Tuesday, March 30, 2021

We Have A Uniform Policy in the Public Service Which Cannot be Tilted Towards any Religious Belief – Unless We Need to Show Certain Groups, We Don’t Discriminate Against Them.

 

There’s been a public debate about fashion this month. This fashion dispute involves allowing Muslim Nurses the right to wear a “Tudong” (headscarf worn by Malay-Muslim Women) as part of their uniform. The issue was first raised in Parliament by Mr. Faisal Manap of the Worker’s Party (The Opposition) and was met with a swift and vigorous reply by the Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs, Mr. Masagos Zulkifi. The Minister stated that the government had a clear-cut policy of keeping common spaces secular and Muslim women were not allowed to wear the tudong because it would mark them out as Muslims, thus giving patients the ability to choose if they wanted to be treated by a Muslim or not. More on Masagos’s response to the “tudong” issue can be found at:

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/wearing-tudungs-with-uniforms-nurses-secular-approach-masagos-14362266

After Mr. Masagos came out to say that such sensitive issues would be discussed behind closed doors and that the government was quite clear in its stance, Singapore’s “Least” conflicted Minister (the Minister of Law and Home Affairs), Mr. K. Shanmugam came out to say that it was likely that the government would be likely to let Muslim nurses wear a “tudong” and that the government had made the decision some six-months ago. The full story can be found at:

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/nurses-likely-be-allowed-wear-tudung-religious-leaders-informed-govts-position-over-six

This incident highlights two serious flaws with the current system. The most obvious point is that our “famously competent” government is looking anything but, especially when two ministers have come out to say two very different things about the same issue. Unfortunately for Mr. Masagos, this is the second time that he’s been involved in an incident where the government has been made to look less than competent (April 2020 - https://beautifullyincoherent.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-plights-of-small-business-from-big.html )

The second point is that this incident underlines the fact that official claims to fight for equal rights is, well, only when its convenient.

The argument goes that Singapore is officially a secular state and our national pledge says very clearly, “Regardless of Race, Language or Religion.” One can freely practice religion in the private space but common spaces like schools are secular. If you take the government’s official stance, you’re led to believe that all forms of discrimination are bad and against national values. Singapore is officially a “meritocracy” that hires solely on ability “regardless of race, language or religion.”

Mr. Masagos’s argument is that allowing Muslim nurses to wear the tudong is part of their uniform would go against everything Singapore officially stands for. It would mark out each “tudong-Wearing” nurse as a Muslim and it would encourage pro and anti-Muslim sentiment amongst their patients, which is officially against everything that Singapore stands for.

All this is very well when you look at it through “official” lenses. However, there is one slight problem with this “anti-tudong” stance. The ultimate human symbol of the nation, or the president wears a tudong.

What’s particularly interesting is not that our president got her job because she happened to be the best and most popular candidate who happened to be a Muslim woman who wears a tudong. Our president was chosen for the job specifically because she is a Muslim woman who wears a tudong.

 

Singapore’s Values Expressed in Human Form Chosen Because She Wears a Tudong

Here lies the inherent contradiction in what the government is saying. The presidency, which is supposed to be the human embodiment of our national values is chosen because she happens to wear a tudong and the government feels that the Malay community need to be represented at the highest office in the land.

However, at the same time we are saying that you cannot allow Muslim nurses to wear a tudong because it would mark them out as Muslims and therefore cause all sorts of strong feelings that would be bad for racial harmony.

It could be me but it seems that there is a contradiction in the official stance on certain things. Shouldn’t the government look at trying to get its basics, right?

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Maira Gall