Malays foster tolerance in S'pore

The Straits Times, Asia News Network, Singapore

Malay Singaporean civic and political leaders have been bending over backwards to emphasize the benevolence of Islam, and asking Singaporeans of all persuasions to hold fast to the virtue of tolerance. This is a helpful antidote against misimpressions and distortions arising from the acts of mass murder committed in the United States.

It is a useful buffer against what is likely to transpire in the counter-strike being coordinated by the U.S. The Mufti of Singapore, Syed Isa Semait, has pleaded for inter-racial understanding as an imminent U.S.-led assault on Afghanistan could exacerbate tension among people, Singaporeans included, who would respond differently to stimuli and beliefs.

The Malay intelligentsia, civic groups and parliamentarians have come out forthrightly on the side of racial harmony, while making the point that Islam, as with all mainstream religions, rejects violence and abhors the taking of innocent lives.

All that might still seem like activating a remote sensor, as these cautions are in response to events that had happened a world away. That changed when the Education Ministry disclosed that minor incidents had taken place which could undermine the basis of mutual acceptance and co-existence among Singaporeans. There had been unpleasant occurrences at some workplaces too. The issue is now local.

This newspaper understands these commotions grew out of mischief, and ignorance or misrepresentation of Islam and its strivings for human decency. It is right that early warning be sounded by the government and citizen groups that prejudice towards any minority group is unacceptable.

In spite of that -- and we do not underestimate the sensitivities -- race relations are not under threat. Certainly, they are under some stress. This is manageable. Singaporeans by and large have taken a clinical view of the Sept. 11 events and the aftermath, although they concede that the developments can have an effect on their short-term future.

In common with puzzled people elsewhere, they have tried -- not too successfully, we suspect -- to make sense of an inexplicable bout of madness. The authorities and media organizations need to ponder whether gaps in Singaporeans' understanding of Islam and civilization, and its place in the modern world, are an impediment to social equity.

We strive to be objective in our reporting of Islamic issues, the good and the bad, as we do other faiths. Muslims tend to be more sensitive (Catholics, slightly so) than others to reporting they consider unfavorable. The truth is, readers will not begin to know of the slanted and bigoted garbage from reputable foreign sources which this paper filters out.

The pleadings for understanding and tolerance by the Malay- Muslim community, while welcome and timely, may give the impression it is under siege. It has no reason to feel defensive.

If at all, the lack of understanding is a reflection on non- Muslims, a common failing in other societies. If one is indifferent to this, the demonization of Islam and Muslims, which has infested many Christian Western countries, can contaminate Singapore.

Leaders of all other major faiths here -- Buddhism, Hinduism, Protestantism, Catholicism -- have a greater duty than Islamic religious leaders to educate their followers of the need to be respectful of others' beliefs.

As for the schools, Education Ministry guidelines for teachers to place the Sept. 11 issue in context are a help, but also an acknowledgment that too many people have been steering in the dark.