Speech by President Halimah Yacob at Roses of Peace 10th Anniversary and Launch of Harmony Champions Programme

Mr Eric Chua, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Social and Family Development

Mr Mohamed Irshad, Founder and President of Roses of Peace

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning. I am delighted to join you today to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of Roses of Peace (ROP). I am also pleased to launch the Harmony Champions Programme, a collaboration between ROP and Temasek Foundation to encourage and nurture more youths to be advocates of interracial and interreligious harmony.

As ROP’s Patron, I am proud to have witnessed the remarkable strides that the ROP has made since its inception 10 years ago. ROP began as a platform for promoting peace and respect during a period of heightened social tension among communities globally, brought about by the publication of religiously offensive caricatures in a French magazine. To counter hatred and prejudice, we need to build bridges and foster deeper connections among different communities. This would require greater effort and take a longer time to foster but produce a better outcome of a socially cohesive society. ROP thus started with the simple idea of giving out stalks of roses with greeting cards bearing sayings from different religious faiths, spreading the message of peace, harmony, and kindness by highlighting the commonalities among different traditions.

To date, ROP has distributed over 50,000 roses. I fondly recall ROP’s volunteers adding to the festive cheer when they gave out roses at the National Day Istana Open House in 2018. The distribution of roses had to be suspended during COVID-19, but ROP’s work did not stop. In fact, it developed new initiatives. In 2020, ROP spearheaded the SGUnited Buka Puasa initiative, collaborating with Government agencies, grassroots organisations, and industry partners to distribute meals for the breaking of fast to healthcare workers and beneficiaries. In total, 600,000 meals were distributed to hospitals, Community Centres, and the homes of beneficiaries in Ramadan that year. It was also encouraging that this ground-up initiative resulted from individuals of different races, faiths, and backgrounds coming together to support frontline workers and others in the community during a time of need.

I recall Irshad discussing with me about establishing ROP with its stated objectives of fostering bonding and friendship among the different communities which I fully supported. Singapore has strong economic institutions to pursue our material well-being. We are known for our good governance, market-friendly policies, and economic efficiency. But to ensure sustainable growth, our economic strength must be complemented by efforts that keep Singaporeans together in soul and spirit even as we progress materially. This is where ROP and other such bodies play an important role.

Singapore is today a thriving, multi-cultural city because our pioneers saw that the only way, we could achieve stability and cohesion was by harnessing our collective energies. Our society is based on the inclusion of diverse communities, and the Singapore identity is premised on an appreciation of our multi-racial, multi-cultural diversity. We must not lose sight of this. The need to constantly strengthen ties among communities of different races and faiths must be realised at every level. Singaporeans understand the fundamental importance of upholding the values of mutual respect, understanding and tolerance in enabling us to practise our faith peacefully. Every religion in Singapore is given the space to practice our faith undisturbed and to pass on the religious teachings to our children. Acts like the burning of the Quran or any other religious books will not be allowed in Singapore as free speech does not mean a free licence to insult, instigate or subject any religion to ridicule or contempt thereby causing social conflicts and contention.

Community leaders, in particular, play an important role in signalling that interfaith harmony is a priority. Take for example the Inter-Religious Organisation, a platform where leaders of different religions in Singapore have a seat at the table to discuss interfaith issues with the aim of promoting friendship and cooperation among their adherents. More than 770 religious organisations in Singapore have also signed the Commitment to Safeguard Religious Harmony which was mooted at the first International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS) in 2019.

I had initiated the idea of organising the ICCS because of concerns over the deep polarisations that we see between the different communities in many parts of the world, due to race or religion, which are tearing societies apart. The rise of extreme right-wing nationalist movements and their disturbing ideologies stemming from the belief that they are superior and do not need to accommodate others different from them is a major cause. Holding the ICCS is but a small step, but I see it as a useful platform to gather like-minded individuals from different faiths and beliefs from all over the world to share their experiences, think of solutions and provide support to each other in the pursuit of peace. Last year, the ICCS successfully held the second conference with similarly good participation from local and foreign delegates.

The Harmony Champions Programme is an example of a practical initiative in support of the ICCS goals. It will formalise the training of youth leaders to equip them with the necessary skillsets and shape them to become effective leaders for harmony. I am glad that close to 80 students from our local education institutions will be participating in the first iteration of the Harmony Champions Programme.

It is also encouraging to see students from a diverse mix of institutions taking part in the programme. Our youth have different lived experiences in navigating sensitive settings involving race and religion. They also deal first-hand with evolving values and societal mores. The Harmony Champions Programme is a meaningful initiative that will provide guidance and empower our youth to navigate complex and sometimes difficult discussions relating to deeply personal topics of faith and identity, without descending into bitterness or animosity. This exercise of trust-building and empathy must begin early in life, and it is my hope that our Harmony Champions-in-training will multiply the positive lessons they learn in their own social settings.

Singapore has had our own examples of extremism too. Recent cases of young people who had taken the path of radicalisation after coming across materials from far right-wing and radical extremist groups like ISIS online is worrying. We need continuous efforts to counter these false narratives and to explain why ISIS does not represent Islam or Muslims. Efforts at rehabilitation of the affected youths are ongoing and are making good progress. Families have also been advised to seek help before the situation worsens once they notice worrying changes in the behaviour of their young.

Let me give an additional perspective. Young people, lacking in life experiences, are curious and impressionable and are easily seized by their perceptions of injustices or unfairness in other parts of the world. These feelings are easily exploited by groups bent on recruiting new followers to support their misguided causes. We should provide our youths who are concerned with critical world events bothering them with safe spaces to discuss, ask questions and find out more from experienced and knowledgeable experts in the field who can provide them with accurate facts and information to counter the false and misleading social media narratives that confuse, obfuscate, and mislead them. For a start, perhaps Roses of Peace working with other relevant agencies, can play this role. Provide a space for experts in the field and religious leaders to engage youths who express interest in such issues. ROP is well suited to perform this role because it is aligned to their mission, and they are powered by young people of all faiths who share a common vision of creating a better, more peaceful society.

The recent cases of radicalisation that were highlighted have also raised some concerns in the Muslim community who fear that this would negatively affect their relationship with non-Muslims and, more specifically, their employment prospects. I personally have great confidence that Singaporeans know that Muslims here are thinking, rational, peace-loving people who contribute strongly to our economy and society. These few incidents do not define us as a community. Ask a Muslim Singaporean that you meet overseas about his nationality, and he will reply proudly that he’s a Singaporean. The openness and space that Singapore has provided Muslims to practice their faith and to live as good Muslims co-exist and reside very well within their Singaporean identity.

Singapore has made tremendous progress in building a socially cohesive and vibrant society. We have come a long way from the violence of the race riots in the 1960s. However, we cannot take peace and harmony for granted. Our ethnic and religious communities must continually resist insular ways of thinking and refresh our Social Compact with each other so that we learn to be comfortable with differences. This is the bedrock of our harmonious coexistence. Rather than putting our differences aside, we address them, we learn to live with them, and we celebrate them. As the journey of ROP over the past 10 years has shown, our approach is one of constant engagement.

In closing, let me thank Irshad and his team at ROP for their decade of service in expanding the interfaith space in Singapore. I am glad to have been part of the journey, most recently at the inauguration of the Faithfully Yours interfaith dialogue series in 2021. Run by volunteers, ROP has never wavered in its mission, and it continues to push new boundaries and launch initiatives such as the Harmony Champions Programme even after a decade. This is a timely celebration and launch following the United Nations’ World Interfaith Harmony Week earlier this month. This is made possible because of the strong support of ROP’s partners, including Temasek Foundation and The Silent Foundation. I am certain that the collective contributions by ROP, its partners, and the Harmony Champions will leave a lasting impact on Singapore’s social fabric.

I wish everyone a fruitful afternoon ahead. Thank you.