TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent Lighthouse Evangelism Senior Pastor Rony Tan paid a visit this morning to Phor Kar See Kong Meng San Temple (in Sin Ming) to tender his apology to the Secretary-General of the Singapore Buddhist Federation Venerable Kwang Sheng in person over the remarks he made about Buddhism, Lianhe Wanbao reported. Pastor Tan first made the remarks to his congregation about two weeks ago which was video-recorded and uploaded to Youtube where it was widely circulated in cyberspace. In the three video clips, Pastor Rony Tan was seen interviewing a former Buddhist monk and nun about their experiences with Buddhism and appeared to make some disparaging comments on the tenets of its teachings such as nirvana, meditation and reincarnation. The Temasek Review published an article on it last Sunday, prompting some of its readers to lodge a police report against Pastor Tan. A day later, Pastor Tan was called up by the Internal Security Department (ISD) for questioning leading to his public apology posted on his website. In the hour long conversation, Pastor Rony Tan made a solemn promise to Venerable Kwang Sheng that the incident will not repeat itself again. Venerable Kwang Sheng had accepted Pastor Rony Tan's apology: "He offered his sincere apologies which we have accepted. After all, we do not wish to see the matter being blown up," he said. He also urged the authorities to ensure no repeat of similar incidents as such: "It is good that the authorities have looked at this matter, but this is a matter of national concern. We want to appeal to the public and the authorities to make sure there is no second time.......Singapore is a multi-religious, multiracial society. There is no point arguing over who is right and who is wrong," he added. Singapore Buddhist Lodge chairman Lee Bock Guan urged restraint on the part of Buddhists so that tension does not escalate: "Buddhism teaches us to forgive; everybody makes mistakes." Mr Lee's fears are founded. While some Buddhists will be offended by Pastor Tan's remarks, most will not take any action to escalate the tension. Buddhism is one of the most tolerant religions in the world and insulting another religion is definitely prohibited by the teachings of the Lord Buddha. In one of the Buddhist suttas, the Buddha told his disciples that even if they were to be chopped up into five pieces by their enemies, not a single thought of ill-will or hatred should arise in their minds. Pastor Tan's comments would probably not raised a ruckus had he not posted the video clips on his website where it came to the attention of the larger public. In the backdrop of the recent religious unrest in Malaysia which saw a few churches being petrol-bombed, the authorities have little choice but to take action against Pastor Tan. A brief statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs last night reads: "The Internal Security Department (ISD) has called up Pastor Rony Tan of Lighthouse Evangelism (LE) today in connection with his comments and insinuations about Buddhism and Taoism at LE sessions. These sessions were video-recorded and made available on LE's website; video clips of these sessions subsequently became available on YouTube and other websites. Pastor Tan's comments were highly inappropriate and unacceptable as they trivialised and insulted the beliefs of Buddhists and Taoists. They can also give rise to tension and conflict between the Buddhist/Taoist and Christian communities. The ISD told Pastor Tan that in preaching or proselytising his faith, he must not run down other religions, and must be mindful of the sensitivities of other religions." Still, many netizens felt that Pastor Tan was let off lightly with only a slap on the wrist when three teenagers were arrested a week ago for making "racist" remarks about Indians on Facebook. With the general election looming ahead, the government cannot be seen as being high-handed towards a religious leader. Neither can it afford to alienate the Buddhist majority by staying out of the matter altogether. In the end, a "friendly" call and a press statement will probably suffice to soothe frayed nerves without offending too many Singaporeans at the same time. News source: Lianhe Wanbao, 9 February 2010 Related articles: 1. Angry netizens post on Pastor Rony Tan's Facebook 2. ISD calls up Pastor Rony Tan over his remarks about Buddhism 3. VIDEO: Pastor Rony Tan’s comments on Buddhism 4. Hardwarezone forumers up in arms over Pastor Rony Tan’s remarks 5. Pastor Rony Tan issues public apology on his remarks about Buddhism  Read More →

作者：錢曉慧09/02/2010 新加坡的外来移民，尤其是中国移民增多，对当地社会造成了不小的冲击，而这也成为了当地关注和讨论的热门话题。 前两周，当地一份中文报章报道 (Lianhe Wanbao)，一名新加坡少妇在地铁列车内，向女儿哭诉丈夫搞上中国女人，开口骂了一句「中国贱女人」。在一旁的一名中国妇女听在耳里，以为少妇在辱骂她，结果两人展开了半小时的骂战。 这篇报道被当地以反政府言论著称的民办英文新闻网站转述。不过吊诡的是，网站并未将全部内容报道出来，只是描述两人发生争执，中国妇女死缠烂打。然后网站作者笔锋一转，把矛头转向新加坡政府宽松的移民政策导致大量中国移民涌入，给社会带来不良影响。 网站的报道吸引了不少评论，多对中国妇女的行为感到不满，你一言我一语指出中国人言行举止丑陋。不过，懂得中文的读者看完原文后，就发现网站有断章取义之 嫌。在报章的小标题《狮城妇辱骂人引公愤》底下，其实描述了后续的发展。原来少妇辱骂人引起公愤，几名乘客看不过眼，认为是少妇无理取闹骂人，跟着中国妇 女和少妇下车，要帮前者讨回公道。 网站在转述时将后半部分的结尾去除掉，显然是抓住了新加坡人对移民政策不满的心理，借此挑起本地网民对外来人口的负面情绪。 除了地铁开骂事件，网络上也流传了一名来自中国的女性与新加坡老太太发生口角，前者怒骂老太太的录像。网民多倾向同情老太太，斥责该名中国女性的凶悍行为，接着同样的又将问题归咎于政府的移民政策。 「看，这么多中国人」 本地人同中国新移民的矛盾并非一日造成。两年前，有读者投函中文报指出，新加坡到处可见中国人的身影，而新加坡人对于外来移民大量涌入只能私底下悄悄地说：「看，这么多的中国人」。 该文章也指出，中国移民「机关算尽」，只会捞取好处，例如让女儿成为公民，却让儿子保持永久居民的身份，到了儿子服兵役的年龄，就让他放弃永久居民的身份，到外国求学。这种做法看在本地人眼里，感到愤愤不平。 据作者观察，本地人和中国新移民的对立情绪在民间已经悄然成形，因此该作者希望新移民能设法融入本地社会。该篇文章刊出后引起中国新移民很大的反响，驳斥作者的言论，指他以偏概全。 去年，一名持永久居民身份的中国女子报名参加新中国60周年国庆阅兵式，并在中央电视台的访谈中亮出了新加坡永久居民的蓝色身份证，并表示「报效祖国是我最大的心愿」 。在移民课题显得非常棘手的时期里，女民兵这一句在平时听来再平常不过的话，却触动了许多新加坡网民的敏感神经，在当地引起不小的争议，有人斥责她的做法，也有人认为她只是永久居民，并非公民，没有必要对此大惊小怪。 不少新加坡人的想法则是，政府一直对国人灌输爱国意识，要求他们在危机时刻履行对国家的责任。但是当前出现经济危机，政府却继续让没有效忠义务的外来移民涌入与人民抢饭碗，人民的利益又没有受到保护，这让许多新加坡人感到政府实行差别待遇。 其实新加坡网民并非只是针对中国新移民，在此之前也与在新加坡的印度和缅甸网民展开骂战。 并非排外 去年9月，新加坡统计局公布的报告显示，新加坡人口截至6月底逼近500万人，而新加坡公民总数为320万人，占64%。换句话说，新加坡人口中，超过三分之一是外国人。在只有约700平方公里的弹丸之地，几乎每个角落都可看到外国人的身影。至于其中有多少来自中国和其它地方，政府并没有公布确切数据。 除了移民与本国公民的融合问题，人们更关注的是实际的民生问题：移民的涌入威胁到本国人民的就业机会，尤其是新加坡没有设定最低工资条例，低收入人口在面对大量廉价劳工的竞争，又没有最低工资制度的保障，往往无法赚取更高的工资维持生计。 此外，人口在短时间内大幅增加，也使到资源紧张的情况出现：巴士、地铁变得非常拥挤，失业率增加、大学宿舍供应不足、房价不断被炒高，导致当地人没有能力负担原本是为人民而建设的公共房屋等。 不过尽管网络上骂战激烈，日常生活中，大家的相处还是相当和睦。来自上海的张雨涵在新加坡求学，在这两年多的时间里，并没有感觉到周围新加坡人对外来人口存有敌意。不过20岁的她承认，在学校里除了在课业上跟新加坡同学有接触，其他时间她都比较常跟中国同学来往。 研究新加坡移民问题的诺拉博士指出，尽管新加坡社会表面上显得相当和平，新加坡人一般也不至于会在言行上表露出对外来人口或对政策的不满，但这些网上的言论可能是一股暗流，所以也不容忽视。 她指出，这种情况在新加坡尤其特殊，因为人们不能随意走上街头抗议，也开始不信任受政府管制的报章媒体，因此更多转向网络发泄情绪，网络言论因此具有重要意义。 「新加坡人不如中国人刻苦」内阁资政李光耀 新加坡政府显然听到人民对外来人口大量涌入所引发的不满情绪。总理李显龙去年9月表示将放缓吸纳外来人口的步伐，不过由于新加坡的人口老化加剧，生育率低于人口替换率，因此他指出仍需要引进移民以及劳工来支持新加坡的经济发展。 不过今年1月，内阁资政李光耀在接受《国家地理杂志》访问时，直指新加坡人「不及中国人刻苦」，并表示如果新加坡人仍旧安于现状落后于竞争，那是他们自身的问题。 李光耀的言论显然没有使国民的情绪得到舒缓，反而加深网民对政府的愤怒，也加剧对外来移民的反感，甚至有网民要求李光耀向人民道歉。强人李光耀虽然没有理会网民的要求，不过他后来转换论调，承认过去5年吸纳外来人口的速度太快，造成公共交通拥挤、房价被炒高等情况，因此有必要放慢引进的步伐。 学者诺拉博士也是维护外来劳工权益的非政府TWC2执行委员。她指出，新加坡人对大量外来人口的涌入的不满久有所闻，但政府为了经济发展一味引进外国人口， 不仅没有很妥善地照顾到外籍劳工的利益，也似乎没有考虑到所可能引发的社会问题。她认为，目前政府在面对就业以及社会矛盾的问题上，仍欠缺更有效的解决方 案。 为了解决本地人和外来移民的融入问题，政府开始举办更多交流活动，并拨款让新移民免费上英文课。此外，由于发现外来移民有群 居的现象，因此也正考虑为公共住屋区制定新移民配额，为新移民和国民制造更多接触的平台。另外，政府最近也推出措施帮助低收入工人接受培训，以更好地面对竞争。 无论政府采取什么措施，外来人口带来的矛盾应该不会在短时间内化解，而这个问题应该会成为下一届大选的主要课题之一，因此对执政党人民行动党来说，促进新移民与本地人的和谐相处以及安抚人民的不满情绪，将会是当务之急。 来源：http://www.bbc.co.uk  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Despite his public apology, angry netizens still flock to give a piece of their mind on the Facebook of Lighthouse Evangelism Senior Pastor Rony Tan: Pastor Tan sparked a massive outcry in cyberspace lately with his insensitive remarks about Buddhism made during a church session which was video-recorded and uploaded initially on his own personal website. He was subsequently called up by the Internal Security Department (ISD) for questioning which led to him apologizing for the remarks on his website. It appears that not many netizens are willing to forgive him and move on judging from their immediate response: The comments have since been deleted by the Facebook's administrator Matthew Ho, a self proclaimed fan of Rony Tan: In the latest post, Matthew Ho wrote: "WARNING: No negative comment on any religion even the Christian or I will remove you from this group. This group is to encourage people to believe in Jesus as the savior and it's also the fan of Pastor Rony Tan, so no negative comment." In a brief statement released to the media yesterday, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that "Pastor Tan's comments were highly inappropriate and unacceptable as they trivialised and insulted the beliefs of Buddhists and Taoists." The Singapore Buddhist Federation said Senior Pastor Rony Tan's act of apologising was the right thing to do, but it will still approach the authorities and have its voice heard in order to prevent similar incidents in future. There were no immediate comments from Archbishop John Chew, the President of the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS), a body bringing together the major Christian denominations and churches in Singapore. You can leave a comment on Pastor Rony Tan's Facebook here Related articles: 1. VIDEO: Pastor Rony Tan’s comments on Buddhism 2. Hardwarezone forumers up in arms over Pastor Rony Tan’s remarks 3. Pastor Rony Tan issues public apology on his remarks about Buddhism  Read More →