In the third instalment of the Cendekiawan Lestari Series (CLS) on “Masyarakat Melayu Singapura: Isu Agama, Budaya & Identiti (Singapore’s Malay Community: Issues on Religion, Culture & Identity)”, former President of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS), educator and writer, Haji Maarof Salleh, also affectionately known as Cikgu Maarof, offered his insights and perspectives on these three aspects that remain very relevant in the Malay community today: (1) religion (Islam), (2) culture (Malay) and (3) identity (demonstrating the community spirit and identity).
The Singapore Constitution recognises the special position of Malays as the indigenous people of Singapore, as well as the government’s responsibility to protect, safeguard, support, foster and promote their political, education, religious, economic, social and cultural interests and the Malay language, without getting any privileges. Under this position, Malays must compete openly with other Singaporeans in pursuit of progress and fulfilling their aspirations. These are some of the key challenges Malays will continue to face – Past, Present and Future.
Saturday, 3 July 2021 – As the nation returned to Phase 3 (Heightened Alert) last month, the Malay Heritage Foundation (MHF) once again hosted the third CLS edition in a hybrid format, where up to 30 registered guests on site were joined by other virtual audiences via live-streaming on Facebook. The event was also joined by MHF’s Chairman, Dr. Norshahril Saat who delivered an opening speech and MHF’s Vice-Chairman, Dr. Azhar Ibrahim was in attendance as well.
MHF Chairman, Dr. Norshahril Saat kicked off the session by delivering an opening address. He shared that the community has nurtured prominent intellectuals and thought leaders, in diverse fields of expertise. They have arisen out of Singapore’s unique circumstances where the Malays, as a minority ethnic group, are competing under a meritocratic system. These individuals have developed expertise and accumulated a wealth of experience and insights that would serve as useful reference points for the community. MHF aspires to bridge this knowledge gap through CLS.
Cikgu Maarof started his presentation by setting the context and sharing with the audience that he is a true-blue Malay Singaporean, spending most of his lifetime here, based on the three aspects that are synonymous with the Malay community: religion, culture and identity. He explained the definition of being a Malay, which is often misconstrued by the non-Malays, and even the Malays themselves. Cikgu Maarof observed that there was too much emphasis on the collection of artifacts to the extent that we tend to overlook the mentifacts (cultural traits). This imbalance unfortunately, creates an unnecessary misunderstanding towards the Malay community.
Cikgu Maarof shared snapshots from the Singapore historical timeline and the contributing factors that have helped shape the Malay identity. These phases comprise the Malays at the time of animism, influence of Hinduism, the advent of Islam as well as the reforms that took place, the effects of Western imperialism and colonisation, the post-colonial era and the rise of nationalism and lastly, the independence of Singapore and its significance.
According to Cikgu Maarof, each phase exerts an influence and leaves a legacy at different levels respectively, largely motivated by the Malay cultural traditions and lifestyles. It is therefore possible to see a Malay undergoing a change or transformation, for example, from a nationalist to an Islamist, and so on. This influence does not run in the same manner akin to a new process replacing an older one, but rather there is an association based on the strength of each influence and its reciprocity.
Cikgu Maarof highlighted that Islam generally leaves the most powerful and lasting impact in the lives of the Malays in the archipelago including Singapore, drawing references from Malaysian philosopher and scholar in Islam, Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas. By and large, Islam is widely accepted as the core Malay Identity in Singapore. However, Cikgu Maarof stressed that the form and depth of Islam that are understood, interpreted and subsequently practiced is not necessarily uniform, sometimes seen or viewed differently. These differences are influenced by the existing atmosphere or habits, the style of da’wah and the messages being conveyed, trends that are more moving and/or specially followed. For example, the religious life of a Malay before and after the war and the trends of Islamic development (era of Islamic revival 1970s) and modern (2000s). In addition, Singapore’s proximity to Indonesia also exhibits the kind of Islam that is being practiced.
Colonialism and post-colonialism as well as the opening of the world economy including globalisation, have exerted an influence on the Malays, particularly in pursuit of modern living. Cikgu Maarof revealed that these were views from the Western Islamic scholars and consistently reflected in their publications as well. He also touched on the definition and function of identity and shared some anecdotes.
Towards the end of his presentation, Cikgu Maarof raised some pointers and key takeaways to ponder. One instance is the issue of maturity in understanding and perceiving the true meaning of religion, culture and identity. What can we learn here – to look at the world and adapt it to our developing needs? What are our strengths and weaknesses, even our mistakes, especially in terms of utilising existing resources and the available provisions? How many scholars in our community are rightly deployed in a working environment of principled and strategic nature? Cikgu Maarof believes that these are some questions that the Malays ought to ask themselves.
The session concluded with Cikgu Maarof addressing several questions posed by the participants on site via live Q&A app, Slido, as well as those tuning in via Facebook Live. About 1.3K people reached via the live-streaming, in addition to our participants on site. CLS is one of our new initiatives to provide a discursive platform in featuring ideas and perspectives from prominent figures and key thought-leaders in the Singapore Malay community.
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