Elections

So the elections are coming up in Singapore. Come May 6, Singaporeans will go to the polls and decide their government for the next 4 years. In recent years, I've become more interested in politics than I have since hmm, secondary school? I guess its because I've started to read more blogs, especially singaporean ones, in the last few years. A lot of these blogs, like Mr Brown's, actually makes politics 'fun' for me because of the way he parodies the policies of the gahmen.

Since coming to Australia and living in another country, I've come to understand the 'huh?' and the 'what the?' aspects of Singaporean policies and generally have my horizons enlarged and not be so subservient in nature. Incidentally, while I've had my interested in politics piqued, I grow in understanding of the futility of all these bickering and nitpicking about the policies of the PAP. Sure, they can be more transparent. Sure Singapore is a meritocracy that breeds an elite power class that holds power. What does it have to do with the Christian?

Well the Bible states that the authorities are given their authority by God. We have to be under and respectful of their authority in so much to the extent that the authorities do not impede the purposes of the Kingdom of God. Have I come to love my country more after staying in Australia? A resounding YES. If you ask me to give up 'freedom' or 'stability' then I will undoubtedly give up 'freedom' however you choose to mean by it. I believe that there will never be true freedom in a political sense and I'd rather have a stable political system and government where I can go freely about my business than one that is constantly in flux and uncertainty. I love Singapore, I love its people, its culture(s), its diversity. Sure its ruling party can do a better job but if all that is in question here is how the PAP manages our tax money (which in reality is heart of the issues that the opposition addresses) then I've got no problem with a lack of transparency and all that because money isn't the a big focus of my life.

The policies that I will pray for and contend with nowadays are those that deal with the 'racial/religious harmony' of Singapore. Equating racial harmony with religious harmony is something that I feel shouldn't be done. Religious harmony? What do you mean by that? If you mean freedom of religion, then its right and proper. However, we do know that its not the case in Singapore otherwise the Fa Lun Gong and JWs will not be persecuted the way they are. There is this blurring of lines in Singapore that equates racial harmony with religious harmony. I feel, for one, that 'religious harmony' is a contradiction of terms. Most religions (Christianity included) cannot exist alongside others as being equally true and right. There is this 'brainwashing' if you will, of the nature of our faiths in Singapore. Look at how we portray Islam in Singapore now. 'Tolerance' is the clutch word of the day. However, honestly, if you were to examine the teachings of Mohd. and the Quran, I don't think we will ever see 'tolerance' as a key aspect of Islam. Similarly the case with Christianity. The message of the Gospel will always be 'a fork in the road,' requiring the individual to choose one or the other. There is no place for us to 'be all right and true' together. Conflict is inevitable in this sense.

And conflict doesn't have to come to violence though the sad truth is that it, more often than not, does. I guess what I'm saying or what I want to say, at least to my fellow Christian Singaporeans is that you are a Christian first, then a Singaporean. You are a citizen of heaven first and foremost before you are a Singaporean. Any policy put out by the PAP is there for a purpose. If that policy prevents you from doing the will of God under the guise of 'religious harmony' then you've got to be aware of it and confront it, rather than accepting it as 'just the way it is.' Has it not occur to you that God might have allowed it so that His glory might be manifest through His children's prayer and efforts against it such that it once again, serves His purpose? An example is that of certain tertiary institutions' policy to restrict religious clubs and activities on campus on the guise of maintaining religious harmony. Should we not actively pray and campaign against it? I mean, if you want to produce 'well-rounded' students, shouldn't we be concerned with the spirituality of the student as well?

We, brothers and sisters, are in a war. A war for the hearts and souls of man. We have but one King to be ultimately accountable to.
Remember that.