User talk:Fauzi

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Welcome!

Hello, Fauzi, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Where to ask a question, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome! --Huaiwei 18:57, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Find the rest of the Singapore community!

Yeap, you can find us in these pages:

Do leave your name at the notice board, and thanks again for making wikipedia your online abode! ;)--Huaiwei 18:57, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)

Thank you for the correction made to the Malay name in the above article. [1] I hope you may help us to correct or add Malay names to the rest of our Singapore-related articles as well! :D--Huaiwei 19:02, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] SGCOTW

Hi, if you haven't noticed the Singapore COTW, you may like to take a look here. --Terence Ong Talk 10:27, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

Thanks, I've added my say on it. --fauzi 10:33, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Malays in Singapore

I hope that you can expand on this article. I have problems in writing about your Malay culture, customs and traditions, because I am basically a Chinese by ethnicity and so I have a better capability to write about the Chinese people in Singapore (See Chinese in Singapore).

I have written some analysis on your Malay race, but I hope that you will not take offence by what I write. Please have a look. Really. I do not carry any racist or anti-Islamic elements in my feelings, but the content I write may be questionable to more conservative Malays. However, what I wrote are plain facts, no personal opinions. Being a Malay, I really hope that you can help out. Cheers! Mr Tan 15:42, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

Well, I'm not sure how qualified I am to add to this, even as a Malay person myself. We'll probably need some sociological help, I suppose, or we could get a book in the library about this. There is no lack of such information.
While I can do some addition and correction myself, I run the risk of actually offending certain groups of Malays. Anyway, I don't find any of what you wrote offensive, though I would like to highlight a few things, based on observations:
  • I thought it would be better to name this page as "Ethnic Malays in Singapore". Likewise the same can be done for the Chinese in Singapore page.
  • Origin and identity
    • It seems most Malays do not know, or do not care about the racial mix that they are. As far as they are concerned, they are Malays. What I mean is, they don't see themselves as mixed, just that they are just one racial group, not much unlike the Chinese and the sub-racial groups such as the Hans and the others (I might be wrong though).
    • However, most will be aware of the parts of the archipelago that they come from, such as the Javanese, Boyanese and Bugis. While each sub-group may have unique cultural identities, all will consider themselves as Malays.
    • I'm not very sure if they abhor any non-Malay ancestry they might have. I see some people proudly claim themselves to be of mix ancestry. In fact, a significant number of Malay celebrities in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia who have an ancestry of Arab, European or any other group seem to be popular within the Malay society and might be seem as physically attractive by certain groups.
    • Also note that a lot of Malays of Malaysian-descent moved to Malaysia after the Separation of 1965. However, I only know that through word of mouth, and I do not know if it is referenced anywhere.
  • Religion
    • While this portion stress that virtually all Malays are Muslims, a larger portion of it seems to talk about Christianity's relationship with the Malays. I guess we should add on more of the parts on Islam from the standpoint of the Malays.
    • I also think we should stress on the parts of Islam that is unique to the Malays, and on the culture of Muslims before Islamic Revivalism in the 70s (including that of the Animist influence in Islam as practiced by the Malays), and the effects after the Revivalism.
    • Personally, I don't know about the government frowning upon the making of a Malay-language Bible, but I do know most of the Malay society frowning upon the Missionary attempts of converting the Malays and some even claim that certain unorthodox groups are doing it through unethical ways. However, I doubt we can put that down without causing a lot of dispute. Also, we might want to remove the names of groups involved, since it might offend people of the same group who disagree with those methods.
  • Culture
    • While the Malay culture as a whole might seem similar, each sub-group such as the Boyanese and Javanese might have slight differences and uniqueness in their culture. We will have to do a lot of research on that.
Anyway, I would like to help out with this as much as I possibly can, but being new to editing in Wikipedia and not too good at referencing, so I could use some guidance. Oh, and thanks for asking. --Fauzi 15:58, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

In the first place, I don't really care how much are you qualified to edit this article. But whatever it is, you, as a Malay, definitely has the better potential to edit this article as compared to me, an ethnic Chinese from Singapore. And that's why I approached you.

Firstly, let's talk about the Christian groups (Baptist and Charistmatic) aiming to proselytise the Malays. My content is supported by the second reference as provided. So the question of dispute can't be raised because of the reference link. In fact, this webpage link is supported by the Singapore government themselves.

Secondly, the religion section should be more focused on how the Malays practice Islam in Singapore, rather than talking about harassment. Being a Muslim, I believe, that you have the potential to describe how the local Muslim populace practice their religious customs and traditions in the local orientation. For example, you can elaborate on the Friday prayers; the time and duration of the prayers, Hari Raya in general, Hari Raya Haji, for those Muslims who have gone to Mecca to pay pilgrimage to Prophet Muhammad, food in Singapore (Halal), and so on.

However, making food Halal is more of a social, than a religious issue. What I mean is, this is initiated by the Singapore government to faciliate the choice of food among the Muslims (and promoting racial harmony and consideration between races). Muslims believe that killing another living thing for food, must be killed in a holy way, to beg for forgiveness to Allah for killing the living being, but yet he has to, (or something like that). (I may be wrong somewhere, sorry).

What you said about origin and identity is perfectly right. I agree with you completely.

The greatest challenge is culture. I believe that we should not focus too much on each ethnic group of Malayan stock whom have made significant presence in Singapore (including Arab). Rather, we should focus on cultural syncretism between these groups, and the connection between Islam and Malay culture. I observed that Malay culture really has close connections with culture. Also, we must not forget that this article concentrates only the local Malay populace. So the culture section must focus on local topics.

Last, but not least, I use references as a mere support to my content. My contributions are largely based on social observations, so please do not worry on that.

Apologise for any mistakes, if any. As a Malay yourself, I certainly give you the first say for this article, because I'm not a Malay, although I might have Peranakan ancestry, for this topics only you Malays can manage best. If you wish, I shall act as your henchman for this article.

Anyway, I hope that satisfies you, and that we can work on the article. Cheers! Mr Tan 05:17, 31 December 2005 (UTC)


Yes, sure, no problem. By the way, I am usually avaliable only on weekends, as the school term has already started and I have to concentrate on my studies. I will not be active around examination months, although I may log in intermittently, to see if I can give any help. Apologies for any inconvinence caused. I"ll try to chip in some time as well. Thanks. Mr Tan 18:52, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Singapore Meetup 4 date changed

Singapore Meetup

Meetup 5
  • Status: Currently being planned
  • Date: 2008

Please indicate your interest at the meetup page.
v • d •  e

Hi Fauzi, you were originally invited to Singapore meetup 4. However, due to the lack of response, the date of the meetup has been changed to November. Please refer to this page for more information. -- ZhongHan (Email) 05:22, 9 July 2007 (UTC)