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How my country micromanages Islam - 3/6/2017 8:40:53 AM

Greta75

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I always said that my country clearly identifies and recognise that Islam is not a peaceful religion, thus precisely why they are so strictly regulated and micromanaged. This article was written in response to a certain incident.

Basically a chinese man married a muslim woman. And as usual, you cannot marry a muslim unless you convert into a muslim. So this chinese dude had no choice but to be a muslim, went to his wife's Mosque. And heard the Imam quote the Quran WORD FOR WORD!

Basically it was a verse insulting Christians and Jews.

And he lodge a police report that the Imam was preaching hate in the Mosque against Christians and Jews lmao!

I find this hilarious because all the Imam did was literally quote the Quran Word By Word.

Anyway, the whole Quran is a book of hate speech to me.

So I also find it laughable that our authorities are taking this seriously and saying Hate Speech against other religious groups will not be tolerated! I mean!!! It's just the poor Imam quoting the Quran lol! He wasn't EVEN using his own words! He just quoted the Quran!

Anyway, so the local drama is that, they are investigating the Imam. Muslims in Singapore are all upset because their Imam is in trouble for quoting a verse from the Quran that is AGAINST Jews and Christians. As it is simply the words of their holy text! It can't be hate speech lol!!!

And the Muslims want the Chinese guy arrested for maligning the Quran.

Anyway, pretty interesting case, I have no idea what the outcome is.

But here is commentary by a local Muslim who is voicing unhappiness about Islam in Singapore being sooo closely micro-managed and scrutinised and controlled by the government.

The fact is, Islam is the most regulated religion in our tiny island and this has been the case for decades. From the appointment of a Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs, to the creation of a statutory board called the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) where the Mufti is located, and to the Administration of Muslim Law Act that has regulatory powers over local mosques and madrasahs (Islamic schools), there is no doubt that Islam is given a unique attention by the state.

I have always asked my students, that if all the Churches were made to say the exact same thing for their Sunday service with a text provided by an office of a statutory board, how would the Christian community react?

This distrust of the Muslim religious elites amidst the disciplining of Islam, from prescribed texts for the weekly Friday prayer sermons, to appointed instructors to "upgrade Islam" through the Asatizah Recognition Scheme that makes it mandatory for every religious teacher to be registered (even those teaching Qur'anic reading in the local neighbourhoods), impact heavily on the religious elites. Many scholars have called this age as one characterised by a crisis of religious authority. The situation can be especially dire in our local Muslim community, given the unique structures bearing upon them.

https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2017/03/06/the-singapore-muslim-community-and-the-imam-issue/

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RE: How my country micromanages Islam - 3/6/2017 8:42:33 AM

Musicmystery

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Your country is a communist party run socialist authoritarian regime that micromanages everyone.

Here, we prefer freedom. We even protect it in our constitution.

Enjoy your marching orders.

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RE: How my country micromanages Islam - 3/6/2017 8:50:59 AM

Greta75

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I feel completely free and safe in my country.
I would feel less free in the US, as my safety is always compromise everywhere.
It's precisely why people feel they need guns. Because they don't feel safe and feel the need to have this security in having a gun for protection.

I have never experienced a single crime in my entire life growing up in Singapore. Never had anything stolen. Never robbed. Nothing pick pocketed from me. Never assaulted or molested.

That's freedom.

I can leave my laptops in my car in full view. Expensive things in car. I can leave my hand bag in a supermarket trolley and leave it unattended. That's freedom again.

The only people who don't have freedom are the bad guys who do bad things.

< Message edited by Greta75 -- 3/6/2017 8:53:24 AM >

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RE: How my country micromanages Islam - 3/6/2017 8:58:24 AM

Musicmystery

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svtLfoGH19c

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RE: How my country micromanages Islam - 3/6/2017 9:09:30 AM

heavyblinker

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American 'freedom' is not much more than an abstraction that is impossible to define, but I will say that the short amount of time I spent in Singapore was unbearably stifling, and that I ran into quite a few locals who had very few good things to say about living there.

At the same time, if Trump can get elected, then there is something seriously wrong with American democracy. I know that one of Putin's main goals is to prove that the system doesn't work, and he has in some ways accomplished that goal. American values are totally fucked and if the US survives this Trump debacle in one piece I seriously hope that everything gets back on track, and not only do people embrace the values they've cast aside in favor of proto-fascism, but they create new laws to prevent it from ever getting this bad again.

After Trump is impeached/imprisoned, his presidency should be held up as an example of everything America should never stand for, and they should use his presidency to teach children about the dangers of autocracy.

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RE: How my country micromanages Islam - 3/6/2017 9:16:13 AM

Greta75

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quote:

ORIGINAL: heavyblinker
short amount of time I spent in Singapore was unbearably stifling,

How was it stifling? I think alot of foreigners are just paranoid, by the fear mongering of the western media.

Unless you wanted to take drugs and you couldn't. There is nothing you couldn't do.

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RE: How my country micromanages Islam - 3/6/2017 9:32:50 AM

heavyblinker

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Greta75
How was it stifling? I think alot of foreigners are just paranoid, by the fear mongering of the western media.

Unless you wanted to take drugs and you couldn't. There is nothing you couldn't do.

Everything was just sort of dead. It looked nice on the surface and was very clean and orderly, but there was no life, no sense of danger or excitement. I'm not saying I want to live in a dangerous place, but this was safe to the point of being colorless... everyone was being too careful, it was almost like the entire country was suffering from anhedonia. I spent 3 days there and it was too long.

There were some attempts at cultivating a nightlife but the bars were sort of depressing-looking and seemed to consist mostly of people having subdued conversations at their tables, nobody seemed to be smiling or laughing. The most interesting place seriously had a hospital theme where people sat in wheelchairs and the waitresses were dressed up like nurses or something... it creeped me out.

To be fair, I took the train from Taman Negara so it was kind of a shock to go straight from the jungle to this big expensive city with heaps of rules and sanitized versions of the exotic things I had already seen in Malaysia.

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RE: How my country micromanages Islam - 3/6/2017 7:55:21 PM

Greta75

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quote:

ORIGINAL: heavyblinker
no sense of danger or excitement. I'm not saying I want to live in a dangerous place, but this was safe to the point of being colorless... everyone was being too careful, it was almost like the entire country was suffering from anhedonia. I spent 3 days there and it was too long.

I like the no sense of danger and excitement. If I wanted a sense of danger and excitement, I'd travel to somewhere with that and experience it in tiny doses when I get the whim. But home should be safe and predictable and safe. With nothing that is gonna disrupt your life. That's Singapore. That's why I say only bad guys don't have freedom. As you can't do anything bad. If you are a good guy, there is nothing to worry about, you can't do anything wrong.

quote:

The most interesting place seriously had a hospital theme where people sat in wheelchairs and the waitresses were dressed up like nurses or something... it creeped me out.

That's a place in Clarke Quay, it has closed down now.
Gosh Taman Negara. Leech Paradise!

But ya know what is ironic. In UK and Australia, you can't carry alcohol around and drink casually on the streets. But in Singapore you are free to do so. As teenagers growing up, it was kinda cool. We can openly drink booze everywhere.

And we don't have the booze restrictions of other countries, and yet we also don't have the rowdiness. People are still orderly.

Drinking age is 18 here, while it's 21 in the US.

That's freedom!

And when I was 13 to 14 yrs old. It's thanks to Singapore being so safe that I can be out with my friends. Drinking till 6am in the morning. Nothing happens to us. If police sees us, they will personally escort us safely home to our parents, and that's it.

And when I was 5 yr old, I was allowed to always roam outside the house unsupervised, going where-ever I want. Not uncommon for me to be gone for 2 to 3 hours, barefooted too and care free and just go explore the world on my own. Nothing happened, because it's that safe.

That's freedom to me too. I could not have the carefree childhood I had in the US.

The reason people barely smile around here and always look stressed is because, cost of living is very high. It's estimated 500k min needed to raise a Singaporean child in Singapore, so most people are working their ass off trying to survive. But ironically despite being one of the highest cost living in the world. None of us are crying for welfare. We just want to find our own way and take care of ourselves the best we could without relying on the government for financial support. It's very different.

We just want the government to keep doing what they do and make sure job opportunities are plentiful for everybody. So we can work our own way up. And also provide an environment conducive to businesses so foreign companies will keep wanting to use us as their Asia base. Means low tax, low crime and no disruptions to businesses.

< Message edited by Greta75 -- 3/6/2017 8:19:57 PM >

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RE: How my country micromanages Islam - 3/6/2017 8:16:12 PM

MercTech

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@Greta75 - The childhood you described reminds me of my own back in small town Mississippi of the 1960s.

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RE: How my country micromanages Islam - 3/6/2017 8:18:59 PM

Greta75

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quote:

ORIGINAL: MercTech

@Greta75 - The childhood you described reminds me of my own back in small town Mississippi of the 1960s.

I believe that anybody who grows up in a country side area. It's often safer in isolated country side area than in the city. Can do what I do. Be 5 yr old and run around freely barefoot, not a care in the world.

But I feel Singapore is the only city in the world, where kids can do that in the city.

You go to the parks at Midnight here, so many happy children playing.

I often inline skate till late and I'd still see a packed playground filled with kids at 11pm at night.

I think unlikely in the US to see this.

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