National Day Rally

Yesterday is my first time watching and paying attention to a National Day Rally. However attention span is too short. I only managed to listen to some parts on religion. Some points which I want to keep in memories... ...

PM's 4 basic rules for religious harmony
1 - All groups have to exercise tolerance and restraint
"Christians cannot expect this to be a Christian society, Muslims cannot expect this to be a Muslim society, ditto with the Buddhists, the Hindus and the other groups." said Mr Lee.

2 - Keep religion separate from politics

3 - Government must remain secular

4 - Maintain the common space that all Singaporeans share

PM on the AWARE saga
"What worried us was that this was an attempt by a religiously motivated group who shared a strong religion fervour to enter civil space, take over an NGO it disapproved of and improse their agenda.

And it was bound to provoke a push back from groups who held opposite view, which happened vociferously and stridently, as a fierce battle.

The media coverage got caught up and I think the amplifier was turned up a bit high.

People talk about mature civil society, this was hardly the way to conduct a mature discussion of a sensitive matter where views are deeply divided.

But most critically of all, this risked a broader spillover into relations between different religions."

All the above are qoute from The Straits Time published on 17 August 2009.