Speaking at a seminar addressing PAP grassroots leaders, Law Minister K Shanmugam criticized the Singaporean Malay community saying that Malays are “over-represented” in crime and drug statistics and as well as the prison population:
“The Malay-Muslim community has to take a hard look at three challenges facing the community – radicalisation, more professionals losing their jobs and a significant over-representation of Malays in crime and drug statistics as well as the prison population.”
The Singaporean Indian Minister said that the various government-funded Malay-Muslim organizations should “step forward and help tackle these issues”:
“Self-help group Mendaki, the Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) and the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore to step forward and help tackle these issues. The roles that such groups can play include counselling former offenders and supporting their families, as well as turning those who are at risk away from crime and drug abuse.”
Law Minister K Shanmugam then offend neighbouring Muslims saying that Singaporean Malays are “better off than Malaysians and Indonesian Malays”:
“A Singapore Malay today in educational standing, in terms of skills and wealth, is better off than a Malaysian Malay or an Indonesian Malay. The same goes for the Indians, and for the Chinese, in Singapore.”
Minister K Shanmugam also told Singaporean Muslims that they should not be like Malaysian Muslims because the latter are more “favorable to terrorist groups”:
“A study by US-based Pew Research Centre on Malaysia, showed 10 per cent of Malaysian Malays had a favourable opinion of terror group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and nearly a quarter were not prepared to denounce it. We have to make sure that we do not get there.”