ABU DHABI – It is important that people of different races and religions in Singapore maintain good relations with one another and not let conflict and tensions elsewhere affect the country’s religious harmony, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Sunday.
He was therefore happy that Singapore’s Mufti took the initiative to write to the Chief Rabbi to express his sympathy and solidarity after the attack on Israel by Hamas militants on Oct 7, and the rabbi replied in the same spirit.
“The exchange was published and it’s a signal to the population in Singapore, not just Muslims and Jews, but also all the other groups, of how important it is, that at times of stress, we come together and we reaffirm our harmony, rather than end up in opposite camps and torn apart by events.
“We have to keep on working at it,” said PM Lee, who was speaking to the Singapore media in Abu Dhabi on Sunday towards the end of his six-day visit to the Middle East.
Mufti Nazirudin Mohd Nasir said in his letter, published on Oct 13, that he hopes that both the Jewish and Muslim communities in the conflict zones can look past political ideologies and instead live together “with a different model of respect, tolerance and harmony”.
In response, Singapore’s Chief Rabbi Mordechai Abergel stressed the importance of further strengthening the longstanding bonds between the Jewish and Muslim communities in Singapore, even as challenges lie ahead.
Following the Oct 7 attack, Israel declared a “state of war” and launched strikes on Gaza while imposing a blockade on the enclave.
There have been fears that the Israel-Hamas war will escalate into a wider Middle East conflict as missiles hit Syrian airports and clashes at Israel’s border with Lebanon were reported.
On Sunday, PM Lee noted that people in Singapore “are the champions of multiracial harmony and multi-religious harmony”.
He was responding to a question about his thoughts after his visit on Saturday to a recently built interfaith complex in Abu Dhabi, called the Abrahamic Family House, which is home to a church, a synagogue and a mosque.
“I found it a very beautiful architectural monument and very moving project because these are the three faiths with a shared origin geographically and historically in the Middle East which really have every reason to live in harmony with one another,” PM Lee said.
The Prime Minister also noted that Singapore has something similar to the Abrahamic Family House, which is the 17-year-old Harmony Centre at the An-Nahdhah Mosque, an interfaith hub run by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore.
