One in five complaints received by TAFEP related to race, language, religion

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http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/one-five-complaints-received-tafep-related-race-language-religion

Onward Singapore

One in five complaints handled by the national body to promote fair employment practices is related to race, language or religion.

The Tripartite Alliance of Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP) says this is a relatively small number, but it does point to the need to get more employers aware of their obligations towards responsible hiring.

Often, it boils down to the attitude of individuals, like that of supervisors or human resource staff tasked with hiring, as related by one 26-year-old Singaporean who went for a job interview.

Ms Sharifah Hana Alhadad, a Singaporean researcher, said: “The interview went really well. They were very impressed with my experiences and they looked at my name (and) they said ‘Oh your name, where is that from?’ I told them that well, I’m from here and they said ‘Oh are you a Muslim?’ And I said yes, and they said ‘Well, you (don’t) look Muslim,’ and I said ‘Well, how does a Muslim look (like)?’”

Ms Sharifah was then told that her religion might pose a problem as the job required her to work with Chinese families in the community.

Ms Sharifah added: We should look into building the national identity... There’s a Singaporean Malay identity, there’s a Singaporean Chinese identity, a Singaporean Indian identity but what about the Singapore identity, what identity is that?”