The Muslim Power Elites in Singapore: The Burden of a Community

KAMALUDEEN BIN MOHAMED NASIR

Publication

The Muslim Power Elites in Singapore: The Burden of a Community

KAMALUDEEN BIN MOHAMED NASIR

Abstract

In this thesis, I argue that despite of the many challenges facing both the Muslim power elites and the Muslim community, the elites in reality, do have a lot of leverage over the community. I will set out to delineate some of these problems and analyze three groups of Muslim elites 1) political elites, 2) social elites and 3) religious elites, and how they affect one another and locate all these within the larger context of Singapore society. Contemporary and classical theories are employed to critically examine the different configurations and permutations of the three groups of elites. My analysis will be dual in nature. Firstly, it will be at the level of inter-elites, wherein the relationships across the various elites are examined and secondly, at the level of intra-elites; looking at the tensions and conflicts within a specific group of elites. I will also contest the idea of the Singapore Muslim elites as a powerless entity.