Hindu Priest Suffers Serious Religious Assault in Singapore
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Hindu Priest Suffers Serious Religious Assault during National Service in Singapore
My dear brothers and sisters of Singapore and humanity in general,
We request your urgent attention!
Madana Mohan Das (a full-time Hindu Priest, IC No.: S9029832A, serving his compulsory National Service as a Private at Jurong Camp 1), is a Hindu Brahmin priest and as a priest, he has to follow strict dietary principles of our faith by not eating meat, fish, eggs, onion, garlic and mushrooms. We are not allowed any intoxication including coffee and tea. Our priests only eat food cooked as prayer offerings, technically called Prasadam.
When he was enlisted into Basic Military Training (BMT), he was allowed to have his food brought in from the temple. Upon completion of his BMT, he was posted as a driver. The commanding officer then made a request for him to be posted as a clerk so that he could be allowed to have his food brought from the temple and perform his national service without compromising his faith.
However we were told that this request was rejected and he has been disallowed to have his meals to be brought to him from the temple. We have sent a letter dated 15 May 2009 to Mindef about this situation but they flatly denied providing any assistance. He is allowed to book out of the camp every Tuesday and Thursday evening and the weekends. Only then has he the chance to eat a proper meal at the temple whereas the rest of the days, he is sustaining on dry ration brought from the temple on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
In the meantime, his superiors forced him to eat the food at his camp and have asked him to cut off his Sikha, the tuft of hair kept by Hindu priests. They charged him twice; once for food and once for the sikha. He chose to go for court marshal. He was told that the trial would be in two weeks%u2019 time. While he was waiting for his trial, they suddenly charged him again for the same %u201Coffence%u201D and took him on the 20th of July, 2009, to the Detention Barracks (DB), the army jail for an indefinite period of rigorous punishment. But Madana Mohan Das is going on a hunger strike until death, inside the jail as he would not eat anything except Krishna Prasadam (sanctified food), being a full-time temple priest all his life.
Is this justice? In the national service, the Muslims are given provision to have Halal food. The Sikhs are allowed to keep their long hair covered with a turban. Why then can't a Hindu priest be given facility to practice his religion peacefully? Is it because we are a minority that we can be played around with? Is this what our country's much-advertised multi-racial and multi-religious harmony stands for? We don't think so. But we are confused by this incident.
The victim is not against serving his national service, nor are we. We would like to emphasize that we fully support Madana Mohan Das serving his national service. But we are very much disturbed by the insensitivity shown by his superiors towards his religious faith.
Fervent appeals to different ministers of influential disposition were to no avail. So we are appealing to you people for support in a bid to uphold justice and basic human rights.
Therefore, we are here on a campaign to let everybody know about the injustice and religious intolerance shown to an 18-year old Hindu priest. We think that the citizens of Singapore in general, regardless of race, religion, caste, creed and color, agree that everyone has the right to practice his/her religion freely. We humbly request you to spread this word around for the sake of upholding justice. Please send this to as many people as possible.
The petition can be signed on the following website:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/help-save-madana-mohan-das
Yours sincerely
The devotees at
Sri Krishna Mandir
No.9, Geylang Lorong 29, #03-02
(S) 388065
Tel: 62502280
Email: [email protected]
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I sadly emphatise with the priest.
I also know and hate the fact that SAF are so fucked up in some issues.
But i have to tell u the fact. Stop wasting time in the petition, fight for it another way, least u want to see priest suffer hunger till death -
jehovah's witnesses..
read about it...
he's being treated the same way everyone is treated.. THAT'S justice..
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Originally posted by the Bear:
jehovah's witnesses..
read about it...
he's being treated the same way everyone is treated.. THAT'S justice..
Huge difference!
Jehovah witnesses went against the "SAF"
This Hindu priest did serve without complains, just hope to be able to comply to his religious wishes! -
Originally posted by ChingAlvin:
Huge difference!
Jehovah witnesses went against the "SAF"
This Hindu priest did serve without complains, just hope to be able to comply to his religious wishes!everyone have their religious convictions too, some of the old catholics I know .... die die must go for morning mass everyday ....
so a kid comes along and say "I also ! " ... he gets everything lah ? ....
so a kid comes along and say "I must go to church and cell meetings 3 times a week ! it's my religious right !" .. so no need night training liao lah ? .....
so a buddhist kid comes along and say "I must niam keng at the temple every morning, cos I'm a novice monk ! it's my religious right !" .... he gets to stay out or skip NS lah ? ....
or a sikh kid comes along and say "I must carry a sword with me at all times, as commanded by my religion, it's my religious right !" ... so how ?!?! (and it has already happened, in canada !)
wah ! ...... good idea to chao keng eh ? ..... play the religious card ... so they won't dare to touch you ? Remember, when you claim some rights for yourself, you're also taking away some rights from others, what is fair to one person would be unfair favouritism for others ....
as to the fellow, I think he should shut up and serve, instead of stirring up shit and making trouble ....
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I beg to differ...
If he is just someone anyone in that religion, of course not.
I'm from the pointview that he is a priest, well that is, i assume that he can prove that since BTM allows his religious ways. -
btw.. if i asked to book out 2 times a week, i'd be laughed at, then told to drop 20 for being a *&^#
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Drop 20 only so good?!
Me coy that time Route march 4km SBO only, knn sing song not loud enough kena 70 then go back another 40.. Sibeh sian one...
Well book out 2 times a week is out of the question due to religious purpose..excluding friday/sat book out -
Originally posted by ChingAlvin:
I beg to differ...
If he is just someone anyone in that religion, of course not.
I'm from the pointview that he is a priest, well that is, i assume that he can prove that since BTM allows his religious ways.so back to the question .... where do you draw the line ? ......
take those charismatic churches for example ..... everyone can be a cell leader, can lead a church, can be a pastor ...........they are not just "anyone" in that religion too, eh ? .....
so "Sir ! ... I want nights off on monday ! wed ! and friday ! and I cannot do any sort of duty or training on the weekends ! cos my church cell and flock needs me to be around ! ... it's my religious right !"
what does it sound like ? favouritism ? ... playing the religious card ? .... chao keng excuse ? .... what would the other men in the same unit as someone like this, who has to shoulder the responsibilities of this "special" man, think ?
so if some obscure and unknown tibetan buddhist monk comes along and point out some 18 yr old singapore boy as the incarnation of some ancient monk, he gets to skip NS ? ....
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Commitments which can cause us to not be physically around of course, is out of the question... Cell leaders, temple service personnel all that are not necessity, or a must....
But things which can be done without causing major or even only moderate problems if they tried, like food in this case, i definitely feel injustice for him. -
Originally posted by ChingAlvin:
Commitments which can cause us to not be physically around of course, is out of the question... Cell leaders, temple service personnel all that are not necessity, or a must....
But things which can be done without causing major or even only moderate problems if they tried, like food in this case, i definitely feel injustice for him.I assume that we are all men that have served NS before .....
you should know how officers, especially career officers, think ....
would they want to rock the boat unneccessarily ? any sort of complaints, especially from NSFs, would be looked into, and the SAF's first reaction would be to look for faults in the commanders ... most of the time, they would give in (and let the other men steam at such favouritism), than to say no, why risk your career over some NSF who would just fark off from your life after 2 years ? ....you leave them in peace, and they would gladly leave you in peace too ...
so what then ? .... it must be more than meets the eye ... chap must have rocked the boat so severely as to turn his commanders against accommodating him .... thing is ... things like stay outs, nights off, etc, are privileges, not rights, you don't demand, it's not your father's army after all .... squeeze too hard, treat it like they owe it to you, treat it like your father's army, and the SAF will bite back ....
and I can tell you, the chap won't be getting what he wants .... not by stirring up shit like this, not by fanning cyberspace and the press with this pettition and what not ...
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Originally posted by Fatum:
I assume that we are all men that have served NS before .....
you should know how officers, especially career officers, think ....
would they want to rock the boat unneccessarily ? any sort of complaints, especially from NSFs, would be looked into, and the SAF's first reaction would be to look for faults in the commanders ... most of the time, they would give in (and let the other men steam at such favouritism), than to say no, why risk your career over some NSF who would just fark off from your life after 2 years ? ....you leave them in peace, and they would gladly leave you in peace too ...
so what then ? .... it must be more than meets the eye ... chap must have rocked the boat so severely as to turn his commanders against accommodating him .... thing is ... things like stay outs, nights off, etc, are privileges, not rights, you don't demand, it's not your father's army after all .... squeeze too hard, treat it like they owe it to you, treat it like your father's army, and the SAF will bite back ....
and I can tell you, the chap won't be getting what he wants .... not by stirring up shit like this, not by fanning cyberspace and the press with this pettition and what not ...
Totally agree on rocking boat part...
But since here nvr mention, if he didnt and its a case of fucked up superiors, i'll ask to fight. -
Originally posted by Rathayatrasingapore:
Hindu Priest Suffers Serious Religious Assault during National Service in Singapore
My dear brothers and sisters of Singapore and humanity in general,
We request your urgent attention!
Madana Mohan Das (a full-time Hindu Priest, IC No.: S9029832A, serving his compulsory National Service as a Private at Jurong Camp 1), is a Hindu Brahmin priest and as a priest, he has to follow strict dietary principles of our faith by not eating meat, fish, eggs, onion, garlic and mushrooms. We are not allowed any intoxication including coffee and tea. Our priests only eat food cooked as prayer offerings, technically called Prasadam.
When he was enlisted into Basic Military Training (BMT), he was allowed to have his food brought in from the temple. Upon completion of his BMT, he was posted as a driver. The commanding officer then made a request for him to be posted as a clerk so that he could be allowed to have his food brought from the temple and perform his national service without compromising his faith.
However we were told that this request was rejected and he has been disallowed to have his meals to be brought to him from the temple. We have sent a letter dated 15 May 2009 to Mindef about this situation but they flatly denied providing any assistance. He is allowed to book out of the camp every Tuesday and Thursday evening and the weekends. Only then has he the chance to eat a proper meal at the temple whereas the rest of the days, he is sustaining on dry ration brought from the temple on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
In the meantime, his superiors forced him to eat the food at his camp and have asked him to cut off his Sikha, the tuft of hair kept by Hindu priests. They charged him twice; once for food and once for the sikha. He chose to go for court marshal. He was told that the trial would be in two weeks%u2019 time. While he was waiting for his trial, they suddenly charged him again for the same %u201Coffence%u201D and took him on the 20th of July, 2009, to the Detention Barracks (DB), the army jail for an indefinite period of rigorous punishment. But Madana Mohan Das is going on a hunger strike until death, inside the jail as he would not eat anything except Krishna Prasadam (sanctified food), being a full-time temple priest all his life.
Is this justice? In the national service, the Muslims are given provision to have Halal food. The Sikhs are allowed to keep their long hair covered with a turban. Why then can't a Hindu priest be given facility to practice his religion peacefully? Is it because we are a minority that we can be played around with? Is this what our country's much-advertised multi-racial and multi-religious harmony stands for? We don't think so. But we are confused by this incident.
The victim is not against serving his national service, nor are we. We would like to emphasize that we fully support Madana Mohan Das serving his national service. But we are very much disturbed by the insensitivity shown by his superiors towards his religious faith.
Fervent appeals to different ministers of influential disposition were to no avail. So we are appealing to you people for support in a bid to uphold justice and basic human rights.
Therefore, we are here on a campaign to let everybody know about the injustice and religious intolerance shown to an 18-year old Hindu priest. We think that the citizens of Singapore in general, regardless of race, religion, caste, creed and color, agree that everyone has the right to practice his/her religion freely. We humbly request you to spread this word around for the sake of upholding justice. Please send this to as many people as possible.
The petition can be signed on the following website:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/help-save-madana-mohan-das
Yours sincerely
The devotees at
Sri Krishna Mandir
No.9, Geylang Lorong 29, #03-02
(S) 388065
Tel: 62502280
Email: [email protected]
do we look like SAF to you?
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Humanity in general?
"Therefore, we are here on a campaign to let everybody know about the injustice and religious intolerance shown to an 18-year old Hindu priest. We think that the citizens of Singapore in general, regardless of race, religion, caste, creed and color, agree that everyone has the right to practice his/her religion freely. We humbly request you to spread this word around for the sake of upholding justice. Please send this to as many people as possible."
Aren't you shooting yourself in the foot? Isn't this the very basis for NS?
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Originally posted by ChingAlvin:
Totally agree on rocking boat part...
But since here nvr mention, if he didnt and its a case of fucked up superiors, i'll ask to fight.of course that won't be mentioned here lah, right ? ..... which fellow would say he's farked up ? ... he'd only say that his superiors are farked up, right ? ...
but honestly, I have not met any farked up superiors in the SAF during my time ... incompetent, yes, farked up ? nah ... think about what I said .... again, which commander, especially regular ones,would want to rock the boat and jeopardize his own career over NSFs ?
And especially when it comes to religious and medical issues ..... which SAF commander you know, would dare to mess around with these issues, unless he's absolutely sure that what he's doing, is right, and covers his own ass, right ? .....
it's only when the NSFs try to rock the boat too hard and play punk or think it's his father's army would they bestir themselves and lash out ....
I've seen too many examples ... fellows getting excuses for nipples pain ... fellow who keng to service side, and then keng stay out by producing some dubious doctor's letter saying the camp is too "dusty", "rusty" etc ... all sorts of excuses .... most COs would just nod their head just to get you out of their offices, they want no trouble and just peace too, neh ? .... it's only when you cross the line ... push the envelope, took a yard instead of an inch ... then they'll say, okie, hold on boy ! ....
I have no sympathies for this fellow ... but I definitely feel sorry for the fellows who have to deal with this twerb, and especially those fellow NSFs who have to put up with this man.
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How can one claims to be supporting NS when one asks for special priviledges, priviledges that only he alone can get while others are denied?
Thus is or is not the petitioner supporting NS? NS is about youths being taught defensive skills to protect our society to be prepared for adverse situations inclusive of outright conflicts, which is total and incorporates all aspects in engagement of defensive battles, details which are regimented down to the food they eat.
Should there be an outbreak of hostilities between nations and the 'priest' is called to war, will he be allowed to eat his special meals, or partake in whatever that is avaliable, in order to be ready for battle?
Why should other Singaporean boys be made to take on further responsibilities that the 'priest' should rightly perform as is his duty to society for being given the priviledge of citizenship even if by birth?
All in all, this is nothing to do with 'religious persecution', but more an outright attempt to assert and impose one's religion for special priviledge in our secular society.
Where do we draw the line then, when special priviledges are called for, in an equal secular society? This we must sorely ask, before we sign on the dotted line to petition. We are not India with adoption of their caste system in our society, or Muslim Iran ruled by clerics. We are Singapore, an independent secular republic.
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Originally posted by xtreyier:
How can one claims to be supporting NS when one asks for special priviledges, priviledges that only he alone can get while others are denied?
Thus is or is not the petitioner supporting NS? NS is about youths being taught defensive skills to protect our society to be prepared for adverse situations inclusive of outright conflicts, which is total and incorporates all aspects in engagement of defensive battles, details which are regimented down to the food they eat.
Should there be an outbreak of hostilities between nations and the 'priest' is called to war, will he be allowed to eat his special meals, or partake in whatever that is avaliable, in order to be ready for battle?
Why should other Singaporean boys be made to take on further responsibilities that the 'priest' should rightly perform as is his duty to society for being given the priviledge of citizenship even if by birth?
All in all, this is nothing to do with 'religious persecution', but more an outright attempt to assert and impose one's religion for special priviledge in our secular society.
Where do we draw the line then, when special priviledges are called for, in an equal secular society? This we must sorely ask, before we sign on the dotted line to petition. We are not India with adoption of their caste system in our society, or Muslim Iran ruled by clerics. We are Singapore, an independent secular republic.
woots !
*likes this
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Originally posted by xtreyier:
How can one claims to be supporting NS when one asks for special priviledges, priviledges that only he alone can get while others are denied?
Thus is or is not the petitioner supporting NS? NS is about youths being taught defensive skills to protect our society to be prepared for adverse situations inclusive of outright conflicts, which is total and incorporates all aspects in engagement of defensive battles, details which are regimented down to the food they eat.
Should there be an outbreak of hostilities between nations and the 'priest' is called to war, will he be allowed to eat his special meals, or partake in whatever that is avaliable, in order to be ready for battle?
Why should other Singaporean boys be made to take on further responsibilities that the 'priest' should rightly perform as is his duty to society for being given the priviledge of citizenship even if by birth?
All in all, this is nothing to do with 'religious persecution', but more an outright attempt to assert and impose one's religion for special priviledge in our secular society.
Where do we draw the line then, when special priviledges are called for, in an equal secular society? This we must sorely ask, before we sign on the dotted line to petition. We are not India with adoption of their caste system in our society, or Muslim Iran ruled by clerics. We are Singapore, an independent secular republic.
Its only special food, basically vegetarian food which are sanctified, why are you spouting this sanctimonious bullshit?
Considering that senior officers have their own stupid corner in the cookhouse where they get coffee and tea all around the clock, or the ability to drive out and have their meals outside. why cant the SAF accomodate this simple request?
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When he enrolled the national service the first day, he would have understand that this would have happened.
If he is unable to accept the training and decide to get special allowance, it is not possible unless he is born with a white horse.
For his case, my advice for him is to surrender his citizenship and fulfil his destiny in going to india to practise as a full time priest.
I am not against any religion but I dun think the army would want to start a precedence to offer special treatment.
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Originally posted by Man!x:
Its only special food, basically vegetarian food which are sanctified, why are you spouting this sanctimonious bullshit?
Considering that senior officers have their own stupid corner in the cookhouse where they get coffee and tea all around the clock, or the ability to drive out and have their meals outside. why cant the SAF accomodate this simple request?
and the rest of the soldiers?
would you be one of the sanctimonious bastards blanketing him if the occifers let him get away with what is essentially a ticket to tuang his way through NS?
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Originally posted by Man!x:
Its only special food, basically vegetarian food which are sanctified, why are you spouting this sanctimonious bullshit?
Considering that senior officers have their own stupid corner in the cookhouse where they get coffee and tea all around the clock, or the ability to drive out and have their meals outside. why cant the SAF accomodate this simple request?
Precisely!"Only" special food.
And...
"Senior" officers.
Just serve the 2 years and get over it.
If people want to argue so much, might as well sign-on and make the changes they see fit?
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Originally posted by limywv:
why is the IC number being revealed in full?
Now that you mention it, isn't TS making it worse for the fellow?Now he'll surely kena another charge.
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Originally posted by Man!x:
Its only special food, basically vegetarian food which are sanctified, why are you spouting this sanctimonious bullshit?
Considering that senior officers have their own stupid corner in the cookhouse where they get coffee and tea all around the clock, or the ability to drive out and have their meals outside. why cant the SAF accomodate this simple request?
if it's only just that .....
think about what I said .... which officer would want to rock his own career boat, and mess around with religious issues, unless what's being asked is blatantly too much ? ..... can you think of any officer who dares to play punk on religious and medical issues ? .....
there must be more than meets the eye ..... which, of course .... we won't be getting from the TS ....
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i've just signed the petition.
our 1st class gahmen don't practice what they preach.
can't they just take into account his religious duties and let him serve NS without compromising his faith?
some people treat their religions very seriously and we should respect people like this indian priest for that.
i suggest the temple contact the CO or get the MP to write to the CO, since the CO was the one who suggested him to be clerk in the 1st place and CO is also somehow involved.
if the CO cannot solve this simple crap, then we might as well as strip him off his 2 crab or 3 crabs.
this is why i will be traitor to my country if war breaks out, as this land of crap is not worth serving. after this incident, i'm wholly ashamed to say i'm singaporean and am fully embarrased of my own gahmen.