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  • GLBT Voices Singapore: Muslim Community’s Uproar Over Tudung Issue Is Ironic

    GLBT Voices Singapore: Muslim Community’s Uproar Over Tudung Issue Is Ironic

    This latest ‘noise’ over the tudung issue is rather ironic, given that the Muslim community is up in arms over being shut down and denied their rights to a religious piece of clothing, which may in turn hinder their choices when it comes to employment.

    So they are complaining again basically that their economic rights are not protected when it comes to Muslim women who choose to practise their religion.

    But they have no regrets fighting for the continued discrimination of gay citizens in Singapore, some of whom are also fellow Muslims, as long S377A fits their religious narrative. Talk about cherry picking one’s rights.

    At the end of the day, religion is a choice. And the tudung is not even mandatory within that religion. And they kick up such a fuss over it, to the point of threatening social cohesion. But being gay is who we are, and not a choice regardless of what bugots.

    Ah the delicious irony.

     

    Source: GLBT Voices Singapore

  • Jufrie Mahmood: Malay Community Cannot Trust Masagos Zulkifli Anymore

    Jufrie Mahmood: Malay Community Cannot Trust Masagos Zulkifli Anymore

    Facebook post from SDP ex chairman Jufri Mahmood.
    (Translated from Malay in original post)

    I thought as a Muslim Minister, you would be more understanding of the aspirations of the Muslimahs in this issue.
    I thought you would give more hope and have more opportunities to convince the Government that this is a very important issue to the very community you are representing.
    I thought you are more devout than the colleagues and friends in your little group.
    Never would I have thought that you had a knife all along, and you stabbed us in the back.
    You are truly manipulative.
    How could you!

    KUSANGKA SEBAGAI SEORANG MENTERI BERAGAMA ISLAM KAU LEBIH MEMAHAMI ASPIRASI KAUM HAWA KITA DALAM ISU INI.
    KUSANGKA KAU AKAN MENCERAHKAN LAGI PELUANG UNTUK MEYAKINKAN PEMERINTAH TENTANG PENTINGNYA ISU INI KEPADA MASYARAKAT YANG KAU SEPATUTNYA MEWAKALI.
    KUSANGKA KAU LEBIH WARAK DARI RAKAN-RAKAN DALAM KELOMPOKMU.
    SEDIKIT TAK KU SANGKA KAU BAWA BERSAMAMU SEBILAH PISAU DAN MENIKAMKU DARI BELAKANG.
    KAU SUNGGUH UNSANGKARABLE.
    SAMPAI HATIMU!

    Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

  • Nazem Suki: Still No Resolution On Tudung Issue Even After Decades

    Nazem Suki: Still No Resolution On Tudung Issue Even After Decades

    Plainly speaking to my non-Muslim friends about the tudung issue.

    The request since over the last 30 years;
    1) Our Muslim women should be allowed to wear the tudung at work.
    2) Our Muslims girls should be allowed to wear the tudung in school.

    The Muslim community never request for a mandatory requirements for our women and girls to don the tudung, but to have the options available should they wish to. There is no huss and fuss about the Islamic obligations to talk about, but we are only asking for the particular options to be available for our women.

    How different will it be when the options are there, and we still can see some are not with their tudung? In parliament itself is a good example of harmony between Muslim women with and without tudung, even if the ratio is majority with tudung.

    What influence does it make to any person or community or the state? Who is making it a complicated matter at all? The people or the establishment?

    Keeping it politically is not a correct motivation and bound to ransom and conflict. This is unfair for the women, Muslim or non-Muslim, who prefer to wear the tudung anywhere and everywhere. There are no religious reasons for a non-Muslim to put on the tudung if they want to. There are guidelines in Islam for Muslim women to put on their tudung. Ultimately it is the individual preference, and if only the option is there. But now, what options are there?

    Question? Why and who and what is holding it back? Nearly 40 years with no resolution?

     

    Source: Mohamed Nazem Suki

  • Sha’ban Yahya: Malay-Muslim MPs Must Be Accountable And Responsible, Do Not Ignore Sentiments On Tudung Issue

    Sha’ban Yahya: Malay-Muslim MPs Must Be Accountable And Responsible, Do Not Ignore Sentiments On Tudung Issue

    The main stumbling block of the decades old tudung issue were/ are our very own Malay-Muslim leaders, from the beginning till current day.

    It’s never proven to be a great concern of the other communities or to be a hindrance for those who don it to do their jobs or even to be a justified, well- informed concern for non-muslim leaders.

    Malay-Muslim MPs should collectively endorse rather than misrepresent its importance, respect rather than ignore their community’s concerns, be its supporter rather than its adversary, facilitate non-Muslim leaders to empathise rather than follow along and let the misguidance initiated and inflicted by earlier MMPs grow into an evergrowing cancer affecting the government for so long.

    Dear Malay-Muslim MPs, please be accountable and correct this mistake. This is an issue close to your conscience so don’t expect your non-muslim colleagues to do it for you. They could have been waiting impatiently for so long for you to do so.

     

    Source: Sha’ban Yahya in Suara Melayu Singapura

  • WP MP Faisal Manap Brought Up Aspirations Of Muslim Women In Singapore

    WP MP Faisal Manap Brought Up Aspirations Of Muslim Women In Singapore

    The Singapore Parliament was speaking about the aspirations of the Singapore Women.

    WP MP Faisal Manap brought up the aspirations of the Singapore Muslim women.

    He highlighted the importance of inclusiveness for Muslim women which would allow them to fulfill their career aspirations while meeting religious obligations (i.e. to wear the tudung at work)

    It was a fair point, except that he seems to needle these ‘Malay-Muslim’ issues consistently every chance he gets – a point, which Minister Masagos highlighted.

    In 2014, he called for the formation of a committee to tackle issues faced by the Malay-Muslim community because participants felt left out in certain policies and practices that “question the loyalty of Malays to the country”.

    In 2015 and 2016, he called for inclusion of Malay officers on Navy Ships and other sensitive positions in the Military

    As the only Malay Opposition member, he had every right to bring this up in parliament. After all, as a politician, he has to work to keep up his political mileage with his Malay voters.

    But why is he constantly harping on this issue whenever he talks about the Malay Community?

    What about other equally important and challenging issues that the Malay community is currently facing?

    What about Malay entrepreneurship, upskilling of the Malay community, Malay home ownership. The Malay community significantly lags behind other races in education, health and housing and is over-represented in crime, drugs and prison statistics.

    Are these issues not worth championing for, in parliament?

    What good will it do for the community if they can wear the tudung on the front line, but struggles to keep pace with the rest of the races in our society.

    How different is this from the political party, PAS,  in Malaysia, who pushed for Hudud laws every election, organised rallies for thousands of people, championed laws prohibiting the proximity between men and women but conveniently ignored other pertinent social issues in their community such as education and standard of living.

    Singapore cannot be successful and Singaporeans cannot be happy if there is any section of the population which is not doing well.

    Because we are such a small population – we breathe and live each other’s air. If that under-performance is defined by race or religion, it will even be starker.

    As much as we want our brothers and sisters to be able to fulfil their religious obligations, it is in our national interest, to make sure that everybody succeeds and that the under-performance is not defined by race and religion.

    You want to push for the tudung issue, sure.

    Make sure you champion other cases as well. Otherwise, you are nit-picking on popular issues and not really looking out for the Malay community.

     

    Source: www.thoughtssg.com