\n<\/p>\n
Beyond the threat of radicalisation, Mr Wong warned that developments overseas can strain cohesion at home, particularly when questions of religion and identity become entwined with politics \u2013 as seen with the conflict in Gaza and the wider Israeli-Palestinian issue.<\/p>\n
In his speech, Mr Wong recounted a recent conversation with someone who has Muslim, Christian and Jewish friends in Singapore.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past, they could talk candidly about what\u2019s happening in the Middle East, even when they did not always agree,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut now, they avoid the subject altogether, because the emotions run so high that they worry there would be a disagreement affecting their friendship.\u201d<\/p>\n
While it is natural for Singaporeans to feel strongly about events overseas and speak up for what they believe in, such disagreements must not be allowed to divide people at home, said Mr Wong.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should not let conflicts elsewhere turn fellow Singaporeans against one another,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Singapore must also continue to guard against racial and religious intolerance in all its forms, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrejudice is like a weed in a garden. If we become complacent, that weed can quickly take root and spread very quickly,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Mr Wong noted that inflammatory comments have spread online in recent months, sometimes from people who believe anonymity shields them from responsibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government will continue to take action against such behaviour. We will not tolerate racism or religious bigotry,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act, which came into force last month, strengthens Singapore\u2019s legal framework for protecting racial harmony and provides safeguards against foreign influence.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut laws can only set the boundaries,\u201d said Mr Wong. \u201cThey cannot, by themselves, create friendship and trust between people. That depends on all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
OVERSEAS CONFLICTS CAN STRAIN COHESION AT HOME Beyond the threat of radicalisation, Mr Wong warned that developments overseas can strain cohesion at home, particularly when…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dam.mediacorp.sg\/image\/upload\/s--2FH1asPu--\/c_crop,h_1125,w_2000,x_0,y_187\/c_fill,g_auto,h_676,w_1200\/fl_relative,g_south_east,l_mediacorp:cna:watermark:2021-08:cna,w_0.1\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1\/mediacorp\/cna\/image\/2026\/10\/14\/69022.jpg?itok=pbW6WWSo","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[21371,25345,19757,31678,1209],"class_list":["post-92966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-news-sg-global","tag-diverse","tag-extremist","tag-influences","tag-susceptible","tag-wong","wpcat-2-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=92966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/92967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=92966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=92966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}