February 9, 2010
Written by Our Correspondent
Lighthouse Evangelism founder and Senior Pastor Rony Tan had
received a phone call from the Internal Security Department (ISD)
about his comments made about Buddhism and Taoism during a church
session. It is not known if he had been called up for
questioning.
Pastor Tan was seen interviewing a former Buddhist monk and nun
and making disparaging remarks about the central tenets of Buddhism
such as reincarnation, meditation and nirvana.
The sessions were video-recorded and posted on the official
website of Lighthouse Evangelism which were subsequently uploaded
to Youtube and other blogs and forums.
It sparked an outcry on Hardwarezone forum when the videos were
first posted on 3 February 2010 with many netizens lampooning
Pastor Tan for his insensitive remarks which appeared to have
denigrated both Buddhism and Taoism.
According to a report on Channel News Asia, ISD told
Pastor Tan that in “preaching or proselytising his faith, he must
not run down other religions, and must be mindful of the
sensitivities of other religions”
The Ministry of Home Affairs gave a brief statement that
Pastor Tan’s comments werer highly “inappropriate and unacceptable
as they trivialised and insulted the beliefs of
Buddhists and Taoists” which can also “give rise to
tension and conflict between the Buddhist/Taoist and Christian
communities.”
Pastor Tan has since issued a public apology on his
website and expressed his deepest apologies and remorse over the
matter:
“I realized that my
presentation and comments were wrong and offensive. So I sincerely
apologize for my insensitivity towards the Buddhists and Taoists,
and solemnly promise that it will never happen again,” he
wrote.
He gave his solemn promise that it will never happen again
and has also affirmed that he will tell his members to respect
other beliefs and build a harmonious Singapore.
In May last year, a Senior Pastor from the Church of Our
Saviour Derek Hong issued a public apology “for using
the pulpit to give backing to the Association of Women for Action
and Research’s (AWARE) executive committee in their dispute with
the group’s previous leadership”, but the ISD was not involved
then.
This incident marked the first time in many months that
the ISD has made a “public appearance”. The ISD is a secretive
organization in Singapore whose officers are seldom seen or heard
in public.
Under the draconian Internal Security Act, anybody deemed
a “threat” to Singapore can be detained up to two years without
trial. The ISA was used in the early days to detain suspected
communists, but is used sparingly now against
terrorists.
Despite Pastor Tan’s apology, some netizens remain
unsatisfied and wanted the authorities to take action against him
while others continue to doubt his sincerity to
“repent”.
Hardwarezone forumer Fulaien
wrote:
“I dun think its the emails that make him apologise.
Its the phone call from ISD”
Laopokcar didn’t seem pleased with the
apology either:
“Far from being closed, I think the apology has
sparked some discontent about him getting away with just a warning,
may not be the same exact issue, but it is definitely far from
being closed.”
EDITORS’ NOTE:
The Temasek Review welcomes Pastor Rony Tan’s apology and we
urge netizens to forgive him and let the matter rest. We shall
respect the wishes of Pastor Tan and remove the video clips from
our website.
Related articles:
1. VIDEO: Pastor Rony
Tan’s comments on Buddhism
2. Hardwarezone forumers
up in arms over Pastor Rony Tan’s remarks
3. Pastor Rony Tan issues
public apology on his remarks about Buddhism
