Info about Singapore
Singapore religion
Thanks to its history and location, Singapore is an amalgam of different nationalities and consequently, of different religions. However, on this island, there were not many religious conflicts as the peace among the followers of the religions present in Singapore was one of the Government’s aim ever since the British occupation.
The main religion in Singapore is Buddhism with 42.5 percent, followed by Islam with 14.9 percent, 14.8 declaring themselves to be disbeliver, 14.6 percent being Christians, Daoism is followed by 8.5 of the Singapore inhabitants and Hinduism by only 4 percent. The rest of 0.6 ercent declared to have other religion that the ones above.
In spite of these abundance of choices, people in Singapore also believe in tolerance, and this can be considered a consequence of the Government’s policy. Religious and racial tolerance has been a target for the Government even in the collonial times and if we take into consideration this rainbow of religions, it was essential to the country’s process of development.
What is more, some adherents of various religions have gone even further to prove the amount of tolerance found here. For instance, Loyang Tua Pek Kong Temple is a place where three different religions live in perfect harmony: Taoism, Islam andHinduism. They welcome their adherents under the same roof and no conflict emerges from here. Another good example in sustaining this point of view is South Bridge Street that use to be a main want in the Chinatown. Now it is the steet on which are two places of wordhip dedicated to two religions: the Sri Mariamman Temple for the Hindu religion and it is a historic monument and the Masjid Jamae Mosque for the Islamic religion.
One more monument of religious tolerance is the Armenian Church of Gregory the Illuminator, which is the oldest of the churches in Singapore. It was founded in 1836. The Armenian service took place for a century, but it stopped when the last Armenian priest died. However, it is used for different Ortodox ceremonies which take place at least once a month.
Yougsters fron singapore tend to take some elements from more religions and combine them, fact that was encouraged even in the days of collonialism. What is more, religion tolerance is a subject that is taught about in schools and unfortunate events such as the 1964 Race Riots, and the Maria Hertogh riots are given as bad exemples.
The diversity of religions is a direct consequence of the races that live in Singapore. Chinese mostly follow Taoist and Buddhism, while Malays are mostly Muslims and the Indians are Hindu. From all these, the Chinese seem to have come to the most blended situation as the three religions : Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism are combined in their mixed religious temples.
To come to this peaceful situation, there are some laws that forbide public disscussion or publishing facts about religion. These subjects are a matter of cencership and this may be one good way cencership is used in order to preserve this harmony.