The Hari Raya Gathering Organised by Habib Hassan at The Malay Heritage Centre

Date : 9 November 2005

The Hari Raya Gathering Organised by Habib Hassan at The Malay Heritage Centre - Speech By Mr Wong Kan Seng, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister For Home Affairs, 9 November 2005
Habib Hassan,

Fellow Singaporeans,

Friends,
Salaam Sejahtera. May I also wish all of you Selamat Hari Raya Adilfitri.

2 Thank you for inviting me to share in your festivities. I have always enjoyed meeting up on these happy occasions because of the camaraderie and goodwill during such times. I am glad to meet up with old friends and new.

Sharing in Festivities in Our Home, Singapore
3 During these festivities that mark the end of Ramadan, I see many Muslim Singaporeans generously welcoming their non-Muslim friends to share in their celebrations. This has been one of the hallmarks of our Singapore society.It is certainly a tradition we should preserve.

4 Indeed, Hari Raya celebrations, like other major racial and religious dates in our calendar such as Deepavali and Lunar New Year, give us an opportunity to indulge together in that favourite Singaporean passion – that is, food. But more than that, such gatherings, like tonight’s dinner, give us opportunities to renew and strengthen acquaintances and friendships across all ethnic communities. They are occasions for us to learn more about one another’s beliefs, culture and way of life. Through that, they help to foster mutual understanding and respect. Above all, these shared celebrations affirm that despite our different cultures and religions, whether Malay, Chinese, Indian or Eurasian, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian or Hindu, we all share a common home in Singapore.

5 In this regard, we have made good progress in the last 40 years. Neighbours of different races and religions live harmoniously side by side, down the HDB corridor or across the street. Our children attend the same schools, and play and study together. We share the same common space. In Singapore, it is not uncommon to see churches, temples and mosques located near one another. We celebrate each other’s religious and ethnic festivals. In the face of crises like SARS, Singaporeans pull together as one people, regardless of race and religion.

Tend our Garden of Harmony
6 But we cannot take for granted this harmonious state of affairs. Nurturing and sustaining racial and religious harmony is like tending our garden. If we do not look after our garden, fertilise and water the plants and flowers and prune the overgrowth, it will become disorderly. Soon, weeds will spread and eventually, usurp the place of plants and flowers. Similarly, we must constantly tend to our garden of racial and religious harmony so that itwill continue to survive and flourish.

7 The extremists and terrorists are like the weeds – first they find a spot from which they draw their audience and preach, gradually moving on to instigate violence and destruction throughout the society under the guise of religion. Through their errant teachings, they gradually and patiently sow hatred and distrust between Muslims and non-Muslims. Like weeds spreading through the garden, if we do not stop the extremists, they can eventually overwhelm our society, and destroy the harmony that binds us as a nation.

8 All Singaporeans, and in particular community leaders, have a role to play to look out for such weeds, so that they can be removed in time before hearts and minds are misled into disastrous consequences. We must not allow them room to carry out their destructive acts, or to sow their ideological seeds of violence.

Public Vigilance
9 Public vigilance can help save lives. Recently, in Australia, an observant lawyer spotted a man filming the stock exchange in Melbourne, and another Melbournian spotted someone else filming a city train. They found the activities suspicious and reported them to the Police. This was what led the Australian authorities to uncover the recently reported terror plot. Likewise in Singapore, we have been receiving many calls from Singaporeans of all walks of life, reporting suspicious characters and activities. While these reports have not turned up anything of security concern thus far, it is important for Singaporeans to continue to be vigilant. We never know when that one call can make a difference to the lives of fellow Singaporeans, just like that one call in September 2001 from a Muslim Singaporean helped us to uncoverthe JI terrorist group.

10 In addition, the Muslim community must fortify itself against the violent ideology the terrorists preach. The terrorists will take advantage of those with weak and vulnerable minds, and subvert them to their deadly cause. Our religious leaders must prevent this, by spreading knowledge on the right interpretations of the religion. In that connection, we are encouraged by the recent efforts of the Muslim religious leaders in reaching out to the Muslim community and to non-Muslims to dispel misconceptions about jihad.

Appreciation for Efforts in Fostering Harmony
11 We have done well so far, in fostering inter-community harmony in Singapore. In fact, in the last few years, I sense that relations between the communities and with the Government have become stronger. For that, we have to thank our community leaders, including Habib Hassan and his fellow members of the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO), many of whom are here tonight. We also thank the various members of the community among you, who have worked together with the Government to ensure that terrorism does not cause cracks and fissuresin our social fabric.

12 Thank you once again for all that you have done to nurture our garden of harmony. Let us keep it blooming for Singapore, our home. Thank you.

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