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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Racial and religious tension test in June
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->A NATIONAL exercise will be carried out in June to test how well prepared community leaders are in defusing potential racial or religious tensions, provoked by incidents such as bomb scares or terrorist attacks.
Chairmen of Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circles (IRCCs) will be tested on how quickly they disseminate information to their religious and cultural contacts in such situations.
Formed in 2002, IRCCs are led by trained grassroots volunteers. They promote good ties among religious and racial groups in their neighbourhoods through discussions and activities.
They also coordinate such organisations in keeping the peace during times of crisis.
About 87.5 per cent of religious organisations have become members of IRCCs.
At a dinner for the 84 IRCC chairmen last night, Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan thanked them for their contributions.
'It will not be possible to pre-empt undesirable messages or possible unfortunate misunderstandings and their potential to incite unrest between communities. We must therefore work on building trust and understanding,' he said.
He also called on them to work on integrating newcomers into Singapore.
TESSA WONG
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->A NATIONAL exercise will be carried out in June to test how well prepared community leaders are in defusing potential racial or religious tensions, provoked by incidents such as bomb scares or terrorist attacks.
Chairmen of Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circles (IRCCs) will be tested on how quickly they disseminate information to their religious and cultural contacts in such situations.
Formed in 2002, IRCCs are led by trained grassroots volunteers. They promote good ties among religious and racial groups in their neighbourhoods through discussions and activities.
They also coordinate such organisations in keeping the peace during times of crisis.
About 87.5 per cent of religious organisations have become members of IRCCs.
At a dinner for the 84 IRCC chairmen last night, Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan thanked them for their contributions.
'It will not be possible to pre-empt undesirable messages or possible unfortunate misunderstandings and their potential to incite unrest between communities. We must therefore work on building trust and understanding,' he said.
He also called on them to work on integrating newcomers into Singapore.
TESSA WONG
