By Laura Elizabeth Philomin, TODAY, 21 Jun 2014
The Republic’s highest Islamic authority has called on mosques “not to adopt a confrontational approach or vilify those who are involved in LGBT lifestyles or in events such as Pink Dot”, referring to the annual event that will be held next Saturday at the Speakers’ Corner in support of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
In an internal advisory issued to the mosques, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) said it was against the promotion of the LBGT lifestyle, but that “support and help” must be given to those who have been leading the lifestyle or have inclinations towards it.
It said: “We do not agree (or) approve (of) the pervasiveness of the LGBT lifestyle and we cannot agree to the efforts in promoting such a lifestyle. Nevertheless, we have to plan for something which will not only strengthen the resilience of our community to the LGBT lifestyle, but also help those who have been leading this lifestyle abstain from it and, at the same time, help those who have inclinations towards this lifestyle overcome those inclinations by providing support to them.”
Programmes conducted in the mosques must also not be seen as a movement to oppose these people, said the advisory which was dated yesterday and signed off by the council’s director of religious development, Mr Mohd Murat Aris. The advisory was circulated on social media by Facebook users and MUIS verified its contents when contacted by TODAY.
It also highlighted key points from a pre-Ramadan discussion held by the Office of the Mufti on June 12 for mosque religious officers, social development officers and youth development officers. The session was intended for Mufti Mohamed Fatris Bakaram to provide guidelines on the issue of “building (the Muslim community’s) resilience towards the LGBT lifestyle”.
For example, the mosques should stress in their Ramadan programmes the pro-family message and the importance of educating family members, so they would not be involved in LGBT-related activities. Nevertheless, the issue should not be the sole focus throughout Ramadan, the Mufti said.
On the non-confrontational approach, MUIS said: “This is first and foremost to avoid them distancing themselves from the religion and the mosque. Secondly, this is to avoid being involved in unnecessary arguments with them, which will impede our long-term efforts (on the issue). At the same time, we also do not want them to get unwanted publicity.”
The advisory also asked the mosques “not to be seen as being involved in the crossfire” between the Pink Dot and the Wear White campaign, which was started online by Mr Noor Deros, a 28-year-old Islamic religious teacher.
Mr Noor is calling on Muslims to wear white next Saturday to protest against homosexuality and defend traditional family values. Ramadan begins next Sunday and the first evening prayer to mark the fasting month will be held on the previous day.
Yesterday, Mr Noor reiterated his call for Muslims to wear white to the evening prayer. In a press statement put up on the movement’s website, he said it hopes to continue promoting “family-focused” campaigns throughout the year. He reiterated that the “informal grassroots” movement has “no membership or institutionalised committee”.
Yesterday, Mr Noor reiterated his call for Muslims to wear white to the evening prayer. In a press statement put up on the movement’s website, he said it hopes to continue promoting “family-focused” campaigns throughout the year. He reiterated that the “informal grassroots” movement has “no membership or institutionalised committee”.
The Wear White Facebook page has attracted almost 3,000 likes so far. However, it has also attracted criticism from some social media users for being divisive, especially during Ramadan.
Earlier this week, findings from a survey conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies showed that Muslims and Protestant Christians feel most strongly about moral issues such as homosexual sex, sex before marriage, adoption of children by gay couples and gambling.
Yesterday, Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC) senior pastor Lawrence Khong declared his support for the Wear White campaign. He said the FCBC and LoveSingapore network of churches will also encourage their members to wear white next weekend as a show of support. “I’m so happy Singapore’s Muslim community is making a vocal and visual stand for morality and family,” he said.
Last month, the Ministry of Social and Family Development rejected an application by an affiliate of TOUCH Community Services — which was founded by Mr Khong — to hold a pro-family event at the Padang. Participants had been asked to wear red to the event, which was to be held on June 28, the same day as Pink Dot.
Religious teacher launches 'wear white' online campaign
Aim is to protest against homosexuality, he says
By Rachel Au-yong And Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh, The Straits Times, 20 Jun 2014
Aim is to protest against homosexuality, he says
By Rachel Au-yong And Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh, The Straits Times, 20 Jun 2014
AN ISLAMIC religious teacher has launched an online campaign asking Muslims to wear white next Saturday evening to protest against homosexuality and defend traditional family values.
Ustaz Noor Deros, 28, is behind the Wear White Facebook page and website and is asking Muslims to "return to fitrah" - the Arabic word for "natural" - and support "what is good and pure".
The Muslim month of Ramadan starts on Sunday next week and the first evening prayer to mark the fasting month will be held on Saturday evening.
That Saturday is also when the Pink Dot picnic - an annual event promoting "the freedom to love" regardless of sexual orientation - will be held. It is organised by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
Mr Noor, who teaches religious classes at Hajar Consultancy Services in Joo Chiat, writing on the campaign website, said: "The natural state of human relationships is now under sustained attack by LGBT activists." He said that holding the Pink Dot event on the eve of Ramadan showed their "disdain for Islam and the family".
He urged Muslims to "stand up and defend the sanctity of family" and wear white to the first terawih prayers that day.
His is not the first group to attempt a protest against the Pink Dot event this year. Christian group Touch Family Services wanted to hold a family picnic on the same day but cancelled the event after the Urban Redevelopment Authority rejected its application to hold it at the Padang.
According to the Facebook pages of the Wear White community and Mr Noor, the campaign was launched two weeks ago and discussions took place at the Hasanah Mosque in Jurong East.
The campaign symbol is a white droplet against a black background, which some supporters are now using as their Facebook profile picture.
They include National University of Singapore Malay Studies professor Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied, who drew flak earlier this year for describing lesbianism as "cancers"; and Mr Zulfikar Mohamad Shariff, who in 2002 helped four Muslim parents mount a legal challenge against the Government's decision to suspend their daughters for wearing the Islamic headscarf to national schools.
The Wear White campaign video, presented in English, features several Muslim men and women dressed in white and describing what is sunnah, or according to Prophetic tradition. These include, for example, playing with children; caring for the elderly; tending to the poor, travellers, orphans and widows; and being fair in business dealings.
Mr Noor appears holding a baby, and says: "It is sunnah to marry and raise families."
The video was changed yesterday after theatre actor Najib Soiman, 36, asked to be removed from it, saying he had been misled about its purpose.
He told The Straits Times that when Mr Noor invited him to be featured, he thought it was meant to celebrate Ramadan. He had agreed because the community is trying to encourage young people to return to the mosques.
It was only on Wednesday that he discovered it was for the Wear White campaign, with its clear anti-homosexuality stance. He said people began calling him and he was shocked to see how it was being used.
He called Mr Noor, who said there had been a miscommunication. The video was then edited to leave out Mr Najib.
Mr Noor did not reply to questions from The Straits Times except to say he would release a press statement today.
The Pink Dot event has been held on the last Saturday of June for the past three years. A spokesman for the organisers said they went ahead with this year's event on June 28 after checking with the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) website that Ramadan begins on June 29.
They also checked with "friends from the Muslim community" before proceeding with the event to be held at Hong Lim Park, the spokesman said.
Ustaz Khair Rahmat from Sultan Mosque, who is not involved in the Wear White campaign but learnt about it from his daughter, told The Straits Times: "My impression is that it is trying to rebut some of the things gay activists and Pink Dot have put out.
"I thought this was achieved in a non-accusatory manner. I don't know if it's the correct way to do it but it's a gentle way to remind Muslims that family is between a man and a woman."
Beware of 'culture wars'
Need to manage rising religiosity and rising advocacy from secular groups
By Tham Yuen-C, The Straits Times, 21 Jun 2014
Need to manage rising religiosity and rising advocacy from secular groups
By Tham Yuen-C, The Straits Times, 21 Jun 2014
THE authors of a survey on religion released their findings this week with a rather upbeat interpretation of the results: A healthy level of religious harmony exists in Singapore society even as we have become more religious.
This has come about because of the building of cohesive relationships among the different religions, through a framework of hard and soft measures including laws such as the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act, and platforms to promote interaction such as the Inter-Racial Confidence Circles.
But recent incidents show that we need to pay attention to a potential fault-line, one that is not between religious groups, but between them and "secular" groups over beliefs, values and lifestyles.
Overseas, in countries like the United States, some have termed these clashes the "culture wars", or loosely speaking, struggles over clashing beliefs and behaviours.
As an example, a problem can take shape when a religious group espouses a certain lifestyle, while a cause-based interest group is stumping for the acceptance of an alternative one.
There has been tension in Singapore over lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender or LGBT lifestyles. In the last month alone, a Christian group and a Muslim group have made plans to take a stand against the annual Pink Dot picnic organised by the LGBT community to promote "the freedom to love" regardless of sexual orientation.
This year, one Muslim group has objected to Pink Dot taking place on Saturday, June 28, the day Muslims hold the first evening prayer to mark the start of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Earlier in the year, Christian and Muslim groups also protested against the frequently asked questions or FAQ on sexuality, including homosexuality, on the Health Promotion Board's website.
The groups asserted that the FAQ, being portrayed as factual, normalised same-sex relations.
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong responded in a parliamentary reply and said the key message of the FAQ was to prevent sexually transmitted diseases by encouraging fidelity in relationships, regardless of sexual orientation.
Last year, the Faith Community Baptist Church clashed with Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin over its sacking of a pregnant employee of the church who had committed adultery.
Mr Tan ordered the church to pay the woman's salary and maternity benefits of $7,000, after deciding that she was "dismissed without sufficient cause".
The church paid up, but later went to the High Court to seek a judicial review of the decision, and has been given the green light to proceed.
What the church wants the court to decide is whether Mr Tan had a right to interfere in what it says is a religious affair. But the issue also raised questions about whether a place of employment in a place of worship is considered a secular public space.
So given that there is both rising religiosity and rising advocacy from non-religious groups, and as their values run up against each other, there is a need to think hard about managing the relationships between them.
In Singapore, lines are drawn concerning the areas where religion can tread. For example, denigration of another religion to gain adherents is frowned upon.
Similarly, religion and politics cannot mix, such as where a religious leader calls on his flock to back a particular political candidate.
While it is not spelt out explicitly in Singapore's Constitution, the 1966 Constitutional Commission Report describes Singapore as a "democratic secular state". The 1989 White Paper on the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act also states that "religion must be kept rigorously separate from politics".
Secularism in Singapore is understood to mean equal treatment of all religions by the state and of those with no religion as well.
In his 2009 National Day Rally speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had said that for the Government to remain secular, it has to be "neutral and fair".
He recognised that "people who have a religion will often have views which are informed by their religious beliefs". And "religious groups are free to propagate their teachings on social and moral issues. They have done so on the integrated resorts, organ transplants, 377A, homosexuality", he said.
In the same speech, he also reminded religious groups of others in society who have different views informed by different beliefs, and said: "You have to accept that and respect that."
Some believers worry that a strand of militant secularism, already present in Europe, could find its way to Singapore.
A British politician used the term militant secularism in a speech in 2012 to warn against the marginalisation of religion throughout Britain and Europe.
While Singapore has developed norms of engagement between religious groups, with rules and laws in place, the next step may be to develop the rules of engagement between religious and non-religious groups.
But instead of focusing on group interests, a starting point may be for all parties to learn how to get along first as individuals.
After all, in a democracy, everyone has the right to express his beliefs, as long as these do not violate existing laws. And a healthy secular society must allow for a plurality of views.
However, Singapore's unique, multi-religious context means there must be limits, preferably set by consideration for others. Resorting to specific laws in this situation could be difficult, since any number of groups and causes can emerge over the years.
Ultimately, practising tolerance will benefit the groups, who are battling for the hearts and minds of the middle ground who are still undecided.
After all, in such fights, it is usually the most reasonable who will prevail.