Religion and the right not to respect it
June 15, 2008
The hold of religion over law and policy creeps in like a thief in the night: once we lose sight of it, we afford religions a trump card, even above fundamental human rights, that they do not deserve.
Human rights, civic rights, freedoms, rights, rights, rights, all this talk about rights, and yet, today, 60 years after the United Nations’ (UN) General Assembly’s adoption and proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR), no one knows for sure who is right — there is the political right, the conservative right, the religious right, all grappling over a matter of who is right, who should be right, who should write, who should not write about what is right or wrong about rights.
This tussle over rights has led to the current situation today, where governments and judiciaries give people the right to impinge on the rights of others — all on the matter of a definitional challenge.
One of the most confounding examples of these “rights to discriminate” is manifested in religion, particularly because of society’s obsessive compulsion to give unadulterated and unquestioning respect to religion. Read more
Shouldn’t MINDEF be more transparent about servicemen deaths?
June 12, 2008
Breaking News: Another servicemen dies on Wednesday (Earthtimes). June 12 - SAF suspends physical training after two deaths in two days. (CNA). Singapore’s Ministry of Defence has declared a three-day time-out (12-14 June) on all physical and endurance training activities in the army, navy and air force.
The last line of the Singapore Armed Forces pledge states that all of us servicemen, active or otherwise, should be prepared to defend Singapore (cue shout) “with our lives!”.
Indeed, this has manifested itself very literally and very unfortunately in several instances, and mishap, understandable in the struggle to balance realism with safety, has caused many soldiers to lose their lives while in active service to the nation. Read more
TOC Opinion - Police: Foreigners not allowed to complain
January 28, 2008
By Joel Tan
Singapore residents have made notable complainers over the years, in what may, along with eating, be described as the nation’s favourite past-time.
Over the weekend, however, an interesting twist on this seemingly harmless activity has arisen - the local police have made it clear that foreigners are not allowed to complain in Singapore.
What might have been a light-hearted few days of fussed-up performance was turned into bitterness for a group of singers known as The Complaints Choir. A community arts project initiated in Birmingham, UK by Finns Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, the Complaints Choir is an open-invite group that gets people to, you got it, complain, through song, about life in their countries.
Since its UK debut, the project has gained popularity around the world, and Complaints Choirs from Helsinki, Melbourne, Jerusalem and several other countries have sprung up since 2006.
When saying “traditional, conservative society” doesn’t cut it anymore
September 19, 2007
By Joel Tan
The spotlight is once again on the fight for gay rights in Singapore- it is an increasingly emotional war of words and like all wars, is inherently fruitless.
I say fruitless because, after 22 years since the last review of the penal code and despite claims of greater liberalisation and open-mindedness, our laws, with revisions to the penal code earlier this week, still preserve section 377(A) which makes any sexual act between two men an act of “gross indecency”, against the order of nature and thus against the law.
Even casual followers of the gay issue in Singapore will know that this law is not actively enforced anymore- a policy of non-aggression on the part of our government, which may occur to some as an olive branch, or token of appeasement.
