Publication: The Straits Times, p A20 & A21 Date: 24 July 2009 Headline: RELIGIOUS HARMONY: 20 years of keeping the peace

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m[,IGIOuS g&':White paper on the

~ r o m ~ t e d bv concerns h a t Overzedous religious leaders could blind followers to the realities of Singapore's multi-religious society. Insight looks at the underlying concerns behind this move and whether it still matters today.

years - . qf keeping -

b- Pushing ths ltne the peace - a d t m d m r m e VITALBOUNOAMES --

p~.-b-- ~~ps& MRHA The alncems sought to that ad* -?theo=

~ d i g i w . le.dcrs have since grown wth a a l - t b w p m'hdM strong mu ce in f h u r r d w m *

just t b -th, numerous Z o u s dt. the zF,Qs; movements worldwide, ~ g w p ~ ~ ~ I& ~ w t , -a complicated by tale Christians

an 0-4 notine globalisation and readily m e d tiwt. an th. pas, i t m h t n w - accessible information = o f % !

~ I I . E ~ ~ (Aw.~) b.uw It

d o n were -=I- h l t A . m a b d h

aged by t h d r new hitbk.&,Stodm-

t s m b ! h d t h - *md..tanex- Lnndhul V a l

m n t o o u r r h m 0 y ~ ~ . t . v

members and tho w e b l d e r , d -

Camlnan,. n d c i w the emu. the r - m a - the'$,

p o p b to n(te in with the names of - t h m ~ d ~ d ~ a D u t l a - t i o n r ~ b r + e d o r & m d d m smm of la-anM p r ~ ~ w 1 . a p b d wdety ULL oun. m L h l l t k l e k w s h p ~ ~ t b r r r * - * T o i n r u t t h . t d s * d k m o r d , v m t ~ l l a t h e i n t e w l o t d ~ ~ k m i n v H ~ ~ I I b e ~ y s . .Edmligku hammy. m e o m u m m t , vhlsh bed kept n-

M I ~ ~ , ~ t o f t b r I n t ~ t m v e h o f t h e r y . , m d e ~ t P ~ . t d d ~ U n t U r l t s r t . l l d l m o w n ~ w e & I a t ~ ~ h h - ~ o l r e ~ p a . u p u b ~ ~ b ~ - - t o w r h s f r o m t h i r - w . brn' cwwnts.. It .~~ the m p r m t d-

dLdtumnt&lmupDhns wmked."h.&.

~ t b l r k a n n o ( ~ a i ~ , 0 b - rprrn not.. Rah.raEdbKw,nov.w&smi-

l ~ d t h e W e e M n W a S c h m l o l o f (.aomnm(ullon md ldc"lmion. Nm-

-," br ma. m * * r l n ~ U u t L . m m t d t h e

.. He did, with the support of B~ddhirt

monks. But two yeur later, rdigiowlcnd- ern were not rstiikd one monk shot him deed. This was what h a w n e d in Ceylon.

now s n LsnLs, in the i95Or. As Buddhimm md Sinhnlese nntionsl-

ism hce.me pallticnl forecl, the Hind- who &e Tmil felt neludrd. % grad- "nlly fought hack. civil winr - and continwd to p w e the comtry for decades a c r .

In the 1940% Ceylon had ken r para- gon of peace md harmony dter gaming indepudenee from Britain. Religion be- Cnrnl divi,,ve whm it joined forcer with palitiar and blinded m o m m d politl- eimr alike into mking heisions that led cvnrtvsuy to 0lvil strife.

flthovgh flr away, the tenr im in Sd Lankn had nprcur ionr in Singapme.

L*ovi(e, so did devdopmmlr inoLer muntrin.

When the lsismlc Rcvolutian broke out in lrnn in 1979. 8 handful of Singn- pa~Murlbnr wmtedmbnplmnttsim- ilnr ldsmic state here.

When thm Indian Prime Minbta in- dlraGmdhiwsrsuasrinated by twoSikh erlremistr in 1984, the Hindu-S!kh riots that erupted in India led to Hindu-Sikh tmrionrherc.

Furtho .Add. the influmccof Ameri-

of new m - k M. c4m .&t. from

NUS M H A ~ s s ~ @ ~ ~ h r m c t h , , ~ t t dtw~outofbwc&rnnker~~mtheir d o @ t AWhw Pn&a e y s U r

rucof*mwm. rt-Clpelryvk.tk.cewabk

m d w h a t k n M a ~ a b k . T h & m , R swot b the'WpalrUW1y wbun-

k;p*g UrrY a l.2 r"d=w-

A special law to mv0LUlg ,t on8 nvnhcr of muioru to slop r e l ~ o w Icade~l f r m mnmg pob- tics w t h r r b o n and prttlng d o m other laths. MI Wong XYISeng. the Home Af- fans Mrmstrr at the tvm, sad m 1001

The rrsnorv Iesdcrr stopped thar .c- 18vtlte6 after they were svnmoned m d v.med by thc p o b ~ and intemo1 secun- ly Depnmmt offirm. he u l d

Had thew ar r r r ted Ihr law would

MR GOH explained to Parliament in 1990: "We wanted a law that m d d deal with the problem in a very fine way in- stead of having to resort to the Internal Security Act 0, theSedltbn Act. Or to Ue murt prosemtion."

MPs and ohrvers felt other existing laws could be used lo dirsipline those who ermed the iLne in prqagatmg their mugton.

But MI Ooh raid the p r o p 4 MRHA was intended to br ''a finer way of deal- h g with the problem".

,'It is like trying to use n %crlpel to nule apreene imiiion todcctwithprob- iemcelk, inrtradof having10 urea chop- pr to q u t a t e , " he Jpid.

other than Turkey, which has provi- rim9 in its Comtitution to mnvr reli- giow brmony, no other nountry had n Irv along the h s the G o v e m n t en*-

can chahmt ie~~mteror ta i evangeliesir hsr 'mn mdeonlinues t o b felt ins ins - pare. Protestant Chnstua g o v p whtch were m e d o u s in their prmclytiration ~ f b r t l upset ather religious groups, which then mads efforts to f ib t bbsck in

have been &A against them. singapme Management University

ISMU1 law aeadmic E w e T m ram the MRHA "remi& us how religion c m be r MVCC of hietion, conflict m d vialenee. m d how i m ~ o l t m t it k to 'nnder unto

order 10 ~ t s l l l thek foumuerr~ On the Catholic hont, inspired by de-

udopmcnls in Latin America md rise- whem, a h & l of Catholic p r i w tmk ta making pa1itie.1 Itstements and criti- eking gwemmrnt policy from the @pit and m ehueh wblic.tionl.

Walehing these developmentr in the t98Os. theMvcmmnt cmI&that re- llgiav~ lavivnlYm war a worldwide trend with Rai r e a r N l i m on rdldoua hu-

Caesar wh; belongs to Caesar and to Cod what belongs to God' - t o keep reti- don and mliticr m a t e u ff ss m i -

. . He Cm& it "a vital m g in the psnoply

of measurer that the au thodin c m use to deal with faith-wired threats to so- ei.l mhnton and humony".

One elcu edvmtsge. obrrcrs feel. is that Lhe MRHA k n pc-emptke law that doer not rewire sslrsr m d pmrmt &n- gertou6rtbeforenmtrainingomieriria-

4. N o r e r t r . i n i r y n d a r h s v e b x n ~

under the MRNA since it erne Into ef- feet.

However, the Gowmmmt e m e close

mony hem. It also cancludrd t h t the mtryof mli-

gion into paliticr had to be stopped - nippdin the bud, in fact. It c d d not he

How has religious harmony fared since 1989? m y u r t a g o . t h e ~ i r n r d . W h l ~ P . p r o n ~ t e ~ ofRcUgiOUSNurronyahedofancy law to a l l w i t to .a a n o t l y w h e t p a s r m n w h o ~ t m U l l l h . , m m v . H o w h , , + h u r n o n y h r r d h t h ?

t k y b d m r e u i r m . I t . l . o f w n d t i w t ~ b t h

Mudim m d Hindw f r e d the I- C h A U W a o f ~ t t o n d potabi.ltbrrnh,theyamableto ~ t t t r u c h p - ~ 6 . r n m - m r ~ m b m o f M u s ~ m d N h d u who b.d .b.ndoned thrtr t.aditimul f d l b .

8 a c e R.cW tnul- e m n p folinwin(the urests of I5 pnaN for insohmeal in the lrmuh Lbmbh term, c m p . To M the c,.cLs, the Gmemmmt formed In te r -hdd C m R h c e circler in wry msmuo) fp to t d d t a t MM(I d l m k goup m d EM mkconceptiona a h t Wy-MVlKM.

8W W n t i o n o f RcUgbw Humom/ ir introduced to rembd rn that m1igious hamow is " I t 1 for w e , p m ~ c r r d proapertly m d t h d they s h 4 d m e religim will Mt k abused to m a t e conflict and ~ 0 W .

M V l K M . n d m & . m k Ided for month, amIher br &y m d fhnd $S.WO. A w 17 year* old thm. w u put m*ob.tion fm t t y u r r . n d o r d . n d t o d o l 8 0 h o f cmmnlly M1L with Mda~-Muslim

8 ZWR A C M i m wit WIowl ~ ~ t m c o d t ~ m ~ r i d d the Seditl0"Ad fm -but@ d-Mual lm m d .on-C.thoIlcthk publlotione Dlrmc( 1-e 114 N W t k mia h pwhg lemann:

81S(GMabtnaceoflWIgkua H m o n g h t passed. The lr* an-D the M m a for Home A f f d m t o ~ m t r ~ s r i n r n a a r ~ e t p m c h w who engage in hPmful mndud. whieb lnehlda ~ U I w O l b e k e n m ~

8M An I d d c oliol&gau h d u w u h o h h o d for dkimg a wid0wolio.d Nid,beMUutit.t"uofmofth.b Mb. Csncrh., soulddnnli mnk ofhrirp ?h~Wk.&,iwdutd U u s ~ n o t a m l n r k t u t h e r o r k o f Sdm.

"Any oliolighw k s d u who ws a h thhw w h e t other rdigiom d d hflnltely w the fouowa* or the I"de.8 of other dim," ..id Hnnnn ~ M ~ t w W m g K . n S m g i n 2001. on the .bvc three qisde'.

group; prrmalinl. @itGI w or exemg dbdf& w h e t the Fmsihnt or GoveMnat. m6er the guise oT p ~ ~ l or p n c t K q my reUgiOUS bkt

Anymewho h & e a a rratrArdng order can he fhnd and I.iled.

8UY*AnpntonreUgionrrin Singam by Nus ac&miu Eddie Kw d T m g C h e e K l m y n o t e d I M ~ n l ~ m u m ~ . t U r c i p e ~ o f other5 m d w d t h d Neb &at, d d t h r u t m the stable rdigiw e@him b r r .

Y h rep* noted I M c h r i d i ~ t ) . d B ~ ~ a r r n m i n e M c in the n m h r of foUann. while T ~ o h w r d i o . m u e V . p . I r 0 ~

r February 2007, &ty mme MWsku and Home Aff* Mhister W0C.g K", Sa(l told Parlilirnt thet no . & . i n i r y o r d u r m h M M e e 1990, but the Gmmmrnt 'came dme to i n w M the W on rsnnl a E 1 M M t o d o p k 4 m W u s l P d r n horn mldw reu& with politin d p u m n s d o r m & r h l l b r . h reugnu k & n aloppd h l r actMtln . R u t h n - w d bv ISD I l n t d

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