That's affirmative action the Singapore way, says Shanmugam
| By Sue-Ann Chia , SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT | ||
 |  | Mr K. Shanmugam says that Singapore should have some form of affirmative action to ensure that able people from minority races are in top posts. -- PHOTO: ZAOBAO |
'I don't talk about saving so many places for Malays, so many places for Indians, so many places for Chinese. That is the wrong way to go,' he said.
In his vision of affirmative action, meritocracy remains a core principle. Affirmative action is a secondary principle, to ensure what he calls 'diversity'.
Mr Shanmugam, who is also Second Home Affairs Minister, was responding to a question posed by grassroots leader Khartini Khalid, during a dialogue with residents of Punggol Central.
Ms Khartini had asked about his views on affirmative action for the Malay community, which he first made known six years ago in Parliament as a backbencher.
In 2003, in a speech to support the Government's White Paper on the Jemaah Islamiah arrests, the-then Senior Counsel spoke about closing the gap between Malays and other races.
His remarks, which he described as 'mildly heretical', stirred up a storm. Revisiting the issue on Sunday, he reiterated his stance about 'leavening the process of meritocracy' so as to create 'icons' of success who can be 'beacons of hope' for the rest of the community.
Turning to the local Malay community, Mr Shanmugam said it had made 'tremendous' progress in the last six years.
He cited as an example the recent appointment of Brigadier-General Ishak Ismail, the most senior Malay officer in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).
There are also other symbols of success within the community, from top scoring students to top professionals, he said.
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