EMBARGOED UNTIL 9 JUN 03, 1800 HRS

PRESS STATEMENT

 

DECLARATION ON RELIGIOUS HARMONY

 

The Government has accepted the Declaration on Religious Harmony, as prepared by the Working Committee set up in October 2002 to develop the document, in consultation with the main religious groups in Singapore. The Declaration in the four official languages is attached at Annex.

 

Background

2 PM Goh Chok Tong unveiled a draft Code on Religious Harmony on 14 Oct 2002 and invited views from the religious groups and community leaders. The document was intended to outline the principles that will help to further strengthen inter-religious confidence in Singapore.

3 Mr Chan Soo Sen, Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Community Development and Sports was given the task of preparing the Code. He formed a Working Committee comprising Members of Parliament of different religions. The Committee members were:-

    1. Dr Ong Chit Chung

    2. Mr Inderjit Singh

    3. Mr R Ravindran

    4. Mr Ang Mong Seng

    5. Dr Ong Seh Hong

    6. Mr Ahmad Khalis bin Abdul Ghani

    7. Mr Gerard Ee

 

Consultation exercise

  1. Over four months (Nov 02 to Feb 03), the Committee consulted the various national bodies of all major religious groups in Singapore, including:

    1. Hindu Endowments Board
    2. Inter-Religious Organisation
    3. MUIS
    4. National Council of Churches of Singapore
    5. Roman Catholic Church
    6. Sikh Advisory Board
    7. Singapore Buddhist Federation
    8. Singapore Council of Christian Churches
    9. Taoist Federation, Singapore
    10. Other religious groups including the Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society and the Red Swastika Society.

      The Working Committee also considered ideas from the public received through letters, emails, and the media.

      5 The Working Committee used the draft Code on Religious Harmony presented by Prime Minister at a briefing to grassroots and community leaders in Oct 2002 as the initial discussion document. The discussion was initially conducted with the religious bodies individually. A draft was then prepared, and representatives of all the religious bodies were invited to go through the draft together. The atmosphere throughout the many sessions of consultation has been characterised by goodwill, openness, and sincerity. The draft, which incorporated the views of all, was then submitted to the IRCC National Steering Committee, before final submission to the Government in Feb 2003.

       

      Declaration on Religious Harmony

      6 One of the changes agreed on during the discussion was to call the document a Declaration on Religious Harmony, rather than a Code. This is in keeping with the spirit of the document, which is a product of a bottom-up consultation process involving all major stakeholders. It is thus a declaration by all residents in Singapore to safeguard religious harmony.

      7 The Declaration, in all official languages as enclosed, affirms the values that have helped to maintain religious harmony in Singapore; and serves as a reminder of the need for continued efforts to develop stronger bonds across religions in Singapore.

      8 The Declaration is not a legal document. However, it serves as a basis for Singaporeans to regularly reflect on the state of religious harmony from time to time, and the steps we can take to deepen our ties and understanding with other communities.

       

      Inter-Religious Harmony Circle

      9 The consultation exercise brought together national bodies of all religious groups in Singapore, and provided opportunity for the groups to work together. There was a consensus that this valuable network should be preserved as a consultation forum to guide efforts to promote the spirit of the Declaration. Each national body that played a part in working out the Declaration nominated a representative and an alternate, and formed an Inter-Religious Harmony Circle (IRHC). This is a Harmony Circle that propagates the Declaration to the community in appropriate ways. MOS Chan Soo Sen will facilitate the work of the IRHC.

       

       

      10 The IRHC members are as follows -

       

      Organisation

       

      Main Representative

      Alternate

      Hindu Endowments Board (HEB)

      Mr E Sukumar

      Chairman,

      Hindu Advisory Board

      Mr Rajan Krishnan

      Member, HEB

      Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO)

      1) Mr Daniel Chu, (Bahai)

      Treasurer, IRO

      2) Mr Rustom Ghadiali,

      (Zoroastrian)

      Council Member, IRO

      -

      Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS)

      Mr Syed Ahmad bin Syed Mohamed

      Assistant Mufti

      Mr Sujadi Siswo

      MUIS Council Member

      National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS)

      Bishop Dr Robert Solomon

      President, NCCS

      Mr Daniel John

      Graduate Christian Fellowship

      Roman Catholic Church

      Friar John Paul Tan

      St. Mary of the Portiuncula

      Fr Patrick Goh

      Church of the Holy Family

      Sikh Advisory Board

      (SAB)

      Mr Surjit Singh Wasan

      Member, SAB

      Mr. Kirpal Singh Mehli

      Vice President,

      Central Gurdwara Board

      Singapore Buddhist Federation (SBF)

      Venerable Shi Ming Yi

      Secretary-General, SBF

      Mr Mah Guan Lin

      Director of Education, SBF

      Singapore Council of Christian Churches

      (SCCC)

      Rev Dr Quek Swee Hua

      Executive Committee Member, SCCC

      Elder Joshua Lim

      Hon. Legal Advisor, SCCC

      Taoist Federation, Singapore

      Mr Eric Goh

      Secretary-General,

      Taoist Federation

      Mr Jacky Chang

      Member, Taoist Federation

      Other Groups

      Mr Lee Kim Siang

      Chairman, Federation of Moral Missions and

      Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society

      Mr S C Fong

      Director,

      Red Swastika Society

       

       

      11 IRHC has proposed that Singaporeans reflect on the Declaration during the week of the Racial Harmony Day (21 July) every year. For this year, the week would be from 20 to 26 July 2003. This is appropriate, since the message of the Declaration is also very relevant to Racial Harmony Day. The IRHC members will, through their network of places of worship, incorporate reciting and teaching of the Declaration into their activities during the week.

      12 The Working Committee hopes that the Declaration on Religious Harmony, which was derived through extensive consultations and overseen by IRHC, will become a living guide to help us build upon our strong foundation of religious harmony in Singapore.

       

       

       

      WORKING COMMITTEE

      DECLARATION ON RELIGIOUS HARMONY

      9 JUNE 2003