"In Singapore, we are lucky because all racial and religious groups unanimously support the efforts to combat terrorism," he said, addressing the audience in Malay.
"Our country is a multi-religious country. People of all faiths are pragmatic and compromise in order to preserve the public interest. We talk to each other to expand the space together and strengthen our shared identity," he added.
Lee also noted that Muslim Malay leaders are completely against Islamic extremism. "We warmly welcome the Mufti Dr Mohamed Fatris bin Bakaram's call to come together and loudly condemn and reject all forms of violence," he said, sharing that terrorists have been arrested in neighbouring countries, while radicalised people have been arrested in Singapore.
PM Lee subsequently announced plans to strengthen the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS), which was set up to enhance the standing of religious teachers (asatizah) and serve as a reliable source of reference for the Singapore Muslim community. The recognition process is currently voluntary, and Lee backs Malay Muslim leaders' call to make ARS compulsory instead.
"This will ensure that all religious teachers here can guide their students to practice Islam in the context of multiracial Singapore," he said.
Associate Professor Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, said on his Facebook page that MENDAKI Singapore and our Malay/Muslim organisations are behind PM Lee on addressing Singapore's challenges.
Hashtags: #ndrsg, #yaacobibrahim
"This will ensure that all religious teachers here can guide their students to practice Islam in the context of multiracial Singapore," he said.
Associate Professor Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, said on his Facebook page that MENDAKI Singapore and our Malay/Muslim organisations are behind PM Lee on addressing Singapore's challenges.
"The Malay/Muslim community has played an important role to preserve the unity and social cohesion of a multiracial and multireligious Singapore, and will continue to do so. Our asatizah must be well-qualified to provide religious guidance suitable to the Singapore context, and we must curb those who preach divisive and extremist ideologies. PERGAS and senior asatizahs have all along supported the move for all our asatizah to have the right qualifications and training. In this regard, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) and Singapore Islamic Scholars & Religious Teachers Association (PERGAS) will work together to ensure that all asatizah are part of the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS)," he said.
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Watch the videos of the Prime Minister's speech (English, English with signing, Malay, Mandarin)
Hashtags: #ndrsg, #yaacobibrahim