While delivering his National Day Rally speech on Sunday (29 Aug), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that Muslim nurses in the public healthcare sector will be allowed to wear a tudung with their uniforms if they want to, starting from November this year.
The tudung, said PM Lee, has become an increasingly important marker of religiosity among many Muslim women and for the Muslim community at large — in tandem with a general pattern observed globally, in the Southeast Asian region, and in Singapore itself.
Over the last few decades, more Muslim women in Singapore have worn the headgear, both in social settings and at the workplaces, he noted.
However, PM Lee asserted that the status quo must be preserved for other uniformed services such as the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the police force, as they are impartial and secular arms of the State.
For students in schools, the need to ensure that all of them wear the same uniform is grounded in the importance of stressing their similarities and minimising their differences “so they can build bonds in their early years that will shape their attitudes”, he added.
PM Lee’s announcement came months after the tudung issue was thrust into the spotlight once again, becoming the subject of debate in Parliament and in the public sphere for some time, after the matter was previously raised by Workers’ Party (WP) Member of Parliament (MP) Faisal Manap as far back as 2017.
Muslim nurses welcome the decision
After hearing PM Lee’s announcement, Muslim nurses in Singapore have expressed their happiness on this matter.
“I am very relieved, very happy when I heard the news. It’s been very long since we’ve asked for this. There was a sense of relief. I was even tearing up, got a bit emotional,” a nurse who only wanted to be known as Wati told CNA.
Currently, Wati wears the tudung on her way to work, removes it while on the job, and later wears it back for the journey home.
“There’s a reason why the tudung is so important to the Muslim community. Wearing the tudung is part of a spiritual journey to God. When we work as a nurse, it’s our job to heal others. (Being able to wear the tudung) aligns what we believe in with (our job of) helping people.
“It’s something in our hearts, and finally we’re able to practise it, to be part of the community,” she remarked.
Another nurse named Aishah Sulaiman told CNA that she is “very happy” to hear the news.
“It’s not a (hindrance) for me to carry out my duties now, but (being able to wear a tudung) would make the to-and-fro journey more convenient,” she said.
“This news is significant to me because I’m a practising Muslim. I wish I can wear my tudung (on the job) since it’s compulsory to me as a Muslim woman.”
CNA stated that private hospitals and healthcare providers will also follow the changes implemented in the public healthcare sector.
Netizens react
Over on social media, a large number on online users were pleased to hear PM Lee’s announcement, many of whom said that the new ruling is “long overdue”.
Penning their thoughts in the Facebook page of CNA, they noted that the patience exhibited by Muslim women has finally paid off.
However, one commenter warned that this new rule should not “compromise the effectiveness of the medical PPE (N95 masks or respirators, etc.), which is required in the Intensive Care Units, High-Level Isolation Unit (HLIU), ‘normal’ isolation wards, surgical theatres, etc”.
Several others pointed out the tudung issue is not a big matter in the first place, adding that it was the politicians who politicised the whole issue.
One user wrote: “Tudung is non-issue. PAP made it an issue. Period.”
Some said that Singaporeans should be thankful to the Workers’ Party, particularly MP Faisal Manap, for pushing hard on this matter in Parliament.
One user even slammed President Halimah Yacob for not fighting for “her fellow Muslimahs” even though she is a person who adorns hijab.
