“Two Singaporean auxiliary police officers have been arrested for terrorism-related offences under the Internal Security Act… their arrests come one week after the ministry said last Monday that a 22-year-old has become the first Singaporean woman to be detained for radicalism.” (The Straits Times, June 20, 2017)
Recent reports show that terrorism is beginning to rear its ugly head in Singapore. Its tentacles of fear seem to reach every corner of the earth. In this global village of humanity, no one is spared. Yet, its greatest damage is not found in the carnage of suicide bombings or brutal killings, but in divided communities. It starts with sowing the seeds of suspicion and distrust amongst one another, and ends in racial and religious disharmony.
We cannot allow this to happen in Singapore. As one nation, we need to stand together against terrorism and the spirit of fear, and not against each other. When we fight among ourselves, we’re actually helping the terrorists achieve their goal of destabilising our nation. This axiom still holds true: united we stand, divided we fall.
Home Affairs Minister, K. Shanmugam, says it best: “If we remain resolutely ‘us’, one united people, regardless of race, language or religion, no force can divide us, and terrorism will be defeated.”
As Christians, we should take the lead in this – by choosing to love our neighbours, regardless of race, language or religion. After all, love is the hallmark of our faith, since God is love. Together, let us allow the perfect love of God to cast out all fear.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1:7
- Senior Pastor Lawrence Khong