Singapore’s Protection of Minorities: Religious Freedom and State Management

Singapore’s Protection of Minorities: Religious Freedom and State Management By Paul Hedges SYNOPSIS At a time of heightened Islamophobia and antisemitism in many parts of the world resulting from the Israeli-Hamas war, Minister for Home Affairs and Law, Mr K. [...] Regrettably, but predictably, this sympathy for one party has often turned to hatred for the other party, which within the wide frame of both Islamophobic and antisemitic prejudice has sometimes meant violence against innocent and uninvolved Jews and Muslims in other parts of the world. [...] This entails the question of whether it is safe for Jews and Muslims, amongst others, to practice and exercise their religion and to go about their lives bearing the markers of their faith within the law. [...] Singapore’s Hand: Heavy or Protecting? In many speeches, both Minister Shanmugam and other Singapore political office holders have reiterated time and again that the harmony in the city state is not natural but is the result of hard and intentional work. [...] As the Muslim honorary secretary of the Interreligious Organisation of Singapore (IRO), Mr Ameerali Abdeali put it to The Straits Times: “Whatever is happening in other parts of the world, we in Singapore have, over the decades, built our friendship...