Humanist Society (Singapore) Internship

We are looking for a student intern to deepen our connection with our volunteer base and to formulate our social media programme calendar. This intern will report to the Vice-President of the Humanist Society (Singapore). The internship will last 4 to 6 weeks during June / July 2016. The dates and duration are negotiable for the right candidate. Applications close on June 23, 2016.

Job scope

The intern will help engage the Society’s existing volunteer list to garner their area of interest in volunteering. This will require emailing and/or calling the interested persons to get more information from them. The intern will match interested volunteers to various aspects of the Society’s work, including our events, social media, web development, and public policy/ outreach committees.

Separately, the intern will also do research into a suitable year-long social media posting programme for the Society. This involves looking at significant dates of interest to the humanistic/ atheistic / scientific communities, so that we can do regular posts on significant events. The intern can also search for great articles and videos released in the past.

Qualities needed:

  • Articulate on email and over the phone
  • Proficient with Microsoft Word
  • Genuine interest in and curiosity about humanism and its values

You don’t have to be an existing member of the Humanist Society (Singapore), or even consider yourself a humanist. All we ask is that you (mostly!) agree with our basic values, stated here: https://humanist.org.sg/humanism/about-humanism/

Due to the confines of the role, we’re only accepting applications from students currently in Singapore.

What you’ll receive

  • A weekly stipend of $80
  • Mentoring by the Vice-President and other veteran volunteers who are at various stages of their life and career
  • The opportunity to be our first ever intern! 

How to apply:

  • Write to info@humanist.org.sg, with the subject “HSS Internship”
  • Provide your details (name, contact number, school name and programme etc)
  • Provide a short statement stating why you think you’ll be a good fit for the role.

What to make of Amos Yee and his arrest

amos

This is a commentary by the Humanist Society (Singapore) addressed to both supporters and critics of Amos’ arrest.

The arrest of Amos Yee on charges of wounding religious feelings has caused much debate over the freedom of expression in Singapore. The 17-year-old is known for creating and posting online videos mocking Christianity and Islam, using religious symbols such as the crucifix, Bible and Koran in his latest videos. The arrests arise from Singaporeans filing police reports against Amos. He is now charged with various offences, including Section 298a of the Penal Code for the alleged offence of wounding religious or racial feelings with deliberate intent.

[Read more…]

A short introduction to humanism

We are in the midst of producing videos to explain humanism to the Singapore public, as well as introduce some of the work done by the Humanist Society. Last year, we formed a five-person film crew to draft scripts, pool camera equipment and provide post-production editing. This video is produced in December with the help of That Moment photography studio and released on March 2016. 

In this video, our founder Paul Tobin explains what is humanism. It is a democratic and ethical life stance, which affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives. It stands for the building of a more humane society through an ethic based on human and other natural values in the spirit of reason and free inquiry through human capabilities. It is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural views of reality.

Find out even more about the society in this video!

Open letter to Lawrence Khong

Dear Mr Khong,

We at the Humanist Society (Singapore) are writing to express our interest in and amusement with your April series of sermons.  Following your support for the Catholic Church in condemning Madonna’s concert as “immoral values promoted by the secular world”, we in the “secular world” find ourselves again at your ire.  We are pleased that we have joined the illustrious ranks of American pop singer Madonna in attracting your ire.

We recognise that as Singapore is a firmly secular society, and promotes freedom of religious expression and multi-cultural harmony, you and your church are completely free to express your views. In this spirit of free expression and interfaith exchange, our Society would be very pleased if you would include our speakers at your talks : “The Deception of Darwinism” & “No God, No Good or Bad”.

As you may be aware, the Humanist Society (Singapore) is a society which promotes, among other things, living a rational life and embracing scientific enquiry. Among our members are several science researchers, science educators and other persons with a passion for science and nature. We believe our members would have much to contribute to a discussion about Darwinism and evolution.

“The Deception of Darwinism” – we have at least four representatives, a biologist, an anthropologist (likely from NUS Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum), a medical doctor and a general scientist who would be greatly interested in deliberating with your speakers. We have celebrated Darwin Day for the past six years to highlight the importance and wonder of the science and nature, and we are well familiar with the internationally accepted work of Darwin in explaining science. Imagine, modern medicine and antibiotics developed based on Darwin’s theory of evolution and has saved countless lives – that is a real feat for Charles Darwin’s work!

“No God, No Good or Bad” – our founding President Paul Tobin is well qualified to speak on this, as the author of the celebrated book “The Rejection of Pascal’s Wager: A Skeptic’s Guide to Christianity“. Paul is well versed with the Bible; his thoughtful analysis of the Bible’s many contradictions will surely add a different flavour to your sessions.

We were also contemplating to attend “The Stars reveal the Truth”, but prefer to be earthbound, as all good humanists know that there is only one life on this Earth and we should make the very best of it.

As a token of our appreciation, and to facilitate Interfaith dialogue, our Society will reserve five places for the Faith Community Baptist Church congregation in our upcoming World Humanist Day (a paying event) conference in June.

At World Humanist Day, we celebrate the values of humanism: of upholding the dignity and value of each human being, of respecting the choices of the individual. We celebrate that we have but one brief life on this planet Earth, which we live to the fullest and the best, backed with reason and science, and compassion for ourselves and our fellow beings. We are sure these are values which resonate strongly with you and your congregation, and we do hope to see you there.

Executive Committee
Humanist Society (Singapore)

Statement: On the secular world and immorality

STATEMENT FROM THE HUMANIST SOCIETY (SINGAPORE)

The Humanist Society (Singapore) refers to the concerns expressed by various church leaders regarding the American pop singer Madonna and her upcoming Singapore concert.

Church leaders were quoted as equating “the secular world”  with immoral values. Archbishop William Goh stated that Catholics have a “moral obligation not to support those who denigrate and insult religions, including anti-Christian and immoral values promoted by the secular world”. These comments were supported by some other Church leaders, including Pastor Lawrence Khong of the Faith Community Baptist Church. [Read more…]

Annual General Meeting 2016

Date
06/03/2016

Time
6.30 pm – 8:00 pm

Location
Function room (Next to Swimming Pool),
Cashew Park Condominium,
50 Cashew Road 679633

The Humanist Society (Singapore) invites all our members, fellow humanists and supporters to our  Annual General Meeting (AGM).
If you want to find out more about HSS and our activities, our past events in 2015 and our future plans for 2016 and beyond, do join us on 6 March 2016 at 6.30pm.
We will also be electing several key appointment holders for 2016 (see below) and we would certainly appreciate your support.
AGENDA:
a) Introduction by President
b) Events and Activities in 2015/16
c) Press and media coverage in 2015/16
d) Auditor and Treasurer’s report
e) Constitutional ammendments
f ) Election of New committee members
      -President
        Nominees: Tan Tatt Si
      -Treasurer
        Nominees: Zheng Huifen
      -Assistant Secretary
        Nominees: Cheng Chee Hoew
      -Ordinary Committee Member
        Nominees: Dan Dan Thio
                                Chan Yue Kong
To attend the AGM, you must be a member of HSS. You can sign up on the day of the AGM or renew your membership to attend the AGM. RSVP via this Google Form: http://goo.gl/forms/97vznoMgvM
For members who wish to vote for committee members, but are unable to attend the AGM, please e-mail secretary@humanist.org.sg to request to vote by proxy. We will forward details concerning the nominees and further information about proxy voting to you by further e-mail.

Nomination for Executive Committee 2016/2017

Dear members,

We are calling for our Annual General Meeting for 2016. We would like to invite our members to be a part of the Executive Committee.
The positions in the Executive Committee for the year 2016 are as follows.

1)President: Open to members of the society for a minimum of 1 year and must be a Singaporean citzen / permanent resident

2) Treasurer: Open to members of the society for a minimum of 1 year and must be a Singaporean citizen / permanent resident

3) Assistant Secretary: Open to members of the society for a minimum of 6 months and must be a Singaporean citizen / permanent resident

4) Committee Member: Open to members of the society for a minimum of 6 months

The length of term for all offices is 2 years.

For a description of the roles and responsibilities of the above roles are outlined in The Society’s Constitution, which can be accessed at https://humanist.org.sg/about/our-constitution/

Members are free to nominate themselves or another member of the society.
Nominations must be seconded by another member of the society.
Please submit the following details for the nominee, the member recommending the nominee, if not the same individual , and the member seconding the nomination

1) Name
2) IC number (for Singaporean citizens / permanent resident)
3) E-mail
4) Contact number

Please submit the details to secretary@humanist.org.sg by the 13th of January 2016. Any submissions after 00 00 hrs on said date will not be applicable.

Please feel free to contact us at secretary@humanist.org if you have any further queries concerning the nomination process.

Humanist shirts for Pink Dot

The pink version of our Good for Goodness Sake t-shirts are still on sale! The pink version has been worn at our annual Pink Dot picnics for several years. Here’s a photo from Pink Dot 2014.

  • Cost: $20 each for both non-members and members
  • Deadline for ordering: First-come, first-served! We have limited stock.
  • Collection date and venue: July 1 2017, at the HSS Pink Dot booth at Hong Lim Park. Read more at our event page and FB event page.
  • Sizes (updated 30 Jun 2017) :
    • XS: 1 available
    • S: OUT OF STOCK
    • M: 3 available,
    • L: 1 available
    • XL: OUT OF STOCK
    • XXL: OUT OF STOCK
  • Payment options: Scroll down to place your orders!
T-shirt

We are only taking new orders for ONE colour (pink). The other colours, dark grey, brown, maroon and navy, are not being reprinted at the moment. Here’s the chart of sizes:

 

T-shirt sizes

[Read more…]

Passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew

STATEMENT FROM THE HUMANIST SOCIETY (SINGAPORE):

Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew has passed away this morning at the age of 91.

Throughout his years of public service, including as Prime Minister from 1959-1990, Mr Lee and his team worked to create a safe and prosperous country. Mr Lee recognised the importance of secularism in a muliti-religious society, to balance competing interests so that no group is systematically favoured over another.

Our Society expresses our condolescences to Mr Lee’s family. We will remember his service to Singapore.

For updates, you can follow these two pages:

PM Lee’s page:
https://www.facebook.com/leehsienloong

Remembering Lee Kuan Yew:
https://www.facebook.com/RememberingLeeKuanYew

Executive Committee
Humanist Society (Singapore)

Nominate for Annual General Meeting 2015 now!

Dear members,

In preparation for the 2015 Annual General Meeting of the Humanist Society (Singapore), we would like to invite fellow members to run as members of the coming year’s Executive Committee. The following posts will be available this year for a 2-year term: [Read more…]