Expansion of Existing Interfaith and Youth Initiatives to Build Community Resilience

Dr Wan Rizal asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) whether there are plans to expand or intensify existing interfaith and youth initiatives to build community resilience; (b) how does the Ministry measure the impact of its initiatives in building interfaith trust and cohesion; and (c) whether new digital engagement efforts are being considered to reach and involve youths in community resilience and anti-radicalisation discussions.

The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) actively partners community stakeholders to organise programmes and initiatives to promote social cohesion and strengthen community resilience. These include initiatives in the youth and digital spaces.

At the community level, the 93 Racial and Religious Harmony Circles promote racial and religious harmony in every constituency through initiatives, such as heritage trails, interfaith talks and festive celebrations, that bring different groups together. During the Racial and Religious Harmony Month in July this year, the Harmony Circles organised more than 70 events across Singapore, reaching over 98,000 people. In October 2024, the Harmony Circles organised the Peace and Harmony Dialogue, which saw members of different community groups coming together to witness an interfaith prayer for peace in the Middle East by the Inter-Religious Organisation as well as an interfaith dialogue on peace and harmony.

Among our youth, MCCY actively supports community initiatives to promote interfaith understanding and dialogue. In September 2024, MCCY and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore co-organised the "Interreligious Youth with Pope Francis" dialogue at the Catholic Junior College. Pope Francis later described the dialogue as a "model of fraternity" and commended Singapore youths' capacity for interfaith dialogue. In the same month, Al-Falah mosque and Muslim.SG, an online platform set up by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS), organised the Mercy & Justice Youth Interfaith Dialogue, which saw youth of diverse backgrounds engaging in conversations on building a more compassionate and just society. Similar youth outreach efforts have been organised by community groups, such as OnePeople.sg, Inter-Religious Organisation, Roses of Peace, hash.peace, Dialogue Centre, Interfaith Youth Circle and others.

The National Youth Council (NYC) has also developed "Beneath the Surface", a conversation toolkit that is part of a series to facilitate meaningful and respectful conversations on complex issues, including race and religion. With the toolkits, NYC has worked with polytechnics, self-help groups and civil society groups to organise more than 50 workshops, reaching out to more than 3,000 youths.

In the digital space, online platforms, like Muslim.SG, collaborate with influencers to disseminate positive content to Muslim youths. This includes promoting messages of peace and tolerance and the importance of seeking knowledge from credible sources. MUIS also works with the Asatizah Youth Network to provide safe spaces online for youth to engage in. There are also efforts to deepen appreciation of our diversity, such as artist Shabir Sulthan's "Project Zero" podcast series to foster greater appreciation of the influence of Singapore's cultural diversity on local music.

We encourage the community to continue to partner MCCY and leverage platforms, such as the Harmony Fund and the Harmony Circles, to organise initiatives to promote cohesion and harmony in Singapore.