The single most important principle in our approach is to build common spaces...
2 August 2009
The 44th Bishan East National Day Dinner - Speech By Mr Wong Kan Seng, DPM and Minister for Home Affairs, and MP For Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC
01 August 2009
Safeguarding Singapore’s Success
Parliamentary colleagues
Grassroots leaders
Residents
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good evening.
2 Singapore has done well since our Independence 44 years ago. Our living standard is high. We enjoy good quality public housing, education, transport and healthcare. We raise our families and pursue our careers in an environment that is stable, safe and secure.
3 Many factors account for Singapore’s success. Some of these are not easily “seen” or “measured”. But we will feel the impact when things go wrong. Knowing what they are will help us preserve them, so as to safeguard and ensure Singapore’s continued success.
Factors behind Singapore’s success
4 The most fundamental factor of our success is strong government leadership. We implement policies to achieve long term growth.
5 Singaporeans play a vital part in Singapore’s success too. They trust and support the government, and work hard with discipline to forgo short term gratification for long term gains. Every Singaporean actively contributes to and has a stake in Singapore’s success.
6 Our strong defence capability and successful efforts in diplomacy are key factors as well.
7 Other than strong government, supportive people, defence and diplomacy, one other factor of our success that I am going to talk more about today is the importance of racial and religious harmony which contributes to our stability. This is something that is closest to us. It relates directly to the safety of our families, and the stability of our society.
Preserving safety and stability
8 Singapore is stable and peaceful today even though we are a diverse, multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. This is a far cry from 1965 when we became independent or 1959 when we attained self-government. Singapore can remain peaceful and stable only if we stay ahead of threats, whether be it crime, drugs or terrorism. And one of the threats to our stability is racial, religious and social disharmony that we have zealously guard against. Three recent incidents outside Singapore clearly illustrate why.
9 The first is the inter-ethnic violence in Xinjiang last month. What began as a factory brawl in Guangdong led to hundreds of people dead and many more injured when riots turned violent in Xinjiang. What happened in Xinjiang illustrates how racial bloodshed can be ignited with little provocation.
10 The second incident happened in May. It was reported that a Sikh preacher was shot dead and several worshippers were wounded at a Sikh temple in Vienna, Austria. The perpetrators were reportedly fundamentalist Sikhs of a higher caste from another temple. Barely hours later, followers of the preacher clashed with other Sikhs in Punjab and riots broke out.
11 The third incident happened in Australia. A series of racially motivated attacks against Indian students in May and June and the perceived poor response by the police sparked widespread protests. Rallies were held in both Melbourne and Sydney. Mutual suspicions between the Indian immigrants and white Australians remain.
12 All these incidents are a grim reminder that we cannot take racial and religious harmony for granted. Racial and religious harmony is not something that naturally happens. It has to be nurtured over time. What happened in these countries showed that we need to consistently pay attention to the different groups in our society and to have a sharp sensing of the ground to know whether race and/or religious tensions are brewing. If we are not sensitive to such tensions, misunderstanding and distrust will happen, escalating into riots and chaos when there is provocation.
13 Can such violence happen in Singapore? It will be a grave mistake to think that it cannot. If we allow racial and religious differences to simmer and accentuate, soon the fissures will become fractures and all we need is a spark to ignite the fire.
14 Let me share some examples. A Chinese family held a wake at the void deck of a HDB flat. During the wake, there was a misunderstanding between the Chinese family and a Malay family. The Malay family objected to the burning of incense at the grass patch in front of the block. A scuffle broke out and Police was called to intervene.
15. Grassroots leaders including members of the Inter-Racial Confidence Circle (IRCC) visited the families to talk to them. Both families realised that there was a misunderstanding. The MP subsequently met both families. The parties apologised to each other and the matter was settled amicably. The friction that could have potentially escalated into tensions was swiftly stemmed when grassroots leaders acted and cooler heads prevailed. This is how we deal with such matters the Singapore way.
16 The Internet has also become a potential source of tension. In 2005, three youths were convicted in court for making inflammatory racist remarks about Muslims and Malays online. In 2006, a 21-year-old was warned by the Police for publishing offensive cartoons of religious nature on his blog. Recently, this year, a Christian couple was sentenced to eight weeks jail under the Sedition Act for distributing anti-Muslim and anti-Catholic publications.
17 The examples I have cited clearly show why we must continue to take racial and religious harmony seriously.
Preserving social harmony by building our common space
18 More Singaporeans are reportedly turning to religion. We are carried by the world trend. There is nothing wrong to be religious. But even as we turn towards religion to guide us, we have to be acutely mindful of the impact on the people around us in our multi-racial and multi-religious society.
19 My ministry received a letter from a member of public last month. The writer received religious literature in his letterbox which he felt was critical of non-believers. And he wrote, “Religious beliefs are deeply personal. Their potential for incendiary contention is well known and they should be best confined to the private sphere.” His reaction was not difficult to understand.
20 As we seek out religion, we must not do so in a way that leads to closed minds and exclusive groups. Singapore is a dense urban city with people of different races and religions living in close proximity. Our diversity can be both a source of our strength as well as our Achilles heel. The practice of religion should not lead to exclusivity where we only interact with people of the same faith or worse, criticise and exclude people of other faiths. We must not let increased religiosity or religious practices among our people to create fault lines that will disrupt our social stability, especially when race and religion are closely intertwined in Singapore.
21 The government has managed race and religion matters in our society in a pragmatic and sensible manner. The single most important principle in our approach is to build common spaces in our schools, communities, workplaces and national service. These common spaces must necessarily remain secular.
22 Our social harmony depends on people of different races and religion living and working harmoniously together in the common spaces that we have built over the decades. This social harmony is a valuable capital on which we can safeguard Singapore’s future success.
Conclusion
23 As we celebrate Singapore’s 44th birthday today, let us remember that Singapore can keep growing if we are committed to its long term future. Let us remember the reasons behind Singapore’s success and do our part to preserve Singapore’s future and actively contribute to Singapore’s peace, security and communal harmony.
24 Finally, let me thank the Bishan East grassroots leaders for organising tonight’s dinner. I wish all of you a Happy National Day and an enjoyable evening.
The Straits Times - 'Be mindful of racial, religious fault lines'
02 August 2009
DPM Wong cites recent incidents outside Singapore to remind citizens to be vigilant
By Jamie Ee Wen Wei
A misunderstanding over the burning of incense at a grass patch in front of a Housing Board flat led to a scuffle between a Chinese family and their Malay neighbour.
The police were called in to break up the fight.
The estate's MP, grassroots leaders and members of the Inter-Racial Confidence Circle (IRCC) also took turns to visit and talk to the families.
In the end, realising it was a misunderstanding, both sides apologised to each other and the matter was settled amicably.
Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng related this at the annual Bishan East National Day dinner yesterday.
His point was to show how racial and religious differences, when allowed to simmer, may turn into fractures that require just 'a spark to ignite the fire'.
Said Mr Wong, who is also Minister for Home Affairs: 'The friction that could have potentially escalated into tensions was swiftly stemmed when grassroots leaders acted and cooler heads prevailed. This is how we deal with such racial- and religious-sensitive matters the Singapore way.'
He said one of the threats to the nation's stability is racial, religious and social disharmony, and reminded Singaporeans to zealously guard against it.
Three recent incidents outside Singapore clearly showed why, he said.
The first was the inter-ethnic violence between the Uighurs and the Han Chinese in Xinjiang last month.
It started as a factory brawl in Guangdong and escalated into violent demonstrations which led to thousands injured or killed.
The second incident was a shooting at a Sikh temple in Vienna, Austria, in May, where a Sikh preacher was shot dead and several worshippers injured by reportedly fundamentalist Sikhs belonging to a higher caste and another temple.
Hours later, followers of the preacher clashed with other Sikhs in Punjab and riots broke out.
The third incident took place in May and June. It involved a series of racially motivated attacks against Indian students in Australia. Other Indian students later held protest rallies in Melbourne and Sydney.
Mr Wong said the incidents are a grim reminder that Singaporeans cannot take racial and religious harmony for granted.
He noted that more Singaporeans are turning to religion.
He stressed that there is nothing wrong with being religious but said Singaporeans must be mindful of its impact 'on the people around us in our multiracial and multi-religious society'.
For example, he said his ministry got a letter from a member of the public last month. The writer said he received religious literature in his letterbox which he felt was critical of non-believers.
The writer said: 'Religious beliefs are deeply personal. Their potential for incendiary contention is well known and they should be best confined to the private sphere.'
Mr Wong said the writer's reaction is not difficult to understand. As Singaporeans seek out religion, they should not do so in a way that leads to closed minds and exclusive groups.
'We must not let increased religiosity or religious practices among our people create fault lines that will disrupt our social stability, especially when race and religion are closely intertwined in Singapore.'
He added that the Government's key approach towards managing race and religion matters is to build common spaces in schools, communities, workplaces and national service.
