Rilek1Corner

Tag: hijab

  • DARI PARLIMEN: JAWAPAN DPM TEO TENTANG HIJAB

    Timbalan Perdana Menteri Teo Chee Hean berkata, membenarkan variasi dalam uniform seperti hijab atau tudung, dalam khidmat-khidmat beruniform tertentu, akan mengurangkan identiti umum perkhidmatan berkenaan.

    Dalam jawapan bertulis beliau di Parlimen hari ini, DPM Teo berkata dengan tidak membolehkan variasi sedemikian, amalan sekular Pemerintah boleh ditegakkan.

    Ini juga kata beliau akan meyakinkan rakyat bahawa mereka akan menerima khidmat-khidmat utama dengan adil dan saksama tanpa mengira kaum atau agama.

    DPM Teo berkata demikian sebagai menjawab pertanyaan AP pembangkang, Pritam Singh, yang mahu tahu sama ada Pemerintah akan menimbangkan kemungkinan membolehkan pemakaian hijab dalam perkhidmatan beruniform.

    Pemerintah kata Encik Teo perlu mengimbangi keperluan kumpulan-kumpulan berbeza dalam masyarakat Singapura yang berbilang kaum dan agama.

    Encik Teo yang juga menjadi Menteri Ehwal Dalam Negeri menambah, rakyat Singapura memahami perlunya mengimbangi apa yang diinginkan kumpulan mereka, dengan keperluan memenuhi kumpulan lain.

    Serta memahami perlunya mengekalkan ruang bersama yang memberi manfaat kepada semua, terutama kumpulan-kumpulan minoriti.

  • The Hijab Movement: Of hijackers, detractors and the Guidedness of the Jemaah

    AsSalaam’alaikum!

    Some of you may recall that I mentioned in a previous posting on my FB wall some time ago that the issues that the ummah is facing serves to reveal to us the hypocrisy of some Muslims. Well I hate to say I told you so, but this is happening as we speak! If you read and hear the conversations happening in so many places online and off-line, you will find the hypocrites, the foolish, the downright stupid and even the ones who feel sidelined because their agenda is eclipsed by the tudung issue and so are envious of any progress made by the hijab movement.

    The downright stupid would argue that the tudung issue does not make sense as we are in a “secular country”.

    The foolish would argue that there are more pressing issues like education and juvenile delinquency and anyway the government will never accede to our request because we are a minority anyway.

    The hypocrites will cast doubts and even give the anti-tudung elements in the government and those against the tudung among Singaporeans ammunition to undermine the Just cause of going against discrimination against the Muslimah. They are the more sophisticated ones indulging in sophistry and fallacies such as casting red herrings like emphasising etiquette in social media and so making that an issue thereby diverting our attention away from the tudung issue at hand. Others among them will indulge in the slippery slope fallacy of saying things like the Muslims will demand more and more after the tudung and indulge in fear mongering that Muslims in Singapore actually want hudud laws implemented here and are politicising the issue.

    The envious are not happy that due to the attention given to the tudung issue their agenda (which is ill conceived in the first place) takes a back-seat. An example of the envious is the Singapore’s own Murabitun cheerleaders who are peddling their coins for profits and giving spurious fatwas about zakat and paper money. Because their project has not gathered much traction in Singapore and (especially in Malaysia) has all but failed, they will say that the tudung cause is not as important as the fight against the bankers and the so-called war against riba’.

    Please be on guard against the obfuscation of the hypocrite, the foolish, the stupid and the envious ones . They are fueling dissent and divisions among us whether they actually intended to or not.

    As many have already pointed out, we must not let this issue be hijacked. How do you know if is already hijacked? Well there are signs. One, is that a particular group or organisation controls and lead the discourse. Their voice will drown out the others and then suddenly they will determine the parameters and thereby determine what would “satisfy” the Muslims in order to defuse the issue. This will always fall short of what we actually aim for. Another is when some one or some organisation uses the tudung issue by riding on the mass support for the tudung issue to, in fact, forward his/their own agenda.

    The hijab movement may not have any clear leaders but if you think that there are no leaders whatsoever you are wrong. Pay attention to those who express their ideas with Truth and how such ideas actually resonates with the jemaah. InsyaAllah Allah swt will not let the whole of the jemaah to be led astray.

    Wasalaam

    Abdul Halim

    ***********

    Hadith narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar:

    Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: Verily my Ummah, will not agree upon an error and the hand of Allah is upon the community; he who sets himself apart from it will be set apart in Hell Fire.
    – Transmitted by Tirmidhi.

    Source: http://on.fb.me/1eRMww6

  • A Short Response to DPM Teo and Minister Yaacob

    The DPM’s statement is encouraging, as it shows that our cabinet has acknowledged the Muslim community’s concerns. We should strongly welcome his statement. Minister Yaacob’s post on how he met up with PM Lee is also another good sign.

    In the spirit of calls by the government to engage in constructive engagement, i would like to respond briefly to the concerns raised.

    1) DPM Teo mentions that the government needs to balance the different communities’ needs. This is more than a fair statement. The questions that should be asked though:

    i) Does wearing the hijab (in schools or hospitals or elsewhere) impinge on other communities’ needs? If so, how?

    ii) Are the other communities not fine with the hijab being worn in those places?

    The second is an empirical question, that can easily be discovered. I urge the government, or the Institute of Policy Studies, or MUIS, or anyone else willing and able, to do a proper survey to establish the answer to this question, if this is a genuine question. I have been doing informal surveys on my own, and thus far i gather that non-Muslims are more than comfortable with their Muslim friends wearing the hijab. Of course, my informal surveys do not employ the statistical rigour required (random sampling etc), and hence a large organization might be better-placed to conduct such a survey.

    2) Minister Yaacob says that we should try to work to find ‘practical solutions’. I call for the government to suggest what are some of these ‘practical solutions’ that they have in mind. These suggestions should then be discussed with the Muslim and non-Muslim communities.

    On the Muslims’ part, i am sure we are more than willing to offer suggestions too.

    3) DPM Teo says that social harmony is paramount. Muslims agree. Again, the question should be how does the hijab undermine social harmony? If anything, it will only increase levels of tolerance and understanding, especially if non-Muslims are exposed to this Muslim code of dressing since a young age.

    4) Finally, it is hoped that the government will outline their concerns about the hijab, as thus far it has been unclear what those concerns actually are. For example, if social harmony is the worry, then they will need to explain how the hijab affects harmony. If the ‘secular space’ is the concern, then we need to define what is this imaginary space and how will it be affected.

    To conclude, i call on the Muslim community to work closely with our non-Muslim friends, and solicit feedback on the hijab from them. We should encourage them to be as honest as possible with us, and can help clarify their doubts. I also hope that this issue will not be framed as ‘Muslims VS PAP’ or ‘us VS them’; rather it should be ‘Singaporeans (Muslims and non-Muslims) trying to convince a legitimately-elected government to reconsider their policy.’

    Walid Jumblatt Abdullah

    Source: http://www.facebook.com/notes/osman-sulaiman/is-pap-the-solution-or-the-problem/10151696941793372