The Pastor Tan Fallout

The fallout from the Pastor Tan videos continues here in Singapore. Last month two youths were arrested for posting racist comments on their Face book and many Singaporeans are wondering why Tan was only given a warning by the ISD rather than arrested for his public disparagement of Buddhism and Taoism. Why, some are asking, do comments circulated to a few people result in arrests and those made to an audience of 10,000 only merit a warning? To their credit, Buddhist and Taoist leaders have accepted Tan’s apology and have asked that the matter be dropped. The government seems to agree with this measured response and is not pursuing the matter further.
In yesterday’s Straits Times (p. A6) several religious leaders were reported as suggesting that the way to prevent such things as the Pastor Tan affair from happening in the future is to increase inter-faith dialogue. This is, of course, the predictable immediate response but perhaps it could be thought about more carefully. I doubt that inter-religious dialogue, at least as it is conducted in Singapore, really brings about a change in how the different religions feel about each other. I have often attended inter-religious gatherings and I have noticed that everyone is friendly, accommodating and open-minded. The participants are already respectful of other faiths. The ones who could do with a bit of tolerance - the bigots, zealots, fundamentalists and the evangelicals, won’t come. Here in Singapore several major denominations have pointedly refused to join the Inter-religious Organization which they see as fratranizing with Satan. A recent poll amongst 183 Christian clergymen showed that half were leery of any interfaith contact and 40% said they were reluctant even to work on joint charity efforts with other religions (see rix77holyspirit.blogspot.com). So in a sense inter-religious dialogue is all too often just an exercise in the converted preaching to each other. I would like to suggest another possible approach to the problem that might be applicable to the Singapore situation. The government should consider something like the Public Service Award, the PBM or the BBM, but to be given for service to interfaith understanding. When such people are looked upon as commendable, socially responsible and worthy, the bigots gradually come to be seen as out-of-step, as a public nuisance, as un-respectable. You can marginalize the intolerant by rewarding and lauding the tolerant.
However, other than one or two particular groups, I have found most religions in Singapore to be amiable and respectful towards each other. When I first came to Singapore I stayed for two years in a Mahayana temple and just recently I had a Chinese Mahayana monk stay with me for two months. As usual, the Catholics go out of their way to be open to other faiths. Reading the fortnightly Catholic News I see Catholic groups have recently visited the Singapore Buddhist Federation and the Singapore Taoist Federation. This is not a hurried response to the recent problem, it is a part of the Church's longstanding policy, i.e. it comes from the heart. Last year, St Mary of the Angels invited me to address a large group on the basics of Buddhist doctrine and the response was warm, welcoming, and most importantly, genuinely so. On Saturday I have been invited to the Jain Temple and on Tuesday will be their special guest at the consecration of their new image, an event I am most honoured to be invited to participate in.

The picture is of Pastor Rony Tan in happier times.