Day 2: What keeps us together?(Kiran)

Little India, a place dedicated to the preservation of Indian Culture in Singapore, serves more that just that. Little India is a place for the preservation of cultures across Singapore, as well as providing sacred religious spaces for the Indians to do their prayers. As I walked through Little India, there were 2 very contrasting smells that aroused my senses- one is the smell of incense that arouses the feelings of religious behavior and the sacredness that comes with it and secondly it is the smell of the usual hustle and bustle of city life centred in Little India. Every 2 shops, the smells alternates between the 2 smells, and hence this arouses a sense of confusion and conflicting emotions trying to figure out which ones are for lucrative shopping and which ones are the ones I am suppose to give respect to. I reflected on the nature of religions as I walked down the street. Different religions have different belief systems, they all think they are the one true way in life and the best religion to foster a good relationship with God. These belief systems are usually contrasting with each other, with different religions have different viewpoints on the outlook of life. Then comes the question, what exactly keep us together despite having different religious beliefs? From Little India, despite the region being rich in religious entities, the region makes an effort to acknowledge and respect other people’s belief systems despite being different from theirs. As I walked down Little India, I noticed shops playing the Qur’an on radio, even within the vicinity of Indian shops that do not follow the Islam an they are readily placed between these shops. There were also a lot of Chinese temples and Buddhist temples, especially the one on the highest level of Tekka market, when the 3 temples were placed side by side, as a form of respect and acceptance to these religions. It is this form of culture of graciousness to readily accept and respect people’s contrasting belief systems that make Singapore a harmonious country. Religion is a very sensitive and debatable topic, people who do not understand the ideas and perspective of other religions will find themselves being trapped in a vicious cycle of constantly poking loopholes in other people’s belief systems. And that is not ok.