THE HIJAB BAN Part 2: PAP’s Attacks, PERGAS’ Defence

Jun 13, 2025

Transcript:

Why does the PAP expel girls for wearing the hijab to school? Like many others, I initially thought that the ban was due to lack of knowledge and understanding. So I focused on providing them with as much information as I could.

But I soon realised that they did not lack knowledge. PAP leaders knew how important the hijab is and that other countries allowed hijabis to be educated.

The reason they banned the hijab was because it is a clear marker for Islam. In 2001, while we were lobbying for our sisters, Lee Kuan Yew gave an interview to UPI where he said Islam’s growth and “the covered heads of women” was a problem.

We realised the only way forward was to seek a judicial review.

I was called for reservist duty in the army right before we were due to take the case to court. I had met with Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, the Minister in charge of Muslim Affairs to inform him of the plan.

The day before my reservist was due to begin, I gave an interview with the BBC. I was asked about the recent ISA arrests.

I argued that the government should put the accused on trial.

The next day, on my first day of reservist, PAP MPs and Ministers attacked me in the media. Newspaper, radio, TV…they used all the media machineries to attack my character.

Being on duty, I did not have access to my computer to respond. I spoke with the journalists that called me to respond to the character assasination.

I was then told by the Ministry of Defence that since I was on duty, I was not allowed to speak to the media.

So for weeks, I was silenced while the PAP attacked my character. I did get some messages out, but it was very one sided.

But Alhamdulillah, the attacks gave me the platform to discuss the hijab ban. By Allah’s grace, the issue turned from the PAP’s attacks on me to their banning of the hijab.

Many in the Muslim community started speaking up.

The PAP then roped in an Ustadz, who later became a Chairman of the ISD collaborator group RRG.

He went on TV and defended the hijab ban. The Mufti gave a statement saying education is more important than the hijab, effectively telling the girls to remove their hijab.

I was close to Almarhum Ustadz Zhulkeflee, Manager of PERGAS, the asatizah and ulama association. As discussed in previous videos, our group, Fateha was born out of PERGAS. We received instruction and guidance from PERGAS leaders.

Ustadz Zhul told me PERGAS was upset with the Ustadz who defended the ban and had issued him a show cause letter. He did not attend the hearing.

They also refuted the Mufti’s position, arguing that while education was more important, it was necessary to remove the ban.

PERGAS’ council met to discuss what to do with the issue. Some council members, especially those working with MUIS, wanted PERGAS to keep quiet.

But Ustadz Zhul, Ustadz Abdillah and several others disagreed. They argued that we had stood by PERGAS when they were under attack during the PAP’s threat to shut down madrasah.

And they would stand by us when the PAP attacked us.

This is the old PERGAS. Not the same as PERGAS today.

The PERGAS that was not ruled by the RRG.

That did not bow down to the PAP.

The ulama that did not stand by the door of the Sultan.

#singapore #meritocracy #hijab #malay #islam