Thursday, May 8, 2008

On Malay heroes

I had a number of Malay heroes growing up.

One was Leftenan Adnan Saidi of the 1st Battalion Royal Malayan Rifles who was tasked to defend Pasir Panjang Ridge against Japanese Imperial guard infantry. He exemplified courage, determination and undying loyalty. He fought til the very end.

Unfortunately, by acknowledging him openly, you open yourself up to the rather thorny issue of whether or not he was Singaporean Malay or Malaysian Malay. Did he fight for Singapura or Malaya?

So we can't really celebrate the man who died fighting for his unit because its politically 'correct' to accord hero of Singapore status to the man who fought for his unit which unfortunately came from a neighbouring country.

Lim Bo Seng, another war hero is different. Though he was born in China, he was educated in a very prestigious school, Raffles Institution. He had roots in Singapore because he married a Singaporean Nyonya woman of a local Singaporean clan.

My other hero by accord of the fact that he was Singapore's first Malay president was Yusof Ishak. He was a journalist and founder of the Utusan Melayu.

I was so inspired by the idea that the first president of Singapore was Malay, I told my cikgu that I would one day be a president and that I'd be a journalist as well. *cough* I was 9, and I hadn't really thought about it. The President may be head of state, but the real brains is the Prime Minister. *hahaha*

The President of Singapore makes the ultimate decision as to whether or not the Singapore Armed Forces has the authority to wage armed conflict to protect the sovereignty. And where applicable, to authorise the use of deadly force in defence of national interest. (That's some heavy shit, if you ask me.)

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