Note: Because the elections are being held on May 7, this event has been postponed to May 21.

Jointly organised by South East Community Development Council (SECDC) and AWARE, this half-day exploratory session is part of SECDC’s Monthly Inter-faith Dialogue Series that strives to create a space for participants to reflect and talk about what it means to be a member of a certain gender in a faith-based context.

What does your faith say about women’s roles? How have women been portrayed in your faith? To what extent does faith help or erode gender equality? Can gender equality be reconciled with the values and beliefs of different faiths?

When: 21st May 2011

Time: 9:00 am- 1:30 pm

Where:  AWARE Centre (map)

Nominal Fee:  $5.00

Programme:

09:00 am        —    Registration and Breakfast

09:30 am        —    Welcome and Introduction

09:40 am        —    Panel Discussion

Speakers:

Ms Angie Chew Monksfield (Buddhist), Sister Julia Ong and Ms Amy Daniel (Christian), Kathirasan K (Hindu), Mohamad Imran Taib (Muslim) and Jamshed K. Fozdar (Baha’i).

Chair:  Ms. Lai Ah Eng

11:05 am        —   Q & A

11:45 am        —    Facilitated breakout sessions (3 groups)

01:00 pm        —    Lunch

Limited to 30 seats only. Register HERE

For more information about the event, email Pam at publiceducation@aware.org.sg or call 6779-7137.

To find out more about SECDC’s Exploration Into Faith Series, visit their website www.eif.com.sg or contact Mr Derrick Ang at 6319-8725.

Profiles:

Angie Monksfield was the President of the Buddhist Fellowship for 4 years from 1997 – 2010 and was a one of the founding members.  She is a senior IT professional whose career spanned Accenture, Visa International and Singapore Airlines. She served in the Singapore Computer Society as the Vice President for 6 years from 1995 – 2011.

Sister Julia Ong is an Infant Jesus sister, who is currently the Secretary of the Ecclesia of Women in Asia (EWA). The EWA seeks to develop theology from Asian women’s perspectives and recognise Asian Catholic women as equal partners in the life of the Church. Sister Julia is currently an Allied Educator in St Joseph’s Institution working on curriculum development of the religious and moral education programmes. She has a Masters in Education, majoring in Religious Formation.

Amy Daniel Profile

K. Kathirasan is a passionate teacher of Hinduism and a dedicated volunteer under the arm of The Hindu Centre, Singapore. He is highly respected for his spiritual knowledge and discourses on the truths of Hinduism based on Hindu scriptures. He has taught Hinduism to youths, adults and elderly alike for over 12 years. Kathirasan himself has been under the tutelage of Swami Satprakashananda Saraswati for several years since 1999 studying the subject of Traditional Advaita Vedanta (non dualism). His area of interest lies in the areas of philosophy, rituals, and means to spiritual enlightenment. He independently conducts research and writes materials on Hinduism.

Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib is a social activist with The Reading Group, Singapore, and a postgraduate student at the Department of Malay Studies, NUS. His research focuses on the religious orientation of the Malays and contemporary thought on Islam. He writes and comment frequently on socioreligious and interfaith issues, and an advocate for a progressive interpretation of Islam that includes reconfiguring Muslim views on gender. He has co-edited and published two books: Islam, Religion and Progress (2006) and Moral Vision and Social Critique (2007); and was chief editor of a Malay journal on critical religious thought, Tafkir (2009).

Jamshed K Fozdar was from 1996-1999 honorary secretary on the Inter-Religious Organisation of Singapore.  He is also the author of 3 books on comparative religion including the highly-acclaimed “The God of Buddha”. As an engineering consultant Mr. Fozdar was associated with pioneer work on Radio Astronomy and Electron Microscopy at the US National Bureau of Standards, Washington D.C. At the age of 22, Mr. Fozdar was the recipient  of the letter of commendation from the late Albert Einstein for his paper on the 4th Dimension. He is a consultant in the field of Telecommunications and a member of the Professional Engineers Board of Singapore. He has also been a member and often Chairperson of Baha’i National administrative bodies  in many countries like Singapore, Sri Lanka, Indochina and etc.

Lai Ah Eng is currently senior research fellow at the Asia Research Institute, NUS and she also teaches a module on religions in the contemporary world at the University Scholars Programme, NUS.  A social anthropolgist by training, she works on issues related to multiculturalism, religion, migration and gender, and has published several major works on these topics. She has also sat on several national committees and subcommittees on various issues related to family, ethnicity and religion. She is a founding and life member of AWARE.