Two years into their existence, are Inter-Racial Confidence Circles, or IRCCs, proving a vital bridge in keeping Singapore united? Deputy Prime Minister LEE HSIEN LOONG gave his verdict at the IRCC forum at the Grassroots Club on Sunday (ST, 7 April 2004)

Good In Peacetime And Ready For Crisis

The origin of the idea of IRCCs goes back 40 years, to when Singapore was part of Malaysia. In 1964, two race riots took place. The riots created mistrust between the different racial groups. Our society was ruptured.

After the riots, the Government set up Goodwill Committees all over the island. They comprised community leaders, village headmen, heads of clans and local leaders. Their job was to help mend race relations that had been torn apart during the riots. The Goodwill Committees would gauge ground sentiments, allay residents’ fears, advise people not to spread or heed rumours, and even accompany frightened residents to the markets or schools.

As the situation settled down, the Goodwill Committees went beyond maintaining racial harmony, to contribute in other ways to the community. They morphed into Citizens Consultative Committees that continue to play key roles in the constituencies today. The committees raised funds to build community centres, gave bursaries and scholarships to needy students, organized community events, distributed welfare aid and promoted national campaigns to save water or prevent crime. They still help to maintain good race relations, but this is no longer their only responsibility.

What promoted us to set up IRCCs on the model of the Goodwill Committees of the 1960s were two life-changing events: Sept 11, 2001, and soon after, the arrest of Jemaah Islamiah members in Singapore.

We asked ourselves: What if the terrorists had succeeded? Supposing the bombs had gone off, and innocent Singaporeans had been killed. What would have happened our racial harmony? We could easily have had racial incidents, leading to retaliation and counter-relation. Overnight, this would undo 40 years of building a multiracial society.

To forestall this, we set up the IRCCs. If any terrorist attack should happen, the community and religious leaders in the IRCCs would already have worked with each other, and built up trust and confidence in each other. You would be ready to restrain hot-heads from doing foolish things, rebuild confidence and prevent our society from splitting apart.

I do not mean that IRCCs’ role is like SAF’s. No soldier in the SAF wants to see a war, yet day after day, our Nsmen practise their manoeuvres and train with their weapons for the eventuality of a war breaking out. Likewise with IRCCs.

IRCCs TODAY

AFTER two years, how have the IRCCs done? Fortunately, we have not had an actual terrorist attack, so the IRCCs remain untested. But I believe that the IRCCs have done a good job discharging your peacetime role and getting ready to deal with crises.

First, the IRCCs have brought in religious leaders who usually are not involved in grassroots work, to build links with other community and grassroots leaders. Through the IRCCs, we can now reach out to more segments of the community.

IRCCs have also interested more Singaporeans in visiting various places of worship, including those belonging to faiths other than their own. As one Citizens Consultative Committee chairman told me, before IRCCs were formed, his committee had always found it difficult to organise visits to places of worship. In fact, he did not know who the chairman of the Mosque management Committee was.

But now the links are established, and churches, mosques and temples have been gracious in opening up to visitors and taking the time to explain the meaning and values behind their religious beliefs and practices.

The IRCCs have therefore been a useful bridge between the different religious groups.

Second, IRCCs have helped the grassroots organizations to be more attuned and sensitive to the varied needs of residents. Previously, despite many grassroots efforts to encourage residents to interact, we still frequently heard complaints that a particular event or organiser had not catered to the need of certain groups. With the IRCCs, this has improved.

For instance, the Changi-Simei IRCC asked a non- Chinese to spearhead the working committee on the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations. The committee made a special effort in planning the programme, to encourage more non-Chinese to join in the party. They put on a captivating performance item on the Legend of Chang-Er by Malay artistes and supplied halal moon cakes. This not only made it a multiracial celebration but also gave the volunteers a firsthand experience of another culture.

Third, through IRCCs, we have widened the channels for dialogue. In the past, our approach was to avoid subjects that we feared might be too sensitive, out of respect for each other’s race and religion. But with the stronger network of relationships, we have been more able to discuss sensitive issues.

Fourth, we now have in place a valuable network. It does not exist only in sleep mode or on paper, but it is a warm network of personal relationships. Although IRCCs hold formal meetings only a few times a year, the members stay in touch, have meals together, visit each other’s homes and attend functions together.

This is the most critical value of IRCCs and will determine whether IRCCs succeed or fail in a crisis.

IRCCs must continue to build strong personal relationships among leaders of our ethnic and religious communities. Personal relationships among the leaders are the essence of the institution. You must grow and deepen these friendships.

So during normal times, your good relationships with leaders of other communities set the tone, and help to progressively strengthen the bond between different communities. Then in a crisis, you can work together to dampen any racial groundswell, and help to restore calm and rationally.

IRCCs should keep up the activities that promote community bonding, and convey to Singaporeans in many ways the board message that awareness and understanding of other cultures and religions are basic but critical steps in building trust.

I believe, the IRCCs are actively working on this, for example conducting visit to the Internal Security Department Heritage Centre and organizing educational exhibitions. For existing grassroots activities, the IRCCs should actively facilitate greater multiracial participation.

IRCCs should seek new ways to engage our youth. The older generation has witnessed racial riots and knows that we cannot take racial harmony for granted.

But the younger generation, having grown up in a stable environment, may not fully appreciate the gravity of the problem. They may think that the older Singaporeans are being paranoid and still carrying old baggage.

They are mistaken, but the idealism of the young is also very precious. IRCCs should reach out and engage the young people, so that they can benefit from the experiences and wisdom of the older generation, while we harness their idealism, ambitions and energy to build a stronger society.