A Malaysian university lecturer and controversial newspaper columnist, Dr Ridhuan Tee Abdullah, has claimed in a column that he and his friend were blocked from entering Singapore and treated like “terrorists” when they tried to enter Singapore recently.
Tee has previously claimed that the ethnic Chinese in Malaysia will back their own race against Malays, and supported the boycott of Chinese business in Malaysia alleging that Chinese businessmen were unscrupulous.
“I was treated like a terrorist. My photograph and thumbprint were taken,” Tee wrote in his weekly column in Malay-language daily Sinar Harian, explaining what happened at Singapore’s Woodlands immigration checkpoint.
In his column titled “Know the true enemies of Islam” he further wrote that, “after more than two hours of questioning, I received a letter saying I was not allowed to go there. There was no reason given. But I am confident that it was due to my comments on the ‘ultra kiasu’.”
Tee claims that ‘ultra kiasu’ (‘never wanting to lose, and always wanting to win in any situation’) is an attitude that Malaysian Chinese have. He claims that this attitude makes the Chinese in Malaysia more Chinese than the Chinese in China.
The Chinese become ultra kiasu when they cut themselves out from other races, and by not mixing with other races, especially those studying in Chinese schools, he had previously explained. Malays too can be ultra kiasu, he opines, especially those opposing Islam, particularly the liberals or pluralists. He has also used the term on Christians.
Tee added that not being able to enter Singapore was not a loss to him, but that he just wanted to “remind how dangerous the ‘ultra kiasu’ are”.
In his column today he also accused the Singapore government of not giving decision-making positions or posts in the police, immigration or army to Malays in Singapore.