Misunderstood Yaacob Ibrahim

I quote what Yaacob said about being a minority from thestatestimesreview.
“It has been a difficult and challenging journey for my community. Sometimes, the majority does not know what it feels to be a minority community.”
 
Without giving any example, the Minister in-charge of propaganda and Muslim affairs also played the victim card and said that Singaporean Muslims have been “under constant scrutiny” after terrorist attacks overseas made headlines news in recent years:
 
“It is not a pleasant experience when your religion and your religious orientation is under constant scrutiny. For the Malay-Muslim community, this sense of being misunderstood is deeply felt, having been in the spotlight for quite some time. It has been a difficult and challenging journey for my community.”
 
It is true that given the circumstances, the Singaporean Muslims have been ‘under constant scrutiny’. Can Yaacob expect less? What Yaacob did not say is that this is a peculiar situation that would also happen to any community, even to the majority if their kinds are involved in the terrorist acts around the world and threatening to blow up some parts of Singapore. And this is not an issue of being a minority or being a majority.
 
The scrutiny is a result of terrorism and terrorist acts and nothing to do with being a minority. It just so happened that the terrorist acts around the world today is associated with ISIS and its religious connection with Islam. Yaacob needs to be clearer in his inference of how the Singapore Muslims are feeling under such circumstances. Being Muslims and being from the minority race and terrorism are two separate things. If the terrorist acts are not committed by Muslims in the name of Islam and ISIS, would there be such scrutiny against the Malay/Muslim minority? Unfortunately the Singapore Malays are Muslims and the dread of the world today is ISIS and Islam or ISIS abusing Islam. If terrorism is from a different religion that has no relation or association with Islam, this ‘under constant scrutiny’ would not be an issue.
 
I would agree that the majority does not know what it feels to be a minority community. Such a feeling of being a minority is not unique to Singapore or to the Malay community alone. Any ethnic minority will have the same sense of unease anywhere in the world, of any ethnic minority, as long as they are a minority. The Chinese may be a majority here but is a minority in many countries and also felt the same way, affected by being a minority. There is nothing new in being a minority. It is everywhere. Things get worst when ISIS is associated strongly with Islam and Muslims and the latter are also Malays.
 
But I must say that the majority of the other races, including the Chinese, are not staring at every Malay/Muslims and fearing that behind them is a terrorist. If that will to be the case, life would be very miserable and very difficult to get by, and inter racial tension and suspicion would only increase. Singapore would become dysfunctional. This is not true, not the case in Singapore. Generally all the races are going about their lives without being paranoid about the Malay/Muslim community.
 
Betul tak?