The Humanist Society (Singapore) supports interfaith dialogue as a means to strengthen understanding between various religious groups, and between religious and non-religious communities as well. We support Singapore’s model of secularism, which provides space for various belief systems and also secular policies to benefit Singaporeans regardless of race and religion. Some of our existing stands on religious harmony in Singapore:
- Disagreements over beliefs should be resolved using dialogue and not by resorting to police reports and legal action.
- Each individual has the right to believe and to hold his/her own opinions. This is part of the universal human right to freedom of conscience. However, no belief is sacred or immune from scrutiny and discussion. In the pursuit for truth and a better world, all ideas must be scrutinized for logical soundness and checked against the latest evidence.
External presentations to Buddhist College and RSIS
In April and May 2023, HumanistSG representatives gave two presentations to introduce non-religiousity and humanism in Singapore. In April 2023, our Secretary Nora gave an introduction on freethinkers in Singapore, as part of a comparative religion course at the Buddhist College of Singapore. The College appreciated our sharing. In May 2023, the Humanist Society’s former President Paul Tobin gave presentations at the SRP 8th Executive Programme 2023, organised by NTU RSIS. Click here for the article.
Engagement with Harmony Centre
- Attended 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗮𝗵 𝗔𝗹-𝗠𝗮𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗳: “𝗕𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 (above). On 18th May 2023, Ustaz Luqman Hakim Roslan from Masjid An-Nahdhah and MunawwarinYouth An-Nahdhah with support from Harmony Centre, held an interfaith sharing session at Madrasah Al-Maarif. The sharing session aimed to introduce to the students the scope of interfaith and how to engage and deal with day-to-day issues involving our multi religious and multiracial society. Ustazah Nadiah Shah and Vice-President Ding Jie Tan from the Humanist Society (Singapore) , shared their personal experiences of being faithful in difficult situations and what it is like to be a humanist to widen the perspective of students on the diverse scene of culture, religions and beliefs. (Source: Harmony Centre Facebook)
- Attended the Hari Raya Reception at the Masjid Alkaff Upper Serangoon on 26 May 2022.
- Attended the Friendship Meal and Pledge a Poet campaign at Zion-Bible Presbyterian Church on 20 Feb 2021.
Engagement with OnePeople.sg
Attended the OnePeople.sg-IPS Community Leaders’ Conference on 28 May 2022
Engagement with MUIS
Spoke at the Postgraduate Certificate in Islam in Contemporary Societies (PCICS) on 30 Nov 2021, on interfaith relations, civil discourse, and leadership.
Visit to Baha’i Centre
Representatives from the Humanist Society were invited by the Baha’i to have an informal friendly discussion at their center on Saturday, 14 May 2022. Read more here.
Membership of A Good Space Co-operative Limited
The Humanist Society (Singapore) has joined AGS Co-op Ltd. as part of our ongoing efforts to extend our outreach, collaborate with community partners and allies, and do good just for goodness sake.
Involvement with hash.peace
Founded by our friend and ally Nazhath Faheema as a movement to advocate for sustainable social harmony, hash.peace has since formally registered with the Registry of Societies. Vice President DJ Tan serves as an Ex-officio Member on the Exco of hash.peace.
World Humanist Day 2020
WHD 2020 was commemorated with an online panel discussing the challenges of interfaith efforts and community activism amidst a pandemic. Our panellists were:
- Danielle Hill, Chair of Asian Regional Committee, Young Humanist International
- Nazhath Faheema, Founder of hash.peace
Engagement with IRO
Participated in the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO)’s activites:
- Inaugural Untitled Conversations on 25 April 2019, attended by President Halimah Yacob.
- IRO Youth Circle
- ‘Is Interfaith Harmony Fact or Fiction?’, on 1 April 2019
- Harmony of Faiths exhibition on March 2019, attended by ESM Goh Chok Tong
Interfaith dialogues with Southeast CDC / EIF
- Attended Being Human Interfaith Dialogue on 22 January 2022, an online dialogue organized by Southeast CDC. The discussion was Faith and the Environment.
- Explained humanism to Explorations into Faith (EIF) facilitators:
- March 3, 2013
- Sept 22, 2013
- Sept 14, 2014
- Aug 28, 2016
- Apr 23, 2017
- Aug 26, 2017
- Interacted with youth and community leaders at EIF UnConference interfaith events.
- Diversity in Action, Interfaith possibilities among youth. 5 April, 2014
- Diversity in Action: Deepening Connections in Modern Singapore on 29 Aug, 2015.
- Diversity in Action: Faith, Diversity and Citizenship on 13 Aug, 2016.
Religion and Atheism conversations
On 18 March, 2016, our President Tatt Si had a cordial discussion with Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib from Leftwrite Center about what religous people and atheists think of each other, and how religion-atheism relations can be managed in the public sphere. Dr Hoon Chang Yau from SMU was the keynote speaker and interfaith facilitator Farid Hamid helped to moderate the event. Watch the discussion on Youtube.View photos on our Flickr
Together with Free Community Church and Leftwrite Center, we held the second round of conversations between the religious and the non-religious on April 28, 2017. It was a long, vigorous but cordial dialogue, lasting close to three hours. You can watch the video and read the summary here.
Dr Paul Hedges’ book launch and dialogue
Dr Paul Hedges spoke at the launch of his book, “Towards Better Disagreement: Religion and Atheism in Dialogue,” on October 14, 2016, at the Photographic Society of Singapore (PSS). Leftwrite Center and the Humanist Society (Singapore) jointly organised the launch. Read more here: https://humanist.org.sg/how-religious-followers-and-atheists-can-have-a-better-dialogue/
CENS conference
The HSS participated in a workshop titled “Social Fault Lines and Singapore” at Marina Mandarin Singapore on Oct 23, 2015. It is organised by the Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS) which is part of NTU’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, and supported by the National Security Coordination Secretariat (NSCS) which is part of the Prime Minister’s Office. We have written separate articles summarising our presentation and the subsequent QnA.
Non-religious representative in SG Kindness video
On June 22, 2016, the Singapore Kindness Movement released a video called “Have you ever talked openly about religion in Singapore?” discussing the underlying tensions between different religious groups in Singapore. The Movement has also included a non-religious Singaporean and her perspectives in the video. Read about it on our blog.
Collaboration with student groups
- Invited by Humanism.Yale-NUS to speak on the local humanism movement.
- Gave talks at NUS interfaith gatherings on 5 March, 2012, 25 March, 2013 and 8 Feb, 2017.
- We collaborated with a student group from Nanyang Technological University, called PATHS, which was working on a campaign on promoting interfaith dialogue among youth, especially tertiary education students. We have also written a summary of our collaboration on our website.
World Humanist Day 2018
Celebrating the international World Humanist Day, Humanist Society Singapore (HSS) held the InterBelief session with the aim of creating a common space for mutual understanding among people of different faiths & nones.
The moderated panels were where the action was to be found. The first panel, moderated by Dr. Matthia Lee , tried to highlight the differences in belief systems. The panel was cordial, and instead of a comparative analysis, they were mostly into their own corners of “unique propositions”, without antagonising other belief systems. After a delayed tea break, a second and new panel convened. The main agenda of ‘commonalities’ was sacrificed for the airing and venting of comments and opinions.
You can catch the panel discussions at our YouTube channel.
Letters to the press:
- In 26 April 2011, a HSS member wrote a letter to TODAY Voices explaining the real meaning of secularism in responses to concerns over ‘militant secularism’
- In 17 September 2012, the HSS published a letter in TODAY Voices titled “We should all learn to talk it out”. The HSS urged Singaporeans to settle religious differences using dialogue and not resorting to police reports and legal action.
Commentaries and letters calling for dialogue with atheists
- Fading faith? Fathoming the future of Singapore’s religious landscape (22 June 2021) in the Straits Times by Mathew Mathews is head, social lab and principal research fellow, and Melvin Tay is research associate, society and culture, at the IPS, NUS.
- How Singapore can overcome the limits of inter-faith dialogue to remain cohesive (June 28 2019) by Adrian Tan, Head of Policy Coordination and Specialist Research and Coordinator of the Malaysia Programme, RSIS, NTU, and Abigail Leong, a Visiting Associate with RSIS with an interest in issues relating to inter-faith dialogue.
- Strengthening Singapore’s interreligious ecology, (30 Dec 2016) by Mohammad Alami Musa, Head of Studies in Interreligious Relations in Plural Societies, RSIS
- Atheists deserve a place in interfaith dialogue (April 3, 2016) in the Straits Times by SMU Assistant Professor of Asian Studies Chang-Yau Hoon.
- Holding one’s peace may no longer keep the peace (April 17, 2016), in the Straits Times by Denise Chong.
- Include atheism, freethinking in discourse on religions (March 28, 2016) in the Straits Times by Chew Seng Chye.
- Time to engage the non-religious in dialogue (March 15, 2016) in the Straits Times by Institute of Policy Studies senior research fellow Mathew Mathews.
- Vital to include non-religious voices in public discourse (March 11, 2016) in TODAY by Mohd Hairol Salim.
- Regard atheists and religious people as equals (April 10, 2016) in the Straits Times by Chen Liyan.
- Religion and atheism: the need for dialogue, (25 Feb 2015), Muhammad Imran and Chew Lin for New Mandela
