Samsung's LGBT promotion and the Muslim community

As many of us know, Samsung has removed the offensive video that promoted LGBT to the Singapore Muslim community.

Alhamdulillah. It bears notice that the lobby for Samsung to remove the video was driven by the Muslim community.

While some Muslims initially called on MUIS to take action, ultimately, it was the community itself that took the challenge.

Samsung’s retraction was timely. Kudos to them.

Some Muslims pointed out that Samsung’s retraction was not an apology.

We agree.

Understandably, there is still dissatisfaction:

There are also several who declared they will stop using Samsung products:

We understand the disappointment. And we agree that the retraction was not sufficient.

But we suggest that for now, we accept the retraction and to move forward.

What we need to remember is that this act, this attempt to be heard, to push for our values and interests is new for the Muslim community.

Yes, over the years there have been community led lobbying against racism, against anti-Islam practices.

Usually, when we face large organisations, we refer to MUIS or other major bodies.

And a lot of times, we have accepted such abuse of our values.

This brief campaign has shown that the community has the strength to pursue issues that matter.

We have been largely unorganised. But we can still do it.

Imagine what we can do if we realise our strength.

Imagine what we can do if we stand up and speak clearly.

Imagine what we can do if we organise ourselves.

This campaign has shown us what we can do.

It is time we build on that.