Immigration doesn’t look like it solves our aging problem
Immigration may boost our work force and balance out our economically-active : elderly-persons ratio. At least on paper it can, if you judge by statistics and population pyramids.
But Singapore does not work on a social welfare model — our social welfare is kept to the minimum. The elderly are expected to either depend on themselves, or on their families. This philosophy forms the basis for policies and legislation like the CPF, Reverse Mortgages and Parents Maintenance Act.
This means that although immigration balances out our young-old ratio, what happens in reality is that there will be many economically active immigrants without aged parents to support (or their money is shipped out of Singapore to support their parents back home), and there will be many elderly folk having to depend on themselves. The State of course continues to get tax revenue, while giving out minimal social benefits.
If the fertility rate of the immigrants is below replacement levels as well, the aging problem will be further magnified. If we do not award citizenship and somehow ensure they will return to their home countries by retirement age, they will take a large amount of savings along with them.
This is just a thought, would be nice to have feedback about whether my analysis/concerns are valid. I’ve no solutions, at least not yet.
Singapore’s policy responses to ageing, inequality and poverty
Mukul G. Asher 1 and Amarendu Nandy 1
Abstract Singapore represents an instructive case study in responding to rapid ageing, growing inequalities, and significant relative poverty. Unlike other high-income Asian countries, it has relied on single-tier mandatory savings to finance retirement, housing, and to a lesser extent, healthcare. To address the low fertility rates, it has permitted the share of the non-citizen population to triple between 1990 and 2005 to nearly 30 per cent. This is subtly altering Singapore’s socio-political dynamics, while assisting in sustaining growth and competitiveness. The paper argues that Singapore has the fiscal, institutional, and organizational capacities for a modern multi-tier social security system. Singapore is, however, determined to continue with current inadequate and inequitable arrangements, requiring individuals and their families to bear disproportionate risks in financing retirement, healthcare, and short-term income support. This reflects conscious policy choices arising from a Darwinist vision of society, and the need for socio-political control.
Interesting paper to look at.
This link provides a ppt presentation of the paper:
www.econ.hit-u.ac.jp/~kokyo/sympo-feb07/paper/asher-Tokyo.pdf
The entire paper (20 pages) can be found here
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119391592/abstract
If you have no access, but wish to obtain a copy, please email me here
I cannot post the full copy up here for copyright reasons.
Getting Ex-spouses to pay : Proposed Maintenance Services Authority
Her parents divorced when she was young. Her mother did not earn much and had to depend on her father for financial support which the court had awarded. At first, her father supported them regularly, but one day when she was about 12, her father told them that he was moving out of the country to live and could not support them anymore. Those years were very tough, and there were times money ran out totally and they had to borrow from relatives to pay for things like tuition. Her mother felt bad because she felt unable to give her 2 daughters what other children had. Both sisters felt bad because their mother had to work so hard for them, taking on multiple jobs. Then one day, when she was about 18, by chance, they found out that her father had never left the country, but had lied so that he did not have to continue his support.
This was the personal story of a university-going girl, one of the several stories told via video. She cried as she recounted how, at 12, she had won an academic prize and how she asked her father to come to the ceremony but he never turned up.
I was at SCWO’s presentation at SMU yesterday. The SCWO taskforce proposed a new body to be set up to enforce and ensure that parties complied with court orders to provide financial maintenance. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/444993/1/.html
Here I present some of the details proposed that may/may not be in the CNA article. Please bear in mind I’m not a professional journalist and my blog is not vetted by any editor. It is just based on what I have heard, and I may not have heard 100% correctly. If anyone is aware of any errors, I’ll appreciate if you point them out.
Current system
The couple divorces, and by agreement/court orders, one party (the “Paying Party”, or “PP”) has to provide financial support to the “Claimant”. (I’m trying to keep this gender neutral, because although it is the husband paying in most instances, this process also applies if the wife is maintaining the husband)
There are about 7000 divorces a year, and most Paying Parties are quite responsible in supporting their children, and many want to continue being a good father/mother. However, there are cases where the Paying Parties default on their payment — 1700 people had to apply for orders to be enforced last year.
The current enforcement application process works this way currently:
The Claimant has to take leave from work to go to court to apply. Then the court issues the summons which must be served to the Paying Party. This is a huge challenge because the Paying Party may move house and may deliberately avoid being found. It is the Claimant who is ultimately responsible for locating the Paying Party. The court process cannot continue if the Paying Party is not found. Social workers or lawyers assisting the Claimant do not have access to the databases of HDB, CPF, income tax , police etc to help them find the Paying Party. The police cannot help to locate the PP either. This can go on for months. At times, even when summons are served, the PP may not turn up in court on that day. When the PP is finally found and goes to court, the court can order him to pay.
If the PP defaults on the following months’ payment, the Claimant has to repeat the process all over again.
The Gaps in the current system
- The Claimant needs to make multiple trips to court and the whole procedure puts a lot of mental stress on her. In today’s job environment, they become very vulnerable to be let go. Many lose their jobs.
- The sum to be paid has been assessed by the court from the beginning based on the PP’s income, expenses, and the children’s needs. Unless the PP’s situation changes, he should be able to make payment. If the PP is unable to pay, he can apply to have the sum altered; defaulting is not the way.
- There are many cases where the PP defaults until one day before the court hearing, and then they make payment, so that the case becomes invalid. Or when the judge orders, they pay up. Apparently there are ex-spouses who realize how the system works, and how distressing it is to have to apply again and again everytime payment is defaulted, and they use this to get back at the ex-spouse.
- Many times, children suffer in the process. They suffer physically when electricity is cut, when they do not have enough money for school activities etc. They suffer emotionally at the abandonment by the PP, and also get affected by the stress of the Claimant.
Features and Benefits of the Proposed Maintenance Services Authority
- Gender neutral – does not discriminate whether the husband or the wife is maintaining
- Does not target good fathers/mothers who are responsible, even though the marriage is over — it is to help Claimants who have ex-spouses that continuously flout court orders to fulfill their duties
- Not linked to custody rights (current laws also do not make that link)
- Does not assess the amount to be paid, or punish recalcitrant offenders — that is still the job of the court. It’s role is just to enforce the courts orders ie. To do what the Claimant currently has to go through
- The Authority would need access to govt databases to locate the PP. Previously, the argument for not releasing this information is for confidentiality issues— you may not want your ex-spouse to know where you are staying. With this Authority, the ex-spouse will not be informed as the Authority will do the location.
- With this Authority, court orders can be enforced without putting undue and unfair stress on the Claimant and the children.
How can we talk about the taboo and the illegal :
It’s a real privilege for me to have the chance to give a talk, ‘How can we talk about the taboo and the illegal’, at this year’s IndigNation. http://indignationsg.wordpress.com/
Some topics are more challenging than others to talk about in the classroom setting. Topics like,
1. Homosexuality – How do you de-stigmatise homosexuality, get homosexual students to practise safe sex, when you have the 377A law?
2. Under-aged sex – How do you get under-aged teens to practise safe sex, or seek medical treatment early, when their beloved partners might be jailed?
3. STI/HIV destigmatisation – How do you impress upon teens the severity of these illnesses without scare-mongering, and yet de-stigmatise these conditions at the same time?
4. Condom usage – How do you get teens to practise safe sex without over-stating the effectiveness of condoms, and without “preaching promiscuity”?
5. Trust and abuse — How do you get teens in a monogamous relationship to consistently use condoms, when love and trust are essential for a healthy relationship?
It’s a short 20min talk on this subject of Taboo and Illegal topics, followed by what I hope will be a lively discussion with the audience =)
( Disclaimer: I am giving this talk in my own personal capacity, and will NOT represent the views of any organization / faith. )
23 August Sunday
Triple bill: Kings and condoms 7 pm @ 72-13 (72-13 Md Sultan Road)
Michael Jackson and The Man In The Mirror: In the wake of Micheal Jackson’s passing, Otto Fong reflects on what he – a gay Asian who studied in America – learnt from African Americans before, during and after Jackson’s reign as the King of Pop.
The same ties that bind: A 20-minute video exploration of the various elements that determine a gay person’s acceptance within the family: family love, prejudice, religion, etc.
How can we talk about the taboo and the illegal: Mathia Lee in her talk discusses the challenges she faced as a Comprehensive Sexuality Education instructor, in bringing into the classroom topics like 1. Homosexuality 2. Underaged sex 3. STI/HIV destigmatisation 4. Condom usage 5. Trust and abuse.
In sum, this forum looks the process of acknowledging a gay person in our midst, and dealing with issues of self-acceptance, family acceptance and education.
The New Racial Disharmony
MM Lee says Singapore needs to do more to achieve nationhood
By Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia
Are Singaporeans better off without a religion?
I’ve previously written about the Singapore Humanist Meetup group http://www.meetup.com/Singapore-Humanism/ http://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=1025459935567#/group.php?gid=41667702434&ref=ts
At the next meeting on the 30 July, we’re going to have fun/exploratory debate on the topic
Are Singaporeans better off without a religion?
i thought i’ll open a dialogue here as well.
hoping to hear from all sorts of people. The liberals. The conversatives. The fundamentalists. The extremists. The confused. The religious. The scared. The depressed. Josie Lau supporters. Gays persecuted by religion. Lesbians helped by religion. Lawmakers. PAP members. Opposition members. Christians Buddhists Jews Taoists Muslims Hindus Cultists Sikhs Egyption mythologists. EVERYONE =D
I’ll start the ball rolling
Singaporeans are better off WITH a religion
1. Religion provides hope of a better life where it’s hopeless to hope for better in this life.
2. If not for the promise of heaven and threat of hell, who would donate to charity and take care of the poor?
3. Without religious leaders to listen to and obey, we’ll only be left with the State to listen to and obey.
Singaporeans are better off WITHOUT a religion
1. Singaporeans are stressed enough worrying if we’re gonna pass this exam, get that job, get that promotion, have kids, pay bills, etc…… we don’t need an added worry of whether we’re gonna get to heaven
2. The main excuse that is used and accepted for having no freedom of speech/demonstrations etc etc in Singapore will be gone!
3. We might actually be able to do away with illogical laws.eg. 377A
DISCLAIMER:!!!!!
This is a fun, light-hearted post that is meant to generate discussion. I do NOT intend to be offensive, and if you do find it (or any comments) offensive, please 1st. Tell me what about it is offensive 2nd. Go to another website. I do NOT intent to incite racial / religious conflicts .
One of the best things about having this blog & joining discussion groups (Humanists, TEDx, InteresThink etc ) is the meeting/hearing of many interesting & intellectual discussions/people.
12,000 abortions, half by married women : that’s why abstinence-only cannot work
12,000 women — meaning out of every 3 pregnancies, 2 are born and 1 is aborted.
Many are unnecessary. As Dr Beh points out in the article, half are done by married women, and because they are misinformed.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/441781/1/.html
“Many husbands do not use condom right from the start of the sexual activity, (they) wait till they are near ejaculation before they put it on, and that defeats the purpose.”
“some inaccurately think that birth control pills may be linked to cancer or weight gain, and others have the misconception that the intrauterine system makes sexual intercourse uncomfortable and carries an infection risk. While this may have had some truth to it with the older copper intrauterine device, the newer hormone-releasing intrauterine system carries less risk.”
Which is why it’s so important to educate women, so that they never have to be in this position where they have to make this difficult decision and choice.
The best opportunity, is while girls are still in school — that’s what school education is for. That’s why a program that equips girls with knowledge for their whole life, rather than just their teenage years, is so important.
Abstinence-only programs teach girls how to protect themselves while they are still teens in school. It leaves them with a knowledge-gap when they get married. Comprehensive Sexuality Education equips them with the knowlege they need TODAY, and FOR LIFE.
On Suicide
I was having a conversation re suicide with someone on his blog, and I thought i’ll put it up here, and perhaps get more views… Neither of us are experts on the subject, so pardon the ignorance if you are! (oh do share your views if you are = ) )
( The original author is a post-doc at the Biopolis, originally from China, so his native language is Chinese. He did his own English translation of the original Chinese post)
7天前，7月3日，有位白人男性从新加坡启汇资讯传媒园Fusionopolis的高楼跳下，自杀身亡；
几个月前，南洋理工大学电子工程学院的一位来自中国的研究助理上吊自杀身亡；
又听说几年前，新加坡启奥生物园Biopolis有个来自中国的博士后也是自杀身亡。
据说自杀的情绪是会传染的。公司的人力部发出通知，让因为此事心理受伤的人去接受心理咨询。
我倒是没有什么心理阴影，
但是不由得猜想是怎样的困境让这些高智商高学历高待遇且受社会尊重的人才们走上了绝路？
死都不怕的人，还有什么事情能吓垮他呢？
听说大部分自杀之人从产生自杀冲动到执行自杀的时间很短。
就在这短暂的时间里，他们在强烈情绪的支配下放空理性思考，心一横，珍贵的生命遂随风而逝。。。
但是其实事情往往并没有如他们冲动之下所想的那么糟。
对于热爱生活游戏人生的我来说，自杀是绝对不可能的决定。
在我看来，人生就像我们到一个陌生的地方旅行，一路边走边看美丽风景，当我自然死亡时旅行才会结束。
我这辈子要做的就是多走些地方，多看些美丽风景，多些快乐体验，如果有可能，就多留点功德。
在人生之旅的过程中，遇到困难是不可避免的。
对于困难，能把它解决当然最好；但若无法解决，绕过就是了。
就像我们旅行时来到大山脚下，往前无路可走，那就绕山而行；
若绕山也无路，那就原路返回，直到看到新路再继续探寻。
生命是一次自由无边的旅程! 此处不留爷，自有留爷处！
在一个地方生活不适应，工作不顺利，孤独没朋友，心情糟透了，而我们又无法解决，那就换个地方好了。
最极端的情况也不过是到一个无人认识你的地方，切断与以往生活的所有联系，开始新的人生旅程。
这样极端的决定也比自杀要好过千百倍，死都不怕，还怕到新地方度度假吗？
English Translation:
7 days ago, 3rd July, a male caucasian jumped from high floor of Fusionopolis, Singapore, died from suicide;
Some months ago, a research assistant from China committed suicide in Nanyang Technological University, died;
It says that some years ago, a post-doctoral fellow committed suicide in Biopolis, died too.
It says that the suicide emotion is contagious. The human resource of our company sent an email to suggest people who got affected by the incident go for counselling. There is no shadow in my mind resulting from this incident, but I am curiously wandering what kind of difficulties drove these persons with high IQ, high education, decent income and social respects to the dead end?
When a person don’t fear of death, what kind of things can make him fear and crush?
It says that it is a very short time between suicide impulse and suicide behavior for majority of suicides.
In this short period of time, their rational thinking give way to strong emotions, abruptly make up their mind, the valuable life soon gone with winds…
However, the things are not as bad as they believed when their mind were occupied by impulse.
To me, a person who love life and play in it at will, suicide is an absolutely impossible decision.
To me, the life is like taking a journey to a new place, I am here to watch sceneries as I travel, the journey only ends when I died naturally.
What I need to do in my life is to go to more places, view more beautiful sceneries, get more happy experience and give more contribution to the society when I am capable of.
In the journey of life, it is inevitable to encounter difficulties. It is good to solve the problems, however, when we cannot solve it, we can just pass around it. It is like when we travel to the foot of a huge mountain and no way to climb it, we can try to pass around it; if there is no way to pass around, we can return to the road which we came from and explore again when new roads show up.
Life is a free journey without boundries! There must be somewhere suitable to you!
When we feel not accustomed to certain kinds of life style, works get troubles, lonely, very upset and we cannot figure out how to solve it, let’s just move to another place. The most extreme situation is to go to a totally new place, cutting off all the connections to the old life and start a new one. This extreme situation is much much better than suicide. If we don’t fear of suicide, how can we fear of going for a long term vocation in a brand new place?
mathia Lee wrote:
“I am curiously wandering what kind of difficulties drove these persons with high IQ, high education, decent income and social respects to the dead end?”
Many artists, writers, singers, brilliant minds etc etc suffer from depression, insanity, drug/alcohol problems, eating/sleeping disorders……….
“When we feel not accustomed to certain kinds of life style, works get troubles, lonely, very upset and we cannot figure out how to solve it, let’s just move to another place. The most extreme situation is to go to a totally new place, cutting off all the connections to the old life and start a new one. “
The thing with some successful people is that they thought moving to another place, or getting rich, or achieving their goals would make them happy. When they have succeeded in moving, getting rich or achieving their goals, and they still do not feel happy, things seem hopeless, because they start to feel as if nothing in this world can ever make them happy anymore. That is when all the problems start coming in . The drugs, the depression, the deaths.
If you notice, a lot of religions that stand the test of time and give people hope, tend not to emphasise happiness. What they do instead, is to convince you that suffering is good and meaningful. When people reconcile suffering with living, it becomes easier to move away from death and despair, because happiness is no longer a goal.
阿龙 Along wrote:
1. What I want to know is “what kind of difficulties–the real problem they faced”. The suffering you say about some artists, writers and singers is true, but I don’t think it fits on these three researchers.
2. I agree that many religions try to convince people to be able to bear sufferings, in Chinese it is called 修炼.
I think we are talking about different aspects of the question of “how to deal with suffering?” The suffering I am talking about is the outside difficult environment a person faces, and the suffering you are talking about is the inside struggle a person bears in his mind. That is why I ask the person to get away from the suffering environment and you said the person will still carry the suffering even move to a new place. : )
Even the suffering is becasue of the inside struggle in a person’s mind, I believe when he move to a new place without outside pressure, he can also feel much less struggle in his mind. That is why we normally feel fresh when we go travelling, forgeting the daily troubles after getting out of the old environment.
mathia Lee wrote:
Why do you think that these researchers are facing external real problems and not those inside?
A lot of times, personality is the main determinant.
I know someone (you know also lah!) who was brought up in a family where for 4 generations of women, they are taught to be wary of other people. (not in a consious manner, but because they are unconsciously influenced by the personality of their mother/family. ) They will interpret everyone else’s actions as having the worst intentions they can think of. If they children don’t call or visit, they won’t think “oh, my son is so busy these days, I wonder how i can help him to ease his burden?”. Instead they will think “Even my son doesn’t love me anymore. He doesn’t even make an effort to care or be filial”
When you talk to such people, they will be able to tell you a lot of real external problems. If you just met them, you might believe them. But if you know them well enough, you will know the real reason.
And if you take this person to a new environment, it won’t really help. The same thing will happen. This person will think she has hostile new neighbours. And because of her belief, she might act in an unfriendly way to a new neighbours, and that will make her problem real.
If this person doesn’t realise the root of her problem, or doesn’t want, or is unable to change that root of her problem, she will take her problems with her everywhere she goes, and in everything she does.
After a while, things like depression, alchohol problems, eating/sleep disorders etc etc will set in. Then this person will interpret this in the worst way too, think that she has uncurable illnesses, that her doctors are lousy, and start thinking about suicide
This is just one example.
You, Along, are a happy person. You are very blessed to be. Because I know you personally, I know that your personality has alot to do with your happiness. Even when you see things or experience things that are problematic to most people or even to yourself, you do not see it as a reason to be very upset. You take it in your stride and deal with it. You need something super major —– taiwan bombing xiamen for example (??? hehhehe = ) ) —- to be really upset. Which is wonderful.
Therefore, when you look at other suicidal people and wonder what kind of problems they had, you are looking at them with your personality, where you need real big problems to be that upset. But to understand suicide, you need always to think about their personality and mental state.
The above example is only one type of personality that puts the person at high risk for suicide. There are other examples. I’m sure there is a lot of literature.
Leo Tolstoy wrote “Anna Karenina” a classic. I am fascinated by his character development. The internal thoughts, feelings, personality are so well described as the characters face different situations. The main character “Anna Karenina” is a woman who has everything — great beauty, style, intelligence, wealth , a lovely son. She doesn’t really love her husband passionately, but she cares about him and is a good, rational wife. Then she meets this man she falls head over heels in love with and leaves her husband. This man also loves her very much. She should be happy, but her personality makes her impossibly demanding of this lover. That creates conflict in their relationship even though they both love each other very much. In the end, she is driven to suicide.
Many readers/reviews I found on the internet hated Anna Karenina. They couldn’t understand how she could think/feel/behave like that, and feel that she is selfish and spoilt. I didn’t think so. I was thinking, given her personality, the way she was, was it even possible for her to escape her fate?
Poverty: the great social injustice
http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/107799
I seldom post other articles here, but this one I can’t walk away from
Whether Singapore or Malaysia is better, is not the point.
The point is that this is happening here. Here in a country of wealth.
The social injustice offends me. It offends me that there are people out there, who work hard and honestly all their lives, an live worse than a prisoner. It offends me that in a country boasting of world-class standards, there are people without electricity. It offends me that in a country known for its efficient systems, a single major illness brings a family below poverty lines.
It OFFENDS me.
And I hold myself personally responsible for it.
I think that every single person who KNOWS about it, and claims to be of at least average intelligence, and considers him/herself an able bodied person, ought to be personally responsible for it.
Because everyone of us can do something. And something can be done. If nothing is done, if this continues, it is only because we haven’t bothered to do enough. And we start by asking ourselves that question. If you cannot say to yourself honestly that there is something more you can still do about this situation, then you ought to be personally responsible as well.
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By Vijay Kumar, http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/107799
Jul 3, 09
6:48pm
In between the glamarous buildings and shoppings complexes of this city state, there is huge suffering that the world has never seen. Something that the Singapore government or media will try to hide from the rest of the world. And this is the lives of 80 percent of ‘true’ Singaporeans who live in the republic’s Housing Development Board (low cost) flats.
I, like many young youths, went looking for a better future in this Lion City of opportunity, After four years of working experience in Kuala Lumpur. It was my first experience outside Malaysia and I was very happy to be offered a job in Singapore with a basic salary of S$3,500.
Then, with huge hopes, I started looking for a master bedroom to rent being single. I finally got a master bedroom in Clementi for S$700 a month but only after being rejected by many other landlords for being Indian. The ensuing eight- month ordeal that I spent in this HDB flat really opened my mind to what Singapore is for those who can’t earn.
It made me ask if this is the type of development that I ever wanted in my country Malaysia. This is the first time that I felt gifted to be born in Malaysia. Anyway, I lived with a family of three (husband, wife with one daughter) who rented out their master bedroom to me while they slept in the common room.
It was a three-room flat (but unlike in Malaysia, a three-room flat has only two bedrooms). I did not believe it was the master bedroom that I was staying in until I went into the other room and saw that there is no attached bathroom there. I was given a bed and a mattress and also two fans. Then I noticed that the couple with their daughter sleeping on the floor with a thin mattress in the other room. Not even a fan in that room.
Both husband and wife are born Singaporeans and were employed. It was after one month that I realised that the daughter was not going to school regularly and most of the time there would be a quarrel in the early morning between the father and daughter as there was not enough money to pay for the bus to go to school.
There were times when the daughter was very sick and father had no money to take her to see a doctor. It was a real pain in the heart to hear a small girl suffering through the thin walls of this HDB flat. It was unbelievable for me to see this happening in this ultra-modern city. It took me another two months to realise that what was happening in this flat was not an isolated case of urban poverty in Singapore.
It was every where in those HDB flats. There was a Chinese neighbour (an elderly man) and his son had no money to get a taxi to send his father to the clinic for daily diabetic wound-dressing. I soon understood that poverty in Singapore transcends racial boundaries. The whole family of my landlord got a shock that I own a car in Malaysia.
My landlord would keep pestering me every time I come back to Malaysia to bring my car over so that his whole family could go sightseeing in Singapore. In all my life, I never believed people in a developed country like Singapore would ever consider car ownership a privelege.
Three months later, one fine day, I came back home and realised that there was no electricity in the house. This time, my landlord did not have the money to pay for the utility bills. I was back in the Stone Age, using candles. This lasted for days until finally he borrowed money from somewhere and settled the bills.
My landlord as a person I have known during that period never come back drunk or looked like a gambler. He had to pay for his mother’s medical expenses, that much I know. This was the time in my life when I learned what is was like to live in that poor quality HDB flat, drying clothes in the rooms and listening to what the couple talked about in the next room via the thin walls.
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“Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” — Alice In Wonderland
Religious harmony in Singapore – The Issue & Suggestions
Over the weekend, I had the privilege of attending the 2nd Interfaith Conference on Dialogue & Engagement 2009*. Here are some of my thoughts (greatly influenced by the conversations I had that day) on the kinds of religious conflicts happening in Singapore, why they happen and what can be done.
Why religious conflicts happen in Singapore: Confusion over the new boundaries
Everyone agreed that we want to respect each others religions (including atheism/agnosticsm/humanism). However, the panel dialogue surfaced lots of situations/incidence which subtly screamed: You say you respect me, but here’s when you didn’t!
What that showed, in my view, was that people didn’t know how to behave in order to demonstrate their respect. We need to dialogue and establish what constitutes acceptable behavior; we need to define the boundaries.
In the past (judging from conversations with older people, and from the emphasis in school 20 years ago), there was a lot on religious practices and rituals, amongst the religious followers, in national campaigns and public messaging. These tended to be the source of misunderstandings as well. Religious differences were : Muslims didn’t eat pork. Buddhist/Taoist burnt offerings, Christians celebrated Christmas etc. People got upset when rituals of other faiths affected their lives eg. when ashes flew into each others living rooms.
Over the years of dialogue, we’ve come to accommodate each other’s rituals. When organizing an office party, we know we need to ask if there are vegetarians attending. We happily accept Christmas presents. We have no issues with colleagues wearing tudungs or turbans. We have agreed on the boundaries, and we know how to behave to show our respect for diversity.
Today’s population is more exposed to global issues, which is becoming increasingly ideological. New issues have cropped up. Issues where we haven’t had enough dialogue on, where everyone has a different idea of where the boundary is.
When we think of “inter-religious” dialogue in terms of rituals only, and insist on keeping everything else “secular”, we swept very real and contentious issues under the rug. Many of these issues were touched on during Saturday’s dialogue, and I will briefly outline them here.
Some areas of contention and conflict, which needs discussion:
Religious groups in the secular setting : the school, the workplace
It’s OK to give my colleague Christmas presents, invite them for Deepavali party, wear my tudung. Is it OK to give my colleagues Bible-verse-bookmarks, invite them to church, form office cell groups? It’s OK to talk about religious festivals during Moral Ed class, is it OK to talk about the different Creation stories during Science class?
Religious overtones in policy: Homosexuality, healthcare, advertising
- We accept that we have different dietary restrictions, and we’ve worked out ways to accommodate every kind of diet. Can we accept that we have different sexual practice restrictions and work out a way to accommodate everyone? Same with issues like euthanasia, abortion, HIV subsidies. Where advertising is concerned, does advertising in a religious publication mean that my company is inclusive and respectful of diversity, or does it mean that my company favors a particular religion, or has my company flouted secular principles? Everyone will interpret a gesture differently; we need a dialogue to establish different behaviors mean.
Religious practices at home: Funerals, altars, festivals
This is tricky. It always is when the homes and families are involved. But perhaps here is when dialogue is needed, acceptable behavior established, and rights guarded. What kind of funerals should be conducted when the deceased is of a religion separate from the family members? Are altars offensive or inclusive?
This list is far from exhaustive, but already, we see where the dialogue has to go to.
What can/needs to be done
Our inter-faith dialogue has to move beyond introducing our rituals to one another. We need to establish
1. Boundaries of acceptable behavior, and a common understanding of what each gesture means
2. Terms of engagement. How should we conduct our outreach activities without offense? How should we practice our faith outside the places of worship? What is the criteria for offensive/discriminatory behavior? When we disagree, how should we go about voicing our protest in an amicable way?
Without establishing boundaries and terms of engagement, it is inevitable that I offend you with well-meaning gestures. When you react negatively, I would then feel slighted. A recipe for conflict.
Who needs to be involved
1. Religious leaders/organizations.
Because of how they are looked to as the authorities, they have to be the ones starting the conversation. And then they have to preach in the manner they have agreed to. Representatives of secular/non-religious/minority religion groups need to be included too, to ensure they are not discriminated.
2. The State
It is the State’s responsibility to provide mechanisms through which the agreed upon boundaries and term of engagement are respected and enforced
3. Public & secular organizations – companies, schools, hospitals, NGOs
It came as a surprise to me to learn that NIE does not have a mandatory Race/Religious Sensitization course for the people who influence the thoughts of the next generation 300 days a year. Teachers, HR managers, policy makers, etc need to know how to deal with religious issues sensitively, and how to diffuse issues when they do crop up in a fair and sensitive manner. Telling a child to shut up and sit down doesn’t really help in the long run. Companies need to be aware that how they run their Christmas sales can be offensive or not. Hospital staff need to know how to tell when it is offensive or when it is helpful to offer to pray for the patient. If NGOs, educators, health workers, and religious groups had decided to sit down together to discuss sexuality education years ago, the whole AWARE saga might not have taken place. If clear terms of engagement had been established, perhaps the religious groups would have protested AWARE’s policies in a more civil and acceptable manner.
4. Public education
Going down to the grassroots level with inter-faith dialogues and activities is definitely useful, but only after the religious leaders have established societal norms and conventions, and after the societal infrastructure/mechanisms are in place to bring about this racial and religious harmony we seek.
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*About
This was organized by the EIF, together with the Buddhist Fellowship. EIF (Explorations into Faith) is a group under the Southeast CDC umbrella, that organizes inter-religious dialogues on a monthly basis, each time partnering a different religious group.
Participants discussed issues of Religion and Race in Singapore in small groups of about 5 – 10 people, and then came together for a forum discussion that saw a panel of 5 religious leaders, representing the Buddhist, Christian, Islam, Hindu, or Taoist faith. .
As part of the National Orange Ribbon Campaign (http://www.aux.com.sg/norc/index.php) to promote racial and religious harmony, the theme for discussion was on exactly that — Racial and religious harmony in the Singapore context.
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