Rilek1Corner

Tag: discrimination

  • Clarification – Out Of The Box Kids’ Club: We Employ Muslim Staff Who Wear The Hijab

    Clarification – Out Of The Box Kids’ Club: We Employ Muslim Staff Who Wear The Hijab

    Hi Jefri, thank you for your email.

    To clarify, 6 employees out of 9 are Muslim and 3 wearing the hijab. Our food is cooked by a Muslim wearing a hijab, our food is halal.

    So I believe that explains everything.

    The person who came for the interview and complained on this matter left a job after 1 month and another with a child care centre after 3 months and reason being ,she cant take the children’s noise.

    During the interview, she was told then, that this may not be the right environment or suitable job as we are dealing with kids from P1 to P6 so obviously it would be noisy.

    We have Muslims, Indians and Chinese working here with different religions as well.

    I hope this will clarify the matter.

    Thank you
    Regards
    Angela Diaz
    Centre Manager

    Out of the Box Kids’ Club
    613A Bukit Timah Road
    Singapore 269714
    +65 6469 5152
    www.outofthebox.com.sg

     

    Editor’s Note: This response was sent in by our reader, Jefri Mohammad Noor, who had sought clarification from Out Of The Box Kids’ Club.

  • Malay Man Told To Learn Mandarin When Involved In Misunderstanding With PRC Waitress WHo Doesn’t Speak English

    Malay Man Told To Learn Mandarin When Involved In Misunderstanding With PRC Waitress WHo Doesn’t Speak English

    Went to a coffeeshop in Tuas, bought a can of coke zero an a bread ask the lady at the counter how much? And she replied in Chinese, so i told her in English pleased, but she keep repeating in Chinese… in a helpless situation i give her a $2 note and she look at me with such big eyes of hers and say out loud in Chinese which i still don’t understand and ask her how much?

    At that point a customer come forward and say it is $2.20 so i give her another $2 note. The Chinese lady accepted it but she still scolded me in Chinese so i told her in English, i don’t understand a single word you say and you don’t understand a single word i say why don’t you learn English so that you can easily communicate with your customers, and a man came forward and say why don’t you learn chinese too?

    And i ask him why should i? He goes on to say that Singapore is 80% Chinese and the goverment should made the chinese language as the national language not English.

    With that i told him that the national language of Singapore is MALAY and that he and that lady should learn MALAY since it is the national language of Singapore.

    He was looking rather angry at that point and i was readying myself for a fight when the owner of the coffeeshop came over and say sorry for the trouble that his staff has cause. I just walk away but what worrying me is what the man had said…….

     

    Source: Pak Dolmat

  • Zulfikar Shariff: Keep Up The Struggle, Remember There Is No Success Without Allah

    Zulfikar Shariff: Keep Up The Struggle, Remember There Is No Success Without Allah

    A few weeks ago, I read a Muslim post a status that seems quite despondent.

    He mentioned several of the difficulties that we face…from the discrimination by the PAP to the difficulties Muslims face internationally.

    The US and Russia, both representing two poles of the same political evil dominate world politics. Capitalism, Zionism, secularism, liberalism, our world is on a path of destruction and we are caught in it.

    We try to feed the hungry, we help end oppression, we raise our voices, write petition, teach our children, our young, the not so young to live as Muslims and more challenges appear.

    Sometimes it feels like all we do is fight fire. We put one out and another appear. For some, it feels like a never ending battle.

    A battle they cannot win.

    A battle they are doomed to fight…over and over and over.

    To those who despair that the world is in such a terrible state, who feel that nothing we do seem to matter…

    Do not despair.

    The battle will not end.

    And it is not a bad thing.

    This life is not for us to relax.

    It is one for us to struggle for.

    These challenges are opportunities for us. The challenges we face allow us to strive…with our hearts and minds…our sweat…to serve Allah.

    We will be tested.

    We will face massive challenges.

    Our role is to face it. Work at it.

    Persevere.

    Keep fighting.

    Insha Allah every little effort we put in for Allah’s sake, will be rewarded.

    When we feel tired…Keep fighting.

    When we have been hit so much we struggle to get up…Keep fighting.

    When all the world seems to want to destroy us…Keep fighting.

    This life is short.

    Jannah is eternal.

    Keep up the struggle. Know that Allah’s promises are true.

    There is no success except with Allah.

     

    Source: Zulfikar Shariff

  • Chan Heng Chee Is Wrong – CMIO Categorisation Is Only PAP’s Tool To Subjugate And Discriminate Against The Minorities

    Chan Heng Chee Is Wrong – CMIO Categorisation Is Only PAP’s Tool To Subjugate And Discriminate Against The Minorities

    Rilek1Corner,

    As a Malay, I am insulted by the comments of the Ambassador-at-large Prof. Chan Heng Chee in http://rilek1corner.com/2015/10/05/singapore-ambassador-at-large-scrapping-cmio…. She want to defend the outdated CMIO categorisation that is her problem but what right does she have to say that scrapping it would cause so-called “unease” among minorities. She is Chinese. Not minority. Why she speaking like she macam faham?

    Worse still, she say “The majority community doesn’t feel uncomfortable. It’s (with) the minority community (where) you have to keep emphasising it’s equal language, religion, culture (and) race”. She is trying to say what? Minority races are petty? Minority races always comparing themselves with the majority? That minority races always imagining inequalities and discrimination? Then the majority race very good not racist at all?

    I want to say she is very wrong. She is from majority and she is elite. She doesn’t represent us. She ambassador she got talk to people on the ground in Singapore? Who make her expert on minority issue? She ambassador so what? Don’t mean everything she say is correct.

    I tell you, don’t be blinded by what she say. This is only wayang for them. Like she say, the CMIO categorisation is a “signal” to the minority that “every race has the same standing” and that “their place in society has not been threatened”.

    A signal. She knows reality is not like that. A signal because the categories are the PAP’s idea of what makes up the different communities, not what the communities really are. The categorisation is a construct that makes people fall within neat categories, that, most of the time, don’t fit them well. What is a Malay? Who is Malay? The rich cultural heritage of people that come together from different parts of the nusantara are lost because of this categorisation. Bawean, Bugis, Java, Johor, Aceh – so convenient all become Malay.

    This easy categorisation benefits the PAP government, not us the people. Who knows in the future Filipinos also come under the categorisation because they can easily say that Filipinos and Malays share almost the same language and physical appearance. Even now Singaporean Chinese also cannot tell the difference until they hear the accent when we talk.

    It is not ony a problem culturally. There are many legal effect on people too.

    Just because you are categorised as Malay, you have lower chance of owning a HDB flat in a neighbourhood you desire. HDB ethnic quota also a problem when you want to sell your house. You go serve NS and chances are that you will be posted to Civil Defence instead of Commando. Why in Civil Defence no ethnic quota? Why the PAP government can be fine with the over-representation of Malays in CD?

    Maybe you have not realise before but you should know now that the CMIO categorisation is a very convenient tool to discriminate against our community. To keep us economically backward, so that the majority elites can prosper.

    The ambassador talk so much about the supra-ethnic identity but if the PAP government is really serious about forging a national identity after SG50, they should do away with the race categorisation.  We will not lose our ethnic identities. Actually the opposite effect is we will explore our ethnic identities and be more in touch with it. There will be a more equal playing field. Our race will not be a factor when we decide to buy a house or when called up to serve NS. Only then will a true Singaporean identity emerge.

    Danial

    Reader Contribution

  • Osman Sulaiman: Daiso Singapore Apologise For Hijab Incident, Assures No Such Discriminatory Policies Are In Place

    Osman Sulaiman: Daiso Singapore Apologise For Hijab Incident, Assures No Such Discriminatory Policies Are In Place

    Update on Daiso:

    Met up with the GM of Daiso, Jun Tomioka at IMM together with Ms Malis Jais (the job applicant) on last Wednesday.

    During the discussion, the GM has clarified that Daiso does not have any policies against employees wearing the headgear.

    He also went to great lengths to explain to us how the organization has in fact catered to the well being of employees from different races and religions. He then highlighted that they do have many employees wearing the headgears in their organization.

    When asked how then did their HR came up with such information to job applicants that Daiso’s employees are not allowed to wear the headgears on sales-floor? There must be a directive from someone to the HR person as it specifically single out sales-floor area.

    The GM apologized for the mistake when relaying information to job applicants. He said that lapses might have occurred during communication to his staff and apologized for the lapse.

    He was apologetic the whole time which was a breath of fresh air from the usual sidestepping whenever I took on such cases.

    He also mentioned that although Daiso has a dress code policy, it has never excluded headgears in workplaces unless in factories where machinery is involved.

    I told him that his apology will mean nothing if there are no concrete steps taken to ensure such thing will not happen again.

    He then made a personal guarantee that such errors would not be repeated as the company is planning to create a handbook for employees where information would be passed down more effectively. They will also remind all its shop leaders not to make similar suggestions and exercise greater vigilance in the recruitment process.

    We are convinced and satisfied that the GM is sincere in rectifying the matter and this incident is probably due to miscommunication among its employees.

    Ms Normalis has since received a formal apology letter from Daiso which we have agreed to keep it confidential and not to reproduce or distribute whatsoever.

    People who felt that they have been unjustly dealt with need to speak up about it. Keeping silent will not help resolve anything. As for the above case, I’m happy that it ends well for everyone and hopefully create awareness for more companies to embrace hijab wearing employees.

     

    Source: Osman Sulaiman