By Nurin Adila Shahrin, GEC volunteer

This piece delves into the guest speaker’s experience of Islamaphobic hate crimes.

In collaboration with DOT (Daughters of Tomorrow), GEC (Gender Equality is Our Culture) held our Hari Raya celebration on 24 July, with plenty of food, fun, games and friends. The celebration kicked off with a quick game of Human Bingo followed by a talk by guest speaker, Ms Shereen Williams who was recently made an Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) – an award conferred to individuals for their outstanding achievement or service to the community.

Having left Singapore 12 years ago, Ms Shereen is currently a regional community cohesion coordinator in Newport and Monmouthshire (East Gwent), Wales. She first spoke about the difficulties she had when she moved there, from learning new bus routes to dealing with the challenges of being a visible minority – one of which was becoming a victim of Islamaphobic attacks. In one particular incident, she was sitting on a park bench waiting for her husband when a group of children spat at her. She recounted another harrowing experience of conducting a social experiment as part of a BBC documentary called ‘White, Welsh and Muslim’: she had worn a niqab for a day and someone had commented that if he had a gun, he’d shoot her. Ms Shereen shared how there was a difference in her experiences of being a minority both in Wales and Singapore. She felt that in Singapore, she was more sheltered from such aggressive acts of racism, while it was the contrary in Wales with the rise of Islamaphobia.

Her experience working with the diverse Muslim community in the United Kingdom (UK) also made her more aware of how patriarchy and misogyny were deeply ingrained in practices and culture globally.  For example, in many families, honour is still placed on the shoulders of girls and women. In instances where this honour has been “besmirched”, it is common for acts of violence to be committed against them.

Participants were kept glued to their seats as Ms Shereen went on to share about her work with Muslim communities in the UK. When she spoke about how an Islamic scholar had chastised her for working on a marital rape case, citing the reason that it’s haram (forbidden), there was outcry from the audience. She encouraged participants to seize opportunities and to be brave when facing hardships.  

The group also discussed how to support victims of abusive relationships and domestic violence, including how they can safely step in and ensure the victims’ safety while still prioritising the victims’ agency. Violence against women remains a pressing issue in Singapore. It becomes even more complex when it is intertwined with the traditional practices and culture of the community, emphasising the need to challenge harmful gender roles and stereotypes that perpetuate such violence. 

The Hari Raya celebration ended on a great note, with a series of trivia games on classic Malay films and popular Hari Raya songs, with participants laughing gleefully at comedic P. Ramlee movie scenes and singing along to the tunes of Siti Nurhaliza among many others. All in all, an inspiring, informative and engaging event for the whole GEC community – thank you to everyone who made it possible!