Speech by President Halimah Yacob at Launch of Roses of Peace Ambassador Programme and inauguration of Faithfully Yours interfaith dialogue series

Mohamed Irshad, Founder and President of the Roses of Peace

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good afternoon, and a Happy Lunar New Year to those who celebrate it! I am delighted to join you today at the official launch of the Roses of Peace Ambassadors Programme 2021 and the inauguration of the "Faithfully Yours” interfaith dialogue series.

Over the past 9 years, Roses of Peace has grown in strength and size to bring together youths across races, religions and cultures to foster a peaceful, harmonious and cohesive society. I am glad to be back here again after the inaugural launch in 2018 to see the success of the ROP Ambassadors Programme.

Social cohesion is the bedrock of Singapore’s peace and harmony. It has been painstakingly and deliberately built up over decades, as we know that it is essential to our very survival. We have seen around the world how threats such as extremism and self-radicalisation can undermine this cohesion and divide communities. Just recently, we heard about the case of a 16-year-old Singaporean who was detained after plotting to attack Muslims at two mosques here. This incident showed how pervasive extremist ideologies can be, particularly in today’s age of social media and the spread of misinformation, and how they are blind to religion, race, gender and age. In fact, the young are more vulnerable as we have some recent cases of young Muslims too who were also self-radicalised through the internet. With limited life experiences and some undergoing difficult challenges in the family or in their relationships, they may be more easily influenced by extreme views which they erroneously feel give them a sense of purpose and belonging. I am thus happy to see that the ambassadors are young people because it is easier for you to connect and engage the young and bring them out of their cocoons so that they understand what is going on around them and the context we live in, and build friendships across races and religions.

Misinformation spread through the social media distorts the truth, causes suspicion and distrust and breeds hatred towards others who are different from us. Over time, misinformation unchecked, will erode trust and confidence in society and leave us fractured and disunited. We are not immune from what is happening in other parts of the world. The exponential rise of white extremism in the West, and the intolerances that it breeds towards people who are different from them, have divided societies deeply. In guarding ourselves from such hate and poison, our starting point is to be discerning consumers of information and to seek the truth from fact-based sources. It is also important for the young to be able to seek help and support from the different interfaith groups through the platforms that we have set up, so that they are able to fact check whether what they are receiving from social media and the internet is the truth or are falsehoods. The work of the interfaith leaders and organisations are therefore very important. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has also exacerbated this problem, as many are now spending more time online as they work and learn from home. It is a reminder that we must be vigilant and proactive in our efforts to combat these threats and keep up our efforts in engaging and educating each other.

In the face of new threats and challenges, it is not enough to rely on just the initiatives by the Government. There is a need for more ground-up efforts to complement national and community programmes. Ground-up initiatives can be more agile and nimble and are able to quickly rally support.

There have been many calls for us to move further in our efforts in interfaith dialogues, beyond common responses and platforms to deeper discourses on religion. Underlying these calls are concerns that our cohesion may not withstand more serious threats to our society, which we have hitherto been spared from. We should not trivialise current efforts at building cohesion. They are commendable and take a lot of work and, even courage, to promote as we cannot assume that all members from a faith agree with the approach of their leaders. But there is also scope to engage more deeply and meaningfully, whilst being fully cognisant of the fact that there are some beliefs and principles which each faith holds so deeply that it will be simplistic to think that they can be overcome through open discourses alone. In such situations, it is important that we focus on the common areas where cooperation and understanding are feasible in the interest of the common good, peace and harmony and the context that we live in.

Organisations such as Roses of Peace can play an integral role in this and help build bridges among our communities. To date, the Roses of Peace has engaged more than 3,000 youth volunteers from diverse faiths and distributed over 50,000 roses with messages of peace from faith luminaries. The Roses of Peace has done well in establishing safe platforms where youths can have open discussions on racial and religious issues, through its variety of workshops, forums and conferences. For example, the multi-series “Regardless of Race” dialogue held since 2019 brought together panellists from various backgrounds to share how our diverse societal make-up can be a positive tool towards building a cohesive and inclusive community. I hope that the “Faithfully Yours” Interfaith Dialogue today will be another such platform to promote continuous dialogue between different groups and to further deepen our understanding of one another. We live in a multi-racial and multi-religious society and that has always been our defining creed for us, but the possibility of us living within our own silos is always there, whether it is based on class, income, religion or race. So we must be aware of that and make the effort to try and break down these silos. To say that there are no silos is being optimistic because there are – where we study, the friends we mix with, where we live in, where we work, the colleagues we have in our workplaces, and who our social contacts and networks are become silos. Therefore, it is important that we build bridges and break the silos so that we can have a deeper understanding of each other’s faiths, religions and cultures.

Three years ago, I appointed the first batch of Peace Ambassadors. I am glad that they have done good work during their time in the programme, and come up with creative ways to promote greater religious understanding, respect and tolerance, such as starting a “faith trail” through Singapore’s heartlands.

I am happy to be back here again to appoint the next batch of Peace Ambassadors. More than ever, youths play a critical role in our nation’s social cohesion into the future. It is important for our youths to learn and understand why social cohesion is an existential concern for Singapore, and to be part of the conversation when deliberating solutions. We should not be defined by our race and our religion. I was listening very carefully to the point our sister had made earlier, about how she was defined by the five-letters of her race. No, it does not define you. It is part of your identity. Your race, your religion, the fact that you are Singaporean, multi-racialism – they are all bits and pieces that create a total identity for our ourselves. But how we grow and develop our identity, what kind of messages we send to each other, that is a work that is always ongoing.

Your role as Peace Ambassadors is therefore all the more crucial. I hope you grasp this opportunity to reach out to your fellow youths, build bridges between different faith communities and be active advocates for peace within our physical and online spaces. It is very important for you to go into the online spaces because a lot of the information and misinformation found there has the capacity to be multiplied many times and reach many people at a rapid speed, which sometimes can do more harm than good. As I shared with your predecessors – start small, dream big and walk the talk. I thank you for stepping up to be the peacebuilders and inter-faith leaders of tomorrow, and I look forward to hearing your ideas and initiatives. By coming together, I am confident that we can strengthen our resilience as a community.

My heartiest congratulations too, to the ROP Management Committee, for developing this meaningful programme and organising today’s dialogue.

I wish everyone an enriching day ahead at today’s "Faithfully Yours” Interfaith Dialogue.

Thank you.