Sharing the importance of inter-faith understanding

Mr Abdul Razak Hassan Maricar, Chief Executive of Muis
    
Dr Mohamed Fatris Bakaram, Respected Mufti of Singapore
    
Venerable Seck Kwang Phing, President of the Singapore Buddhist Federation
    
Mr Goh Joon Seng, Chairman of the Presidential Council of Religious Harmony

Distinguished Faith Leaders and activists
    
Ladies and Gentlemen

1. A very good morning to all of you! I am privileged to join you this morning for the second Building Bridges Seminar.  It is very heartening to see that our religious leaders, faith communities, and youth are passionate about deepening inter-faith understanding and conversation.

Religious Harmony in Singapore and the Building Bridges Seminar

2. The seminar that we participate in today is an important contribution to inter-faith dialogue. Dialogue like this has become increasingly critical. Today, many countries have stepped up efforts to promote communication between religions.

3. In the United States, the White House has an Office of Faith-Based and Neighbourhood Partnerships that promotes inter-faith cooperation. The idea of the Building Bridges Seminar, too, came from the United Kingdom, where the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, organised the seminar to improve Christian-Muslim relations.

4. I am very proud that Singapore has been a trailblazer in fostering religious harmony. We were an early adopter of racial and religious dialogue, even in the 1960s when the subject was not paid due attention by many governments. Our Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO), for example, has been active for over 60 years, and has worked hard through the decades to create spaces for interaction between different faiths. The efforts of our pioneers resulted in a peaceful, close-knitted society in which seminars like this can be held.

5. I believe that the collaboration between the Harmony Centre and the Singapore Buddhist Federation to organise this seminar would simply not have been possible without a high level of trust and understanding between our faith communities, and my ministry is happy to support this event through our Harmony Fund. Singapore is a unique place, where people of different faiths and races can sit at the same table and share a meal. It's a place where we can house a Jewish synagogue, a Hindu temple and a Buddhist temple on the same street. This may seem very normal to all of us. However, when I travel to other countries for government work, my counterparts often tell me how amazed they are at this, and that this isn't even imaginable in their own community. So they are in admiration of what we have achieved here where different races enjoy religious harmony.

6. It really strikes me how far we have come. I remember growing up in a small Chinese village in Jurong. It was still a very rural area, with dirt roads and rubber plantations. There wasn't even electricity and tap water! My family and I lived in a small Chinese village. Just a stone's throw away there was a Malay kampong. During the racial riots of 1964, my family was fearful because we didn't know if fights would break out between the village and the kampong. Thankfully, the head of the Malay kampong, the penghulu, came over to our village to personally give us assurance that his kampong would defend us if we were ever in danger. But in other parts of Singapore, people did not have the good fortune of encountering an enlightened man like him, and some had lost their lives in the riots. That incident left a deep impression on me and I was about 6 or 7 years old.

7. Our religious harmony is hard-won. Let us continue to foster dialogue – at the national, community, and personal level – between different faiths and races. It is also very important to include the youth in such dialogue. I recall that over 200 youth ambassadors attended the Ignite Faiths Youth Camp in March this year, and that they were trained in leadership and encouraged to start their own inter-faith engagements. I am very happy to see many youth leaders at this event as well.

Human Suffering, Spiritual Renewal and Common Action

8. The theme of today's Building Bridges seminar is “Human Suffering, Spiritual Renewal and Common Action”. I think that this is something which each of us can relate to, regardless of our faith, language or religion. Although we live in such a modernised world, human suffering is everywhere. We don't have to look far to find it. My heart goes out to those affected by the catastrophic earthquakes in Nepal recently, and by the typhoon in the Philippines last week.

9. In trying times, perhaps some people may turn to material possessions in their search for a good life, believing that owning the five 'C's of Singapore automatically brings happiness. However, this only reinforces the dissatisfaction when material desires cannot be met. It's a vicious cycle.

10. I admire that the faith communities here today do not simply accept and observe this reality. You are committed to help provide guidance in difficult times, to alleviate the pain of your fellow man, here and also in other countries and other religions. This is at the heart of most faith traditions, and I am encouraged that this seminar seeks to explore such inter-faith similarities. In particular, the seminar this year has focused on identifying similarities between the Buddhist and Islamic views of coping with human suffering.

11. I think it is significant that both Buddhists, Muslims and other religions agree that we should actively confront suffering. The Four Noble Truths, which are the fundamental teachings of Buddha, encourage us to reflect on the consequences of suffering in order to liberate ourselves, and others, from it.  Islam also teaches the faithful to work actively to lessen the suffering of all people. Rumi, the famous 13th century Muslim poet, advises that “in generosity and helping others, be like a river”. Both faiths teach that, in order to confront suffering, we should encourage mankind to go beyond the self. What truly matters is not our own needs and wants, but how well we have loved others, and whether we have displayed kindness and empathy. I look forward to hearing more about these ideas during the presentation sessions later.

12. I am heartened that this seminar does not just aim to find intellectual common ground between faiths. It also encourages our faith communities to embark on common action to work together for the benefit of the larger community. For example, the Harmony Centre and MUIS's Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation worked with other faith communities to build a school in 2014, for children affected by the on-going humanitarian crisis in Syria. MUIS and the Harmony Centre have also worked to publish a book containing all the wisdom shared the first Building Bridges Seminar on the theme of “Religion, Tradition, and Authority in the Post-Modern World” with proceeds from the sale of the book donated to relief efforts for the Nepal Earthquake. I commend MUIS and the Harmony Centre for their hard work, and for walking the talk.

Conclusion

13. As Singapore celebrates her 50th birthday, let us give thanks for the peaceful, multi-racial and multi-religious nation that we enjoy. I am happy to stand alongside you all, our religious leaders and faith groups, in working to safeguard what we have. Let us move forward together, building bridges of understanding and of humanity. Thank you.