The Malay Heritage Foundation (MHF) invited Assoc. Prof. Noor Aisha Abdul Rahman as the guest speaker for the sixth and final session of the Cendekiawan Lestari Series (CLS) for 2021 in October. She was formerly Head of the Department of Malay Studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and is currently Co-Director of the Social Service Research Centre. Her research and teaching interests include Islamic law in Southeast Asia, Islam, and religious life.
Saturday, 9 October 2021 — Assoc. Prof. Noor Aisha’s topic of choice for CLS in conjunction with Bulan Bahasa (Malay Language Month) is Reflections on Singapore Muslim Community: Cultural Progress and Impediments. The lecture was conducted at Wisma Geylang Serai’s Project Studio for the first time in a hybrid format, where the live audience was joined by a virtual audience through MHF’s FB Live. Dr. Norshahril Saat, Chairman of the MHF, began with opening remarks welcoming the audience and introducing the speaker, as the moderator of CLS #06.
Dr. Norshahril Saat also reviewed past CLS covering topics relevant to the community such as politics, sociology, language, literature, and religious life, and recounted MHF’s events such as the Sembang Ilmu Series, Wacana Warisan Series, MHF book and online publications to safeguard and promote our Malay heritage for all. He then invited the speaker, Assoc. Prof. Noor Aisha, to the podium to commence her lecture.
Assoc. Prof. Noor Aisha started her lecture with a sub-theme about religion, Islam, in relation to her lecture topic. She talked about how the September 11 terrorist attack became an Islamic terrorist attack because Islam was used to justifying and supporting the acts. Even though this view was later clarified by Muslim leaders and intellectuals who were forced to speak out on the issue, it led to a dominant portrayal and stigmatisation of Islam. Given the pre-existing prejudice against Islam, which was reinforced by Western narratives, she mentioned that it is a “mammoth task” if the terrorist attack was seen as a cultural problem and had to be solved by Muslims themselves. She expressed that it is the task of the cultural elite, the intellectuals, and the intelligentsia of society to tackle extremists views, not just a particular community.
Referring to the ‘10 Attributes’ found in the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura’s (MUIS) Risalah (Islamic Religious Council of Singapore) for Building a Singapore Muslim community of excellence, she expressed concern over the “lack of critical consciousness and self-reflection on cultural impediments” to the neglect of social issues. She attributes this to the “disproportionate emphasis on ritual, individual and personal salvation.” In doing so, these and many other impediments could have been incorporated to make Risalah a more effective leadership tool for the community. She emphasises that the community needs to be more open in accepting views that differ from mainstream religious views and not criticise them simply because they lack expertise.
On the second sub-theme, history, Assoc. Prof. Noor Aisha referred to the book “The Bicentennial” and challenged us to look at 700 years of Singapore’s history and not just 200 years to understand what is happening today given the previous cycles of globalisation. She says that the “expansion of Singapore’s timeline served Singapore’s new strategic interest, which clings to the grand narrative of the world in the 21st century as the Asian century”, with the rising success of Asian countries, explaining “Singapore’s unique narrative, pushing its boundaries deeper and layering the evolving Singapore”. However, she argues that the long history of the Malay culture and ideas, “elements of soft power” should have been discussed in this book to reconstruct Singapore’s maritime history.
It is important to explain the rise and fall of the native port cities and the Malay merchant and ruling classes, as well as the economic activities of the Bugis and Temenggong in Singapore before the British landed, to show a different history from that which prevails in the official historiography. In doing so, Assoc. Prof. Noor Aisha wants to expose the history of the Malays. She hopes to have more intellectuals speak out to open up new perspectives on Malay history, Malay feudalism, and the Malay ruling class due to the effects of colonialism, and to have more “cultural translators” who can effectively tell the stories of the Malays.
Assoc. Prof. Noor Aisha’s third and final sub-theme was gender, in which she argued that Malay/Muslim women are still inadequately represented in the public sphere. She pointed out that this is partly due to the cultural divide and traditionalist views at the national level, which limit women’s progress in their public roles in society. She stated that men’s lack of participation in women’s equality efforts reflected gender inequality, “a persistent form of inequality” that exists in all countries.
Assoc. Prof. Noor Aisha calls on Islamic leaders to help bridge this gap by creating alternative laws that are seen as more equal for women. In doing so, she is aware that religious laws do not change easily unless they are “subject to political pressure or when they become irrelevant” because she believes in the potential of religion to bring about change. This is partly due to civil law which is seen as more equal than Syariah law which is binding on Muslims, thus hindering progress. She also noted that different socio-economic groups experience gender inequality differently. However, it is also everyone’s responsibility to work together to address and raise awareness on this issue that affects everyone and involves “complicated implications” and the “well-being of society” that are not unique to the Malay community.
After the lecture, Dr. Norshahril Saat invited Assoc. Prof. Noor Aisha to answer several questions posed by the audience at the venue and participants online via the Q&A app Slido. The sixth CLS is the last session for the series in 2021. The lecture was conducted on site and online as only a limited number of audience members were allowed at the venue. CLS is one of MHF’s new initiatives to provide a discursive platform for ideas and perspectives from prominent personalities and key thought leaders in the Malay community in Singapore. Stay tuned to MHF’s Facebook, LinkedIn or sign up to the official newsletter to receive any announcements for CLS in the future.
Useful Links
- Full video
- Assoc. Prof. Noor Aisha’s paper (coming soon)
- Dr. Norshahril Saat’s opening speech
- BERITA Mediacorp — Wanita Melayu/Islam belum cukup diwakili dalam lingkungan awam by Nity Farhana Dolhamid — 10 October 2021