# The Baha'i Faith: 50 Years in Singapore

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-20 — 1 clipping.*

---

> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: unknown, The Baha'i Faith: 50 Years in Singapore, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> TH E b a h á t f a it h
> 50 YEARS IN SINGAPORE
> 1950 - 2000
> 
> With compliments
> 
> The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Singapore
> 
> 55 Cantonment Road
> Singapore 089754
> www.bahai.org sg
> Email: nsasing@singnet.com.sg
> Tel: 62226200 Fax: 62229166
> THE B A H Á ’Í FAITH - 50 YEARS IN SINGAPORE
> Copyright ®2000 by The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Singapore Ltd.
> 
> Published by
> The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Singapore Ltd.
> 110-D Wishart Road
> Singapore 098733
> Tel: (65) 2733023
> Fax: (65) 2732497
> E-mail: nsasing@singnet.com.sg
> Website: h ttp :/ / www.bahai-sg.org
> 
> All rights are reserved under all international copyright laws. Portions of
> this publication may be used freely by any organisation provided that they
> attribute as follows:
> “Excerpted from The Baha’i Faith - 50Years in Singapore, a publication of
> The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Singapore.”
> 
> ISBN 981-04-2499-X
> PREFACE
> 
> The Baha’i Faith is the youngest independent w orld religion. Founded
> more than a century and a half ago by His Holiness Baha’u ’llah, the Baha’i
> Faith is today among the fastest growing of w orld religions w ith more
> than six million followers in at least 233 countries and dependent territories.
> According to the 1992 Encyclopedia Britannica Book o f the       , the Baha’i
> Faith has already become the second m ost widespread faith after
> Christianity in its geographic outreach.
> 
> Baha’is believe that there is only one God, the C reator of the Universe.
> Throughout history, God has revealed Himself to humanity through a series
> of divine Messengers - each of whom was the Founder of a great religion.
> This succession of divine Teachers reflects a single historic “plan of G od”
> for educating humanity about its Creator and for cultivating the spiritual,
> intellectual and moral capacities of the entire hum an race. The goal of
> this process of progressive divine revelation is to prepare for the
> establishment of a world civilization based on equality and justice for all
> human beings. The ever expanding Knowledge of God’s Will for humanity
> to bring about a truly global society was revealed just over 100 years ago
> by His Holiness Baha’u ’llah, w ho is the latest of these divine Messengers.
> 
> 26 May 2000 will mark 50 years from the date the first Baha’i pioneer, the
> late Dr. K.M. Fozdar, arrived on our shores. The Spiritual Assembly of the
> Baha’is of Singapore is happy to publish this commemorative book to
> mark the Baha’i Faith’s Golden Anniversary in our nation.
> 
> The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Singapore
> April 2000
> CONTENTS
> 
> His Holiness Baha’u ’llah                         1
> Prophet Founder of the Baha’i Faith
> 
> History of the Baha’i Faith in Singapore         3
> 
> Advancement of Women                             20
> 
> Inter-religious Activities                       27
> 
> Environment                                      32
> 
> Education                                        35
> 
> Youth                                            37
> 
> Marriage and Family Life                         40
> 
> Singapore Association for Baha’i Studies (ABS)   41
> 
> The Goal of the Baha’i Faith                     42
> HIS HOLINESS BAHÁIFLLÁH
> (1817-1892)
> P rophet Founder o f th e Baha’i Faith
> 
> Baha’u ’Mh, which means “The Glory of G od”, was bom in Teheran, Iran
> in 1817. As a young man, He turned His back on a life of w ealth and,
> sacrificing freedom and material possessions, devoted Himself to the
> promulgation of laws, precepts and principles designed to carry humanity
> forward. His mission, Baha’is believe, represents the age of fulfilment
> prophesied by Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, B uddha, Lao Tzu, Christ,
> Muhammad, Gum Nanak and the founders of other great Faiths.
> 
> Bom the son of a wealthy government minister, Baha’u ’M h could trace
> His family’s ancestry back to the great dynasties of Iran’s imperial past.
> Yet, at the age of 22, Baha’u ’Mh declined the ministerial career opened to
> Him and chose instead to devote His energies to a range of philanthropies
> which had, by the early 1840s, earned Him widespread renown as “Father
> of the Poor”.
> 
> This privileged existence swiftly eroded w hen Baha’u ’M h became one of
> the leading followers of Siyyid Ali Muhammad known by his title the “Báb”
> w hich m eans “G ate” in Arabic. The Báb, Himself the Founder of an
> independent divine revelation, announced in May 1844 that His mission
> was to prepare humanity for the imminent appearance of a new' messenger
> from God, the One promised to all the religions of the world.
> 
> The religion of the Báb was widely accepted throughout Iran but it suffered
> intense persecution from religious and government forces, w ho viewed
> the Bab’s claim as heretical. The Báb was executed in 1850; Baha’u ’llah
> Himself was arrested and throw n into a notorious dungeon in Teheran,
> where conditions were so bad that few were expected to survive. It was
> here, during His four m onth imprisonment, that Baha’u ’M h received a
> vision of G od’s Will that He w as to bring hum anity a new religious
> revelation.
> 
> O n His release, B aha’u ’M h w as subjected to a series of exiles and
> imprisonments which lasted 40 years. The first was to Baghdad where, in
> 1863, B aha’u ’llah openly declared Himself as the M essenger o f G od
> promised by the Báb and foretold in all the holy scriptures of the past.
> 
> VerilyIsay, this istheDay     hich     ikii id can
> behold theFace, arid hearthe Voice. ofthePivmised One.
> Baha’u ’M h
> 
> l
> From B aghdad B aha’u ’llah w as exiled to Constantinople, then to
> Adrianople, and finally to Akka, a penal city in what was then Palestine in
> the Turkish Ottoman empire (modern-day Israel).
> 
> Throughout His years of imprisonment Baha’u ’llah revealed thousands
> of divinely inspired verses which make up over one hundred volumes of
> His Works. In these Writings, Baha’u ’llah expounded His doctrine, His
> laws and His ethical guidance. The heart of His ethical teachings is
> contained in “The Hidden Words”, a compilation of moral aphorisms. In
> the “Kitab-I-Aqdas” or “Book of Laws”, He detailed the distinctive laws
> and principles to be observed by His followers, and laid the foundation of
> the Baha’i administrative order.
> 
> Some of the principles proclaimed by Baha’u ’llah for a global society are:
> • Acceptance of the oneness of humanity and to be of service to
> mankind
> • Recognition of the divine origin and essential oneness of all the
> world’s great religions
> • Equal opportunities, rights and privileges for m en and women
> • Elimination of extreme wealth and poverty, and spiritual solutions
> to economic problems
> • Compulsory universal education
> • Adoption of an international auxiliary language
> • Recognition that true religion is in harmony with science
> • Independent search for truth, free from prejudices bom of custom
> and tradition
> • Sustainable balance between nature and technology
> • Establishment of a world federation based on collective security
> and justice for all.
> 
> Towards the end of His life, even though still under sentence of exile and
> prison, Baha’u ’llah was allowed to move outside the city walls of Akka to
> an estate know n as Bahji. It was here on 29 May 1892, that He passed
> away and was laid to rest in a garden room adjoining the mansion in Bahji.
> For B aha’is, this spot is the m ost holy place on earth and a place of
> pilgrimage.
> 
> HISTORY OF THE BAHÁT FAITH IN SINGAPORE
> 
> Introduction
> 
> Singapore, although tiny in area and devoid of natural resources, is rich
> and vibrant in the variety of its most precious asset -- its peoples and their
> traditions.
> 
> Located at the crossroads of South East Asia, Singapore is influenced
> both by the cultural as well as the commercial and industrial infusions
> from the region and even the world at large. This vital mixture aided by an
> enlightened government, has given Singapore its unique dynamism and
> made it a model of political, economic and inter-religious stability. Its
> multi-ethnic composition of four major races -- Malay, Chinese, Indian
> and Eurasian and its four official languages - Chinese, Tamil, Malay and
> English make Singapore a virtual miniature “U nited N ations” — a crosssection of humanity. Strategically located at the crossroads between north
> and south and east and west, this tiny island has become one of the greatest
> transportation and communications hubs of the world and at the cutting
> edge of technological advances in South East Asia.
> 
> In terms of religious affiliation, almost every major Faith has found a
> home in our nation. The Chinese are predominantly Confucianists, Taoists,
> and Buddhists (what has been called “the Chinese religion”), the Malays
> predominantly Muslim, the Indians predominantly Hindu and the Eurasians
> predominantly Christian.
> 
> Winds of Change
> 
> In the realm of the planet’s political development the demarcation line
> between the colonial and post colonial eras must be placed squarely at the
> midpoint between the tw o halves of the 20th century when fully naif the
> hum an race shirked off the yoke of empire and gained independence.
> N ations emerging from the holocaust of W orld W ar II recognized the
> imperative of globalization and created supranational agencies for the
> protection and well-being of hum anity. W ith the ever-present threat of
> planetary catastrophe looming in the background, these new political
> arrangements with their military checks and balances and mechanisms for
> socio-economic integration have, however imperfectly, continued on to
> our present times.
> 
> As w ith the widening of our socio-economic and political horizons so,
> too, on the plane of ethical and spiritual development predating the latter
> by a half century, the end of the 19th century gave rise to new definitions
> of Religion’s message and its purpose for being.
> 
> With the rapid increase in modes of travel, religions expanded their ambits
> to envelope the globe and Singapore too, was touched by this process of
> inter-religious mingling. The ethical and social mores it had inherited from
> the surrounding region by virtue of its location were in turn confronted
> and influenced by the rapid spread of modernism and technology providing
> a fit setting for the arrival on its shores of yet another sacred Faith - the
> world’s youngest independent religion - the Baha’i Faith, then itself barely
> a century old.
> 
> By Way of India
> 
> S ay: teach y e th e C ause o f God, O p e o p le o f B ahá, f o r G od
> hath p re sc rib e d unto every on e th e du ty o f p ro cla im in g H is M essage,
> a n d regardeth it as th e m o st m eritoriou s o f a ll deeds. Baha’u’Uah
> 
> The subcontinent of India has always played a significant part in the
> political, social and cultural fortunes of South East Asia. The British, for
> instance, used to rule the Straits Settlements of Penang, Singapore and
> Malacca from the office of the Governor-General in India. The spiritual
> history of the region is also connected to India. Indian traders visiting the
> region transm itted religions such as Buddhism, H induism and Islam to
> countries such as Burma, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
> 
> Characteristically, the first Baha’i teachers to this region, also came from
> India. In the 1880’s, tw o Baha’i teachers, Sulayman Khan-i-Tunukabani
> (popularly know n as Jamal Effendi) and Siyyid Mustafa Roumie, stopped
> over in Singapore for a few weeks on their way to the Javanese and Celebes
> islands.
> 
> Jamal Effendi was the first Persian teacher of the Faith sent to India in
> 1878 by the Faith’s Founder, Baha’u ’llah. His travel companion, Mustafa
> Roumie was a Muslim of Iraqi descent, whom Jamal Effendi had converted
> to the Baha’i Faith during his religious teaching tour in India. In the 1880’s
> both of them decided to team up for the purpose of teaching the Faith to
> the inhabitants of the countries of South East Asia. In Singapore, they
> stayed in the Arab quarters of the tow n, as guests of the Turkish Vice
> Consul, a well-known Arab merchant. They mixed freely w ith the Arab
> community. It is very likely that they taught the Baha’i Faith in Singapore
> to the Arab and Indian traders, but it is unlikely that they preached to the
> Chinese race due to language problems and the fact that 19th C entury
> Singapore was generally segregated geographically along racial lines.
> 
> The First Pioneers
> 
> It was only in 1950 that the first Baha’i “pioneers1” arrived in Singapore
> for establishing the Faith. The first pioneer to arrive was D r Khodadad
> M uncherji Fozdar, who after resigning from his medical practice in the
> Indian State Railway set sail from Bombay and after a three week sea
> journey reached Singapore on 26 May 1950. D r Fozdar was joined later
> that same year on 19 September by his wife Shirin. Besides being the first
> Baha’i to settle in Singapore, D r Fozdar also “pioneered” for the Baha’i
> Faith in Africa as well as in the Andaman Islands in 1953-54 and was
> bestowed w ith the title “Knight of Baha’u ’llah”2 by the Guardian of the
> Baha’i Faith for his services in the Andaman Islands. The Fozdars came in
> response to the call of the N ational Spiritual Assembly (“N SA ”) of the
> Baha’is of India to all Baha’is in that sub-continent to establish the Faith
> in all parts of South East Asia. W ith the help of friends, which he had
> made on board ship, D r Fozdar quickly found employm ent as a private
> medical ^practitioner in the colony. To ojaen Singapore to the Teachings of
> the Baha’i Faith, D r Fozdar placed Baha’i books in the Raffles Library and
> also gave public talks on his beliefs at the YM CA and the Theosophical
> Society to which he was often invited.
> 
> Dr K.M. Fozdar and Mrs Shirin Fozdar
> (1950)
> 
> 1Pioneers are not “missionaries” in the commonly understood sense of the term since no
> financial support is given or special theological training is involved. While “pioneering” may
> constitute an individual’s sole purpose, Baha’i pioneers often combine it with practicing their
> profession or furthering their formal education, business opportunities, or even as a creative
> retirement.
> 
> 2 “Knight of Baha’u ’llah” is a title bestowed by the great grandson of Baha’u ’llah, the
> Guardian of the Faith His Eminence the late Shoghi Effendi Rabbani (1897-1958), upon 299
> Baha’is who left their native land to open up new countries and territories to the Message of
> Baha’u’llah during the Faith’s World Crusade which stretched from 1953 to 1963. The names
> of the “Knights of Baha’u’llah” are recorded in an Honour Roll which is enshrined at the
> Faith’s World Centre in its place of Pilgrimage.
> 
> */ 4
> The First Public Proclam ation o f the Baha’i Faith in Singapore
> came about through an interview w ith D r K.M. Fozdar by The Straits
> Times, w hich was published in its issue of 15 September 1950. Besides
> summarizing the aims and teachings of the Baha’i Faith, the news item
> announced the forthcom ing arrival on 19 Septem ber of his wife M rs
> Shirin Fozdar under the heading “A Woman With A Message". The article
> also contained a synopsis o f her m any rem arkable achievem ents
> especially in the cause of w om en’s em ancipation.
> 
> The day after her arrival, Mrs. Fozdar gave a public lecture at the Singapore
> Rotary Club, then the most prestigious club in the colony. As this was the
> first public lecture given by a woman at the Rotary Club (then an all-male
> preserve), the press found tnis newsworthy and reportedparts of her speech
> the following day under the caption “No more nonsensefrom men, says Mrs.
> Fozdar. ” This was just the beginning of hundreds of newspaper articles
> about her3*6and the Baha’i Faith in the years that followed.
> 
> Some members of the Theosophical Society were very interested in the
> teachings of the Baha’i Faith as they shared several com m on ideals
> regarding the brotherhood of man and the fact that religion should be the
> cause of unity. A significant portion of the early believers on the island
> were in fact, former members of the Theosophical Society. A prominent
> member of the Singapore Baha’i com m unity, M r Teon G eok Leng, a
> professional accountant, was, for example, a form er President of the
> Theosophical Society.
> 
> Teoh Geok Leng (1907-1986)
> 
> Affectionately known as “Uncle Teoh”, Teoh Geok Leng
> embraced the Baha’i Faith in 1952 and was a member of the
> first Local Spiritual Assembly (“LSA”) of the Baha’is of
> Singapore. He remained a member of the Spiritual Assembly
> until 1972 when he was elected to the newly established National
> Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Singapore. In the 50’s and
> 60’s, he made several trips to teach the Faith in the tin mining and rural districts of
> Malaya.
> “Uncle Teoh” was noted for his meticulous manner of preparing accounts for
> the Spiritual Assembly of which he was a member and for his punctuality at
> meetings. He was also the first official marriage solemniser for Baha’i marriages
> appointed by the government and used to offer philosophical yet witty advice to
> the newly married couples as they crossed the threshold to married life. Mr Teoh
> Geok Leng is buried at the Choa Chu Kang Baha’i Cemetery.
> 
> 3By reference to National Archives microfilm NA. 2044 it can be verified that there are over
> 500 pieces of newsprint publicity on the activities of Mrs Shirin Fozdar in “The Straits
> Times” of Singapore.
> 
> Governance or Administration of Baha’i Communities
> 
> The L o r d h ath o rd a in e d th a t in e v e ry c ity a H o u se o f J u s tic e b e
> establish ed w herein sh a ll g a th e r coun sellors to th e n u m ber o f B ah á4,
> a n d sh ou ld it exceed the nu m ber it doth n ot matter. They sh o u ld consider
> th em selves as en terin g th e C ou rt o f th e p re se n c e o f God, th e E xalted,
> th e M o st H igh , a n d as beh oldin g H im W ho is th e Unseen. I t behoveth
> them to b e th e tru sted ones o f th e M erc ifu l am on g m en a n d to reg a rd
> them selves as th e g u a rd ia n s a p poin ted o f G od f o r a ll th a t d w ell on
> earth. I t is in cu m ben t upon them to take co u n sel togeth er a n d to have
> regard f o r th e in terests o f th e servan ts o f God, f o r H is sake, even as
> th ey reg a rd th eir ow n interests, a n d to ch oose th a t w hich is m eet a n d
> se e m ly ... Baha’u’Uah
> 
> The adm inistration of Baha’i communities predicated upon the above
> teaching of Baha’u ’llah, is devoid of priesthood or clergy and instead
> is characterized by a system of Assemblies or Houses of Justice elected
> by the com m unity of believers w ithin each locale, w ith lim ited terms
> of office for its m em bers. These elected bodies are responsible for
> m inistering to the needs of the individual believer as well as the
> com m unity at large. Thus, Baha’i governance functions th ro u g h
> collective decisions based on the principles and procedures laid dow n
> by Baha’u ’llah and not through personality or individual leadership.
> 
> The bedrock upon which members of the com m unity mingle w ith and
> get to know their fellow Baha’is so as to enable them to elect annually
> the m em bers of the Spiritual Assem bly is the in stitu tio n called “The
> 19-Day Feast” (quite like a tow n meeting) consisting of three parts:
> “Devotional”, “Adm inistrative” and “Social”. The 19-Day Feast is held
> on the first day of each of the 19 m onths com prising the Baha’i
> Calendar (The 18th m o n th has four extra days to round out the solar
> year of 365 days). D uring the devotional program m e, selections from
> Baha’i H oly W ritings as well as the sacred Scriptures of other religions
> are read or chanted. Thereafter, reports and consultations follow during
> the administrative part, finally ending with refreshments and fellowship.
> 
> The Early Baha’i C om m unity of Singapore
> 
> W ithin tw o years of D r K.M. Fozdar’s arrival, there were a total of 12
> declared believers in the Baha’i Faith, the first of w hom was M r
> N araindas Jethanand. Thereafter, an election was held in A pril 1952
> to decide w ho among the twelve w ould constitute the first governing
> body for Baha’i affairs in Singapore. T he n in e elected m em bers of
> this historic first Spiritual A ssem bly of the Baha’is of Singapore were4
> 
> 4Signifying the numeral “9”
> (in alphabetical order): M r Gianchand Datwani5, M r G oh Beng Wan, D r
> John Fozdar678, D r K.M. Fozdar, Mrs Shirin Fozdar, M r Kishenchand
> Khemani, M r Motiram, M r Ramsay, and M r Teoh Geok Leng.
> 
> Members of the first Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahó'ls
> of Singapore, incorporated July 28, 1952
> Seated L to R: Mr Teoh Geok Leng, M r Gianchand Datwani, Mrs Shirin Fozdar, D r K.M. Fozdar., M r Ramsay
> Standing L to R: Mr Goh Beng Wan, M r Kishenchand Khemani, D r John Fozdar, Mr Motiram
> Mrs Shirin Fozdar is seen here holding the Persian Calligraphy “Ya-Baha-el-Abha”
> (“O Glory of the Most Glorious”) symbolizing a name of God.
> 
> This first Spiritual Assembly, as is normal for these bodies, met regularly
> to consult on matters concerning the Faith and the community and to plan
> activities such as holding “fireside”3 meetings in their homes for expanding
> their membership, as well as occasional public meetings.
> 
> As the com m unity grew larger, money was raised for an administrative
> centre which believers could call their own. And, with a gradually enlarging
> membership, the Baha’i Spiritual Assembly of Singapore asked the
> government for a cemetery. A plot at Choa C hu Kang was given to the
> Baha’i community in 1957. D r K.M. Fozdar who passed away in April 1958
> was the first Baha’i to be buried there.
> 
> 5Mr Gianchand Datwani and Mr Kishenchand Khemani after some years also set sail to
> pioneer for the Baha’i Faith, the former to Hongkong and the latter to Indonesia.
> 6In 1954 Dr John Fozdar, settled in Brunei to pioneer there and was declared “Knight of
> BaháVlláh” by the late Guardian of the Baha’i Faith for his services in that land.
> 7Regular fireside meetings are a means for Baha’is to talk about the teachings of their
> Faith to friends and contacts.
> 
> Subsequent years also saw the arrival of other Baha’i pioneering families
> in Singapore. They came to settle, and simultaneously, to pursue their
> own career and business opportunities. Among them were Col. Eshragian,
> from Persia, and his family in 1958. They stayed for tw o years before
> leaving for Australia. O ther pioneers who resided in Singapore in the late
> fifties and who stayed for at least a year included Mahesh Dayal and
> Manguhbhai Patel from India, Wesley Huxtable from Canada and John
> M cH enry III from the U nited States. In the sixties, these pioneers were
> joined by M r and Mrs Rostum Rahnema from Persia and Mary Robinson
> from Britain. D r and Mrs Fozdar also visited Malaya occasionally to help
> there w ith the teaching of the Faith. Their second son D r John Fozdar
> worked as a surgeon at the Singapore General Hospital for three years and
> left Singapore in 1954 to pioneer for the Faith in Brunei. Through the
> effort of all these dedicated early believers both foreign and local, the
> numbers of Baha’is began to swell in Singapore and especially in Malaya.
> 
> During the years 1957 to 1964, the mushrooming Baha’i communities in
> the countries and territories of South East Asia, comprising Thailand,
> Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaya, Sarawak, Philippines,
> Portuguese Tim or, Mentawei, Brunei, Andaman, N icobar and Cocos
> Island, were administered by the Regional Spiritual Assembly (“RS A ”) of
> South East Asia which was elected in 1957. In September of the following
> year this RS A of South East Asia was given the privilege to host one of
> the five Inter-continental Baha’i Conferences held under the aegis of the
> W orld Centre of the Baha’i Faith. The honour of the venue for this
> conference fell to Singapore. The other four Inter-continental conferences
> also held that same year were in Kampala, Uganda in January; Sydney,
> Australia in March; Wilmette, Illinois, USA in May; Frankfurt, Germany
> in July.
> 
> The fifth Baha’i Inter-continental Conference held in Victoria Memorial
> Hall (27-29 September 1958) was graced by the presence of the H and of
> the Cause of God8, M r Leroy Ioas, the Representative of the Guardian of
> the Baha’i Faith, His Emminence the late Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, and
> eight other Hands of the Cause of God, besides members of various
> National and Regional Assemblies.89
> 
> 8 “Hand of the Cause of God” is a life-time rank bestowed by the Guardian of the Faith
> upon the pre-eminent champions of the Faith . There have been a total of 47 Hands of
> which 20 were appointed by Baha’u ’llah in the 19th century and the remaining by the
> Guardian. The Hands do not participate in matters of administration which fall within
> the purview of Local and National Spiritual Assemblies. Only two Hands are still alive.
> Photo s h o w s the Hand o f the C a u s e o f G o d Mr loas seated on the left w h i l e Mrs Shirin
> Foz da r . Chairperson o f the R S A o f South East A sia d eli vers her o p e n i n g address
> w e l c o m i n g all the participants to this historic first international B a h a ’i C o n f e r e n c e to be
> held in S outh East A sia, the C o n f e r e n c e S ecretary Mr Jam shed F o z da r and Dr M
> S a l i n anpur w h o translated the p r o c e e d i n g s in Persian and French.
> 
> The many Baha’is from Singapore and Malaysia experienced for the first
> time what an “international” Baha’i conference was like. They had the
> rare opportunity to meet in one place many Hands of the Cause as well as
> well-known teachers and believers of the Faith, who had journeyed from
> many regions to come to attend this historic conference. The Singapore
> com m unity became so enthused after the conference that a num ber of
> them left the country to go as pioneers for the Faith to other lands.
> 
> The Baha’i Centres of Singapore
> 
> Early believers congregated in each other’s homes to read the scriptures,
> to consult on administrative matters and to socialize.
> By 1962, the Singapore Baha’i com m unity had raised enough money to
> purchase a flat at Jalan Kechil for their meetings. This was sold a decade
> later as it proved inadequate for the com m unity’s needs. Subsequently, a
> small bungalow was purchased at H artley Grove, Frankel Estate in 1968.
> W hen this became too small, a bigger place was found at Cooling Close in
> 1973. Subsequently, the Baha’is rented offices in town, after which a unit
> was purchased at the A ssociation Building, G eylang. The Baha’i
> administrative centre is currently situated at Wishart Road.
> 
> How do Baha’is raise funds?
> Only Baha’is are permitted to contribute financially
> for stric tly B aha’i activities and projects.
> Accordingly, the Singapore Baha’i community is
> financially supported by its own registered
> membership. Local and national finances are
> discussed at each Nineteen Day Feast. All individual
> Nine-petalled Baha’i House   contributions are strictly voluntary and confidential.
> of Worship, New Delhi
> 
> Singapore and Malaysia
> 
> The history of the Singapore Baha’i com m unity is also closely linked to
> that of the Malaysian Baha’i com m unity. By virtue of the tremendous
> response to her presence in Singapore in the various newspapers Mrs Fozdar
> also became the “engine” for the entry of the Baha’i Faith in the then
> Peninsula Malaya. Exactly tw o years to the date of her first stepping foot
> in Singapore, The Straits Times of 19 September 1952 reported her public
> talk in Penang the day before where she spoke on one of the cardinal
> principles of the Baha’i Faith: “Equality ofopportunity fo r both      ”, and
> emphasized the dire need for women’s education and upliftment. H er talks
> in Malaya in the various towns and cities were arranged by the early Baha’is
> of Malaya. Chief among these were Mr Yankee Leong (who in December
> 1953 became the first to accept the Baha’i Faith in peninsula Malaya), M r
> and Mrs Leong Tat Chee, M r and Mrs G. Saurajan, M r K. Rajah, M r and
> Mrs Tony Fernandez, D r and Mrs Chellie Sundram, Ms Jeanne Frankel,
> Mrs Margaret Bates, (the last two both Knights of Baha’u ’llah for Nicobar
> Islands) and others. The first Baha’i Spiritual Assembly in Peninsula Malaya
> was established in Seremban in April 19549*1.
> 
> From 1952 Mrs Fozdar had been teaching the Faith in Malaya, and was
> later joined by M r Yankee Leong and others. Their efforts proved successful
> in creating the first Malayan Baha’i communities in Seremban, Malacca,
> Kuala Lum pur and Penang. Together w ith a few other members of the
> Singapore Baha’i community, Mrs Fozdar made several more teaching trips
> across the Causeway, sometimes residing in places such as Kulai and Alor
> Star semi-permanently.
> 
> 9The first Baha’i Spiritual Assembly of what was to later become Malaysia was established
> a year earlier in April 1953 in Kuching, Sarawak through the pioneering efforts of Mr
> Jamshed Fozdar (the eldest of the Fozdar children) and his wife Parvati who had settled
> there in early 1951.
> In the early years the tw o communities, Singapore and Malaya, often
> regarded themselves as belonging to the same com m unity. Malayans
> attended conferences in Singapore while Singaporeans attended the summer
> schools10of Malaya such as the 1957 summer school held in Malacca.
> 
> First World Congress of the Baha’i World
> 
> In 1963, a handful of Baha’is saved
> quite a substantial sum of money to
> help charter a plane to take them to
> the first ever Baha’i World Congress
> (28 May - 2 June), in London’s Royal
> A lben Hall, a celebration of the
> 100th anniversary of Baha’u ’llah’s
> Declaration of His mission as the
> world Redeemer promised in all the
> sacred scriptures of the past. The
> Baha’i Faith had by 1963 established
> itself in all the countries and depen­
> dent territories of the planet and ranked second only to the 2000 year old
> Christian Faith in the geographical coverage and ethnic diversity of its
> planetary scope. Besides discussing new vistas for expanding the Faith’s
> world-wide ambit and strength, the 6000 plus participants at the Congress
> were also introduced to the nine m em ber Supreme Body of the Baha’i
> W orld -- The Universal House of Justice11, elected a week earlier for the
> first time by members of the N ational Spiritual Assemblies of 56 coun­
> tries who had convened at the first International Convention held at the
> Faith’s w orld centre in Haifa, Israel, under the shadow of one of its two
> most H oly Shrines, that of His Holiness the “Báb”, on M ount Carmel. (See
> above photo).
> 
> The purpose of summer schools is to give Baha’is the opportunity to acquaint themselves
> with the social principles and laws of the Faith, its history and its relation to other religions.
> 11The Universal House ofJustice is elected every five years.
> 
> The intensive teaching effort put in by Baha’i pioneers everywhere in the
> ten years preceding 1963, resulted in a tremendous increase in the number
> of Baha’is and in the localities where they resided. The time had come for
> the various national communities which had been under the jurisdiction
> of the Regional Spiritual Assembly of South East Asia to elect their own
> National Spiritual Assemblies.
> 
> Hence, in 1964, the National Convention for Malaysia was convened to
> elect its N ational Spiritual Assembly, w ith 19 delegates attending from
> the different Baha’i communities in Malaya, Sarawak, Brunei, Sabah and
> Singapore which would be administered by this National Assembly. This
> first National Convention of Malaysia, held in Kuala Lumpur, was graced
> by the presence of A m atu’l-Baha R uhiyyih Rabbani, the Baha’i w orld’s
> most eminent personality, wife of His Eminence the late Shoghi Effendi
> Rabbani, Guardian of the Baha’i Faith. As part of the Malaysian Baha’i
> community, Singapore believers helped establish many local assemblies in
> Malaysia as well as opening other localities where Baha’is went to reside.
> Singapore also helped to acquire the Baha’i centre in Kuala Lumpur.
> 
> Although political separation from Malaysia occurred in 1965, the Singapore
> Baha’i community remained part of the Malaysian Baha’i Community until
> 1972. D uring this period, the Singapore Baha’i com m unity also received
> periodic visits from Malaysian Counsellors12 Yankee Leong and D r Chellie
> Sundram as well as Malaysian Auxiliary Board Members, Leong Tat Chee
> and Betty Fernandez to inspire the com m unity to greater efforts for the
> Faith.
> 
> By the late sixties, it became clear that Singapore itself was developing its
> own identity. Hence, the Faith’s supreme governing body - the Universal
> House of Justice -- decided that the Singapore Baha’i Com m unity should
> have its own national governing body. To prepare for this eventuality, the
> NSA of Malaysia began to take steps to strengthen the Singapore Baha’i
> community. This it did by organising some of its more im portant annual
> programmes in Singapore. Accordingly, the first South East Asian Youth
> Conference was held in Singapore in December 1969 and the Malaysian
> W inter School, a highly popular activity w ith Malaysians, was held in
> 
> : “Counsellor” is a rank bestowed by the Baha’i World Centre upon eminently qualified
> Baha’is who have demonstrated their capacity for encouraging Baha’i communities in the
> held of teaching and service. Their term of service is five years which may be extended.
> Counsellors, unlike National or Local Spiritual Assemblies, are not involved in the
> iiminist ration of Baha’i communities. Counsellors cover their region of responsibility with
> the help of members of their Auxiliary Boards (ABMs), who are appointed by the Counsellors.
> 
> Singapore in 1971, as well as the Oceanic Conference of the South China
> Sea held the same year which attracted a few hundred believers from
> various countries and nations.
> 
> The aim of the conference was to achieve immediate expansion of the
> Faith and to raise a corps of travelling teachers, whose objective would be
> to visit the Baha’i communities and groups in the area. Baha’i youths also
> participated whole heartedly in this vital activity.
> 
> G.S. Santhanam Krishnan (1945-1975)
> 
> A youth who became a Baha’i following the Oceanic
> Conference in 1971 was G.S. Santhanam Krishnan. H e
> played a key role in establishing relations between the
> B ah a ’i c o m m u n ity and th e lo cal press and in
> strengthening the local Baha’i youth group. H e later
> pioneered to India where he served w ith great courage
> and devotion. H e passed away at his pioneering post in
> 1975.
> 
> One of the other youth was Navanita Sundram, then an undergraduate at
> the University of Singapore, who also helped inaugurate a Baha’i Society
> at the University.
> 
> By 1972 there were five Local Spiritual Assemblies in Singapore and a
> greatly expanded and strengthened community.
> 
> Yan Kee Leong (1899-1986)
> 
> Malaysian Chinese Yan Kee Leong, renowned
> cartoonist, played a crucial part in the spread of
> the Faith in Singapore and Malaya. In 1953, Yan
> arranged for a series of talks by Mrs Fozdar in
> Malacca, Seremban and Kuala Lumpur. At the end
> of the talks, he him self became a Baha’i. In
> Malacca, the talk was presided over by the well-
> Photo shows Mr Yan Kee       known Chinese scholar and politician, Dato Tan
> Leong with his good friend   Cheng Lock. Very soon after, Baha’i communities
> Tunku Abdul Rahman           sprang up in Malacca, Seremban and Kuala
> “Father of Malaysia” at      Lumpur.
> Hiroshima Japan (Nov 1952)
> 
> Leong Tat Chee (1910-1972)
> 
> Mr and Mrs Leong Tat Chee were active Baha’is from
> Malacca who played an im portant role in the forma­
> tion of the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of
> Queenstown in 1969.
> Both Yan Kee Leong and Leong Tat Chee served on
> the RSA of South East Asia. Both were appointed in
> 1964 as ABMs and they were the first Malaysian Baha’is
> to travel extensively to teach the Chinese of H ong
> Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Singapore. Both of them
> resided in Singapore to help the com m unity grow in
> the years just before the form ation of the NSA of Singapore in 1972.
> 
> Chellie Sundram (1920-1993)
> 
> D r Chellie Sundram was a distinguished physician from
> Penang who became a Baha’i in 1958. As member of
> the N ational Spiritual Assembly of Malaysia and later
> of the C ontinental Board of Counsellors in Asia from
> 1968 until 1988, he paid many visits to Singapore. Known
> fo r his a d m in is tra tiv e acu m en , his b r illia n t
> conceptualization and his artistic talent, he contributed
> to the development and strengthening of Singapore’s
> Baha’i administration.
> 
> M   i
> 
> The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Singapore
> 
> In every country, where any of these people reside, they must behave
> towards the government o f that country with loyalty, honesty and
> truthfulness.
> Baha’u’llah
> 
> The Singapore Baha’i Community had only a Local Spiritual Assembly for
> tw enty years. From 1952-1957, it was under the aegis of the N ational
> Spiritual Assembly of India. Then from 1957-1964, it came under the
> administrative ambit of the Regional Spiritual Assembly of South East
> Asia and thereafter, was under the purview of the N ational Spiritual
> Assembly of Malaysia. In April 1972, an election was held among Singapore
> Baha’is to elect nine members to form the first NSA of the Baha’is of
> Singapore. Those elected were (in alphabetical order): Mrs George Lee,
> M r G. Machambo, M r Kenneth Mak, Mrs Rose Ong, M r Henry Ong, Miss
> Navanita Sundram, Mrs Lena Tan, Mr Edward Teo and Mr. Teoh Geok Leng.
> 
> Photo shows the Hand of the Cause of God Mr Jalal Khazeh repre­
> sentative of the Universal House of Justice, with the newly elected
> members of the first NSA of the Baha’is of Singapore.
> 
> Since then, members of the National Spiritual Assembly have been elected
> each year by the Baha’is at an annual national convention. The delegates
> to the N ational C onvention who are responsible for electing the ninemember NSA are themselves elected by their respective local communities
> for this sole function. T here are c u rren tly five LSAs in Singapore
> administering the local communities of Katong, Macpherson, Queenstown,
> Serangoon and Yishun. Every year, each local community is apportioned
> 
> a num ber of delegates according to their respective Baha’i population.
> The delegates are elected in much the same way as the local governing
> council. There is no nomination or campaigning in the election process.
> 
> These administrative bodies use a distinctive m ethod of non-adversarial
> decision-making know n as “consultation”. The principles of consultation
> are laid down in Baha’u ’llah’s writings and are a procedure for building
> consensus and making decisions. Baha’is have found consultation to be
> useful in virtually any arena where group decision-making and co-opera­
> tion is required, including their businesses and families.
> 
> Baha’i H oly Days were gazetted in 1972. The days gazetted are those when
> Baha’is are required to abstain from w ork or school.
> 
> The Baha’i H oly Days gazetted are:
> 
> N aw Ruz M arch 21                                   sihT
> (si the first day o f the Bahá Yyear)
> Ridvan April 21, April 29, May 2           is a 12-day period with
> festivities on the first, ninth and twelfth days marking the time
> prior to the departure o f Bahá ii ’lláh from Baghdad when He
> made His public Declaration to be God s messenger for today)
> Declaration of Baha’u ’llah’s Forerunner, the Báb M ay 23
> Ascension of Baha’u ’llah May 29
> M artyrdom of the Báb July 9
> Birth of the Báb O ctober 20
> Birth of Baha’u ’llah N ovem ber 12
> 
> Baha’i World Centre’s statement on ‘B A H A ’U ’LLAH’ Presented to
> Head of State
> 
> To mark the Centenary of the Passing of Baha’u ’llah on 29 May 1992, the
> Baha’i World Centre published a comprehensive statement on the Life and
> Message of Baha’u ’llah and the Universal House of Justice requested all
> National Spiritual Assemblies to present the statement to their respective
> Heads of State.
> 
> In Singapore, the statement on ‘B A H A ’U ’LL A H ’ was presented to His
> Excellency President Wee Kim Wee on 22 July 1992 at the Istana by the
> Representatives of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Singapore Mr
> and Mrs Jamshed Fozdar.
> 
> Photo shows President Wee Kim Wee with Mr and Mrs Fozdar in the Istana
> 
> Counselling Institutions
> 
> The decisions made by the governing bodies such as the Local Spiritual
> Assemblies and the N ational Spiritual Assemblies are influenced by the
> advice of a group of counselling institutions that are an inherent part of
> the Baha’i administrative order. Chosen for their outstanding qualities
> and a mature understanding of the Faith, the individuals who serve on
> these institutions are appointed to act both as advisors to governing bodies
> and as sources of encouragement and stimulation for individual members
> of the Faith.
> 
> Foremost among these advisors are the “Hands of the Cause of G od”.
> 
> Hands of the Cause who visited Singapore include Shua’u ’llah Ala’i, who
> stopped here to teach for a week in January 1960, Tarazullah Samandari in
> 1966 and A m atuTBahá Ruhiyyih Rabbani in 1961 and 1964. The latter
> gave a well-received public talk entitled “All the Races are needed” at the
> Singapore National Library. O ther Hands who visited Singapore were D r
> R. Muhajir, A. Faizi, Collis Featherstone, Enoch Olinga and Jalal Khazeh.
> 
> To extend into the future the functions of the Hands of the Cause, the
> Universal House of Justice designated a number of spiritually mature and
> experienced individuals as “Continental Counsellors”.
> Appointed to five-year terms, they reside in specific continental regions
> and are charged to advise communities at the regional and national levels.
> In 1985, a member of the Baha’i Com m unity of Singapore was appointed
> a Counsellor for Asia by the Universal House of Justice.
> 
> Mrs Rose O ng
> Mrs Rose Ong was appointed as
> Counsellor for Asia and served
> for the period of 1985-1995.
> D uring this time, she was the
> advisor to several N atio n al
> Spiritual Assemblies in Asia.
> She travelled extensively to many
> countries of South East Asia as
> well as to Taiwan, China and
> Reader’s Digest, October 1998 Vol. 72 No. 427
> Mongolia. In 1995, Mrs O ng
> initiated the idea of a Singapore
> Bookshelf in many libraries of the less endowed colleges in China. This
> project caught the attention of both the Chinese and English press in
> Singapore. Many kind-hearted Singaporeans donated their books. Collecting
> and despatching books was tim e consuming but the effort has paid off.
> To date, eleven colleges have received books for their libraries. The project
> is ongoing.
> 
> The Advancement of W omen
> 
> “    Theworld o f humanity is possessed o f two wings the male and female.
> -
> 
> So long as these two wings are not equivalent in strength the bird will not
> fly. Until womankind reaches the same degree as man, until she enjoys the
> same arena of activity, extraordinary attainment for humanity will not be
> realised; humanity cannot wing its way to heights o f real attainment.”
> Abdu’l-Baha
> 
> F or the first time in history, a major w orld religion has explicitly stated
> that women and men must enjoy equal opportunity. The Baha’i Writings
> also state that:
> 
> 4   Girls should be given preference over boys when educational
> opportunities and resources are limited.
> 4   In Baha’i marriage, neither the husband nor the wife has a
> dominant voice.
> ^   Any apparent inequality between the capacities of women and
> men is due solely to the lack of educational opportunities
> denied to women in past ages.
> 
> N o t surprisingly, the rise of the early w om en’s movement in Singapore
> and well before that in the w orld at large, is closely connected w ith the
> Baha’i Faith. The w orld’s first woman suffrage martyr, Tahirih, the most
> famous poetess of 19th century Iran, was a follower of the Faith who, fully
> a half century before her sisters in the west proclaimed the cause of
> women’s emancipation and for this she suffered martyrdom by strangulation
> in 1852 at the young age of 35. H er fame, which after her m artyrdom
> quickly spread even to the west in books and articles about her life and
> aims, by renowned scholars in England, France and America, as well as in
> the Middle East, was one of the chief causes motivating the suffragette
> m ovem ent in the west to arise and successfully achieve w om en’s
> emancipation.
> 
> In Singapore the movement for the emancipation of women got its start
> exactly a century after T ahirih’s championing of this cardinal Baha’i
> principle in the F aith’s cradle, her native Iran. This was marked by the
> arrival on our shores on 19 September 1950 of Mrs Shirin Fozdar, an
> ardent champion of the Baha’i Faith and a famous feminist who, long
> inspired by Tahirih’s shining example had already made her mark as early
> as 1934 in the League of N ations in the cause of w om en’s emancipation.
> She was also an associate of M ahatma Gandhi (Father of M odern India)
> in his task of establishing Hindu-M uslim understanding and amity in
> western India, especially the hot-bed Ahmedabad. Mrs Fozdar became
> recognized both by the public and in the mass media as the champion of
> women’s rights in Singapore and, as the Secretary-General of the Singapore
> Council of W omen which she founded in April 1952 amidst intense pub­
> lic interest and press coverage, she spoke fearlessly on the controversial
> issues of polygamy and divorce which affected women’s welfare adversely.
> She was strongly supported by many eminent women, among them Mrs
> Robert Eu, Mrs H.B. Amstutz, Mrs E.V. Davies, Ms Zahara Bte. N o o r
> M ohammed and Mrs George Lee, w ho was elected the first President of
> the SCW.
> 
> MRS GEORGE LEE (1904-1999)
> 
> Mrs George Lee was the President of the Singapore
> Council of W om en (SCW), from its inception in 1952
> until 1971. As President of the SCW, Mrs Lee was
> responsible for the form ation of the first Girls Club in
> Singapore in 1953 w hich was form ally opened by
> Singapore Chief Minister, M r Lim Yew Hock. The girls
> were taught English, Mandarin, cooking, sewing and the
> art of self-defence13 during their free time. Mrs Lee
> accepted the Baha’i Faith in March 1958. Mrs Lee visited several countries
> for the dual purpose of teaching the Baha’i Faith and advancing w om en’s
> emancipation.
> 
> In August 1959 Mrs Lee and Mrs
> Fozdar visited China for a three
> week to u r at the invitation of the
> N ational W om en’s Federation to
> inspect various w om en’s activities
> in the PRC. While there, they also
> L. to R. Mrs George Lee, Vice Premier and Foreign met some of the high government
> Minister Marshal Chen Yi of the People’s Republic officials, among them the Vice
> of China and Mrs Shirin Fozdar
> P rem ier and Foreign M inister
> Marshal Chen Yi, as well as many women’s organisations which were also
> very interested in the efforts for the W omen’s Charter for Singapore.
> 
> As an active Baha’i, Mrs Lee was a prominent member of the Local Spiritual
> Assembly of the Baha’is of Singapore in the fifties and sixties. In addition,
> Mrs Lee was an elected member of the first National Spiritual Assembly of
> the Baha’is of Singapore in 1972. Earlier, she was also elected to the National
> Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Malaysia in 1964 and 1965.
> 
> 13The honorary instructor for which was Mr Jagjeet Singh Sehgal, BBM, PBM who
> later became the Chairman of Singapore’s Central Sikh Gurdwara Board.
> */   .
> 
> Because of Mrs Fozdar’s fame as a crusader of w om en’s rights, the media
> also frequently reported on other talks she delivered which were not merely
> on w om en’s rights, but on other fundamental teachings of Baha’u ’llah
> which addressed the spirit of the new age, such as the “Oneness of the
> Human Race”, “The Source of Religion is O ne”, “A Spiritual Approach for
> Economic Well-being”, “A Universal Language” and “A World Legislature”.
> The people who came to listen to or read about her talks became
> sympathizers and friends and some accepted the Baha’i Faith as the religion
> for our times.
> 
> Mrs Fozdar’s work led to the legislation of the Muslim Ordinance of 1957,
> which provided for the establishment of a Muslim law court (Syariah Court)
> in 1958, so as to make the process of Muslim divorce more difficult. By 1961
> the work of the Singapore Council of Women, spearheaded by Mrs Fozdar,
> succeeded in the Singapore Legislative Assembly passing The W om en’s
> C harter which protected the status and welfare of women in Singapore
> w ith regards to marriage and divorce. It also abolished polygamy among
> non-Muslims and changed the whole framework of Chinese marriages. All
> marriages had to be legally registered from 1961 and those done solely
> through customary Chinese rites were not recognized as legal.
> 
> Early appreciation of Mrs Shirin Fozdar’s struggle for women regardless of
> race or religion came also from Singapore’s Founding Fathers. The
> testimonial below from M r S Rajaratnam who was also Singapore’s first
> Foreign Minister, is one of those attesting to Mrs Fozdar’s w ork for all
> Singapore women.
> 
> ***"•■                                                            M IN IS T E R F O R F O K e t C S A F F A IR S ,
> W
> "*:                                                                                SINGAPORE.
> UFA.6 7 0 / 2 V e l . Ž                                               1 8 th A p r il,   1967.
> 
> Ur. Parwatl Gharat,
> $Aii* *i C e n t r e ,
> 7 7 / ï S e t h a n g Su w . ,
> SJÜ K JK C *, p . O , B o x 1 5 0 I .
> 
> Sear S ir ,
> 
> I ass pleaaed to not* that you ax* bringing: out
> at •ouwenijr brochure 4« appreciation of the aerrioe* rendered
> by U r*. ShiT in Fowiar.
> 
> 1 h a v e known K x * . F e e d e r when « h e v s e in S in g a p o r e
> « a d o f t h * a i n g l e « and ed v « y i n w h ic h aha e t r u g g l e d t o p r e r o t e
> and « a f e g u a r d t h e r i g h t » o f * o » « a end t o e n h a n c e t h e e t a t u a of
> woesen i n o u r o o u a t r y .      S h e d i d t h i * w it h o u t r e g a r d t o r a c e o r
> c r e e d end I w o u ld l i k e t o 3 0 ! » w it h t h e o t h e r s in r e c o g n i t i o n
> of h e r e e r r i c e » t o p r o a o t e j u s t i c e f o r w oaen i n A e ia .
> 
> Tour* »ineerely,
> 
> (3. Aitejaripnat*)
> 
> O ther countries in the region used Singapore’s W omen’s Charter as a model
> for their own legislation in this important field. For her great contribution
> to the social development of Singapore, Mrs Fozdar was the first person
> singled out for tribute by the Singapore Council of W omen’s Organisations
> (SCWO) in 1988.
> 
> Besides many others, the following tribute was received also from His Ex­
> cellency President Wee Kim Wee on the occasion of Mrs Shirin Fozdar’s
> passing.
> 
> After the passing of Mrs Shirin Fozdar (her resting
> place is at Singapore’s Choa C hu Kang Baha’i Cem­
> etery) on 2 February 1992 at the age of 87, the Asso­
> ciation of Women for Action and Research (AWARE)
> established in her m em ory the Shirin Fozdar Trust
> Fund which was inaugurated on 15 May 1993 w ith
> H.E. President Wee Kim Wee and First Lady Mrs Wee
> as Guests-of-Honour.
> Mrs Shirin Fozdar in
> her 85thyear
> 
> $■/ 4
> '   23
> The objectives of the Shirin Fozdar Trust Fund are:
> 
> ♦ To develop and support facilities that are beneficial to women,
> such as training centres, crisis centres, homes and shelters for needy
> women
> ♦ To provide educational and training opportunities in fields which
> w ould benefit women, such as skills training for housewives to
> re-enter the w orkforce and the training of counsellors.
> ♦ To study issues of gender and national development
> ♦ To fund publications and multi-media materials relevant to the
> advancement of women
> 
> Based on these objectives, the Fund will benefit organisations and individu­
> als w orking towards the advancement of women in general, and needy
> women in particular.
> 
> W ith the formation of the Singapore Council of W om en’s Organisations
> (“SCW O”) in 1980, a broad-based umbrella body very much like its prede­
> cessor, the Singapore Council of Women, the Baha’i W om en’s Committee
> (later the Baha’i Office for the Advancement of Women “BO AW ”) became
> one of the first associations to seek affiliation w ith it.
> 
> In their respective stints on the SCW O executive board, Baha’i women
> such as Lena Tan, Christine Lee, Lalitha Nambiar and Anula Samuel served
> mostly as H on. Treasurer an d /o r H on. Secretary and were also active in
> committees such as publication and research. In 1993, the BWC teamed up
> w ith the SCW O to publish the book Voices          Choices - the W omen’s
> Movement in Singapore, a landmark book which traces the history of the
> women’s movement in Singapore and which was launched on 25 July 1993
> by H.E. President Wee Kim Wee.
> Voices and Choices - The Womens Movement in Singapore (1993): this comprehensive
> 
> book traces the history of
> the women’s movement in
> Singapore,          delineates
> women’s present status and
> charts their aspirations for
> the future. It was jointly pub­
> lished by the BO AW and
> SCWO, and launched by
> President Wee Kim Wee and Mrs Wee
> President Wee Kim Wee             with members o f the SCWO-BOAW Book
> Committee at the Gala Dinner (1993)
> 
> Singapore Baha’i women were also actively involved in the Fourth U N
> W orld Conference for W omen in Beijing inl995. Eleven Baha’is went as
> part of the forty-eight strong SCW O contingent and the tw o workshops
> contributed by the SCW O during this conference were organised by the
> BOAW. These two workshops were on “Women, W ork and Family” and
> “Young W omen and a Violence-free society”
> 
> Photo shows Mrs Goh Chok Tong with members of the BOAW on 17 Mar
> 1994 when she was presented a book on “The Baha’i Lotus Temple” in New
> Delhi that she had visited on 24 Jan 1994 during Prime Minister Goh Chok
> Tong’s State Visit to attend India’s National Day on 26 Jan 1994.
> 
> The BOAW has also worked closely with government ministries. In 1995-
> 6, D r H.B. Danesh, an internationally renowned psychiatrist was invited
> by the BOAW to conduct a series of public workshops on marriage, family
> life and personal development. D uring his visits, he met w ith several
> government and non-government organisations, medical and educational
> institutions working in the areas of family violence and juvenile delinquency
> as well as w ith the H onourable M r Abdullah Tarmugi, the M inister for
> Community Development. In 1997-8, BOAW and SCWO jointly organised
> a series of talks by medical doctors on various aspects of w om en’s health.
> This project was given the endorsement of the M inistry of Health.
> 
> ”   / f
> 
> W hen the new SCW O building opened in 1998, the BOAW was among
> the first to establish its office there. It is now the focal point for Baha’i
> women in their activities for service to the public.
> 
> Baha’i women are also active in other w om en’s organisations. A Baha’i,
> D r Phyllis Chew, became President of AW ARE in 1998. During her ten­
> ure as President, she launched a public exhibition on the atrocities of
> mass rape and collected 45,000 signatures for a petition to the Indonesian
> President and the U N Commissioner for Human Rights. D r Chew is also a
> founder member and past President of the University W om en’s Associa­
> tion of Singapore (UWAS), an affiliate of the International Federation of
> University Women (IFUW).
> 
> M any other Baha’i w om en have also been recognised for their active
> contibution to society at large. The following Baha’i women were also
> recipients of “The Long Service Award” from the Ministry of Community
> Development: D r Phyllis Chew, Mrs Fatima Tia Traazil, Mrs Anula Samuel,
> Ms Lynette Thomas, Ms Tan Lay Kuan and Mrs Rose Ong.
> 
> Inter-religious Activities
> 
> Know thou assuredly that the essence of all the Prophets o f God
> is one and the same. B aha’ullah
> 
> World Religion Day
> 
> In an endeavour to emphasise the common features underlying the sacred
> teachings of the religions in our multi-religious and multi-racial nation,
> the Baha’i C om m unity recently (1995) revived the observance of W orld
> Religion Day in Singapore, the first observance of which was organised
> by the Singapore Baha’is in 1956 w ith the Chief M inister M r Lim Yew
> H ock as the guest of honour at the Victoria Memorial Hall.
> 
> Since 1995, four W orld Religion Day observances have been held in
> Singapore. The first tw o were organised by the Baha’is while the third
> observance in 1997 was jointly organised by the Baha’i com m unity of
> Singapore and the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO)14 of Singapore. The
> fourth observance of W orld Religion Day was organized for the first time
> by the IRO.
> 
> The Aim of World Religion Day
> 
> The underlying purpose of World Religion Day, inaugurated over fifty years ago and
> now regularly observed in over eighty countries on the third Sunday of January, is to
> foster the establishment of inter-faith understanding and harmony by emphasizing the
> common denominators in all religions.
> The message of World Religion Day is that mankind, which has stemmed from one
> origin, must now strive towards the reconciliation of that which has been split up.
> Human unity and true equality depend not on past origins, but on future goals, on what
> we are becoming and whither we are going. The prime cause of the age-old conflict
> between man and man has been the absence of one ethical belief, a single spiritual standard
> one moral code.
> The history of man’s cultures and civilizations is the history of his religions. Nothing has
> such an integrating effect as the bond of a common Faith. The history of religion shows that
> all religions had this unifying power— the power to instil in the hearts and minds of their
> adherents the fundamental verities, the vital spiritual standards, and thus establish a unity of
> conscience for motivating man towards founding great cultures and civilizations.
> Hence, through World Religion Day observances dedicated towards encouraging the
> leaders and followers of every religion to acknowledge the similarities in each of our
> sacred Faiths, a unified approach to the challenges that confront humanity can be agreed
> upon and then applied on an ever- expanding scale to permeate the very psyche of
> mankind, so that it can be made to see the whole earth as a smgle country and all numanity
> its citizenry.
> 
> 14The IRO Singapore is one of the oldest if not the oldest IRO in the world. It originally
> began with members from the Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and Sikh Faiths
> with the Zoroastrian, Baha’i and Taoist Faiths joining in 1961,1995 and 1996 respectively,
> thus comprising in its membership all the nine independent world religions.
> 
> These observances clearly filled an im portant niche in Singapore’s multi­
> religious society for greater awareness of each others’ sacred Faiths and
> audiences of over 1000 packed the hall for every observance to hear the
> eminent religious personalities address common denominators from the
> perspective of their own religions. The government too extended its vital
> support by the presence of Ministers and Ambassador-at-Large as guests of
> honour for each of these annually observed most popular publicly held
> inter-Faith events in our nation.
> 
> Em inent national and international personalities also conveyed their fe­
> licitations for World Religion Day observances to its organisers.
> 
> A ppreciations
> 
> “The President sends his best wishes fo r a meaningful and successful observance. "
> Principal Private Secretary to the President of the Republic of Singapore -1/9/94
> 
> “I congratulate you fo r taking tim e to attend this gathering to observe World Religion Day and...
> wish you every success in your deliberations to bring about peace and tranquillity, no m atter how
> distant the ultim ate goal may be. "
> Former President Wee Kim Wee
> (message to the Chairman and all participants of World Religion Day Inaugural Observance in
> Singapore 1995)
> 
> “He wishes the occasion a success. "
> Principal Private Secretary to Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew - 13/6/95
> 
> “I congratulate the B ahai C om m unity o f Singapore fo r organising this inaugural observance. I
> hope it w ill become an annual event. This is an auspicious year to hold this observance because it is
> the 50th anniversary o f the end o f the Second World War and the founding o f the United Nations.
> What is the purpose o f this observance? It is to prom ote understanding and a m ity among the
> different religions ana their followers. This is a worthy goal. It is a goal which the world needs
> because, in some parts o f the world, we still see the existence o f religious intolerance, religious
> hatred, and religious conflict. ''
> Professor Tommy Thong-Bee Koh
> Singapore’s Ambassador-At-Large
> (Keynote Address delivered at the Inaugural Observance of World Religion Day in Singapore 1995)
> 
> “I assure you o f m y prayers fo r all who w ill take part in World Religion D ay that you may be one
> heart fu ll o f love in the Heart o f God. "
> Mother Teresa - 9/8/96
> 
> “I am heartened by this large gathering o f people fro m different religious faiths, coming together
> fo r the com mon purpose o f fostering inter fa ith understanding. Today's gathering is a significant
> reflection o f our efforts to promote and preserve racial and religious harm ony in Singapore. "
> Mr Lim Hng Kiang
> Minister for National Development
> (Keynote Address delivered at 2nd Observance of World Religion Day in Singapore 1996)
> 
> “The World Religion Day observed fo r the third year in Singapore is significant in that the Inter
> Religious Organisation (IRO) is co-organising it with the World Religion Day committee o f the
> Baha'i C om m unity which organised the first two observances here. The intention is fo r the IR O to
> organise fu tu re W R D observances to continue the good w ork started by the Singapore Baha'i
> C om m unity."
> Mr Abdullah Tarmugi
> Minister for Community Development
> (Keynote Address delivered at 3rd Observance of World Religion Day in Singapore 1997)
> 
> This is indeed a blessed occasion where we seepeople, not only o f differentfaiths, but o f different races coming
> togetherand interactinginpeace andgoodwill asyou do today. Farfrom seeingour differences as impediments, we
> see them, rather, as causesfor us to meet and celebrate; to know and understand each other. Is not diversity the
> essence o f life and creationfor us to cheńsh and appreciatef
> 
> The commemoration o f W orld Religion Day in Singapore was started by the B ahai com m unity
> fo u r years ago. B ut the Inter-Religious Organisation or IR O has agreed to be responsible fo r
> organising the annual observance fro m this year onwards. This 4th observance o f World Religion
> D ay in Singapore is therefore significant in that it is the first tim e the IR O is hosting it.
> Mr Abdullah Tarmugi
> Minister for Community Development
> (Keynote Address delivered at 4th Observance of World Religion Day in Singapore 1998)
> 
> The 3rdPrize in the World Religion Day Essay Competition in 1998 was won by Baha’i youth
> Ms Kelly Koay for the second year in succession. As Ms Kelly was in the USA pursuing her
> studies in medicine, her sister Ms Michelle Koav is seen here receiving the award on Kelly’s
> behalf from the guest of honour the Honourable Mr Abdullah Tarmugi, Minister for Com­
> munity Development. The aim of these Essay Competitions which were only open to Singapore
> youths, was to encourage them to learn about other Faiths besides their own.
> 
> Baha’is in the IRO
> 
> The first Baha’i member of the IRO was D r Suresh Sahadevan who became
> a member in 1995. Mr Jamshed Fozdar and Mr Foo Check Woo were the
> first Baha’is to serve on the executive Council of the IRO. Mr Fozdar served
> as the Hon. Secretary for a two-year period from July 1996-August 1998.
> During his tenure as Hon. Secretary, Mr Fozdar was delegated to represent
> the IR O 15 at the Executive Committee Meeting of the Asian Conference
> 
> 15The IRO’s objectives are to inculcate the spirit of friendship and co-operation among the
> leaders and followers of different religions and to improve the condition of the adherents of
> different religions in generally accepted moral principles. The IRO conducts regular inter­
> faith seminars and public talks to increase tne puhlic’s knowledge about the various
> religious observances, and holds prayers and blessings ceremonies for various government agencies
> and civic institutions. It is also consulted by Committees of Parliament on matters or ethics
> and beliefs of the citizenry.
> 
> on Religion and Peace in Ayuthaya, Thailand held in O ctober (15-19)
> 1996, which was opened by the Former Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda
> Privy Councilor to His Majesty King Rama IX of Thailand. In June (21-
> 26) 1998 M r Fozdar also represented the IR O at the U nited Religions
> Initiative Global Summit III held in Stanford University, California, USA.
> M r Fozdar and M r Foo were succeeded by M r Selvam Satanam and Lt.
> Col. Yeo Yew Hock on the IRO Council.
> 
> Mr Fozdar later served as Chairman of the IR O ’s Committee for the Com­
> memorative Postage Stamp to mark the IR O ’s 50th Anniversary in 1999
> and, with Committee members M r V.R. N athan (Chairman of the Hindu
> Endowments Board) and Brother Joseph M cNally (Former President of
> LaSalle-SIA College of Arts), was successful in having the Singapore Post
> issue on 15 January 1999 the IRO Commemorative stamp in three denomi­
> nations listing on it in chronological order the names of its nine constitu­
> ent religions: Hindu, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Buddhist, Taoist, Christian, Mus­
> lim, Sikh, Baha’i.
> 
> This set of three stamps was issued by Singapore Post on 15 January 1999 to commemorate
> the 50th anniversary of the Inter-Religious Organisation, Singapore. The design shows the
> Organisation’s logo, its motto and the names of its nine constituent religions in chronologi­
> cal order.
> 
> Baha’i Presidency of the IRO
> 
> In conform ity w ith the IR O ’s policy of annually rotating the H on.
> Presidency among its nine constituent religions, the period from August
> 1998 to August 1999 saw a member of the Baha’i Faith, M r Selvam Satanam,
> as the IR O President. M r Satanam, at the age of 29, was the first Baha’i to
> become H on. President of the IR O since the Baha’is joined in 1995. His
> term of office saw the IRO hosting a first-ever exhibition on the nine major
> religions of Singapore at the prestigious Singapore History Museum marking
> the IR O ’s 50th Anniversary, and also the publication of the revised edition
> of the book (first published in 1993) entitled “Religions in Singapore” which
> sold out within a couple of months of publication. The Honourable Minister
> for C om m unity Development M r Abdullah Tarmugi presided at the
> opening of the exhibition and the launch of the book.
> The IRO published the revised edition
> of “ Religionsin Singapore^m W )9^^
> 
> In keeping w ith the tradition initiated by Singapore’s First Head of State
> President M r Yusof Ishak and followed by the Second President D r
> Benjamin Sheares as well as the Fourth President M r Wee Kim Wee,
> Singapore’s Fifth President M r Ong Teng Cheong also hosted a reception
> on 3 June 1999 at the Istana for representatives of the nine constituent
> religions in the IRO Council.
> 
> Photo shows His Excellency President Ong standing front row centre
> and on his right IRO President Mr Selvam Satanam of the Singapore
> Baha’i Community.
> 
> Environment
> 
> Every mano f discernment, while walking upon the earth, feeleth
> indeed abashed, inasmuch as he is fully aware that the thing which
> is the source of his prosperity, his wealth, his might, his exaltation,
> his advancement and power is, as ordained by God, the very earth
> which is trodden beneath the feet o f all men. B a h a ’u ’llah
> 
> Active since 1992 when it was first established, the Baha’i Office of
> Environment (BOE) promotes through its activities a vision of sustainable
> development which combines economic, ecological and spiritual principles.
> The protection of the environment is viewed in the broadest possible sense
> as Baha’is believe that recognition of the oneness of m ankind is a
> fundamental component of the environment movement.
> 
> The office works closely with various organisations with a view to sharing
> information and collaborating on educational projects on environmental
> conservation. It has contributed to awareness of our ecological problems
> through exhibitions, talks and children’s activities. It also takes part in
> regular coastal and nature reserve clean-ups and organises activities to mark
> Earth Day, World Environment Day and Clean and Green Week.
> 
> C ollaboration w ith o th er green groups, including the Singapore
> Environmental Council, has led to the informal setting up by the Office,
> of a green network for consultation on current concerns. This has resulted
> in a higher degree of inter-group co-operation and collaboration.
> 
> Environm ental activities across interfaith lines have also been initiated,
> w ith talks by different religions on their perspectives concerning the
> environment, as well as inter-faith commemoration of Earth Day.
> 
> Representatives of Singapore’s religious communities and BOE members at the interfaith
> commemoration of Earth Day at Fort Canning Park
> 
> Representatives of the BOE have attended regional and international
> conferences on the environment, including those organised by UNESCAP
> in Bangkok, the G lobal N G O C onference on E nvironm ent and
> Development in Paris, and others.
> 
> Recently the Earth Charter, originally drafted for adoption by the Earth
> Summit in 1992, has been redrafted following substantial input from a
> broad-based group of N G O ’s, including religious groups. Internationally
> and locally Baha’is are part of initiatives to make better known this important
> values statement which addresses the fundamental issues underlying any
> attempts to solve environmental and other problems.
> 
> Earlier, in 1990, B aha’i
> women organised The Arts
> fo r Nature which was one
> of the first attempts to raise
> public awareness on the
> n eed to c o n se rv e o u r
> environment in Singapore.
> The works of more than 60
> local artists were selected
> an d th e ir p a in tin g s ,
> sculptures and installation pieces were displayed at the Empress Place
> Museum and the proceeds from the sale of the paintings donated to the
> Save the Turtles Campaign of the Malayan Nature Society. The production
> of the full-colour catalogue was sponsored by the Hongkong and Shanghai
> Banking Corporation, as part of its “Care for N ature” programme.
> 
> In 1992, a Baha’i, Mrs Fatima Tia Traazil became the first woman to win
> the Ministry of Environment’s Green Leaf Award in the individual category
> for outstanding contribution to environmental protection and preservation.
> She also served on the Board of the Singapore Environment Council from
> 1992-1998.
> 
> Photo shows Mrs Traazil receiving the Green Leaf Award on 7 November
> 1992 from the Minister of Environment the Honourable Dr Ahmad Mattar.
> 
> Education
> 
> Regard man as a mine rich in gems o f inestimable value. Education
> can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to
> benefit therefrom. B a h a ’u ’llah
> 
> C hildren’s moral education classes open to all are held regularly by the
> Singapore Baha’i Com munity. Virtues and the skills of co-operation and
> consultation are taught in an atmosphere of fun and enjoyment.
> 
> The independent investigation of reality, whether scientific or religious is
> strongly encouraged. Scientific knowledge and religious education are
> regarded as the two wings of the bird of humanity. Baha’u ’llah’s Writings
> portray science and religion as different yet harmonious approaches to the
> comprehension of reality. These two paths are essentially compatible and
> mutually reinforcing.
> 
> Baha’i children are taught
> about the principles, history
> and p ractice of all w o rld
> religions since “Oneness of
> Religion” is one of the cardinal
> principles of the Baha’i Faith
> and, in accordance w ith the
> F a ith ’s   p rin c ip le    of
> “Independent Investigation of
> T ruth”, the children of Baha’i
> parents may choose which
> religion they wish to belong to
> when they reach the age of
> fifteen.
> 
> In 1989, when the Ministry of
> E d u c a tio n and      th e
> G overnm ent Parliam entary
> Committee for Education were
> studying w hether religious
> knowledge ought to be taught
> in sch o o ls, th e B ah a ’i
> com m unity made representations for school children to be taught a
> curriculum that covers all the world religions. The Baha’i Community
> */
> submitted that “through such a curriculum the students will gain an
> appreciation of the common origins of different religions and much of the
> animosity and misunderstanding that are the result of ignorance will be
> dissipated”.
> 
> Grow with Nature Banner Project
> 
> This was organised in 1991 by the Singapore Baha’i Community to create
> awareness in school children of the importance of protecting and caring
> for the environment. O ver 80 banners painted by primary, secondary
> and tertiary students were displayed along the Singapore River during
> that year’s Clean and Green Week.
> 
> Youth
> 
> Blessed is he who in the prime o f his youth and the heydey o f his
> life will arise to serve the Cause o f the Lord o f the beginning and of
> the                 end,and adorn his heart with His love. The manifestation of
> such a grace is greater than the creation of the heavens and of the
> earth. Blessed are the steadfast and well is it with those who are
> firm. B a h á V llá h
> 
> Baha’i youth, wherever they reside, are com m itted to a strong moral
> code that forbids intoxication of any kind, prohibits prem arital sex
> and discourages smoking. They are exhorted to uphold the highest
> virtues in both their personal and public life and to look outside
> them selves to see how th e y can be o f service to th e w o rld of
> humanity.
> 
> In Singapore, the Baha’i Y outh D evelopm ent G roup (“B Y D G ”) is
> affiliated to the N ational Y outh Council (“N Y C ”) and Baha’i youth
> regularly participate in the programmes of the N Y C. In 1997 and
> 1999 a Baha’i youth, Michelle Koay, was chosen by the N Y C to be a
> m em b er of th e d eleg a tio n th a t re p re se n te d S in g ap o re at th e
> International Y outh Forum in South Korea.
> 
> The BYDG runs weekly workshops for Baha’i youth to study the
> application of the spiritual and moral teachings of the Baha’i Faith
> in th e ir daily lives. Singapore Baha’i y o u th have co n trib u ted to
> com m unity service projects w ithin Singapore and in China, Mongolia,
> M yanm ar and Indonesia.
> 
> In 1996 a contem porary perform ing arts group, “The Singapore Baha’i
> Y outh W orkshop”, was set up by a group of Baha’i youth to convey
> the principles of the Baha’i Faith through songs, dance and drama.
> The W orkshop has since perform ed at num erous youth carnivals,
> schools, old folks’ homes and concerts. T heir perform ances have
> m ainly been on the eradication of racial prejudice, the prevention
> o f su b sta n c e abuse and th e a c q u is itio n o f v irtu e s su ch as
> trustw orthiness, justice and unity. Their signature perform ance is the
> “Step D ance” which has its origins in Africa and is a perform ance
> demonstrating the powerful impact of unity and cooperation.
> 
> #
> The Singapore Baha’i Youth W orkshop performing the “Step Dance” at the official
> opening of the N ational Y outh Centre in 1996 by the H onourable Prim e Minister
> Mr Goh Chok Tong.
> 
> Baha’i youth have made their m ark in international efforts to prom ote
> peace and conservation of the environm ent. Singapore Baha’i youth
> contributed articles to two books published by Peace Child International,
> namely “Rescue Mission Planet Earth: a children’s edition o f Agenda
> and “A World In Our Hands”. In the case of the latter book, which detailed
> the past, present and future of the United Nations, the submission of the
> Singapore Baha’i youth was considered w orthy of an invitation for a
> representative to be on the editorial board. A Singapore Baha’i youth, Jordan
> Melic, had the honour of being selected to travel to New York to present a
> copy of the book to U N Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on the
> occasion of the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the U N held in San
> Francisco in 1996.
> 
> AWorld in
> [>ur Hands
> 
> Singapore Baha’i youth Jordan Melic, 14, presenting copy o f : “A World in O ur Hands to U N
> Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1 9 9 6 )____________________________________
> 
> Extreme right: Singapore Baha’i youth, Sonia Ong and Adeline Koay at the 42nd Session of
> the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations in 1998.
> 
> In 1998, tw o Singapore Baha’i youth, Sonia O ng and Adeline Koay,
> represented the Baha’i International Community at the 42nd Session of the
> Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations in New York.
> They were the only Singapore youth present at the conference. In 1999
> another Baha’i youth, Nadya Melic, represented Singapore at Peace Child
> International’s Young Person’s Millennium Conference in Hawaii, USA.
> 
> Many of the Baha’i youth in Singapore are active in sports and have earned
> recognition for their contributions. M r A nthony Joseph donned Singapore
> national colours for hockey from 1967 to 1973. An outstanding player from
> his school days in Raffles Institution, A nthony earned his first call up to
> the national squad when he was only 17 years old. A nthony was a member
> of the Singapore team that w on the historic gold medal at the 1973 SEA
> Games and in that same year he was also the captain of the national Under
> 23 team. A nother Baha’i, Selvam Satanam who also hailed from Raffles
> Institution, was awarded the Singapore Schools Sports Council National
> Colours Award in 1986 for his services in the Singapore Combined Schools
> hockeyteam.
> 
> Baha’i youth have also distinguished themselves in other arenas. The 1999
> SLA Inter Junior College Debating Competition saw Jordan Melic winning
> the coveted Best Speaker of the Series Award.
> 
> ł
> Marriage and Family Life
> 
> Marriage is “                                  afortress for well-being and salvation”.
> Baha’u’Mh
> 
> Baha’i marriage is recognized under the laws of Singapore and since 1972
> Baha’i Marriage Solemnizers have been appointed by the Registrar of
> Marriages.
> 
> Baha’is affirm that the family is the basic unit of society. Unless this all
> im portant building block is healthy and unified, society itself cannot be
> healthy and unified. Monogamous marriage stands at the foundation of
> family life. Inter-racial marriages are also encouraged in the Baha’i teach­
> ings, which stress the essential oneness of the human race.
> 
> Parental permission for marriage is obligatory. Once it is obtained, the
> marriage takes place, requiring only the simplest of ceremonies. In the
> presence of two witnesses designated by the local Baha’i governing council,
> the couple recites the following verse: “We will all, verily, abide by the will of
> God.” For Baha’is, that simple commitment to live by God’s will implies all
> of the commitments associated w ith marriage, including the promise to
> love, honour and cherish.
> 
> Beyond these simple requirements, Baha’is are free to arrange their own
> marriage celebration.
> 
> The signing of the marriage certificate at a Baha’i wedding in the presence of
> Mr Kuek Yi Hsing the Singapore Baha’i Marriage Solemnizer (2ndfrom right).
> 
> Singapore Association for Baha’i Studies (ABS)
> 
> Thesanctified souls should ponder and meditate in their hearts
> regarding the methods of teaching. From the texts o f the wondrous,
> heavenly Scriptures they should memorize phrases and passages
> bearing on various instances, so that in the course o f their speech
> they may recite divine verses whenever the occasion demandeth it,
> in as much as these holy verses are the most potent elixir, the greatest
> and mightiest talisman. So potent is their influence that the hearer
> will have no cause for vacillation.
> BaháV lláh
> 
> The ABS is a committee of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Singapore
> and was set up in April 1996. It organises an annual conference at which
> invited speakers deliver talks on aspects of the Baha’i Faith and Comparative
> Religion.
> 
> These talks then form the basis for a series of papers which are collected
> into the Singapore Baha’i Studies Review. This journal promotes religious
> and cultural harmony and provides a forum to discuss how religion might
> be applied to solve contem porary problems. Thus far four volumes have
> been published, on such topics as unity of religions, the soul and the after­
> life, and challenges for the new millennium.
> 
> Four volumes of the Singapore Baha’i Studies Review
> 
> The Goal of the Baha’i Faith
> 
> “Thewell-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable
> unless and until its unity is firmly established. ”
> B aha’u ’llah
> 
> The driving force behind the civilizing of human nature, Baha’u ’llah asserts,
> has been successive interventions of the Divine in history. It has been through
> this influence that the innate moral and spiritual faculties of hum anity
> have been gradually developed and the advance of civilization made possible.
> Associated with the missions of such transcendent figures as Krishna, Moses,
> Zoroaster, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Jesus, M uhammad, and G uru Nanak, the
> phenomenon is an ever-recurring one; it is without beginning or end because
> it is fundamental to the evolutionary order itself.
> 
> A lthough nurtured by the process, hum anity has never understood it.
> Instead, people have constructed around each episode in their spiritual
> experience a separate religious system. Throughout history the religious
> impulse has been hobbled by the resulting contradictions and bitter
> conflicts.
> 
> Baha’u ’llah compares the maturation of the human race as a whole to the
> experience of its individual members who struggle, successively, through
> the stages of infancy, childhood and adolescence. Today, hum anity has
> entered on its collective coming-of-age, endowed w ith the capacity to see
> the entire panorama of its development as a single process. The challenge
> of m aturity is to accept that we are one people, to free ourselves from the
> limited identities and creeds of the past, and to build together the
> foundations of global civilization.
> 
> The vital contribution which the teachings of Baha’u’llah make to Religion
> is the development of spiritual tru th from the area of the individual
> conscience to embrace the area of human and social relations as a whole.
> Thus, wherever Baha’i communities exist, exists also a true cross-section of
> the human race united in conscience and united in purpose.
> 
> Hence, to Baha’is, both for themselves individually, as well as for the collective
> development of humanity, the ‘purpose for being’ has a single and identical
> goal - W O RLD U N ITY , achievable only through the emergence of an
> ethically developed race conscious and convinced of its intrinsic spirituality
> and dedicated to the full realization on the material plane of the all-tooevident fact which our scientific and technological achievements have
> irrefutably forced upon us mentally -- a fact emphatically proclaimed 150
> years ago by BahP’u ’llah - that the earth is a single home and all humanity
> one family.
> 
> In the words of the late Guardian of the Baha’i Faith:
> 
> The unity of the human race as envisaged by Baha’u’llah
> implies the establishment of a world federal system ruling the
> whole earth and exercising unchallengeable authority over its
> unimaginably vast resources. Blending together the ideals of
> both the East and the West. Liberated from the curse of war
> and its miseries. A system in which Force is made the servant
> of Justice, whose life is sustained by its universal recognition
> of one God and its allegiance to one common Revelation.
> Such is the goal towards which humanity, impelled by the
> unifying forces of life is moving.
> 
> W hatever be their professions, in whatever climes they labour, their one
> over-riding calling — the prime directive — the achievement of the unity
> of the human race, is the vision that animates and energizes every Baha’i,
> and to which all peoples are lovingly invited to pledge their allegiance.
> The year 2000 marks the golden anniversary o f the arrival of
> the B aha’i Faith in Singapore. This commemorative book
> documents the history, achievements and contributions o f the
> Baha’i community during those fifty years. Among these have
> been the championing of women’s rights, fostering inter-faith
> cooperation and understanding, promoting an environmental
> ethic and advancing moral education for children. The foundation
> of Baha’i belief is in the unity of God, of religion and of humanity
> and it is this that propels Baha’is to work for the greater good
> of society wherever they may reside.
> 
> ISBN 981-04-2499-X
>
> — *The Baha'i Faith: 50 Years in Singapore (Used by permission of the curator)*