Singapore and aggressive proselytizing

Dr. Kalinga Seneviratne writing from Singapore

In his annual National Day rally speech it is customary for Singapore Prime Minister to praise the achievements of his Government in the past 12 months and raise people’s hopes for the coming 12 months. But, this year, to the surprise of many, he touched a subject that has been taboo for public discussion in this multi-religious nation of four million people for the past four decades-Religion.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, son of the nation founding father Lee Kuan Yew spent more than half of his hour-long speech in English - delivered on August 16 - talking about the dangers to the harmony of the nation from aggressive preaching or proselytizing. Though he did not name any religion, it was clear to most people familiar with modern day Singapore society, that he was referring mainly to Christian evangelical groups, who have increased their numbers alarmingly, over the past decade.

There is nothing wrong with people becoming more religious because religion is a positive force in human societies, noted Lee. 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.

In a brilliant speech designed not to directly point fingers at any particular religion, he gave examples from around the world where religious fault-lines have created conflicts and riots. Singapore has learned its lessons in 1950 when religious riots took place here over a conversion issue, and this has influenced the country’s internal policies ever since.

Lee admitted that this topic was a serious subject for a National Day Speech, which usually talks about babies and bonuses. But, due to some recent developments, the Cabinet has advised him that he should take up this subject this year, which the Premier described as a bonus lecture on a serious subject.

He warned that aggressive preaching or proselytizing causes a nuisance and may offend others. He pointed out two recent events where this happened when a Christian couple that distributed leaflets offensive to other faiths, was charged under the Sedition Act and jailed and the other the takeover bid by a Christian group of one of Singapore’s oldest civil society organizations.

There are over 50 new Christian churches sprung up in this small island nation in the past decade or more, which could be described as born again or evangelical churches. They are believed to have a combined war chest of over $ 100 million annually. Many of them aggressively proselytize the Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu and Catholic population that created much resentment among these communities. Because of the taboos on public discussion on religion, particularly in the media, expression of this resentment has largely been restricted to internet forums and private discourses.

In March this year, such taboos were broken for the first time, when Singapore media, gave wide coverage to an event where a Christian evangelical group aggressively moved and successfully took over the country’s peak women rights lobby group because they did not agree with the Non-Government Organization’s stance on homosexuality.

Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), a fiercely secular organization formed in 1984 is Singapore’s leading advocacy group dedicated to promoting gender equality. It has been instrumental in successfully advocating for change in such areas as law reforms to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace, rights of women to sponsor foreign husbands for citizenship and equal rights for women in workplace.

At their Annual General Meeting (AGM) in March, the old guard, which spearheaded these advocacy activities was voted out of office by a new group of women who joined the Association during the previous three months. Some 80 of the 120 members who attended the AGM were also new members. Six of the 11 positions in the management committee of AWARE fell to these new members, who are Chinese Singaporean women with good academic and professional backgrounds, but, all belonged to the Church of Our Saviour, which is well-known here as an evangelical church with a strong anti-gay and pro-family stance.

Suspicions of an evangelical take over of AWARE was further enhanced when the newly elected executive committee immediately made public statements accusing the old guard on promoting homosexuality and declaring themselves as ‘pro-family’ a familiar word used by evangelical Christians worldwide.

There was an overwhelming response to this takeover of AWARE with over 2,000 new members joining the organization two weeks of the event and calling for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM). At this EGM, the Christian group was soundly beaten in a no-confidence motion, and a new executive was elected which is now representative of all religious communities in Singapore.

Though only a quarter of Singapore population are Christians, the number of evangelical Christians among them have been growing, and they belong mainly to the English-speaking elite, well represented in politics, medical, legal, financial and academic professions.

Buddhists and Taoists make up over a half of Singapore population, while Hindus and Muslims account for the rest. Some 70 percent of Singapore ethnic Chinese population are Buddhists.

The Prime Minister spelt out three basic problems that could lead to disharmony in the society, giving examples to illustrate his points.

The first was aggressive preaching or proselytizing. He said from time to time the Government receives complaints of groups trying to convert very ill patients in the hospitals who do not want to be converted and who do not want to have the private difficult moments in their lives intruded upon.

The second, Lee pointed out was intolerance - not respecting the beliefs of others or not accommodating others belonging to different religions. Sometimes, we have parents who have traditional religions (meaning Taoism or Buddhism), and children have converted away. Then when the parents die, and they have asked to be buried according to traditional rites, the children stay away from the funeral or the wake. It is very sad, reflected the Premier.

The third problem he said was exclusiveness segregating into separate exclusive circles, not integrating with other faiths. It means you mix with your own people. You do not mix with others. You end up as separate community he noted, giving the examples of people not wanting to do yoga or taichi because they believe it has religious meanings, when such communal activities could bring people together. Lee believes these are secular activities suited to all religious groups as communal activities.

Lee appealed to Singaporeans to keep religion out of politics, to exercise restrain and to uphold sound moral values. He pointed out that all major religions represented in Singapore are free to propagate their teachings on social and moral issues, but within limits of tolerance and respect for each other.

The Premier hinted during his speech that the Government may invoke the 20 year-old Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act, which was never in use. Some internet forums and even a few letters published in the Straits Times have called for a ban on proselytizing in public spaces.

While evangelists may think they are helping others, what they would think, if others told them they were praying to the wrong god, living life the wrong way and would never find redemption? said Harvey Neo in a letter published in the Straits Times.

It is imperative that proselytizing in public spaces, particularly in schools, hospitals, libraries and workplaces, be prohibited, or at least strongly and explicitly discouraged.

The writer is the Head of Research at the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre in Singapore. The ideas reflected in the article are his own and not necessarily that of his employer.