The father of a six-year-old Singaporean schoolgirl, who left to study in Australia after the republic's government banned her from wearing the tudung (Muslim headscaf), said he may bring his family to Malaysia due to financial constraints.

Mohamed Nasser Jamaludin said Malaysia is one of the best options if he can no longer support his family in Melbourne. He would have to spend at least A$12,000 (RM24,868) a year to educate his three children there.

The in-flight services officer is also worried that he may loose his job since he has exceeded the annual leave he applied last month to arrange accommodation for his family in Melbourne.

He told malaysiakini in a telephone interview yesterday that he was forced to stay on as the home-leasing procedure in Australia was lengthy and tedious.

Mohamed Nasser complained that his employer had refused to approve his application for unpaid leave.

"I don't know how much longer I can accommodate the situation. Without a job, I might not be able to provide for my family in Australia.

"I think Malaysia could be a good place for me to re-start a career or maybe a modest business so that I can be with all my children and they can get their education there," he said.

Mohamed Nasser was thrust into the limelight when he and several others challenged the Singapore government's directive that Muslim students should not wear the headscarf during school hours.

Mohamed Nasser's daughter, Nurul Nasiha, together with Siti Farwizah Mohamad Kassim and Khairah Farouk were suspended for not adhering to the ban.

Following this, the parents sought to engage prominent Malaysian lawyer Karpal Singh (photo) who offered to represent them for free to pursue a case against the republic's government.

However, Karpal failed to obtain a work permit in order to appear in a Singaporean court from the republic.

Minimal problems

Meanwhile, Mohamed Nasser hopes that he would have minimal problems in settling in Malaysia considering that his wife's late father was Malaysian.

Although the Malaysian Education Ministry offered his daughter the opportunity to study here, Mohamed Nasser rejected it then because he did not wish to further strain ties between the two nations.

Following the tudung ban, Malaysian politicians sent volleys of criticism to the republic's leaders.

Reiterating his disappointment with his employer, Mohamed Nasser said he was upset when his application for a 'golden handshake' ( similar to a voluntary separation scheme) and leave were rejected.

"I applied for a no-pay leave for two weeks and explained my situation, thinking that they might have understood. But when I checked on my application, I found that it was taken out of the record system. My application was not in record.

" I felt sick. It was absurd and a dirty trick. I couldn't wait anymore as my family needed me. So I took my remaining annual leave and left," said Mohamed Nasser who has worked with the airline company for 13 years.

Choosing religion

On the legal suit against the Singaporean government, he said he was not surprised that Karpal was denied a work permit.

However, since he and the other parents were determined to proceed with the matter, Mohamed Nasser said they may engage the services of a Queen's Counsel (QC) from Australia or the United Kingdom.

Although, he hopes they could find a QC willing to represent them for free, the parents are willing to pay if they must.

Asked if the legal matter was worth pursuing, given the problems he is facing, Mohamed Nasser replied: "For me not to lose everything, my job and the companion of my family and friends, I have to obey the government. But to obey, I have to go against the religion.

"When you are faced with such a complex situation, you have to tread your way very carefully. So here I chose religion over government and over the normal luxury that other Singaporean Muslims possess."

He said that he never looked for trouble, as claimed by certain quarters. "The trouble came to me when I was merely defending my right to practice Islam".