Vanu said that contrary to the points published in the article, the Malay community in Singapore has attained great social and economic progress. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 — Singapore's High Commissioner criticised today Utusan Malaysia for allegedly fanning racial sentiments by publishing an article on the future of the island republic’s Malay community.

Vanu Gopala Menon was responding to a commentary on Singapore’s upcoming presidential election written by Marzita Abdullah and titled Berubahkah nasib kaum Melayu di Singapura? Presiden sekadar simbolik (Will the fate of the Malay race in Singapore change? President mere symbolic).

Vanu said there were inaccuracies in the article and warned that the republic would not tolerate anymore of such criticism.

“Singapore will not tolerate the use of race or religion to promote ill-will between different segments of Singapore society, or to undermine our institutions," Vanu wrote in a letter to the Malay newspaper that was also emailed to Malay Mail Online.

In the article, Marzita alleged that the president post might sound powerful, it was merely symbolic and held no real political authority.

She also suggested in the article that if a Malay person were to hold the Singaporean president’s post, the welfare of their community would be given attention “because that race always categorised themselves as being sidelined in their own country”.

“Therefore, it is not surprising if many Malays in the island republic say that picking [one of] them to fill the country head's seat is not extraordinary and nothing to boast about," Marzita wrote in her article published last Monday.

In his clarification letter, Vanu said that contrary to the points published in the article, the Malay community in Singapore has attained great social and economic progress, denying that his government practices a race-based system of benefits and patronage, favouring non-Malays.

He also said that it was not the first time Utusan Malaysia had published such “inaccuracies” in commentaries on Singapore’s presidential elections.

He said he had written to the newspaper’s editor on May 30 in response to an opinion piece by Awang Selamat published in the Sunday edition of the paper two days earlier titled Presiden Melayu Ke-2?.

"I have also requested for the letter to be published to set the record straight and ensure that your readers have the full picture. The editor did not publish my letter for reasons I could not understand other than not providing a true picture to the readers.

“Instead, the editor published a second commentary, with similar inaccuracies and misrepresentations of Singapore’s Presidential Election and of the statements by Singapore’s political office holders," Vanu wrote.

He reiterated his message in the letter today, saying that the Singapore president post is elected by popular mandate and plays a key role in nation-building and ensuring good governance including “(i) as the symbol and unifier of a multi-racial Singapore; (ii) as the custodian of our nation’s reserves; and (iii) as the protector of the integrity of our public service”.

He added: “Surely, Utusan Malaysia would agree that these are important tenets which every country should safeguard”.