- Muslims are not allowed to wear head scarfs in public schools.
- Foreigners with HIV will not be granted work permits.
- Foreign service workers who become pregnant while employed in Singapore will no longer be eligible for work in the country...ever again.
08 August 2009
(In)tolerance in Singapore
Singapore prides itself on being a nation of tolerance: tolerance for different heritages, languages, backgrounds, and ways of life. Every year, the nation even places these difference in the celebratory limelight during the country-wide HeritageFest. But how tolerant is Singapore truly? And are those who aren't Singaporean granted the same rights as citizens or even as human beings? I won't get up on my soap box, but here is some food for thought regarding one of the most "tolerant" countries on earth:
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I'll bet there are many more than three but for starters with tongue in cheek:
ReplyDelete1. Can others wear head scarfs to school?
2. Don't tell!
3. Seems the pregnant foreign service worker will soon have another full time job. (I know it must be more complicated than that.)
We also have become a nation of tolerance and when some particular groups or cultures express their objections, in various non-violent ways, to what others think should be tolerated, those folks are alled "intolerant".
Love, Grandma
As an addition to my comment, If taken to extreme,tolerance is not always the best place to be or even a good place. We already tolerate the murder of babies in the uterus, and the murder of old people, in some states. The next step could be tolerating the man/woman who murders his/her spouse because it is cheaper and less complicated than divorce. I guess my question here is "Am I thinking in an intolerant way in objecting to those behaviors, or just too controversial." As you can see by my signature, I am not really anonymous. I just don't know how to blog any other way.
ReplyDeleteGrandma
There's a difference between the virtue of tolerance and tolerating intolerable behavior.
ReplyDeleteI think tolerance begins with understanding which begins with knowledge which begins with relationship. It's much easier to practice tolerance with someone with whom we are in a relationship.
When I taught middle school students from around the globe, nearly every school year there were several Muslim students in my classroom. I came to understand the importance and reverence with which my students wore the "hajib" (scarf).
Depending on the sect of Islam, some girls wore the hajib and some didn't, but I never...NEVER saw my students who whose families chose to wear the scarf without it. Never. Not in even in P.E. class. For that reason, it was a bit horrifying for me to see that Singapore does not allow the hajib in public schools.
For all the criticisms of the U.S. education system, I can tell you that in MY school district, there is no tolerance for demeaning another person's culture or color or academic ability. There is a "zero tolerance" policy for drugs, alcohol, fighting and... intolerance.
I misspelled the Urdu word for scarf but didn't realize it until it was too late to edit. It's "hijab". Not hajib
ReplyDeleteI'm just now back from my trip and reading the great comments you posted! Very good points. To Grandma...I'm not sure if anyone else is allowed to wear headscarfs, but if they are I could see that as being VERY problematic. I also think that everyone's definition of "intolerable behavior" varies. But regardless of definition, their is a tolerable way to approach "intolerable" behavior, otherwise your one's own behavior then becomes an issue of intolerance. Good points!
ReplyDeleteMom, you bring up a great point differentiating between tolerating intolerable behavior and intolerance. Although again it is difficult to see the line between what is universally intolerable (murder) and what is subjectively intolerable (abortion).
I also think intolerance has an undertone of ignorance. As you said, if you know a person and know their beliefs it is much easier to negotiate behavior that might be "intolerable" in the eyes of others.