On Inter-Faith Gatherings

An "Inter-Faith Dinner Reception" was held in Singapore recently.

Fortunately I was not among the invitees. To be quite frank, I try to avoid these dinners, where my strict vegetarianism is usually an embarrassment to both host and guest.

I personally (and all the members of my family as well) have never had any great difficulty in moving with members of other faiths and/or those of different ethnic origins.

I cannot recall that there were such 'divides' in our younger days when we were at school, and didn't know, or even care, about the backgrounds of our classmates.

Most of us were from middle-class and lower backgrounds, unlike the present times where affluence and influence count for a lot.

Perhaps I owe a lot to the liberal attitude of my father, who was an immigrant.

He used to take me along to visit the houses of his friends and colleagues when the various ethnic festivals came along. For our Deepavali, it was open-house for anybody and everybody.

In particular, he had a large number of Jewish friends. Few of that ethnic community are to be found today here in Singapore, when they were once a thriving and vibrant ethnic group. Where have they gone, and why?

Against the above background, I wonder how effective these official dialogues or dinners can be in sending a relevant message to the common citizenry, especially when a Prime Minister and his deputy address the same topic on the same day; one of which is written up at length in one newspaper, with little emphasis on the other, and another daily gives top billing to the other.

And when great world leaders challenge - as current US president Mr George W Bush did - "let's find out whose God is more powerful", I feel quite cynical about these attempts to unite people on a religious basis or bias.

Hope I will not be burnt at the stake for these heretical thoughts as in medieval times!

Yours etc.
Narayana Narayana