiracy
against the Malay race, that people are trying to keep the Malays
down.
F__K YOU.
Nobody owes you a living. Nobody is responsible for
you own failings except yourself. Even if there is some sort of conspiracy, that
attitude encourages people to not be proactive to do better. So go
ahead, keep blaming everyone except yourselves, and see if the unwanted
babies and dismal grades don't keep coming."

To comfort yourself people, read the annual reports in our dearest SM Mr Goh Chok Tong's speech regarding our progress since a decade ago (but notice he didn't compare it to the rest of the country's population... I wonder why? Gee...)

So before I leave, I will (blatantly copy and paste) leave you with a grim and dim parting words from Cray-Z5200,

"And that means, Foolish Mat Tapereds, Stupid Skinheads (do you even know what the original skinhead cause was about? If you did you wouldn't even dare to
be one) and Sluttish Minah Sexpots, that instead of worrying whether the
haircuts and the clothes complete the look and whether you're talking loud
enough for everyone to hear you, maybe you should start thinking about what
you're gonna be when you actually grow up. Which is a pity, because you're
probably about 25 already and with 2 kids."

Ouch...

Okay, here is a joke to ease the pain;

"How do you confuse a Mat?
Ans: Put him in a circular room and tell him to elak (relax) one koner (corner)"

Chill, Relaks- All in the name of fun

Lastest entry, Mats Boleh! Revisited....

Take a quiz: How 'Mat' Are You?

Labels: Malays, race

0 comments

Mats Boleh! Part 2

Time: 2/02/2006 01:36:00 PM

Halo again, before you continue reading this entry, I suggest you read Part 1 first.

continued...

I heard this joke from a cheena good friend of mine,

What do Superman, Garfield and a smart Malay have in
common?
Ans: They are all fictitious characters...

Got the joke, I sure did... (but I can never get the row row your boat to dayung sampan joke, I mean that's a Peranakan song. Now, who has the last laugh huh?)

Anyway, back to the topic, I found one of the fictitious characters while I was surfing the net.
The smart Malay one. From what I gathered snooping in his blog, he was from RI, have loads of scholarships, Chinese-Malay mix (oh... that explains it!) and served as a 3rd Sergeant in the Army (let's call him Libertas). If you do want to read more intelligent arguments about the Malay dilemma and situations we are facing, I strongly recommend his blog entries (though bombastic they are)! Mine are just shallow and tongue-in-cheek. haha...

Libertas had written about the divorce rates among Malays in Singapore and the possible reasons as to why. Also, he mentioned something which is closer to home, early teen marriages and unwanted pregnancies (you put them together and you have 'shotgun marriages'.. Tadah...*applause)

One of my relative faced that situation. And guess what...(*drumrolls) he got a divorce 3 years after the marriage. And he is my age! 21! This is no laughing matter, cause the couple have a child who has to bear the brunt of a shattered home (what is more worrying is that, researchers found out that the problems with juvenile delinquents may have stemmed from broken families). hmm... And the cycle continues...

These unwanted (unplanned, I say) pregnancies stem from teenage premarital sex. Why can this problem still arise within our Malay (Muslim) community? Considering the way Islamic law punishes illicit sexual relations. Our Qur'an clearly spells out the related law;

" The woman and the man guilty of unlawful sex (adultery or fornication), flog each of them with a hundred stripes; let not compassion move you in their case in a matter prescribed by Allah if ye believe in Allah and the Last day; and let a party of the believers witness their punishment ". (24:2)
Of course these punishments are no longer relevant in our modern country (who cares rite?... rite...just wait till you die and go to hell).
Then why are teens tempted to taste this forbidden fruit?
"For youth who are sheltered by their parents from any significant contact
with the opposite sex, a chance encounter can result in a total loss of moral
judgment," said one person.
So true. Especially among Malay families in Singapore. (more on Muslim Youth and Sex) Other reasons (given by Libertas) include parents who marry off the children of the (often large) family "would lessen the burden on the parents economically and emotionally".
My cousin was my age when he got married. That was barely 2 years ago and he now has a 1 year old baby and his wife is heavily pregnant with another.
Also I had men from 3 Guards who are married with kids in tow and barely earning S$300 a month.
Libertas wrote,
"Sometimes I find it hard to fathom why some Malays marry at such an early age, not knowing what it entails being married to another and staring a family. I simply cannot imagine why they would want to get married when their incomes are still relatively unstable, or that they don't even have a home to begin with, or a tentative plan for the future for their family."

Exactly...

To make matters worst, this cousin of mine owns a car! (what? where the hell did he get the money from?) Another problem us Malays are facing are financial problems stemming from our spendthrift ways.
(look at me for example... haha)
"...is it a result of the attitudinal 'carpe diem' mentality of the Malay, to kais pagi makan pagi, kais petang makan petang, which gives no thought to their financial future? ...
With the emergence of the New Poor, fueled by the various 'buy now pay
later' schemes, Malays seem to have formed the bulk of this new social
grouping, leading purely hedonistic materialistic lifestyles of Plasma
screen televisions and room-to-toom air conditioning with a big fat zero in their bank accounts."

Again... spot on...

Wait I am not done yet...Wanna hear more? Tune in to Part 3...
Take a quiz: How 'Mat' Are You?
Labels: Malays, race

0 comments

Mats Boleh! Part 1

Bitched on: Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Time: 2/01/2006 11:24:00 PM

I'm sorry but I feel its the appropiate time to come out of the closet. I've been keeping this from a lot of people. And I can't remain silent anymore...

I am a racist.

I can't stand Malays. They irk and disgust me...

Like euuuw....

My idols are these dudes, 28-year-old Benjamin Koh Seng Huat and 25-year-old Nicholas Lim Yew who wrote on their blogs how they detest this bunch of misfits (on what's one of their blog name again, some Holocaust thingy, they removed it by the way) And they undeservingly were made to serve time in jail and some community service thingy at this Jamiyah place because Singapore government is like so against racism and all (rite...). I'm like, so gonna print a lot of this 'Free Benjy' or 'Free Nicky' T-shirts and get people on the streets (non-Malays of course) to sign my petition to release them...
(see here, under the header 8 Oct 2005)

Ya rite...

An idiot who is so daring to write hate messages about 14% of his country's population really deserves some credit for his bravery (ya, bravely dim-witted...)

And no, while I wasn't seriously saying I am against Malays (they are my own people for God's sake, and no, I'm not blind and I know I am brown, just so you know) I am, however, ashamed of the stigma we have. And who can blame them, it is us who made ourselves to be potrayed this way. Before you Malay readers protest and thump your chest chanting 'Hidup Melayu' (Live Malay, literally) and calling me 'kentang' (which means potato in Malay, implying that the person is westernised) or 'tak sedar diri' (shameless or something like that), hear me out.

Few years back when I was still in secondary school, I was having my hair cut at this Malay barbershop.
The barber asked me which school I was from and then he went on to ask me whether I was in Normal Academic or Normal Technical stream. I was in Special stream for your information (and no, I'm not proud of that. Makes me sound like an idiot or something. So I rather call myself Express-streamed).

A few years later when I was in junior college, the same barber asked me which ITE i got into.

And again when I went to the Army to serve NS, he asked me if I was serving in the Police or Civil Defence.

Get the picture?

(pardon me, my normal acad/tech and ITE friends)

Its a stereotype.

Just like these characteristics or behaviors of a stereotypical Mat

Mats smoke
Mats play and watch soccer
Mats can play the guitar
Mats ride a bike (or at least know how to)
Its so true, isn't it? At least two out of four of the above...
And Mats look like this
Mats wear baggy or (God, what are they thinking) tapered jeans
must accessorize with a trucker's cap
or if not style the hair with wax into a mowhawk (or at least something like that) or even go skinhead!
huge Aviator sunglasses to shield the eyes from those bad bad sunlight
or simply stick with large white frame 'nerd' glasses
having tattoos here and there wouldn't hurt
Am I spot on?
I have to say that all this totally does not describe me at all...(i'm guilty with the aviators... so sue me) So does this not make me a mat?
I used to find it insulting when people call me a mat. I used to see it as a degrading term to describe male Malays (with qualities stated above and many many more negatives one) but now I am slowly changing that perception.
While surfing the net trying to find the news about the two racist bloggers and what their blog name really were (can someone help me out), I came across this particular Malay blogger (let's call him Cray-Z5200) and he wrote,
"How do I put it nicely? I can't. When looking at the big
picture, a fair number of Malays are royally screwed up. And a lot of it is
true. Statistics don't lie."
Statistics don't lie? Like what my GP teacher would say, we can't make any statement without facts. Well, so where is the proof?
I did a bit of snooping and found that
19% of Malay Muslim marriages end up in divorce compared to 5.5% of the entire population
Malays make up one in five teens aged 19 (and under) being married
13.8% of Malay Muslim brides are under 21 compared to 3.1% of the rest of the population's brides
Malay girls are responsible for one in two teen births and one in three abortions among teens
One in two teens who end up with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) is a Malay (oh no!!)
a staggering one in five Malays have no educational qualification at all (what the hell?)
only 2.76% of Malays hold managerial or other white collar positions compared to 14% of the entire population.
only 1.9% of Malays do actually make it for tertiary studies compared to 11.7 % of the population
Bear in mind Malays make up only 14% of the entire Singapore population. And I am also trying to find the statistics to the ethnic breakdown on crime and drug abuse, which I won't be surprise to find us coming up tops...
(figures from above can be found here and also from Mr Zakir Hussain's article in the weekly Insight column)
Cray-Z5200 continues to say,
"...news reports of how bloody dismal our report card as a race is.
Unwanted pregnancies, drug abuse, academic performance, divorce rates, you name
it, we got it."
Yeah, we sure do.
Stay tuned for more bitchings... In Part 2.
Take a quiz: How 'Mat' Are You?
Labels: Malays, race

0 comments

Twitter Updates