Good morning, and welcome.
For those who hail from Singapore, welcome to this Humanist Society (Singapore) event. And for those who come from around the region, welcome to the land that wishes to be the best in many things.
Singapore wants to have the busiest port, best airport, best airline, best passport in the world, freest economy, highest per capita GDP, best financial centre, be the #1 least corrupt country, and the cleanest country. And there are those who know the policy surrounding that — you litter, we fine you $500.
We laugh at ourselves. We laugh with ourselves. A confident country acts this way.
Another thing that we also claim to be, is to be the most religiously diverse country in the world. We do not have one dominant religion, and adherence of all beliefs live alongside each other. The balance is a delicate one. It takes looking at the region, to know how delicate it is.
(Presentation of humanism at work in India, Philippines, Malaysia, and Taiwan.)
In Singapore, the Humanist Society (Singapore) was formed in 2010 against the backdrop of a religious group taking over a women’s organisation to exert policy influence on the country.
We did not make this journey alone. Our Asian allies here continue to teach us how to move forward in a world that has a religious majority. In our hearts, humanists think that an unalienable right is the right to freedom of religion. We also believe the core that fuels freedom of religion is the freedom from religion. If one takes a moment to pause before considering which religion to choose, one needs a no-mans-land that is most suitably defined as having the freedom from religion. Without this, switching of religions will not be possible.
But in a religiously diverse landscape, how is it that we begin to choose peace over conflict? Peace begins with peace with oneself. If you cannot be at peace with yourself, how can you be at peace with others? Once we have achieved that, we can then start looking out, and we seek to understand the next person, and the next person, and the next, and so on.
InterFaith, or InterBelief, and even the bigger concept of Inter-worldview is such an important work in today’s diverse society, it should not be left to governments to do it alone.
If common space is what we seek, commonality is where we start to find it.
For instance, many religions will agree that a good society is defined by how it treats its weakest and its smallest. Many have said this in one form or another, just as many holy scriptures have emphasised helping people in need, the downtrodden. That one aspect where we start finding common ground. And that’s where true understanding and friendship can begin. Understanding and friendship with the next person, and the next person, and the next, and so on.
We often say: friends are friends without conditions. So, what is a religion, or a god, between friends?
Tan Tatt Si, President of the Humanist Society (Singapore)
See also
- Asian Humanism Conference 2019
- Event summary
- Full text of Anthea Indira Ong‘s Opening Address
- Full text of the Four Daughters, a piece penned by Siti Noor Mastura
