UU and the religious landscape of Singapore

With a land area of 682.7 sq km and a population of 4.5 million, Singapore is one of the smallest countries in the world. Despite its small size almost every religion is practiced within this small land mass. Within each religion, different schools are represented as well. 

As a multi racial and multi religious society, the Singapore government has actively encouraged the interaction and mutual understanding of different faiths. Organizations such as the Inter Religious Organization (IRO) create interfaith understanding and interaction through events like seminars, voluntary work, publications and even Inter-Faith Prayer Services.

These efforts have created a unique cultural landscape offering individuals great opportunities to interact and form social relationships with people from different racial and religious backgrounds.

At an individual level, neighbors, friends and colleagues of different religious and racial backgrounds are often invited to important events like wedding ceremonies, religious celebrations, birthdays parties or other social gatherings. At the collective level, charity organizations initiated by specific racial or religious groups often reach out to the larger society regardless of race, gender or religion. The volunteers and workers also come from different ethnic or religious groups.    

The success of this multi racial and multi religious society is also reflected in the physical landscape where religious institutions of different faiths stand side by side along the same street. Some of these institutions have been gazetted by the government as National Monuments.  The list of monuments reflects the cultural diversity of Singapore society.

The success of Singapore as a multi racial and multi religious society demonstrates the benefits of cultural diversity; a value championed by Unitarian / Universalists’ belief that "all religions, in every age and culture, possess not only intrinsic merit, but also potential value for those who have learned the art of listening".