Strengthening racial and religious ties through sports

Mr S Rajendran, Chairman, Hindu Endowments Board

Mr Raja Ram Bawajee, Chairman, Hindu Advisory Board

Mr S Nallathamby, Chairman, Harmony Games 2014 Organising Committee

Religious Leaders, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

1. A very good afternoon to all of you.  I am happy to join you again for this year's Harmony Games.

2. I want to start by saying that 14 April is the Tamil New Year. As it is still within part of the new year celebrations, I would like to wish our Tamil friends, a very happy new year, “Putthaandu Nalvazhthukkal”. I just learnt that phrase, so if I didn't pronounce it right, please pardon me. I will do better next time.

3. This is the seventh edition of the Games, and I am glad that it continues to be a good bonding event, bringing all our communities together, especially our youth. Through sports, they can interact with one another and they can show respect for one another and trust one another. And you saw this in the morning when teams were playing in mixed teams, making new friends from different backgrounds. As with the tradition of the games, I hope all of you, including our youth who have taken part, have had the opportunity to renew old ties and to make new friends

4. The Harmony Games was started in 2008, and the first edition was done by the National Council of Churches. Since then, different religious communities have taken turns to organise the Games. Last year, it was by the Sikh community. We just had it next door at the Khalsa Association. This year, it is led by the Hindu community and I want to thank the Hindu Endowment Board and Hindu Advisory Board and its organising committee for all your hard work in putting together today's programme. Thank you very much!

5. I also want to say a word of thanks to West Grove Primary School, the principal, the teachers, the students, all of you for coming here and making the effort to help to organise the telematch. I'm sure it is a coincidence that West Grove Primary School, happens to be right next to my constituency and many of the students are my residents. It is not that it was planned, but it just happens that one of the teachers is one of the committee members. It is very good to see a broader inclusion of the members of the community, especially our youth, coming forward to take part in the tradition of the Games, and build racial and religious harmony.

6. Next year is an important year for all of us. What's happening next year? Next year is our 50th birthday, Singapore's 50 years of independence and nation building. It is an important occasion to celebrate as 50 years is a true achievement for our country. But I think it is also a time, not to just have parties and celebrations, but it is also an important time for us to reflect and give thanks. There are a lot of things to give thanks for, but I think one of the most important things that we have created in Singapore which is quite special and unique, which you cannot find in any other country. This is the sense of peace and harmony, mutual respect and understanding across our different races and religions. It is something very special here in Singapore which we must preserve and uphold. So as we celebrate our 50th birthday next year, let us reflect on how we have achieved this special peace and harmony in Singapore across different races and religions and also think about how we can continue to maintain this in the future. We should not take it for granted that it will always remain so. Our society has become more diverse and some of our younger Singaporeans may not have the same opportunities as the older ones to interact with people from different races, different religions and different communities. So this lack of personal relationship is something which we need to address.

7. That is why my ministry is very focused in trying to find new platforms, more common platforms in which people can come together, participate, get involved and interact more with one another. Because through more interactions, we hope that people can build stronger relationships between Singaporeans of different communities and backgrounds.

8. One good example is the Harmony Games which we had this year. Because through sports, everyone can participate. Sports in some way is a universal language. You can speak different languages or you can be from different faiths or different backgrounds, but all can participate in sports. So I think Harmony Games is very useful and we will try to find more ways to bring people together.

9. We have the Harmony Fund, which allows for ground-up initiatives. People can put up proposals and then we will provide resources to initiate projects which you can do together as part of a mixed team, different communities, different backgrounds coming to do a project to promote racial and religious harmony.

10. We also have the SG50 Celebration Fund. So again, if young people like yourselves in community groups want to find projects to do that celebrate Singapore's 50th anniversary next year, apply to the Fund, come together in different communities and come up with your own ideas to celebrate Singapore's 50 and the resources will be there to support you. These are just some examples which we are hoping to do, creating new platforms, new ways to bring people together, to enhance and strengthen our relationships with one another, so that we can build stronger ties across different communities.

11. As we come to the end of today's programme, I hope that all of you will continue to stay in touch. I hope all our young participants have enjoyed yourselves and will continue your friendships beyond the games.

12. Take this ongoing journey of racial and religious harmony together as we enter into our 50th year, our golden jubilee year. And let us continue to work together, to strengthen our bonds for many more years to come. With that, I wish you all a pleasant afternoon I look forward to seeing all of you again at the Harmony Games next year. Thank you very much.