At a forum on Wednesday, former NMP Zulkifli Baharudin said that Muslims in Singapore should make more effort to compromise and integrate instead of expecting others to accormmodate their religious beliefs all the time.
Zulkifli Baharudin was 1 of 4 panel members at the forum discussing the findings of the IPS and OnePeople.sg study on race and religion on Singapore and was answering a question form the crowd.
The question was one that raised concerns about the lack of prayer space in polytechnics and the hospital policy which does not allow medical staff to wear tudungs due to infection control.
He gave an example of Muslims who choose to go to other countries where the majority are non-Muslims. He emphasised that where it's possible to accommodate without compromising religious beliefs, Muslims should try to integrate, but he said that where there is a clear conflict, there are choices that Muslims must make.
Talking about tudungs in hospitals, Zulkifli said it probably 'will happen' in future but it will involve more negotiation and compromise.
He further explained that it's a difficult process and it's cant just be legislated and fixed as it involves deep perceptions which must change.
Comparing Muslims in Singapore to those of other religions, Zulkifli said that strong religiosity has persisted in the Muslim community while other religions have become more secular and liberal over time.
"I'm persuading my fellow Muslims to also say that you've got to consider the other side, and how you compromise and negotiate towards what you want to achieve. It's not enough to say 'No, this is what I am, this is what I want and this is what it should be'
"If we become so sieged by having to accommodate (the practices of Muslims), I don't see it as something I am happy about… even the minorities have to accommodate in this instance, otherwise we will have a lot more problems going forward," he said.
Another former NMP on the panel, Viswa Sadasivan, said that "I feel that by not talking about this issue enough, you are actually not helping it to be demystified, and therefore a lot of conspiracy theories and preconceived ideas which are wrong are allowed to ferment,"
He said that more open discussion must be held in order to open up the issue.
"There needs to be a lot more opportunities in the personal dimension for people to just make friends, talk straight and get to know each other."
He said the real test for racial harmony was to not be so cautious with each other.