Way back in March, the issue of nurses wearing tudung at work came up in Parliament.
Though it was discussed at length by ministers, no final decision would be forthcoming until Aug, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
He promised to speak about the issue at the National Day Rally (NDR), and he’s kept his word – announcing that Muslim nurses in the public sector will be allowed to wear the tudung from Nov, if they want to.
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This is because younger Singaporeans especially are now more accepting of racial and religious differences.
PM Lee made the momentous announcement in his NDR speech on Sunday (29 Aug), and was met with applause from the studio audience.
He said that since 2014, the Government has observed interactions between the races and found them to be “largely comfortable”.
Non-Muslims are becoming more used to seeing Muslim women wearing the tudung, and Muslim women are also at ease when interacting with men and women of other religions.
He also pointed out that younger Singaporeans are at ease when interacting with people of other faiths.
In terms of the healthcare sector, some non-uniformed staff wear the tudung, and their relationships with patients and colleagues were alright.
In a media statement right after the news was released, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said the revised policy will apply to 7,000 female Muslim staff in the healthcare sector.
This includes public healthcare providers and statutory boards like:
These institutions will issue a revised dress code, permitting the tudung as an add-on to their existing uniform.
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PM Lee said Singapore was ready to make this decision after consulting with Muslim leaders a few months ago.
During that meeting, Mr Lee told them the Government was ready for nurses to wear the tudung at work.
This meeting came after another one in 2014, when they explained to him why the tudung was important for Muslims.
At that previous session, he’d told them that the “no-tudung” policy in the healthcare sector wasn’t set in stone.
Policies on race and religion must be adjusted from time to time, Mr Lee said, acknowledging that there’s been a general trend towards stronger Islamic religiosity around the world.
Wearing the tudung has become increasingly important for the Muslim community, and it’s become a vital part of their faith for Muslim women, he added.
More Muslim women here have worn it both in social settings and at their workplaces.
Thus, being allowed to wear it has become a “focal issue” for Muslims, he noted.
However, the PM also explained the Government’s reasoning for the tudung being not allowed all this while.
He pointed out that students in schools and those in uniformed services like the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) have to maintain the status quo of the same uniform for all.
Students need to emphasise their similarities and minimise their differences, and armed forces need to be seen as impartial and secular arms of the State to enforce laws.
Similarly, for nurses, patients need to see them as the same, while the nurses must also feel equally comfortable caring for patients of different backgrounds.
Thus, in April, Mr Lee said the Government needed to make sure that all Singaporeans could accept such a move.
The time span of 4 months between the meeting with Muslim leaders and now was needed to “prepare the ground” before the decision was made, he added.
The news that Muslim nurses will finally be able to wear their tudung with their uniform will no doubt delight leaders of the community and the nurses themselves.
Being able to practise your faith openly at work is important in a multireligious society like ours, and we don’t think many Singaporeans will take issue with the change at all.
As we rightly become more accepting of our differences, let’s focus instead on our similarities—being united as one nation and working together for a better future for all.
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Featured images adapted from YouTube and Jakayla Toney on Unsplash.
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