Source: Straits Times, The (Singapore)
Source type: Newspaper
Published on: 26 Apr 2010

Everyone's smiling, everyone's happy, but you can't help wondering if there is any real acceptance of differences. Everyone's smiling, everyone's happy, but you can't help wondering if there is any real acceptance of differences.

That was the case when I attended one such dialogue recently, the 6th Asia-Europe Meeting Inter-faith Dialogue held in Spain.

I couldn't help thinking wistfully: If only Pastor Rony Tan and Josie Lau were there to liven things up.

After all, if inter-faith dialogues are supposed to be delicate and difficult, why do they always seem so cordial?

Is it time for such dialogues, so crucial to maintaining religious harmony in Singapore and beyond, to evolve, so it becomes more meaningful to the masses?

Should we use Facebook, celebrity ambassadors and reality TV shows to share the message as well?

(The complete article published in The Straits Times "Interfaith Efforts: Don't just preach to the choir" is attached)

Ng Tze Yong, The Straits Times (Singapore)