Racial Harmony Day 2013
On the 19th of July, upper secondary students attended a talk held by the IRCC (Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circle) of Woodlands. The talk was about how the IRCC preserves racial and religious harmony in Singapore, a necessity in Singapore seeing as we are a multi-racial and religious society.
Inter-racial and religious confidence circles (IRCCs), then known as “inter-racial confidence circles”, were first formed in 2002 in the wake of the September 11, 2011 attacks in the United States, and the arrest in December 2001 of 15 Jemaah Islamiyah members in Singapore who planned to bomb diplomatic missions and attack nationals of Australia, Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States based in Singapore. The then-Prime Minister of Singapore Mr Goh Chok Tong mooted the concept of IRCCs for constituencies and “harmony circles” (HCs) for schools, work places and other local organisations in January 2002 in order to “grow the common space and deepen inter-racial understanding”.
Racial Harmony should not be just a ’21 July 2013 thing’, but we should always be in harmony with perople around us who are of different races and religions.
Wishing all a happy racial harmony day!
Written by Eunice Yeo, 3 RSP