1/ A thread on the struggles & webs of Malay entrepreneurship (and the miserable tragedy of Ateeqah Mazlan).

Over the past few days, amidst a pandemic & lockdown, another storm struck S'pore’s Malay & Muslim communities. Vulnerable livelihoods now face a new threat.

2/ Basically, Ateeqah, an actress, filmed herself complaining to MTI & HDB on the ongoing operations of Malay home-based F&B businesses (eg. kuih bakers).

Ateeqah, who also runs a failing clothing line, urged them to store their foods till June & apply for financial aid.

3/ Today, the govt has confirmed that home F&B businesses must cease, if they require delivery or collection (wtf). A $1k penalty has been issued.


Faishal Ibrahim, a PAP MP, notes that the govt will provide support (lol).

Ateeqah's stunt arguably sparked this development.

4/ The govt’s ruling has triggered anxiety & fear across the Malay community. Attempts to clarify are underway.

But home sellers have already reported mass cancellations & losses. Malay families are now placed (again) under the gaze of powerful govt agencies.

5/ Ateeqah has rightfully incurred widespread Malay wrath. She's been condemned as a race traitor & a salty-ass snitch.

Ateeqah now joins the pantheon of S'porean Malay/Muslim clownery, sitting alongside Taufiq Ruzaini, Nadiah Din, Yaacob Ibrahim, and so on.

6/ The anger towards Ateeqah is fully justified.

In a climate of economic collapse & state surveillance, Ateeqah attempted to subject Malay home businesses to greater govt monitoring & control.

Importantly, Ateeqah attacked a cherished, life-giving social & economic space.

7/ But what exactly is a Malay home food business? In 1997, Tania Li found that most were minor trades, run by low-income, working-class women.

They typically sell to family & kin. Business is also marked by social & moral commitments, & a distaste for predatory profiteering.

8/ Malay home enterprises have changed since the 90s. Now, the internet is used to engage wider clienteles. The Malay middle class has also joined the scene.

But certain traits stay constant—that is, this is an informal, invisible, precarious, collaborative, workers’ economy.

9/ The nature of this trade has been shaped by a distinct historical & political forces.

For example, upon colonization, the British brutally exterminated native Malay maritime economies. The void created was quickly occupied by European & Chinese monopolies.

10/ Colonial policies broadly confined the sea-faring Malays to agriculture & blocked them from engaging in lucrative trades.

Such prohibition was based on British belief in Malay laziness; its fear of Malay economic power; and insistence that Malays stay "unstained" by trade.

11/ Colonialism therefore created the economic depression of Malays.

This condition has been maintained by the PAP's racial politics & the dominance of Chinese (family & clan) businesses. The 60s & 70s purge of Malays from the military sealed this coffin.

12/ Several scholars have tracked Malay-S'poreans' economic struggles.

They highlight that Malays face institutional discrimination in the public sector, & the prejudicial hiring practices of private Chinese employers. Wider beliefs in Malay laziness sustain these barriers.

13/ Another factor to note is the forced resettlement (and proletarianization) of S'poreans from kampongs to HDB flats. This crushed long-standing communal & economic networks.

But certain networks endured. The Malay home F&B business arguably repairs & taps into those systems.

14/ The reality then, is that Malay home F&B businesses are urgent income sources for a community long besieged by bigotry & deprivation.

As such, it's an economy situated in a web of communal solidarity & mutual aid. (This is common to other marginalized communities elsewhere).

15/ Malay folks are thus right to charge Ateeqah for undermining their at-risk livelihoods (“periuk nasi”) & for betrayal ("melayu makan melayu").

Symbolically, Ateeqah violated a social compact. She's not the first to do so, but her attempt has proved to be prolific.

16/ Moreover, Ateeqah had awfully bad timing.

For one, minorities & the working poor have been excessively harmed by the lockdown (eg. insufficient govt aid, rampant public snitching).

Two, Ramadan has historically been a major economic opportunity for Malay & Muslim commerce.

17/ Any suggestion that Ateeqah had snitched for the greater good of public health is simply dashed by existing laws that ensure strict hygienic practices.

Additionally, Malay home F&B businesses live & die by word-of-mouth, thus incentivising cleanliness & quality.

18/ If the issue is a fear of viral transmission via delivery & collection, then a contact-less arrangement would suffice.

This is already in effect with grocery shopping. Furthermore, all activities come with a non-negotiable base risk of possible viral transmission.

19/ As of now, it does appear that newly-introduced govt regulations will kill large swathes of the home-based F&B economy.

The costs will be greatly felt by Malay folks, especially those who have signed official (and visible) contracts to participate in online Ramadan Bazaars.

20/ But there’s still space to operate.

The average kakak & makcik are tactical enough to circumvent unreasonable regulations.

Also, the govt has yet to decipher the formidable autonomy & cloak of Malay social relations & msging platforms—where most businesses are made.

21/ That said, Malay folks can do without extra scrutiny. But Ateeqah started a chain reaction.

And the govt will over-react. For example, it recently criminalized the PMD-dependent economy. And a few days back, MSF publicly shamed a poor Malay family for speaking their truths.

22/ Now, it may be unfair to blame Ateeqah. After all, the govt is a trigger-happy policeman.

Yet, prior to her stunt, there was little indication that home F&B businesses would face greater policing (eg. see the online state-approved Ramadan Bazaars & their home-based vendors).

23/ However, it’d be cruel to tell folks to not be angry with Ateeqah.

But that rage can also be directed towards the structures that compelled her actions & the govt's responses (eg. state surveillance, poor policy-making, ineffective MPs).

Spam the letters & petitions!

Oh, apparently, Ateeqah is defending herself on her twitter. Take the L kak. Just take it.

Some have asked us what folks can do about this development. Well, we can suggest certain things.

A) In this pandemic, govt leaders & institutions have been erratic, panicky, & punitive. They seem desperate to be seen to do something (eg. security theater & save-face politics).

B) This means that regulations are now done on a shoot-first-ask-questions-later basis. Historically, this is consistent with the PAP’s trademark expedient & “pragmatic” policy-making.

But this pandemic has amplified the callousness & recklessness of such governance.

C) The govt’s latest regulation on home F&B business is likely an outcome of A & B.

Last week, we saw a similar case with LTA's (horrific) decision to reduce public transport frequencies to "save money".

But public anger forced LTA to amend its move. That's an important hint!

D/ In that regard, folks should maintain their pressure on their MPs, ministries, and related state-sanctioned NGOs (eg. SMCCI).

A fresh petition to allow home F&B businesses to operate has already garnered 50k+ signatures. https://www.change.org/p/singapore-government-allow-small-home-based-f-b-businesses-to-operate-with-compliance-to-circuit-breaker-rules

E/ In turn, home F&B businesses are not & never have been inherently "Malay". Today, the industry is diverse, consisting of the Chinese & Indian middle classes—two groups with significant political clout.

So, it seems tactical to rally all players & challenge said regulations.

F/ Another possible angle is to invoke Hari Raya.

The Malay & Muslim communities can make clear that the regulations will wreck celebrations. This could result in a loss of (political) goodwill & support.

With elections coming, this might be a language the PAP understands.

G/ Especially important is that the authorities must understand that vulnerable groups depend on home F&B businesses.

Think of the elderly; of women in postpartum confinement; of the mentally ill etc. The prohibition of home food enterprises might have fatal consequences.

H/ Nonetheless, it’s likely that the govt won’t strictly enforce the new regulations (but then why formulate them anyway?)

We’d bet that some home F&B businesses are also run by civil servants. Still, the issue is that with snitching, one rat can force the authorities to act.

An important thread. Already, within the community, there're attempts to use Islam to gaslight & diminish our grievances & mobilization.

But this pandemic has revealed the systemic injustices of S'pore—all of which must be named, reformed, or abolished.

https://twitter.com/heymysara/status/1254651390007209987