As a young nation, Singapore should avoid the mistake of being complacent when it comes to being a harmonious society, said Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam at a fellowship gathering by the Inter Religious Organisation (IRO) on Tuesday evening (May 19).
Singaporeans becoming more aware and concerned about problems in the world is a positive development, as it shows a strengthening of the society, Mr Tharman said.
“We want to keep reminding ourselves that keeping our society resilient and harmonious is continuous work. It’s not about doing things when problems happen, but it’s about strengthening our society upstream, particularly when the kids are young and growing up, and through a whole range of fundamental policies, education, housing, no discrimination at work and of course the good work of our IROs and our Inter-racial and Religious Confidence Circles (IRCCs) throughout the island. That’s really what makes us Singapore,” said Mr Tharman.
The gathering at the Inter Religious Organisation headquarters at Palmer Road was themed “Compassion Across Religions, Around the Region”.
At the event, Mr Tharman also received a S$100,000 donation on behalf of the IRO for quake victims in Nepal. He added that when it comes to emergency relief, Singapore has a range of avenues available for help, such as the Singapore Red Cross, Singapore Civil Defence Force, Ministry of Defence and the private sector.
The S$100,000 donation was from one of the council members of the IRO who wished to remain anonymous.
The IRO will partner Singapore’s Corporate Citizen Foundation, which was in Nepal two days after the devastating earthquake of Apr 25 to support the rescue and relief operations there. The funds will be used to provide shelter to the victims, in particular, the affected children.
Pertubuhan Antara Agama (IRO) semalam menyanjung jasa Imam Masjid Ba’alwie, Habib Hassan Al-Attas, dalam memperjuangkan keharmonian agama dan kaum di Singapura.
Habib Hassan, 64 tahun, diberi Anugerah IRO bagi khidmatnya kepada pertubuhan itu sebagai anggota veterannya.
Anugerah itu disampaikan dalam majlis sambutan ulang tahun IRO ke-66 dan sempena ulang tahun Singapura ke-50 (SG50) tahun ini.
Semasa ditemui dalam acara itu, Habib Hassan berkata beliau terperanjat menerima anugerah tersebut kerana IRO merahsiakan pemberian anugerah itu kepadanya.
“Saya fikir ramai lagi yang juga berjasa untuk membina keharmonian kaum dan agama di Singapura.
“Kita perlu terus ambil berat terhadap usaha memelihara keharmonian kaum kerana keamanan dan kebaikan tidak akan terjamin tanpa usaha tersebut,” ujar Habib Hassan.
Majlis itu dihadiri Presiden Tony Tan Keng Yam selaku tetamu terhormat. Ia dihos Perdana Menteri Lee Hsien Loong.
Turut hadir ialah Timbalan Perdana Menteri Teo Chee Hean, yang juga Menteri Penyelaras Keselamatan Negara dan Menteri Ehwal Dalam Negeri.
Di bawah pimpinan Habib Hassan, Masjid Ba’alwie antara masjid yang cergas dalam kegiatan persefahaman antara agama.
Dari masa ke masa, masjid itu menerima kunjungan pemimpin agama lain di dalam dan luar negara.
Habib Hassan juga sering diundang menjelaskan kedudukan Islam dalam pelbagai isu semasa.
Malah, banyak ceramah dan tulisan Habib Hassan dalam bahasa Inggeris atau yang diterjemahkan kepada bahasa Inggeris dimanfaatkan oleh masyarakat bukan Muslim.
Habib Hassan menjadi imam Masjid Ba’alwie dari 1976, selepas pemergian ayahnya, Allahyarham Habib Muhammad Salim Al-Attas, pengasas dan imam pertama masjid tersebut.
Masjid Ba’alwie di Lewis Road, dekat Bukit Timah Road, diasaskan Allahyarham Habib Muhammad Salim pada 1952.
Sementara itu, presiden IRO, Encik Gurmit Singh, berkata Habib Hassan wajar dan layak menerima anugerah itu.
“Beliau bersikap terbuka menerima sesiapa sahaja ke masjidnya. Beliau juga terbuka dari segi idea dan sedia membincangkan pelbagai isu,” ujarnya.
Pengerusi Persekutuan Tao Singapura, Encik Tan Thian Lye, pula berkata Habib Hassan telah memberi sumbangan besar kepada IRO dan memupuk keharmonian antara kaum di Singapura.
“Sikap ramahnya membantu memupuk jalinan mesra antara pemimpin pelbagai agama dan beliau sering berusaha mengekalkan jalinan itu,” ujarnya.
Antara penerima Anugerah IRO sebelum ini ialah mantan presiden Persekutuan Seruan Islam Singapura (Jamiyah), Allahyarham Haji Abu Bakar Maidin, dan mantan mufti, Shaikh Syed Isa Mohd Semait.
SINGAPORE — Religion is important to their identity, and Muslims and Protestant Christians are the two religious groups that are most affected by and most disapproving when friends or family members of the same faith give up their religious beliefs.
They also feel more strongly than their Buddhist, Hindu, Catholic and other counterparts about moral issues such as homosexual sex, sex before marriage, adoption of children by gay couples and gambling.
These were among the findings in a study on religiosity and management of religious harmony released yesterday by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS).
The study’s authors said: “Considering that for many Muslims, Protestants and Catholics, a mark of the good person includes the teaching of one’s morals, it is important that they temper this with a respect for those who do not share such values.”
About two-thirds of Muslims and 44 per cent of Protestants said religion was very important to their sense of identity — significantly higher numbers than those of other faiths. About 69 per cent of Muslims and half the Protestants said they disapproved of family members of their faith giving up their religious beliefs, compared with 20 per cent of Buddhists and 31 per cent of Hindus, for example.
The study’s authors noted that giving up religious beliefs is more disconcerting among religious groups where there are higher levels of religious participation and identity.
Lead author, IPS senior research fellow Mathew Mathews, said greater religiosity among Muslims here was observed a few decades ago and coincided with increased global Muslim piety. Many Muslims in Malaysia and the region also take their religion very seriously and this is increasingly so, he noted. As for Protestants, the dominant form of Protestant Christianity here is of a “conservative variety where there is an emphasis on doing the right thing”.
Many Singaporean Protestants are first-generation Christians and “you expect converts to be a lot more fervent about their faith, especially since they made a choice to embrace the religion”, Dr Mathew said.
Mr Noor Mohamed Marican, president of Inter-Religious Organisation, said it is important that Muslim and Protestant leaders have strong ties and communication with different religious leaders, as inter-faith dialogues based on goodwill will prevent misunderstandings. “We must learn to respectfully agree to disagree and see above and beyond our disagreements,” he said.
Speaking in his capacity as Bishop of the Lutheran Church, Reverend Terry Kee said: “If you look at the survey, it’s not just Muslim and Christians … almost all the faiths had similar conviction in terms of the importance of good strong morals. With the increase of non-religious influence … (and) in the face of eroding moral fabric of our society, this actually brings the religious community closer together … on how we can work together to preserve and protect the moral value of our nation.”
Rev Kee, who is also a vice-president of the National Council of Churches of Singapore, added: “So this would not be a problem between different religions but, rather, it may become a problem between a more united religious community versus the non-religious.”
Literary and cultural critic Nazry Bahrawi of the Singapore University of Technology and Design also felt Singapore’s biggest challenge with regard to harmony is not inter-religious. “Rather, our developing ‘culture war’ really has to do with how Protestants and Muslims react to changing views of sexuality,” he said, urging both religious groups to consider theology from multiple traditions and perspectives.
Singapore could consider ethics instead of moral education modules in schools to promote more empathy and less judgment of others, he suggested.
The study’s authors also warned that vibrant religious centres elsewhere are likely to have some influence on believers in Singapore through constant exchanges and the Internet. With immigrant flows, there is the possibility of intra-religious conflicts over theology, religious practice and other issues.
Established religious structures here should also be open to incorporating “splinter groups” with their own interpretation of religion and “steer them clear from tendencies that may destabilise religious harmony”, they wrote. Additional reporting by Laura Philomin
Kebanyakan rakyat Singapura agak senang dengan keadaan sekarang apabila membincangkan soal ruang bersama bagi amalan keagamaan.
Hanya suku yang mengatakan kumpulan-kumpulan agama patut diberi lebih banyak hak daripada yang sedia ada.
Demikian menurut dapatan terbaru mengenai kehidupan beragama di sini, yang dikeluarkan Institut Pengajian Dasar, IPS.
Dan masyarakat Muslim ternyata masih mencatat kadar tertinggi mempertahankan nilai-nilai agama, berbanding penganut agama lain.
Dapatan tertinggi – 94% Muslim menganggap hubungan sejenis adalah salah.
