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Almakhazin SG: What Is PAP’s Tudung Policy Really All About?

The hijab ban is not because interracial harmony or relationships.

The ban…which Masagos Zulkifli supported..

Is about a group of secular fundamentalists trying to control Islam.

Two nights ago, PAP Minister, Masagos Zulkifli justified his party’s ban of the hijab.

He claimed that the ban is part of the PAP’s way of ensuring harmony by making every community sacrifice what is important to them.

He is not alone in the PAP in making such comments.

Former Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong said the hijab affects integration.

Yaacob Ibrahim claimed it is problematic.

But the claim that the hijab affects harmony or integration does not stand scrutiny.

According to Assoc Prof Lily Zubaidah Rahim

“To date, the government has not provided any empirical evidence to support the presumption that allowing Muslim headscarves in primary and secondary schools impedes national unity.

Indeed, some school principals contend that students who had donned the tudung in the past did not disrupt social integration in class.”

If harmony and integration are not the reasons for the hijab ban..

then what is?

Lily Zubaidah argued the “no-tudung policy for Muslim schoolsgirls bears many similarities to Turkey’s headscarf restriction policy…

Both states exhibit secular fundamentalist and authoritarian tendencies…”

As Lily Zubaidah noted “An Naim has observed that this form of authoritarian state secularism is ‘often designed to enable the state to control religion…”

The PAP’s ban is not about a creating a multiracial, multireligious Singapura.

It is about a group of secular fundamentalists trying to subjugate Islam.

Reference:
Rahim, Lily Zubaidah. Governing Islam and regulating Muslims in Singapore’s secular authoritarian state. Murdoch university. Asia research centre, 2009.

Source: Almakhazin SG

February 12, 2016
Damanhuri Abas: Government’s Policy Of Religious Harmony Based On Mutual Tolerance And Acceptance Is A Failure

During the malay program ‘Bicara’, Minister for Environment and Water Resources, Masagos Zulkifli reiterated the continuation of the discriminatory policy that has prevented the employment of Malay/Muslim women who wants to don the Tudung/Hijab in jobs such as nursing and other uniformed group services. Throughout the program, the Minister tried his level best to defend the continuation of the discriminatory policy on several grounds in order to justify it.

His reasoning ranges from the need to be sensitive to the feelings of other races, namely the majority Chinese population which he implied will be upset when they see Malay/Muslim women donning the Tudung/Hijab as nurses, police officers, military personnel, etc., right up to the fear-mongering scenario of the potential opening a Pandora box of misunderstanding and conflict that may lead to undesirable consequences such as racial conflicts for reasons that he deemed too sensitive to be shared to the public. It is unbelievable that a Minister reasoned almost similarly to a US politician that recently justified the call to ban the entry of all Muslims into his country on grounds that its better to play safe than sorry because Islamophobia is justified.

It is indeed disappointing to hear such unsubstantiated and almost simplistic justification by a person in the position of a Minister in a public broadcast in this time and age essentially addressing the very community that feels discriminated against and who has tolerated patiently to see wisdom from the government to discontinue the archaic policy that has essentially outlived its shelf life.

In truth, Singaporeans of all races have grown accustomed to the presence of Tudung wearing Muslim women in public. They are present as teachers in our schools, as employees in the public and private sectors too and raises no concern whatsoever. The implied suggestion that their presence is undesirable on grounds that essentially are Islamophobic are disrespectful to those women specifically and insulting to the whole Muslim community in Singapore.

It is dishonest of the Minister to mention that any attempt to challenge this outdated discriminatory policy as dangerous and fiddling with religion and politics. The reality is the Minister and the government is precisely politicizing the issue by not dealing with it as a discrimination matter. Instead of addressing the growing anger and frustration of the community being discriminated against by this policy, the Minister chooses to confuse it by comparing the government so-called stand on the LGBT community as further justification. The comparison and a zero-sum approach vis-à-vis the LGBT community, to the issue of discrimination against Muslim women wanting to don the hijab for uniformed group is disingenuous.

Once again, Singaporeans must honestly ask ourselves whether the efforts of the government all this years to ensure the growth and maturity of our different races and religious communities to mutually tolerate and accept one another and celebrate both our similarities and our differences, has indeed succeeded. By one Minister after another highlighting evidence of failures, it only supports the view that the policies aimed to unite our different communities are flawed and have not produced the desired results and thus have to be reformed and changed to reflect the present times where the communities are no longer separated like in the past and the majority of us, the common folks do live together in HDB flats and chat and interact with one another harmoniously.

Finally, the Malay community has been quoted by 2 studies done by the government’s own think-tank institution namely the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the Institute of Policy Study as being the most tolerant and accommodating of all communities when it comes to acceptance of diversity and differences. Maybe it is time that the focus of the effort to educate our society on tolerance and understanding be on the majority community rather that on the minority. Only then, wisdom based on grounded evidence will prevail instead of baseless justification that borders on political expediency.

Source: Damanhuri Abas

February 12, 2016
PAP Ministers And MPs Should Keep Their Word And Stop Commenting On Religion, Leave It To The Asatizahs

‘Religion is the domain of religious scholars.’

Apart from the obvious irony that it was a politician who was giving the said advice, the next time i see a politician (or those who are ever-so-eager to support a politician’s statement) commenting that ‘Islam says this’, ‘Islam permits this’, ‘this is the true Islam’, ‘Islam is about a and b, not x and y’, i will be sure to remind him/her that ‘Islam is the domain of religious scholars’, and not anyone else. ?

Most definitely, not the domain of politicians.

Source: Walid J. Abdullah

February 12, 2016
No Need To Mourn For Malaysians Who Left For Singapore

PETALING JAYA: There is no need to cry over the estimated 7,828 former Malaysians who gave up their citizenship for our neighbour, Singapore, an Utusan Malaysia editor has said.

Zulkifli Jalil, in a column, said the only thing to mourn was those who chose to renounce their citizenship on the grounds the republic gave such quarters more benefits.

He was responding to a statement by Ong Kian Ming of DAP, who said he felt saddened by Malaysians, a majority of whom were Chinese, who chose to become Singapore citizens as it deprived the nation of professionals and a highly-skilled workforce.

Zulkifli, however, said it was best to just let them leave.

“There are still many more professionals among the 30 million Malaysians who are committed and want to serve their beloved country.”

Zulkifli said that while the current economic situation made life difficult, it had not come to a point where one needed to renounce one’s citizenship.

He then reminded the 7,828 former Malaysians that it would be difficult for the country to welcome them back as citizens, citing complications experienced by British Overseas Citizen (BOC) passports holders in 2014.

The issue arose when Ng Wei Aik of DAP claimed the government had agreed to bring back more than 500 BOC passport holders.

BOC passport holders are Malaysian citizens who had chosen to give up their citizenship to apply for UK citizenship instead.

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had in 2014 said citizenship would not be given automatically and that applicants had to adhere to stipulations spelt out in the Immigration Act.

For BOC passport holders, Zulkifli said, there was no forgiveness.

“Maybe Kian Ming should learn a thing or two from Wei Aik in managing those who renounced their citizenship.”

Source: www.freemalaysiatoday.com

February 11, 2016
Has Islam here been robbed of its True Essence?

My ancestors came to the Malay World to spread Islam among the Malays. They preached tolerance and love for humanity. They shared useful knowledge that Malays learnt until they became better than those who brought Islam to them.

My ancestors were Sufis. But they were Sufis who adhered closely to the Sunnah, to the traditions of the Prophet and Sahabah. Why? Because their greatest ancestor was the Prophet himself.

But today, the people who claim to follow the path of these righteous predecessors have become intolerant. They seek to ban groups that do not conform to their line of thought. They lobby for speakers to be stopped from coming into the Malay world.

They have departed far from the Ways of the Sufis in the past. They have forgotten the heritage of peace that was presented to them. They have substituted knowledge for positions and praise. They have forgotten their own selves.

And because of this, I say that Islam here has been robbed of its True Essence. Will we ever return to the times when tolerance was a way of life? The moment in our past when ideas were fought with ideas and not with oppression?

Source: Khairudin Aljunied

February 4, 2016