Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
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| Barr |
| 03/19/01 at 10:18:00 |
| Assalamu'alaikum, I've just got my passport... and alhamdulillah, a Madinah citizen now... Just wanna give a brief intro, inshaALlah. I just graduated from a British uni last summer in Applied Psychology, and is currently working as a Family Development Officer at the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore. I'm back with my family, now... but I miss the UK a lot, still. It's a place where I grew, though just for a few short years... but it has been a place of where I've learnt a lot about ukhuwah, da'wah, patience, sacrifice, trust, mahabbah etc. THough I know that what Allah has put me through is probably just an atom of the diamonds of life, but alhamdulillah, I'm grateful He has placed me there. I've been reading some posts here, and i think this board seems pretty cool... everyone seemed to be so civilised! Subhanallah... Anyways hope to share... and have a healthy discussion:) inshaALlah, we can learn from one another, in mahabbah and rahmah.... Fi amanillah Ukhtukum fil Islam :) |
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| bhaloo |
| 03/19/01 at 10:55:28 |
| slm Welcome to the board and enjoy your stay. :) I've stopped in Singapore for a day or two on my way to Karachi in the past. Its a very beautiful place, alhumdullilah, with so much greenery. The weather is tropical and there are all these high rise buildings all over the place. I don't really know about the situation of Muslims there, but one of the maillists I am on has mentioned that recently some law was passed that said girls were not allowed to wear hijab in schools. Is this true? ??? |
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| se7en |
| 03/19/01 at 13:20:08 |
wa alaykum as salaam wa rahmatAllah, Ahlan wa sahlan :) |
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| momineqbal |
| 03/19/01 at 13:37:51 |
| [slm] I have personally heard that there are lot of practicing muslims in singapore alhamdulillah! A few years back I also had heard that they have a system of certifying halal meat products in that country. I hope they have something similar in the United States. Dr. Ahmed Sakr once said we muslims need to make noise about it, only then things will move. Wassalam |
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| Tarar |
| 03/19/01 at 13:42:21 |
| [slm] wellcome have a nice time here :) [wlm] Tarar |
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| Asim |
| 03/19/01 at 14:03:16 |
| Assalaamu alaikum, Welcome aboard sister! :) [quote]but one of the maillists I am on has mentioned that recently some law was passed that said girls were not allowed to wear hijab in schools. Is this true?[/quote] I seriously doubt that. In Singapore the government recognizes and protects three religions or cultures: the chinese, the Muslims, and the Hindus. The holidays and festivals of these religions are recognized. Moreover, there are quite a few muslims there, primarily of Malay origin, and one occasionally sees hijabied sisters. Anyway, the sister can better answer the question. I have been Singapore also and it is a really nice place. There are a LOT of shopping malls and plazas there, and that is probably what Singapore is best known for :) Intrestingly, there are significant hindus there and one of the stops on their MRT (mass rapid transit) is called dhobhee station (laundry station). The way this is announced in the trains is even more funny! The pronounciation is like a mixture of english, hindi, and chinese :) Wasalaam. |
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| BrKhalid |
| 03/19/01 at 17:08:07 |
| Asalaamu Alaikum ;-) Welcome to the Board Sister. Anyone who studied Applied Psychology from a *British* uni deserves some respect ;-) (j/k you yanks!) Yeah tell us about Singapore, but also tell us what you thought of the UK |
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| meraj |
| 03/19/01 at 18:57:46 |
| slm, welcome aboard! enjoy your stay inshallah :) and br. khalid, not all of us are from the north US, so be careful with the 'Y' word, aiight? ;-D so BOOYA... boil *that* in your tea and drink it ;-D ma'salaam |
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| Barr |
| 03/20/01 at 00:51:45 |
| Jazakallah for the welcome, everyone. Thanx :) And inshaALlah, I'll try to answer all of teh questions... I may have missed some. Pls remind, inshaAllah. >>>one of the maillists I am on has mentioned that recently some law was passed that said girls were not allowed to wear hijab in schools. Is this true? (Arshad)<<<< About 14.9% of Singapore residents aged 15 and above are Muslims. We are, a small minority, I guess. Currently, and for a long time, wearing of the hijab in government schools have been an issue. Alhamdulillah, Muslims in SIngapore are turning to Islam, and there are more sisters wearing the hijab from when they are young. In fact, some of us are training our daughters to start wearing the hijab before they've reach puberty... so that they hijab is seen as a natural process rather than a strange thing to do. The government is quite apprehensive with the hijab, due to the message that it sends. They are quite concerned with societal cohesiveness since Singapore is a multi-racial/ cultural society. And feels that the society have yet to achieve the desired level of cohesiveness for the implementation of hijab. But of course, this point can be argued endlessly... On the bright side, alhamdulillah, the society in SIngapore have shown greater acceptability of the hijab. When I came back to Singapore, I see that there are actually hijabi bus drivers, cashiers in post office and banks, the train station and other front desk jobs... and this is not something common years ago... Personally, though we have yet to have our girls to have hijabs in schools, but inshaALlah, I think it's not an impossibility.. it takes time. FYI, students are able to wear hijabs in unis and polytechnics and madrasahs.. just not govt. schools. And yes, we have a halal certification system. Most of the fast food restaurants here like McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, etc etc are halal. Also, there is certification of slaughtered animals and food products. >>>Dr. Ahmed Sakr once said we muslims need to make noise about it, only then things will move. (Eqbal Zaffar)<<<<< Well, I think that it's not about making noise... but making relevant sounds so that others will listen. Sometimes, we have to work in ways that are subtle rather than something that is enforced. >>>Intrestingly, there are significant hindus there and one of the stops on their MRT (mass rapid transit) is called dhobhee station (laundry station). The way this is announced in the trains is even more funny! The pronounciation is like a mixture of english, hindi, and chinese <<<< *L* That is a first! I've never thought of that. Actually, the name of the train station is Dhoby Gaut Station. btw... Hindus comprise of 4% of the population aged 15 and above... Hope this helps take care :) |
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| Asim |
| 03/20/01 at 06:26:30 |
| Assalaamu alaikum, [quote]the name of the train station is Dhoby Gaut Station. [/quote] Yes! I knew I was missing something :) I always thought the percentage of Muslims in Singapore was larger. Maybe if you include those under 15, the percentage may be as high as 30? |
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| Barr |
| 03/20/01 at 05:50:04 |
| Wa'alaikumussalam warahmatullah, akhi... Ermmm... as much as I wish that would be... no, it's not. I think it would still with the area of abt 15%, tops. Reason being, most Muslims are Malays, and Malays only comprise 14% of the population. This may be boring... but just FYI: 99.6% of Malays are Muslims 25.6% of Indo-Paks are Muslims And btw... how do U guys find the time to post messages? I'm finding that I'm stealing time while working to do all this! well.. not really.. mainly lunchtime, and after work... Also, how do U do smilies with hijabs and beard? Is there a list of smilies that we can do available on-line? |
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| Asim |
| 03/20/01 at 06:35:53 |
| Thanks for the clarification. I don't know where I got the idea that Muslims were about 30%. [quote]25.6% of Indo-Paks are Muslims[/quote] Most of them are south indians or tamils. Considering that hindus are 4% they are very visible in Singapore. They even have a separate section called little india. [quote]And btw... how do U guys find the time to post messages? I'm finding that I'm stealing time while working to do all this! well.. not really.. mainly lunchtime, and after work...[/quote] We steal time also! This board can be very addictive :) [quote]Also, how do U do smilies with hijabs and beard? Is there a list of smilies that we can do available on-line?[/quote] Check the help for this board. There is link near the top of the page. Wasalaam. |
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| Barr |
| 03/20/01 at 11:34:35 |
| Jazakallah, akhi. Actually the 4% are the Indians et al. not the Hindus, though 50-60% of Indians et al. are Hindus... and yes, most of them are South Indians. Little India is the whole stretch of Serangoon Road. But there seemed to be a lot of Indians as there are a lot of Indian national workers here. In fact, 24% of those who reside in SIngapore are foreigners. I was quite shocked to see the number of Europeans living in Singapore (well, since they stand out a lot more than Indian & Chinese and other Asian nationals) when I came back to Singapore. Apparently, they (or we?) have flexible immigration laws with regards to foreign talents. So, if U're not Singaporean and a professional, it'll be easy to get a PR in Singapore, inshaAllah. And that'll be $20.00 for the tip ;) |
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| PacificBreeze |
| 03/20/01 at 12:15:18 |
| assalaamu alaikum, barr! kambali!! apa kabar? :) wa salaams |
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| Barr |
| 03/20/01 at 19:21:48 |
| Wa'alaikumussalam warahmatullah :) ALhamdulillah, khabar baik... :-) erm... do I know U from somewhere... or did U just pick that up? :) Somehow... participating in this message board makes me feel like I'm 18 years old again... when I was quite "active" in WBS Muslim Chat.... |
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| PacificBreeze |
| 03/20/01 at 21:21:28 |
| nah you don't know me lol i've just been around alot..had real good malay n indonesian friends at the uni overseas..and spent time with their embassy events for ramadhan etc..picked up alot of stuff..but havne't practiced since i've returned..soo...can't really try to carry one these days.. ;) and ooh i'm able to differentiate btwn malaysians and indonesians and ppl from thailand..isn't that coool? lol :P my friend told me i passed the test!! :) and don't worry..you're still young! :) |
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| Barr |
| 03/21/01 at 00:19:52 |
Cool.. not many people can do that... they can't even tell the difference between those from South East Asia and the Chinese... Here's a tough one => try and pick up the skill to tell the difference with Malay Singaporeans?? :) Oh yes! I'm young alright... about 6 1/2 or maybe 7... according to my shoe size! ;) and another thing... Indians are about 7.7%! and 4% of the population are Hindus.. sorry, for the confusion. |
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