Raffles Press: Diary of an RI Intern: Writing for the Straits Times

Raffles Press

Raffles Press published an article called Diary of an RI Intern: Writing for the Straits Times featuring Miranda Yeo, who graduated from RI in 2011.

Miranda described her experience as an intern at the Straits Times Newsdesk. In one paragraph, she described meeting Mr Ang Hock Guan, a humanist in his 90s:

“I met an elderly and deaf man, Mr Ang Hock Guan who lived alone in a one-room flat. He had so little to himself – nothing more than a bed, a cupboard, a table and a bookshelf. I befriended him and found out he was intelligent and believed in humanism, a theory that mankind does not need religious structures to form a sense of morality. He wrote essays upon essays, annotating his yellowed copies of philosophy books – but I was his only reader. He said his last wish was to join the Humanist Society of Singapore, so I managed to arrange a visit to his home with the society’s president. That day, he held my hands and told me I was an angel. But that very night, he passed on.”

Our President that year, Mr Mark Kwan, met Mr Ang and helped fulfill his wish to be a HSS member. In 2014, we mentioned him in our commentary in Yahoo, Recognising Non-Religious Singaporeans.  Here’s the photo of Mark and Miranda with Mr Ang, shortly before his death.

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TODAY: Creationism yet to earn intellectual spurs

The HSS president Mark Kwan explains why there is no controversy and debate in the scientific world over whether evolution or creationism is true. Evolution is backed by evidence while creationism has yet to be proven true. Original letter submitted to the press: [Read more…]

TODAY: We should all learn to talk it out

The HSS president Mark Kwan calls for dialogue to be conducted between different religious groups instead of relying on the law and the police to settle differences

We should all learn to talk it out

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said he is confident that Singaporeans will react to the video clip on YouTube entitled Innocence of Muslims in a calm, rational manner.

The Humanist Society (Singapore) supports this approach to resolving disputes. We are proud that Singapore’s education and security systems have not only prevented religious conflict here but also ensured that the non-religious can live safely.

Singapore should not rest on its laurels. The Internet has enabled access to a multitude of religious and philosophical beliefs. Arguments over different interpretations and beliefs will increase, especially online.

Calling the police for every statement that appears offensive is neither practical nor productive.

We can strengthen religious harmony if we learn to regulate disputes through social dialogue, and in the event of a disagreement, agree to disagree.

Religious belief is a deeply personal matter that cannot be forced upon, and we should respect the right of others to believe or not to believe.

For version of article published in the TODAY, email us.

Statement in support for “Ethics Guidelines for Human Biomedical Research”

We, the Humanist Society (Singapore), a registered society representing the non-religious in Singapore, would like to express our support for the draft “Ethics Guidelines for Human Biomedical Research”.

We believe that research is vital to understanding nature and holds great potential for extending human lifespans and improving quality of life. In particular, we agree with the committee’s stand that stem cell research should not be prohibited, but instead regulated with guidelines based on our current understanding of Science. [Read more…]

Our deepest condolences to Mr Ang Hock Guan

Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of our fellow Humanist Society member, Mr Ang Hock Guan, who passed away from a heart attack last week at the age of 95.  [Read more…]

Speech for Humanist of the Year 2012

Below is the speech delivered by Mr Alex Au for the event on 23 June 2012 when he was honoured by the Humanist Society (Singapore) with the Humanist of the Year award. He was asked for something touching on “gay-rights issues/humanism/religiosity”. [Read more…]

Darwin Day 2012

By Dan Tang

On Sunday, 12 Feb 2012, the Humanist Society (Singapore) celebrated Darwin Day 2012 at Onepeople.sg. That day was also extraordinarily special as for the very first time, our friends in Malaysia joined us to commemorate Darwin’s 203th birthday together along with two invited distinguished speakers. Altogether, around approximately 80 people turned up for this event. [Read more…]

Darwin Day 2012

Darwin Day

By Dan Tang

On Sunday, 12 Feb 2012, the Humanist Society (Singapore) celebrated Darwin Day 2012 at Onepeople.sg. That day was also extraordinarily special as for the very first time, our friends in Malaysia joined us to commemorate Darwin’s 203th birthday together along with two invited distinguished speakers. Altogether, around approximately 80 people turned up for this event. [Read more…]

Statement from the Humanist Society (Singapore)

The Humanist Society (Singapore) has noted the unhappiness over Campus Crusade for Christ posters at the National University of Singapore. In the spirit of religious and racial harmony, we urge Singaporeans to resolve this unhappiness through discussions instead of calling for legal measures.

Only dialogue will improve understanding between different communities and lead to genuine harmony within Singapore’s society in the long run. The Humanist Society (Singapore) supports frank, rational discussions between different religious communities as well as non-religious communities. Discussions should be based on clear knowledge of various religious practices, sound logic and respect for each other’s right to belief. As a community of non-religious Singaporeans, the Humanist Society (Singapore) is ready to play our part in forging harmonious relations in the country. [Read more…]

Singapore Humanism Meetup Book Club #003 – The End of Faith by Sam Harris

Did you know that there is a Singapore Humanism Meetup Book Club in the Singapore Humanist Meetup circle? It started out in 2010 when Ryan started the first Singapore Humanism Meetup Book Club on 14-September-2010 reading “Good Without God” by Grey Epstein.

A Singapore Humanism Meetup Book Club event is an informal gathering of SHM members who are interested to discussing about a book suggested by the Singapore Humanism Meetup book club coordinators. Book genre can range from Humanist Literature, Philosophy, Science, Logical Thinking, humanist related fiction and many more. Each session is about 1.5 to 2 hours, and participants are usually limited to not more then 15 people to ease discussion.

The most recent one was held on 22-Jan-2011 and saw 8 participant from all walks of life, background and age group gathered together in a member’s home to discuss and debate about the book: The End of Faith by Sam Harris. Although initially scheduled for a 2 hour session, members talked long beyond 3 hours! There was not a single moment of boredom though out as the topic discussed where highly entertaining, highly amusing, and addictively engaging. But more importantly, it helps them think about the questions that most humanist encounter in their life, and to exchange and learn new perspective of how other humanist see the world.

Just a recap of what was discussed

  • Pacifism, whether it works in resolving conflicts in this world
  • Whether religious moderate is as harmful as how Sam Harris describe them to be
  • Whether collatoral damage was a necessary evil
  • Whether humanist has a responsibility to share their view point with other people
  • Explaination on why the world’s fetility rate is falling (which would be an interested topic in the Darwin book club coming up!)

To date, the SHM Book Club has successfully conducted 3 reading meetup:

  1. 14-Sep-2010 – Good Without God by Grey Epstein
  2. 30-Oct-2010 – The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang
  3. 22-Jan-2011 – The End of Faith by Sam Harris

In conjunction with Darwin’s Day falling on February 12, Singapore Humanism Meetup book club meetup #004 will be held on 26-Feb-2011 (Saturday) from 3pm – 5pm reading The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, or Darwin: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

The Origin of Species is also available as an ebook on Gutenberg. Stanza and other iPhone and Android eBook apps would have it for free.http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2009

Do login to Singapore Humanist Meetup Group to RSVP before all spots are taken up!
Note: prior reading before each session is required.
The coordinator would like to thank Doug, Gim Sheng, Tawnya, Daniel, Fong Lai, Gesan and Nel for making the previous book club a totally unforgettable session!