Clothes and accessories can be more than just fashion to us – they form part of our identity and culture. However, the lines between work attire standards and religious autonomy often blur, giving rise to misunderstandings.
A Singaporean who had registered for a hawker course at At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy shared her encounter with the institution’s headgear guideline on Facebook.
Claiming that she was not informed of it before paying although the counter staff saw her in her tudung, she expressed her disappointment with the academy’s administration.
At-Sunrice also spoke to MS News, to share their side of the story.
On Saturday (26 Sep), a Facebook user recounted her experience applying for the “Traditional Malay Hawker Fare” course in person, at At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy.
Speaking to MS News, “Rose” said that she went down to the Academy’s building at Canning Rise wearing her tudung to submit her application form and pay the required deposit.
Rose elaborated that only some time after she has paid the deposit, the Academy informed her of the rule – that she cannot participate if she wears her tudung.
In the attire guidelines for the course, a subpoint specifies that all kinds of “headgears are not allowed”, which means that Rose can’t wear her tudung during the course.
While she didn’t address comments asking whether she had checked the guidelines beforehand, the lady had a different point to make.
As she had gone down physically with her tudung on to make payment, she expected the staff at the counter to inform her of the rule, but purported that they didn’t do so.
Speaking to MS News, a student services executive confirmed that they do not allow headgear, including tudungs and turbans, in the kitchen during a course.
The academy defines “headgears” as baseball caps, anything of nylon material, scarves and bandanas. Students can only wear chef hats and hair nets.
At-Sunrice insists that all staff have been told to inform applicants of attire rules in person or over the phone.
An email confirmation applicants receive also provides the grooming guidelines for the course.
Under “Important Notes” on the Academy’s event page, it does state:
As per the Academy’s grooming policy, hair / head accessories such as caps, hats or any other headgears are not allowed.
To that, the lady asks why students can’t wear the headscarf in the kitchen.
In response to MS News’ queries, the executive said that this is for “safety and operational reasons”.
Operationally, kitchens have high temperatures and are very hot. There are industrial equipment, like ovens, that are being used.
With regard to safety, open flames in the kitchen may risk the tudung catching fire.
The executive added that At-Sunrice decided on the attire rules and grooming standards after consulting friends in the F&B industry and conducting research.
In a later comment, the lady claimed that the academy apparently offered her a cap for the course, if she was keen on continuing.
Unfortunately, it appeared that she didn’t, as she reportedly received a refund for the course fee.
Rose told MS News that she shared her experience because the Academy’s attire standards have remained unchanged all these years. She feels it is time they did as participants are now able to use the SkillsFuture credits to attend this course. Therefore, there would be more who will be interested, but otherwise can’t join because religious headgears are disallowed.
The executive shared that At-Sunrice will reach out to the lady as they had not been able to identify her in their database.
We want to understand more about her experience and what is behind this complaint.
Besides addressing her grievances, they would also like to do a service recovery if her allegations are true.
As a multiracial and multireligious country, trying to ensure inclusive policies for everyone isn’t always an easy task.
Be that as it may, organisations should try their best to weigh all factors before implementing rules.
We hope that At-Sunrice and the lady will be able to discuss and arrive at an amicable resolution.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at hello@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from At-Sunrice and Facebook.
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