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Abstract
The maintenance of a “moderate mainstream” Muslim community as a bulwark against the fraying of harmonious ethnic relations has become a key governance concern post-September 11. In light of the global concern—and often paranoia—with diasporic Islam, Islamic religious institutions and civil society have been portrayed in the popular media as hotbeds of radicalism, promoters of hatred, and recruiters for a “conflict of civilization” between the Muslim world and the modern world. Having declared itself a terrorist's “iconic target,” Singapore has taken a broad-based community approach in advancing inter-religious tolerance, including a subtle initiative to include the “Muslim civil society” in advancing the understanding and the promotion of a moderate brand of Islam in Singapore. This tacit process of regulation (top-down, intra-community and inter-community), while effective, is constrained by the unique governance context in Singapore.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the United States Department of Homeland Security through the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), grant number N00140510629. However, any opinions, findings, and conclusions in this paper are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect views of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Earlier versions of this article were presented at the National University of Singapore (Asia Research Institute and the Faculty of Law), the University of Pennsylvania (Solomon Asch Center for the Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict), and at the Law and Society Association 2006 annual meeting in Baltimore, MD, USA. I am grateful for the feedback received at these seminars, especially from Michael Ewing-Chow, Brendan O'Leary, Victor Ramraj, M. Sornarajah, Alan Tan, Arun Thiruvengadam, and Bryan Turner. Special thanks to Rick McCauley, who encouraged me to embark on the study. All shortcomings remain mine alone.
Notes
Officially adopted in 1993, the Shared Values aim to consolidate the cultural essence of Singapore's multiracial society and contribute to Singapore's long-term growth as distinctive Asian nation.
Post-9/11, religious fundamentalism across all faiths is subjected to closer scrutiny by governments globally. On the global impact of fundamentalism, see Gabriel A. Almond, R. Scott Appleby, and Emmanuel Sivan, Strong Religion: The Rise of Fundamentalisms around the World (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003); Gerrie ter Haar and James J. Busuttil, eds., The Freedom to Do God's Will: Religious Fundamentalism and Social Change (London: Routledge, 2003). On these developments, including the misuse of religion to morally justify terrorism and the rise of religious terrorism as a political force, see generally Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, 3rd Edition (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2003); Martin E. Marty, “Our religio-secular world,” Daedalus 132, no. 3 (2003): 42–48; Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004).
Michael Hill, “The Rehabilitation and Regulation of Religion in Singapore,” in James Richardson, ed., Regulating Religion: Case Studies from Around the Globe (New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2004), 343–358.
See e.g. Bruce Lincoln, Holy Terrors: Thinking about Religion after September 11 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002).
See David Chan, Survey on Social Attitudes of Singaporeans: Attitudes on Race and Religion (Singapore: Ministry of Community Development and Sports, 2002 & 2003).
Eddie C. Y. Kuo, Jon S. T. Quah, and Tong Chee Kiong, Religion and Religious Revivalism in Singapore (Singapore: Ministry of Community Development, 1988), 11.
The generic “Others” includes all other races not captured by the “Chinese,” “Malay,” and “Indian” racial classifications.
Ministerial statement by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on the proposal to develop Integrated Resorts, 18 April 2005.
On the “Trojan horse” dilemma in Singapore's national service system, see Alon Peled, A Question of Loyalty: Military Manpower Policy in Multiethnic States (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998), chapter 3.
On Islamic revivalism in Indonesia and Malaysia, see Greg Fealy, “Islam in Southeast Asia: Domestic Pietism, Diplomacy and Security,” in Mark Beeson, ed., Contemporary Southeast Asia: Regional Dynamics, National Differences (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 136–155; Robert W. Hefner and Patricia Horvatich, eds., Islam in an Era of Nation-States: Politics and Religious Renewal in Muslim Southeast Asia (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1997); Michael Laffan, “The Tangled Roots of Islamist Activism in Southeast Asia,” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 16, no. 3 (Oct 2003): 397–414; Peter G. Riddell, Islam and the Malay-Indonesian World: Transmission and Responses (London: Hurst & Co., 2001). The U.S. State Department's annual Patterns of Global Terrorism report for 2003 describes Southeast Asia as “an attractive theater of support and logistics” for Al Qaeda; the report is available at http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2003/ (accessed on 30 April 2004).
On the process of securitization, see Alan Collins, Security and Southeast Asia: Domestic, Regional, and Global Issues (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2003), 5–8.
Lee Kuan Yew, Speech for the 1st Munich Economic Summit, Munich, 7 June 2002 (my emphasis). See further Lee's views in Mike Millard, Jihad in Paradise: Islam and Politics in Southeast Asia (Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe, 2004), 80–88.
William Case, “Singapore in 2002: Economic Lassitude and Threats to Security,” Asian Survey 43, no. 1 (2003): 167–173; Barry Desker, “The Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) Phenomenon in Singapore,” Contemporary Southeast Asia 25, no. 3 (2003): 489–507; Andrew Tan, “Terrorism in Singapore: Threats and Implications,” Contemporary Security Policy 23, no. 3 (2002): 1–18.
MUIS, Making the Quantum Leap, MUIS Annual Report (Singapore: MUIS, 2002), 2.
Yaacob Ibrahim, Speech by the Minister for Community Development and Sports and Minister in-charge of Muslim Affairs, at the Wee Kim Wee seminar on Cross-Cultural Understanding, Singapore Management University, 2 Aug 2003.
In the late 1980s, the government decided against a similar guidelines approach as it felt that it would be ineffective against a minority who would disregard a list of dos and don'ts.
See further Thio Li-ann, “Constitutional ‘Soft’ Law and the Management of Religious Liberty and Order: The 2003 Declaration of Religious Harmony,” Singapore Journal of Legal Studies (2004): 414–443.
“Threat of terror strike far from over,” The Straits Times, 28 Aug 2004.
“Not the terror, but the fallout,” Today, 10 Feb 2006, 1–2.
Speech by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Community Engagement Program Dialogue, 9 Feb 2006.
See the CEP portal, “Singapore United” at <www.singaporeunited.sg>.
Cf. PERGAS, Moderation in Islam in the Context of Muslim Community in Singapore (Singapore: Pergas, 2004). That Muslim Singaporeans are “moderate” in their religious views and practice of their faith has been affirmed in the longitudinal national Survey on Social Attitudes of Singaporeans.
Then Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew in an interview with BBC's “East Asia Today” program was quoted: “But the crux of the battle really, the core battle, is between moderate and extreme Muslims. At the moment, the moderate Muslims are keeping out of sight…they [moderate Muslims] are ducking the issue and allowing the extremists to hijack, not just Islam, but the whole of the Muslim community”; see “Moderate Muslims must take stand on terror: SM,” The Straits Times, 27 March 2004. Oliver Roy cautions that, “Moderate Islam must be elaborated by Muslims themselves over the course of time, and not under political pressure or in a forced theological debate”: See his “EuroIslam: The Jihad Within,” The National Interest 71 (2003): 63–73.
“Engaging a New Asia,” Speech by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the US-ASEAN Business Council, Washington, D.C., 12 July 2005.
See, generally, Noor Aisha Abdul Rahman and Lai Ah Eng, eds., Secularism and Spirituality: Seeking Integrated Knowledge and Success in Madrasah Education in Singapore (Singapore: Institute of Policy Studies and Marshall Cavendish Academic, 2006).
Information obtained from the “Report of the Committee on Compulsory Education in Singapore” (July 2000), 15–17 and 36. In 1985, the total enrolment at 8 full-time and 8 part-time religious schools was 1049 and 936 respectively. See Parliamentary Debates Singapore Official Report, vol. 42, col. 1353 (21 March 1983).
“Take vocational courses, Islamic students advised,” The Straits Times, 13 Feb 2004. In 2004, there were about 400 Singaporeans in Islamic educational institutions overseas, including 107 Singapore students enrolled in Islamic studies at Egypt's prestigious Al-Azhar University. Then Prime Minister Goh voiced the concern that 70 to 80 of such graduates a year was too many for Singapore's small Muslim population.
MUIS, Singapore Islamic Education System: A Conceptual Framework (Singapore: MUIS, 2004).
Speech by MUIS President Mohamad Alami Musa at the Mosque Leaders Investiture Ceremony, 5 March 2006.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's congratulatory message of 12 Jan 2005 to the Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas acknowledged that, “The Middle East conflict is no longer a regional problem, but has global implications. Even in Southeast Asia, it looms large in the consciousness of significant segments of the population.”
The theme of the inaugural AMED meeting was “Common Interests and Common Challenges.” The continuity of the AMED meetings is assured: Egypt will host the second AMED meeting in latter half of 2007, followed by Thailand and Saudi Arabia in 2009 and 2011 respectively.
For further information, see the AMED website maintained by Singapore's Foreign Ministry at http://www.amed.sg/english/.
See the IOL website at <www.islamonline.net>.
See The Straits Times op-eds by MUIS President Mohamad Alami Musa, “Islam in a Singaporean Context,” 19 July 2005; “Keeping with the times while remaining faithful to Islam,” 7 May 2005.
“Enhancing Singapore's National Security,” Parliamentary speech by Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Security and Defense Tony Tan, 18 July 2005.
Speech by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the official opening of the Harmony Centre at An-Nahdhah Mosque, 7 October 2006.
“Some pickup after 30-year gradual decline,” letter by Lee Seow Hiang, Principal Private Secretary to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, The Straits Times, 13 July 2005.
“We see great potential in Saudi Arabia: Goh,” Arab News (online), 20 Feb 2005 (accessed on 24 Feb 2005); “SM Goh's Saudi visit takes ties further,” The Straits Times, 6 March 2005. On Singapore strategic overview towards the Middle East, Singapore's Foreign Minister remarked, “[The Middle East] is a complex region and we need to build up our knowledge of it. There are still many things which we do not understand and the risks cannot be underestimated. We have got to watch political and economic developments carefully.”
“Beyond Madrid: Winning Against Terrorism,” Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's address to the Council of Foreign Relations, Washington, D.C., 6 May 2004, available at http://www.cfr.org/pub7004/goh_chok_tong/beyond_madrid_winning_against_terrorism.php. This was reiterated by Goh's successor, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2005 (see note 24 above).
“Singapore reaffirms its firm support for US-led war on terror,” The Straits Times, 22 April 2004, where the Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Defense and Security said, “Singapore supports wholeheartedly the war on terror led by the US.”
See, for example, John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, “Battle for Muslims' Hearts and Minds: The Road Not (Yet) Taken,” Middle East Policy XIV, no. 1 (Spring 2007): 27–42; Natasha Hamilton-Hart, “Terrorism in Southeast Asia: Expert Analysis, Myopia and Fantasy,” The Pacific Review 18, no. 3 (Sep 2005): 303–325.