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SINGAPORE: Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister-In-Charge of Muslim Affairs, has spoken of the challenges the Malay-Muslim community here would have to tackle in the years ahead.
Speaking at the Islamic Religious Council or MUIS Workplan seminar on Saturday, he noted that there is a general trend of increasing interest in religion including Islam.
This, he said, brought about another challenge - the widespread availability of information on Islam and Muslims, not all of which is true or faithful.
Dr Yaacob, who is also the Environment and Water Resources Minister, said that unfortunately, there is no way for Muslims to verify all information or prevent undesirable influences.
The minister warned that Singapore has seen manifestations of these trends in a small number of youth who had embraced extreme interpretations in their search for a deeper understanding and involvement.
Also, the Singapore Muslim community itself is becoming more diverse.
Dr Yaacob pointed out that there would be new Singaporeans including Muslims from different parts of the world, and there is a need to embrace them and make them feel comfortable in Singapore.
The fourth challenge faced by the Malay-Muslim community in Singapore is the impact of incidents around the world on Singapore.
Minister Yaacob expressed concern that it did not help when events and conflicts targeted the faith of a people. He warned that more of such incidents where individuals or groups offend Muslims could be expected.
For Singaporean Muslims to face and tackle these challenges, the minister urged them to be resilient.
He said Singapore must deal with these challenges rationally and put the community's concerns and arguments within the larger context of harmonious existence rather than confined within parochial interests.
On Islamic education in Singapore, Dr Yaacob said MUIS will this year revamp the Islamic learning programmes for adults.
It will also develop a new adult Islamic education programme. Among the aims of the programme is to equip adults with the necessary skills to make them effective members of the family and the community, as well as to help adults lead their religious life confidently in the context of a secular state and a globalised world.
Dr Yaacob said that 2007 has been a good year for the Muslim community here, and the inclusion of Muslims under the Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) was a significant development.
He said: "Over the last 20 years, the community has moved from a position where it was completely excluded from all forms of human organ transplantation to voluntary donation under the Medical Therapy Education Act and finally to the point where all Muslims are now included under HOTA.
"This would not have been possible without the strong support of the community. Our Muslim community understands that Islamic virtues such as kindness and compassion require us to find solutions to problems, actively help people in pain and save lives. This is an achievement which we should all be proud of.
"The inclusion of Muslims under HOTA will benefit not just our current generation, but future generations as well." - CNA/ir
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