(This open letter was published on 29th September 2019, on HSS Facebook page)
Thanking mothership.sg for its article on Closeted Ex-Muslims
The Humanist Society Singapore (HSS) would like to thank mothership.sg. for bringing up the plight of the invisible class of religious refugees in Singapore, in its 22nd September 2019 online article <Despite rising numbers of atheistic Singaporeans, this ex-Muslim remains closeted >.
[Read more…]Mothership.SG published an article about the difficult closeted life of an ex-Muslim (Rahim) in Singapore.
https://mothership.sg/2019/09/singapore-atheist-ex-muslim/
The article noted that while there are more Singaporeans with no religion than there are Hindus (five per cent), Taoists (10 per cent) and Muslims (14 per cent), some atheists, including Rahim, remain closeted.
Mothership.SG mentioned that there are more non-religious communities in Singapore now, including the Humanist Society Singapore and the Council of Ex-Muslims Singapore (CEMS), that exist to raise awareness and serve as a support system for such people.
We wrote this note in appreciation to Mothership:
https://humanist.org.sg/reply-to-mothership-religious-refugees/
After a gap of four years, the annual Asian Humanism Conference returned to Singapore in 2019. Whereas previous conferences focused on humanism, on the public day of this year’s conference, 6 July 2019, the exploration of relations between communities with different belief systems took a central role.
[Read more…]In 2015, we have compiled a list of our most viral posts on Facebook, as part of efforts to understand the humanist community better. Here’s a second round of compilation, based on the number of views per post.
[Read more…]
Date
16/03/2019 (Saturday)
Time
To Be Confirmed
Location
OnePeople.SG 381 Lorong 1 Toa Payoh S319758
Names for the above offices shall be proposed and seconded in writing and submitted to the Secretary not more than two months (after 15 Jan 2019) and not less than one month before (by 15 Feb 2019) the Annual General Meeting. The term of office of any member of the Committee is two years. (Section 9.1.1 https://humanist.org.sg/about/our-constitution/)
To attend the AGM, you must be a member of HumanistSG. You can sign up https://humanist.org.sg/membership-faq/membership/ on the day of the AGM or renew your membership to attend the AGM.
The 2018 edition of the Asian Humanism Conference (AHC) in Kaohsiung has just concluded, following its two-day run from 29 to 30 Dec 2018. The event was hosted by the Humanistic Pastafarianism in Taiwan, sponsored by the Young Humanists International (YHI), and attended by delegates across regional humanist groups, representing India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, as well as Taiwan. Together, these groups form part of the Asian Working Group under YHI. The Humanist Society (Singapore) was represented by Executive Committee Member, DJ Tan.
Do not monopolise December for yourself, NCCS. This letter is in response to the one NCCS sent to STB about the ‘deeper meaning’ of this period in the year.
(Erratum : more appropriate translation of “冬至” , is “the dead of winter”, or “the middle of winter”. We thank our fans for helping correct this.)
The last talk of three, was a great denouement to this very successful series.
43 years after obtaining his doctorate, a number bigger than the age of most people in the room, Dr John Elliott was still visibly too energetic to retire. The topic was built up by the other two sessions the fortnights before, and while the audience was mostly agreeable, some did not attend the other two talks, and they were all keen thinkers.
It was a presentation suitable for many, a touch of biology : of Darwin & Wallace’s Evolution by Natural Selection, and using evidence to arrive at a feel good acceptance of it. The apparent gaps in the evolution theory, and how detractors argue the fallacy of more gaps left & right of newly discovered missing link, were also exposed.
In the natural world, there is a progression of complexity, from physics, to chemistry, to biochem, to biology, and psychology. The further we move along that line, the more uncertainty we get when it comes to predicting ‘behaviours’. No longer are we only restricted to the inanimate, we deal with lifeforms with decisions, made out of free will or apparent free will, in a consciousness defined or ill-defined. The bottomline, that while one hypothesis may not explain all behaviours, there lies an underlying thread, that is built upon a programming code that had been gradually altered over the passage of time – of genes & memes.
The ways religions attempted to monopolise morality, as it tried to with the Creation narrative even with the advancement of science, were also explored, leading Dr Elliott to conclude this at the end : We don’t have morality because we have religion – we have religion because we are naturally moral creatures. When the boundary conditions are almost boundless, we have to begin to look at choices, and how a society wants to live, vis-s-vis the individual needs.
The session was well capped off by the great questions offered by a few from the audience at the end. They ranged from the evolutionary emergence of homosexuality, the psychopathic leaders in societies, and of science versus law.
HSS wishes to thank Dr Tim Bunn, Dr Ronald Ng and Dr John Elliott , for their great contribution to this science series, most definitely the first of many to come. It is clear they were subject matter experts, yet humble in the way of the scientific method.
We also thank NLB, for their sponsorship of the great facility. We had a few library walk in participants , and they were able to tune into the session without cost. We hope to bring more such talks to the public, more frequently, and at more accessible time slots.
Last Saturday saw the second segment of Humanist Society Singapore’s Psychology Talk Series. Entitled: “Agent-Based Modeling Game Theory”, the talk started out with participants filling out one of two questionnaires, picked out at random. This would provide the data points for the Ultimate Game afterwards.
We, the Humanist Society of Singapore, support the key stakeholders’ call for repeal of S377A.
Singapore is not a theocracy – we are a secular state, because no one religion should rule the country. It is also this, and choice, that freedom of religion is important. But little do people question that at the heart of freedom of religion, is the fundamental premise of freedom from religion, without which one cannot leave, or switch religions. If there is no middle ground where not having a religion is the no-mans-land, people can never take a breather before considering whether to subscribe to another religion, or stay a clean slate.
Freedom of religion, and freedom from religion, dictate that no one needs to live by a dogmatic set of rules specific to religions or traditions that belong to another person’s belief system. Religions and millennia-old traditions must learn their place in not foisting their Iron Age dogma on others who want to live their lives differently while not harming others. Society must gradually turn its policies to protecting all, regardless of age, gender, gender identity, language, race, religion, sexual orientation, or social economic class.
In law and in life, gods cannot be called to the witness dock, and interpretation of gods’ will will always be subjective and often be agenda laden, so these readings cannot be taken one way or another. Laws are made by humans for humans, in a society we want to forge, and laws can change when our society wants to change. Laws must also be fair and equal, which S377A failed miserably on both accounts.
As for the hereafter, let the gods decide, not the religionists, nor traditionalists.
As long as there are two sides of an issue and one being the status quo, it will always be seen to be political, for there will always be two forces at play, each trying to assert its influence. It will not be helpful for society if acts are labeled sins and performers sinners. Perhaps it is why it has been easy, so far, to affix the label of criminal to people performing acts not in line with one’s own beliefs. Laws should not be made where we stigmatise people first, and rally around an anachronistic to some, contemporary to others, yet unenforced law to keep the same in their places.
Belief systems are personal, so let’s not apply universal rules for others to strictly abide as well.
No red herrings. No slippery slope. No sign posting. No unenforced laws. No dogma. S377A be gone.
Humanist Society of Singapore was formed in 2010, in the aftermath of AWARE saga, with the guiding principle of speaking reason and giving our helping, compassionate hands to the downtrodden, and the nones. Many of us believe that this is the only life we have, and we choose to live and let live, and focus on the bigger things : caring for our progeny , better treatments of our earthly cousins – the other animals, and the protection and sustainability of the only home we know – Earth.
