Breaking fast at church, in a synagogue: Interfaith leaders in Singapore take a stand against violence their own way

SINGAPORE — In the lead-up to Ramadan this year, news on the interfaith front was rather grim. There were the shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand that left 51 dead, and suicide bombings at three churches in Colombo, Sri Lanka that killed about 250.

Here in Singapore, leaders of various religious communities knew they had to take a strong stand in the name of religious harmony, and took the opportunity to do so this past month by hosting interfaith breaking-fast sessions in non-Muslim houses of worship.

While interfaith and inter-ethnic breaking-fast sessions are a common occurrence every Ramadan here, they are typically held in mosques or community spaces such as community centres and void decks of public housing blocks.

This year, for the first time ever, a community breaking-fast session was held in a Christian meeting house, when more than 700 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and Jamiyah Singapore (Muslim Missionary Society Singapore) broke fast together.

That meal, which took place last Monday (May 27), was followed by an interfaith breaking-fast session at the Maghain Aboth Synagogue on Monday (June 3).

The second session was jointly co-hosted by the Inter-Religious Organisation, Singapore, the Jewish Welfare Board and interfaith organisation Roses of Peace.

A spokesperson for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints told TODAY that the church and Jamiyah Singapore have held collaborations over the years, but decided as far back as June last year that they would host a breaking-fast session at the church this year.

“We noticed globally that tensions between different faiths had risen and that diversity was not as easily accepted as it is here in Singapore,” he said.

“Doing this allows us to show we are united despite having different beliefs. There are many more things in common between us than there are differences.”

Among the invited guests were lawmakers, diplomats, grassroots leaders and religious leaders from other faiths, who took home the message of solidarity, the spokesperson added.

“So far, all the feedback we have received has been very positive. Some diplomats present remarked that they would like a copy of the video of this event, to show their countries (back home). Until they witnessed this, they did not know that this could be possible.”

The breaking-fast session at the synagogue also marked a first — it was the first time that the three organisers had collaborated on such an event.

The meal they hosted was attended by more than 100 members of various faiths, including Hindus, Sikhs, Zoroastrians and Christians, including Roman Catholic Archbishop William Goh. Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, was also present.

Mr Mohamed Irshad, a Nominated Member of Parliament and the founder of Roses of Peace, told TODAY: “What we are seeing now with the different religious communities coming together, embracing each other and wanting to strengthen ties and bonds is a heartening development.

“It is very important for Singapore to go against some of the trends that are happening beyond our shores, such as increasing Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, and a lot of violence against religion as witnessed in places such as Sri Lanka and Myanmar.” 

He also said it was “encouraging” that political office-holders grace such interfaith events here, as it shows that they recognise the importance of religious harmony.

“This is opposed to some countries overseas where there is a growing detachment between political and religious leaders,” he said.

The goodwill generated by the event has encouraged the organisers to discuss holding an “Abrahamic breaking-fast gathering” next year, hosted by Muslims, Jews and Christians, he said.