Lecturer, motivational speaker, and incendiary columnist Ridhuan Tee, infamous for his one-man war on what he calls the “ultra kiasu” ways of ethnic Chinese (also: Tee is Chinese) was barred from entering Singapore, the predominantly ethnic Chinese island republic where the term “kiasu” was originally coined.
Surprised? Not as surprised as Tee.
According to what Tee told The Star Online‘s Dina Murad, he was in Johor two months ago when, on a seeming whim, the racially-charged talking head deciced to “test the waters” and determine if Singapore’s government would allow him entry.
“I wanted to test the waters and invited a friend to join me. At the time it was the school holidays and so the roads were jammed,” he said.
“When I was questioned by the officers, the jam got worse.”
Well, yeah. Thanks, Prof. Ridhuan!
Tee added that Singaporean immigration officers ordered him to step aside and be questioned in an office. He said he was detained in one such office for two hours.
“They took many mugshots of me and treated me like a terrorist. They did not only take my fingerprints, but took the prints from my whole hand!” he said.
“I was treated like a guilty person. They questioned me like I was a terrorist. What is my crime?
“I have never bothered others. I do not have any criminal record in Malaysia. They say that they are a democratic country with freedom of expression but the truth is that the situation there is much worse than Malaysia.
“Our system of democracy and freedom of expression is far superior than Singapore,” he said.
True to form, Tee has recounted his experience at the southern border in his column for Sinar Harian, which went live earlier today. Today’s column is entitled, ominously enough, “Know The True Enemy of Islam”.
Speaking on Singapore’s refusal to allow him through their border, Tee said,
“I believe this has something to do with my articles, because if you read my columns I always talk about Malaysian politics as my background is in political science.
“I always write about the ‘ultra kiasu’. And as Singapore is known for their ‘ultra kiasu’ attitude, perhaps they they feel sensitive about this.”
And no one knows more about feeling extra sensitive about things than Ridhuan Tee.
