My handphone and Facebook inboxes were abuzz with messages recently, shortly after the names of Nominated Members of Parliament (NMP) were made public.
A few friends and acquaintances from the Malay/Muslim community raised a question that had not occurred to me as being an issue at all. “Why is there no Malay NMP”, they asked. I pondered over it and sent a short and sweet reply to them – “Errr..because we are a meritocracy?”
The answer was apparently not enough to quell their curiosity. “Yes, yes, meritocracy but don’t tell me there’s no one good enough from our community to be an NMP this time around?” asked one friend in response.
The issue was also discussed in the Malay media with a few readers writing to Berita Harian’s forum pages. A reader said he was worried that without an NMP from the community, alternative views from the Malay/Muslim community will not be aired. An officer from Parliament House responded, saying that selection was based on meritocracy and not on race.
To a certain extent, I was not surprised by the questions raised and the views expressed. Over the years, the same question of “why don’t we have a Malay this and that” have been raised, albeit, in different circumstances.
The most oft repeated one must be “Why is there no Malay/Muslim general or pilot in the Army and RSAF?” This issue has been widely discussed and has been partly addressed with the recent appointment of Brigadier-General Ishak Ismail, and with several Malay/Muslim men making the cut as pilots in the Airforce over the years.
I feel that this was a valid area of concern as I believe discrimination has no place in Singapore, even if the practicalities of geopolitical and historical issues at one point in time deemed it to be necessary then.
However, that validity does not automatically apply to all other issues of appointing people for top posts. Apart from the “Why is there no Malay NMP this time around” question, other frequently-asked ones are “Why is there no Malay/Muslim minister in charge of a portfolio other than the Environment?” and more recently, after the Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2008, some were asking “Why wasn’t any Malay MP promoted?”
Although it may seem parochial, perhaps Malay/Muslim Singaporeans are always asking these questions because it reflects the community’s desire of having more symbols of success representing the community at the national political level, and in different ways. But after more than four decades of being a meritocratic society, what does it mean to have such questions thrown up? I can think of a few possibilities:
1) Some feel that there really are highly qualified Malay/Muslim candidates as the community has progressed significantly and perceive that there is a lack of equality of chances given
2) Some feel that meritocracy should be applied (i.e based on qualification) but the race of qualified persons should also be considered
Those who support point 1) are probably frustrated because they see progress in the Malay/Muslim community but yet do not see enough representation at higher levels in society. While it is true that the Malay community has progressed, these people forget that other communities too have progressed, and that the gap between the Malay community and other communities hence remain. In a meritocratic system where the best man wins regardless of his race, this means that the probability of having the best man coming from other communities is logically bigger, and the probability for a minority to be chosen, hence, smaller.
Supporters of point 2) probably concur with Law Minister K. Shanmugam, who once suggested that a certain form of “social leavening” process be implemented for minority races, within a meritocratic framework. In other words, meritocracy is applied because all candidates considered for a certain post meet the requirements. But when the selection of candidates is done, a qualified candidate from a minority race should be selected, hence the “social leavening” concept.
While meritocracy is not a perfect system, I believe it is the closest we have to ensuring a sense of fairness amongst all. It is non-negotiable. The path to success may be rougher but each has the ability to lay claim to his or her own success. One only needs to look across the causeway to see the many issues surfacing due to having a non meritocratic system. As for “social leavening”, it means one is chosen not just because one is qualified, but a qualified minority. I’d rather be just qualified, thank you, even if it means competing with many, many, more qualified people for a top post – and not getting it eventually.
I believe what is most important is not whether there are any Malay NMPs or high ranking ministers, but for the government to realise that that today’s generation, whether Malay or not, is not going to give it the carte blanche in making decisions without explaining the rationale behind it. In other words, even if we believe in a system that is meritocratic, we would like an explanation on how things have been done to uphold the principles of meritocracy. In the case of the NMP selection process, a detailed explanation by the NMP Selection Committee on why were and how the selected ones were chosen can lead to a better understanding on the quality and merit of each one of them. Perhaps the names of all nominees could be made public so that the public can assess whether the non-selected nominees are really that qualified after all. I believe greater transparency and a more proactive and forthcoming attitude in divulging information will take the zing out of speculative comments and nip conspiracy theories in the bud before they make their rounds be it at the kopitiams, on Facebook or SMS.
Khartini is the C, M and I in CMIO. She is 1/4 Chinese, 1/2 Malay and 1/4 Indian. She is bad at Math but managed to figure these portions out with a family genealogy and calculator. Some people call her multiracial, but she prefers to be known as rojak.
She was a print journalist and an educator, and has dabbled in broadcast journalism, mountain climbing and wakeboarding (albeit in a sitting position). She has also been a clown for a day, no kidding.
She is in her 30’s and volunteers actively, including at weekly Meet-the-People Sessions.
She speaks and writes fluent English and Malay, knows pasar Mandarin and can speak some French to save her life. She recently completed her Masters in International Relations degree in the United States under a Fulbright Scholarship & a Tan Kah Kee Postgraduate Scholarship.
She loves books, and books love her.