Tangs Department Store Investigated After Promoter Told to Remove Hijab to Start Work

As a multicultural nation, residents in Singapore need to exhibit one simple trait in order for society to run smoothly: acceptance.

Acceptance of people who don’t look like you.

Acceptance of customs and traditions completely foreign to you.

And acceptance of belief systems which differ from yours.

But, as human history has shown, people often have a hard time accepting each other’s differences.

And instead of remaining tolerant, they impose their own beliefs on others.

Promoter at Tangs Department Store Allegedly Told to Remove Hijab to Start Work

A promoter at a Tangs department store was allegedly told to remove her hijab in order to be allowed to work at a pop-up booth on its premises.

The incident came to light after the business owner who was selling handmade leather bags at the booth made allegations on Instagram.

Speaking to TODAY, the employee, Nurin Jazlina Mahbob, said the incident occurred shortly after she started her shift on her first day at work.

Mahbob, 20, says that two managers from Tangs had approached her and allegedly told her she had to remove her hijab – a head covering worn in public by some Muslim women – to be allowed to work at the pop-up booth.

The 20-year-old was allowed to wear her hijab for the rest of the day, but this was only after an exchange that drew the attention of nearby shoppers.

Chin also said the two managers were talking to her employee “in such a demanding tone”.

“I asked them for the rationale behind her having to remove her hijab. They said it’s for ‘professionalism-sake’. Why can’t you wear a hijab and be professional? I found that ridiculous and felt the need to call them out.”

Mahbob said they didn’t even let her speak up. “They just kept saying I couldn’t work there wearing my hijab because it’s against their guidelines.”

That should have been the end of it, except… Chin, the business owner, said she was told to clear her booth soon after, even though the booth was supposed to run for three weeks until 13 Aug.

So, what’s their explanation?

Tang’s Response

In response to the backlash, Tang maintained that its staff members would “never” ask anyone to remove their religious headscarf immediately.

The key word here is “immediately”.

See, Tang had certain guidelines for employees who wanted to work at the pop-up booths on its premises. This included a “grooming standard” that required promoters to wear a black polo T-shirt and black long pants if their company did not have uniforms.

The promoters are also not allowed to wear religious headgear or accessories.

However, Chin says she was not informed of the guidelines, and that the store only told her about the all-black attire rule when she was setting up her booth before its first day.

Tangs said it simply “reminded” Chin of the guidelines on the day of the incident and “meant no harm”.

“But unfortunately, our reminders were received negatively”, they said.

As to why Chin was asked to clear her booth, Tangs said the store expects its frontline staff members to be “accorded the same dignity and respect that we offer our partners”.

“Given subsequent verbal exchanges (with Ms Chin) that we prefer to keep confidential, we had to come to the unfortunate decision to part ways.”

Tafep Investigating

The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (Tafep) told TODAY that it is looking into the matter with Tang’s assistance.

It has also reached out to Chin and encouraged the employee to come forward with more details of the encounter.

According to Tafep, religious attire should generally be allowed at workplaces, “unless employers have uniforms or dress code requirements that are suited to the nature of their work, or for operational and safety reasons”.

But if they do have such requirements, both employees and job applicants have to be made aware of them.