Muslim leaders welcome Govt’s new position on nurses wearing tudung
Senior Muslim leaders welcomed the shift in the Government's position on allowing nurses to wear the tudung at work, following closed-door discussions that have taken place on the matter.
The leaders, who were part of such discussions in August, said they did not mention these talks publicly to respect the closed-door nature of these engagements.
Ustaz Mohamad Hasbi Hassan, president of the Singapore Islamic Scholars and Religious Teachers Association (Pergas), said yesterday that discussions on the issue have been taking place among religious teachers but were not made public.
"It was still closed-door, and we did not know the stand that the Government will be taking publicly.
"So we did not want to share news that was not concrete yet," he said.
"Today, when the Minister has made an announcement, we can talk about it openly."
He was speaking to reporters after a dialogue Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam held with senior Muslim leaders and members of the Religious Rehabilitation Group at the Khadijah Mosque in Geylang Road.
At the session, Mr Shanmugam disclosed that the Government is considering allowing nurses to wear the tudung at work, a point he had made at a similar dialogue with the leaders last August.
The Muslim leaders said that moving forward, more discussions will be needed before a final decision can be made on the issue.
"I think subsequent discussions will take place from here to get views that are more concrete, (more) views which are from the community itself," said Ustaz Hasbi.
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