From another local forum, gatehousethetinkertailor (who
appears to be either Singaporean or based in Singapore, and is
himself a Muslim or is well versed in Islamic cultural matters,
both regionally and globally, and may possibly be an academic or
researcher, similar to
Dr Norshahril Saat of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, who
wrote
the paper on the influence of Malaysian politics on Malaysian
Islam) commented on Scroobal's comments on Alfian Saat's
comments on Masago's comments on Faisal's comments on Islamic
matters regarding the Tudung in Singapore :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scroobal : Alfian's comment about Tudung being a deep
personal choice is BS. Its the dress of the Arabs and has nothing
to do with Malays or their culture. The tudung, hijbab etc have
become a political tool. The locals are pressured to don it in
order for community acceptance. Besides being foreign, one must be
remarkably gifted to argue that it fits our weather and
climate.
gatehousethetinkertailor : By your logic then Islam is just
the religion of the Arabs so should similarly not have encroached
on Hindu Nusantara? The tudung/hijab is a piece of cloth that is
meant to encourage modesty (not force it). Certain Meditarranean
and Central Asians communities also have a similar concept of
modesty for women (eg. Greece and Cyprus so it is not particular
only to Muslims). I suggest to have a look at photos of the Gulf
Arabs at the turn of the century in particular the women - they
looked nothing like what they do now in terms of dress - it was not
a sea of white and black in the Gulf states (again the label Arab
is generic and inappropriate to use in such a wide-brushed manner
so let's be specific).
Also note that the Arabs of Yemen do not dress like the rest
of the Gulf states except for Oman (which is not a Sunni state). I
agree that the enforcement of the notion of increased religiosity
to show adherence to faith is the issue here - even Faisal's
declaration that as a Muslim father it is a dear matter is hogwash
as it stems from a mis-interpretation of responsibility that is
misplaced when applied to minors (ie. Faisal wrongly thinks the
Tudung is an Islamic requirement when it's actually a cultural
tradition).
Anyway your point about the weather here is also silly - the
weather in the Gulf is much more brutal than Singapore. In
actuality the Gulf Arabs don white and black as it distinguishes
them as locals/natives from the foreigners and for cultural reasons
- the sheyla is also a cultural manifestation which varies in
presentation depending on tribes and where you may be (look at the
girls in Bahrain who are very influenced by the lowering the sheyla
half-way down their heads in emulation of the styles of Iranian
girls (who are not Arabs)). Again it is not done for strictly
religious adherence but for their tribal/cultural requirements.
This is the part that the locals (both Muslims and non-Muslims) in
Singapore/Malaysia just don't understand and grasp.
Unfortunately no matter how much one tries to inform the
local Muslims here they just don't see it because they have never
been there or lived there for prolonged periods of time. They live
in la-la-land thinking that just because they are Muslims they will
be embraced and celebrated when they are in those societies -
nothing is further from the truth. Also if you are around Orchard
Road you will see Gulf Arabs (both men and women) dressed quite
liberally in Westernised clothes with a colourful tudong - it
amuses them to no end to see local Malays dressing in black abayas
and tudungs and men in white thobes when it has nothing to do with
their (Malay) inherent culture.
I don't disagree with Alfian completely as he is not being
dishonest, that there is indeed some pressure in the local Malay
community for girls to don the hijab, while some others do so in
order to psychologically liberate themselves somewhat - again it is
an over-generalisation to think each one is doing it for that same
reason.
The advent of the internet has also changed everything. No
longer do you need to go to the mosque to learn about your faith -
just look at your phone and videos aplenty but you can also be
easily misinformed because laziness typically means you accept at
face value without checking the source of information. One seller
of hijabs said there are multitudes of women who regularly watch
Youtube videos to try and out-do one another in terms of how they
tie their hijabs and it is a fashion thing. Again, some not
all.
The rise of the hijab has also coincided with the militancy
of those requiring halal only cafes and restaurants. Look at the
queues outside the new burger bar opened by Fat Boys in Arab Street
- a smart move for him to team up with Sheikh Haykel and going
Halal by not diluting his original brand equity.
You will note especially if you are in the vicinity of Little
India that the majority of women wearing black abayas are the South
Indians Muslims - a rather quiet community that have been wearing
the black abaya for years without making a song and dance about it
as it is their community identity.
