Welcome Speech by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, and Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, at the Public Lecture by Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino on Thursday, 22 June 2006, 6.05 pm at Tower Ballroom, Shangri-La Hotel

Your Eminence Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

Professor Tommy Koh, Chairman of the Institute of Policy Studies

Mr Alami Musa, President of MUIS,

Mr V R Nathan, President of Inter-Religious Organisation,

Religious leaders,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Introduction

1.                On behalf of the Singapore Government, I extend a warm welcome to Your Eminence Cardinal Martino.  This is not the first time His Eminence is in Singapore or this region.  His Eminence was Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Singapore back in 1981, so we warmly welcome Your Eminence back to Singapore.

Many Religions and Races, One People

2.                Singapore’s population profile reflects its rich diversity as a people.  Here on this island state we see people practising all major faiths of the world.   In fact, 10 faiths are represented on our local Inter Religious Organisation.  Multiracialism is a cornerstone of our national identity where Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians are treated equally and contribute equally towards nation building.   Singaporeans from diverse backgrounds have learnt to forge ahead as one people, riding on our diversity as our strength.

Community Integration - Overlapping Circles

3.                One model for community integration in our multi-racial context can be best described as that of “overlapping circles”.  Each ethnic community can be thought of as a circle; the area where the circles overlap is where all Singaporeans, whatever their ethnicity, work and play together.  There is a conscious effort to maximise the common area in the overlapping circles that entails building on our national identity and common experiences, even as each community is also free to promote its own culture and practise its own customs.

4.                In addition to multiracialism, meritocracy has been another defining feature of Singapore. Singaporeans from all backgrounds know that here they can progress and be rewarded on individual merit; no one is discriminated or disadvantaged on the basis of race, language or religion.  The Government adopts a neutral stance in religious matters, but it recognises that religion plays an important role in shaping societal values and in reaching out to various communities.  For these reasons, Government works with religious organisations to deliver programmes that benefit society in general. 

Promoting Racial and Religious Harmony

5.                We have seen how tensions with racial or religious overtones have impacted on social cohesion in many countries.  For this reason, Singapore does not take racial and religious harmony for granted.   Over the years, we have put in place legislative safeguards against people who set themselves to undermine our social harmony. 

6.                But at the same time we recognize the importance and value of working with and through the community.   This is where ground-up initiatives have played very important roles in nurturing understanding and building trust across communities.  The Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO) has been actively promoting inter-religious understanding in Singapore. Another good example is the Declaration on Religious Harmony which was jointly developed in 2002 by our major religious organisations such as the Islamic Religious Council (MUIS), the Singapore Buddhist Federation, the National Council of Churches Singapore. This initiative reflected a common appreciation of the need to work together to preserve religious harmony in Singapore.

Community Engagement Programme

7.                Such efforts to build bridges across communities have picked up momentum and greater focus following the introduction of the Community Engagement Programme in February this year.  This effort involves leaders from a cross-section of our society - grassroots organisations, businesses, unions, media, and of course religious and community leaders. This is a proactive approach; it was not worked out only as a knee-jerk reaction to terrorist actions elsewhere in the world, but because we saw a need to enhance the existing relationships across leaders in different segments of the community and build consensus on how we should respond to eventualities, so that unfortunate external or local incidents will not open up rifts in our midst, but instead cause us to rally together to support one another.  

Conclusion

8.                Singapore is an island and we are therefore mindful that a single incident will have a significant impact on the entire society.   We appreciate Your Eminence’s presence with us which so aptly underscores our emphasis on religious harmony in Singapore.  We look forward to hearing Your Eminence’s words and tap on your wisdom and insights on the role of religions in promoting peace and solidarity.  And I would like to thank you all for your presence here today, which is a clear testimony of your support for our efforts to enhance understanding and strengthen bonds across faiths and communities. 

9.                It is now my privilege to invite His Eminence Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, President of the Pontifical for Justice and Peace, to deliver his lecture on The Role of Religions in Promoting Peace and Solidarity and Denouncing Terrorism.  Your Eminence, pls.