Bringing communities together with the Harmony Games

Speech by Mr Lawrence Wong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, at Harmony Games 2015, at Catholic High School

Archbishop William Goh, Archbishop of the Catholic Church, Singapore

Monsignor Philip Heng, Vicar General for Inter-religious Relations and Chairman, Harmony Games 2015 Organising Committee

Religious Leaders

Principals and staff on the Harmony Games Organising Committee from Catholic High School and Guangyang Secondary School

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

1. A very good afternoon to all of you. It is very good to join you for our eighth edition of the Harmony Games.  The Harmony Games is organised every year by different religious organisations. They take turns to organise and every year it seems to get bigger and better. So when we were discussing this year’s games organised by the Catholic Church, we said we wanted it to be something special and meaningful also because it is our nation’s 50th birthday. And I think Monsignor Philip Heng rose to the challenge, galvanised his people and organised a superb games for all of us. So give all of them a big round of applause.
2. I think it was very heartening to see the schools get involved – Catholic High School, Guangyang Secondary School – and so even in the process of organising the Games, already you have interactions, relationships and friendships. It was also good to see how you have brought the Games out to the community, and we have a lot more exposure, a lot more people coming, interacting, and making friends, getting to know one another. So I think it is a very worthwhile effort. The Taoist Federation, I understand, is taking over the organisation of the Harmony Games next year – so the baton will be passed on to Mr Tan Thiam Lye and his team, and now a new benchmark has been set so we look forward to an even better Harmony Games next year.
3. It is particularly meaningful this year for the Games as we are also celebrating the nation’s 50th birthday and there is a lot that we can give thanks and rejoice for as we mark this special occasion. We are special in many aspects but one thing that stands out is the fact that we in Singapore, as a multi-racial, multi-religious society, enjoy peace and harmony in our society, something that we sometimes take for granted but many visitors remark at the remarkable success that Singapore has achieved. All that is because of the hard work and efforts put in by our forefathers, by our pioneers, by our religious leaders, our community leaders. It did not happen by accident or chance. It is very much the fruit of the hard work and sincerity that all of you have put in to build trust and relationships, and to strengthen our community bonds.
4. Sometimes the more senior community and religious leaders express concerns that all that we have put in to build today’s Singapore may be taken for granted by the younger generation. And those who have gone through the difficult periods of nation-building, the 50s and 60s, say: "you know, we experienced racial riots in Singapore and never again do we want this to happen". And so we came together, rallied together as a community. But the younger people may not have experienced the same thing. Will they have that same instinct, the same sense of wanting to rally together or will they take things for granted? So you hear these concerns from time to time. I didn’t go through the riots too as I was born in 1972 after independence. And I think many of the young people here are the same like me. We may not have experienced it first-hand but I think many of us would have heard the stories from our parents, from our grandparents, from our seniors, from people who have come before us. And I believe even though we may not have experienced the tumultuous period of Singapore’s history, we understand and we appreciate what we have in Singapore and I am sure what to preserve and uphold this spirit of us being one people together regardless of race, language or religion. And as Archbishop said just now, that spirit of coming together, of respect for one another must start from the very basic building block of friendship, of understanding one another, respecting one another as fellow human beings. Because we have a shared humanity, we have shared values and we respect one another and embrace our differences and we celebrate together. And I hope that through platforms like these – the Harmony Games where we have people, young and old, playing together, enjoying sports together, we can have these seeds of friendship sowed and strengthened.
5. And that when you play sports and come together you develop better friendships, and you get to know one another across different communities. That’s the whole spirit and motivation of why we have started this Harmony Games. And year by year we hope this will continue, not just through the Harmony Games but in your own different communities and organisations and institutions – making an extra effort as individuals, as Singaporeans to get to know one another, to respect one another and to deepen and strengthen our community bonds.
6. Even as we celebrate SG50 this year, we sometimes think about what Singapore will be like 50 years from now, what will SG100 be like. I am not sure if many of us will be around in SG100. I will be more than 90 years old if I am still alive, hopefully, but you never know. But for many of our young people here, I think, SG100 may not be so very far away and what will happen to Singapore in SG100? Well, it is hard to predict, no one can tell what will happen 50 years from now but certainly, I hope, and I hope all of us will share that same dream and vision that we will become closer in our pledge that we say regardless of race, language and religion, that we will move closer to that goal, that we will truly become more cohesive as a people. Our Singaporean identity will be stronger, you will feel more Singaporean together, as we truly can come together and say regardless of race, language or religion we are one people.
7. To do that, a lot depends on us coming together, working together, not assuming that we have is to be taken for granted. But always working hard and strengthening our community bonds, making an extra effort to befriend one another, to befriend our neighbours, and always making sure that we continue to strengthen our communities in Singapore.
8. And that is the work that all of us are involved in, so I hope that we make an extra effort this year because it is SG50 but we continue this effort as we journey forward so that our children, our children’s children, when we celebrate SG100 can truly say that we are closer together, and we are a better Singapore. So thank you for being here and have a very pleasant day.