The city-state of Singapore hosted the regional WMCW seminar for Eastern Asia from 13th to 15th November. The 4 WMCW movements from the region took part: ACO from Japan, KaNoJang from Korea, MCW from Taiwan and CFSM from Singapore.
Singapore is a city-state, covering a surface area of 718 km2, with a population of 5.45 million inhabitants, only 3.87 million of which are residents. The city is located in the Malaysian peninsula, surrounded by the islands that make up Indonesia. The climate is equatorial and the population is mostly Chinese, with a minority of Malaysians and Indians. There are 1.34 million foreign workers. The city is futuristic, with many different and often surprisingly shaped buildings, its cleanliness is renowned the world over. It is also a prosperous city, where money is king and the hard working population are kept well under control. The country is a member of the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian countries) made up of approximately 10 countries whose size and living standards vary considerably: Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia.
The local CFSM movement (Christian Family and Social Movement) organised the regional seminar, together with other delegations, on premises belonging to the Saint Theresa parish. You will no doubt remember the theme of the 2013 MMTC General Assembly in Haltern-Am-See: “Let us build a society that is fair, fraternal and sustainable”. This is one aspect of the Fraternity theme that was presented. 25 people came together to exchange ideas on fraternity.
In the beginning we found it hard to discuss fraternity because we soon realised that it is a term that is hardly ever used in our respective languages. We speak about love and solidarity, but the idea of fraternity is viewed as somewhat abstract. Discussing fraternity does not seem to make sense in societies, which are constantly encouraging people to be competitive. Aside from the language problem, we realised that a life of fraternity is not easily achieved in this current economic climate and social context, in which individualism is encouraged, and in which all those who do not keep up with the pace are trampled on.
We very often do not even have the time to eat our meals around a table together as families because we all have different work or study schedules (or even private tuition). Moreover, in our countries, the divorce rate has increased considerably over the last few years. There are many different reasons for this. In today’s world, a couple both have to go out to work to make a living, working conditions can affect relationships and unemployment can make things difficult for families because they are living off loans. Large families have an important role to play but all tend to distance themselves from one another.
Competition is fierce in companies and employees all tend to see their colleagues as rivals. This is because they are scared of losing their jobs. There are more and more migrant workers in our ageing societies and these people are also seen as rivals because they take our work. The reality is that they actually do jobs that local people do not want to do; dirty and dangerous work, as, for example, in the deserted nuclear plants in Japan. Very often the media take pleasure in publishing stories about foreign people committing crimes. The problem is that they very often refer to the overall rise in crimes committed by foreigners, without actually referring to the actual type of crime. In fact, the main crime committed by foreigners is that they do not have the authorisation to live and work in the respective country. This only contributes to an increase in people’s fear and mistrust of foreigners in general. Aborigines in Taiwan, people who were born there, are often seen as foreigners in their own countries.
Some elderly people live alone and isolated. Very often they are no longer in contact with their children. Some children would like to help their parents, as the law requires them to, but they do not even earn enough money to feed their own children. Social benefits for elderly people are not enough. In a country like Korea, retired workers are the ones who have contributed the most to the economical miracle of the country, but they are the ones who are sacrificed; they do not get the recognition they deserve from their society. Many of these people are outcasts and do not receive any help. This is why they have to continue doing small jobs as long as they can, picking up cardboard boxes and items that they can sell in order to survive. There is a high rate of suicide amongst elderly people. Luckily, some associations help them and put fraternity into practice.
In large Asian towns, people who live in the same city often do not know each other and keep a distance from one another, remaining anonymous in order to protect their family privacy. Even Christians detach themselves from one another in parishes and committed social movements do not necessarily feel welcome. There is more room for ‘spiritual groups’ which are interested in social problems and which seem to know how people can protect themselves from the outside world.
The environment is totally shut off from the idea of fraternity but despite this, our members are not yet ready to give up. A quote from the Exode came up many times during our discussion. God said to Moses: “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers. (Ex. 3/7) Militants are aware that God is also waiting for them to hear those that suffer, so that they will react. They know that they have limited possibilities, both resulting from the number of militants, and also from the fact that they themselves are tired from long working hours. But, this did not stop them from stating several times that the change has to come from them. Do not wait for others to change, but be the first to act, to show that change is indeed possible. Wouldn’t a simple smile be a good way to reach out to others? A smile is enough to make people open their hearts and give their trust. Some militants are already committed to the aborigines, others to migrant workers or female foreigners who are married to a native; others campaign against nuclear energy, others show their solidarity with workers who have been made redundant; others support work carried out by organisations which help the elderly or disabled people, etc. All these actions help to develop a real sense of human fraternity.
Although the notion of fraternity was difficult to get to grips with in the beginning, by the end of the 3-day seminar, participants felt that they had experienced real fraternity and this was in spite of communication problems arising from the diversity of languages and cultures. They said that they had really put fraternity to the test. Participants thanked CFSM militants for their warm welcome and also for having shown them the true Singapore, by inviting them to a family meal and through a friendly, fraternal exchange.
Michel Roncin, Chaplain in Asia
