We must preserve racial and religious harmony.
We value our diversity and are determined to stay a united people.
~ National Education message #2
By Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 16 August 2009 2142 hrs
Special Report - National Day 2009
SINGAPORE: Singapore's religious harmony must never be taken for granted. This was why the Cabinet had decided that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong should speak on this unusually sensitive subject for the National Day Rally and spell out clear directions for engagement between religions, Mr Lee said.
It has been almost 20 years since Parliament passed the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act. But Mr Lee noted that from time to time, the issue must be sensitively but honestly discussed to remind Singaporeans to do better.
Singapore has done well in the past 40-odd years. Contributing to the peace is the work of religious leaders who respected one another and made practical compromises. Still, there has been rising religiosity in the world - from the US to Malaysia.
And Singapore is not immune, with mosques overflowing on Fridays, churches filled on Sundays, Buddhists reaching out to youths and Hindus celebrating more religious festivals.
PM Lee said: "In itself, (there's) nothing wrong with people becoming more religious. But at the same time, stronger religious fervour can have side effects which have to be managed carefully, especially in a multi-racial and multi-religious society."
Mr Lee related the story of a Malay wedding and Chinese funeral that was meant to be held at the same void deck of an HDB block of flats.
Initially, both parties stood firm but after mediation, the Malay family decided to move to a nearby void deck and the town council decided to waive charges for it and so there was an amicable ending.
PM Lee added: "I cite this example not to criticise one group or another, but to point out that such sensitive incidents are bound to arise from time to time in Singapore. They're very rare - maybe one incident in 300 funerals.
"But if such an incident had been wrongly handled and you have a case that escalates into a racial or religious incident, then one case is bad enough. To solve such problems, to live peacefully together, we need good sense and tolerance on all sides, and willingness to give and take."
This issue also came into sharp focus during the leadership tussle at AWARE, a non-governmental organisation focussing on women's issues. Mr Lee said what concerned the government here was the attempt by a religiously motivated group to enter civil space, take over an NGO it disapproved of and impose its own agenda.
He noted that there was a risk of a spillover into broader relations between different religions but for the statements from the National Council of Churches of Singapore that it did not support churches getting involved and also from the Catholic Archbishop.
While the government stayed out of the tussle, Mr Lee said he spoke to the religious leaders after the dust settled so that everyone understood what was needed to maintain racial and religious harmony.
Going forward, Mr Lee pointed out three risks:
- aggressive pushing of one's religion onto others, which can cause offence
- not respecting the religious beliefs of others, sometimes within the same family
- segregating into exclusive circles
He added that some basic rules have to be observed to maintain racial and religious harmony.
Firstly, all groups must exercise tolerance and restraint. Secondly, religion must stay separate from politics. Thirdly, the government must remain secular and fourthly, the common space that all Singaporeans share - whether at mealtimes, at work or in school - must be preserved.
Mr Lee added: "You may ask 'does this mean religious groups cannot have any views on national issues? Or that religious individuals cannot participate in politics?' Obviously not.
"But they should respect other people's views and in the end, the debate and final decision must be based on a secular consideration of what is best for all of Singapore."
Ending on a positive note, he said while Singapore was in a good position, care must still be taken to strengthen this harmony and to never forget what being a Singaporean means. - CNA/vm
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