An Invitation from the Inter-Religious Organization by Melanie Tidwell

Singapore is home to many people of many different religions. Throughout the years, various groups in Singapore have put forth tremendous effort to establish religious tolerance and peace. This is especially true since the terrorist attacks on the United States in September, 2001. One such group in Singapore is the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO). A recent article in the Straits Times explained,

“Established in 1949, it (IRO) has members from nine religions - Baha'i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Taoism and Zoroastrianism. The IRO helped draft the declaration on religious harmony last year and is part of Singapore's peace arsenal, which includes the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act of 1990.”

The IRO hosts a series of presentations by different faiths to promote understanding of the teachings of each faith. For the first time, leaders of our Stake were invited to participate in this forum on 4 December 2004, at the Jamiyah Business School. Elder Tan Su Kiong, Asia Area Authority Seventy, shared information about the history of the Church, our basic beliefs, the Church organization and its worldwide membership as well as specific statistics on the Church here in Singapore. He also addressed the role of the family, practices that strengthen the family, family history, Word of Wisdom, provident living, and humanitarian services. Two display panels depicting our doctrine and practices were set up. Packets containing such things as the The Family: A Proclamation to the World and For the Strength of Youth booklet were distributed among those who attended. There was a question and answer period after Elder Tan concluded his remarks.

Charlie Chan, the Stake Public Affairs Director attended the meeting. He reports that, “The audience was enthralled by Elder Tan’s presentation. A member of the audience wanting to know more about the first vision asked for elaboration on the two personages that Joseph Smith saw. In response, Elder Tan read from the scriptures, Joseph Smith’s testimony of this momentous event.”

Kathy Bertasso, the Stake Relief Society president, also attended the presentation. In reference to the question and answer period she said, “One man raised his hand and said he had listened with interest to the story about ‘Smith’ seeing God and Jesus and wondered what that would have been like. As Elder Tan read him the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith from the Pearl of Great Price, the Spirit was present testifying to the truthfulness of the message.”

Charlie also reported that at the conclusion of the meeting, “Mr. Ameerali Abdeali, a member of the IRO Council remarked that it was an excellent presentation. Mr. Zainuddin Ismail concurred and said, ‘It was definitely one of the best presentations in the Multi-Faith Studies series’”.

Kathy Bertasso also received an invitation for the Relief Society to participate in the IRO Women’s conference in July.