Race and Religion

This is a very sensitive topic which has caused many countries to be divided and families to be broken.

I am trying to be very careful with phrasing my sentences so as not to offend anyone of a different race or religion.

Just recently, it was reported in the papers that a Pastor has been asked to apologise for making some remarks regarding Buddhism / Taoism. Being really curious about what he said, I looked around for the video clip that was posted on youtube.

After watching, I felt a little disturbed about the comments he made.

Let's look at it from another angle, if it wasn't Pastor Rony Tan who made those comments but instead Canadian comedian Russell Peters, I don't think our Internal Security Department would have been alarmed. The mere fact that Pastor Rony Tan is a religious leader, such comments should not have been said, recorded and placed on his organisation's website. It was totally uncalled for.

I guess he is very lucky to have escaped unscathed with no charges pressed against him for ridiculing another faith. But look at some teenagers who recently commented about other races on their blogs, they ended up behind bars. Fair treatment? One needs to ponder.

I agree with the government that racial harmony is very important in Singapore and that we need to practice tolerance with one another's religious beliefs. We must not take the peace we have for granted. Just take a look across the Causeway. How many times have there been issues on racial disharmony? How many times have the different races take the street to protest against another religion's doings? Numerous.

I felt a little offended with Pastor Rony's 'sermon' but I still choose to believe he might have done it unintentionally. He was merely insensitive and a little child-like in his approach. Nothing wrong with that if he was talking to himself in private and in front of his mirror but surely not when he is a living role model for the many church-goers who attend Sunday service.

Let's practice restraint from condemning one another's religion or discriminate against the color of the skin because at the end of the day when riots or unrest breaks out, the losing parties would only be us all. We'll lose more than freedom above everything else.

So let's learn from this lesson and hear the following song written by Yoshiki and sang by Roger Taylor.

By the way, I consider myself Taoist.....




Foreign Sand - written by Yoshiki

Here we go - ain't it grand
Here we stand on foreign sand
And we're not alone

Why do we fear what we don't understand
Can't we reach out our hand to try just say 'hello'
Try to plant a seed - fulfil the need - to make it grow - just say hello
And when you're far from home try to learn from all you see
Your eyes will tell you everything you need

Why do we dread what we really don't know
Come not as concubine - come not as foe
Come with intentions clearly shown
Try to plant a seed - fulfil the need - to make it grow - just say hello
And though you're far from home try to learn from all you see
Your mind will tell you everything you need - everything you need

Here we go ain't it grand
Here we stand on foreign sand
And we're not alone

Red, yellow, black and white
Every man stand in the light - stand not alone

It's not a lie - it's not a shame we play for keeps - it's not a scam
No bigotry - we're hand in hand - it ain't a cinch - we make a stand
We learn to live on foreign sand
Just say hello

Why do we despise when we can't even speak
We keep on spreading lies
As far as we know it's the only way to be
Try to plant a seed - fulfil the need - to make it grow - just say hello
And though you're far from home try to learn what you could be
Your heart will tell you everything you need
even though you stand here you stand on foreign sand
Ain't it grand here we stand
On foreign sand
Together we stand
Here we stand
On foreign sand