Singapore’s skies may have been overcast when I arrived last August 28, but its streets felt positively radiant in comparison. From its food to its sights to its people, the city fully embodied the socio-cultural diversity it has long claimed to have perfected, and I adored that about it.

Along with HAPI CFO Mutya Valenzuela, HAPIsko Shawn Quiming, Membership Officer AJ Ballares, HAPI-Zambales reps Van Catayong and Garry Rabang, and member Diana Gonzales, I came to Singapore to meet humanists from all over the world for the International Humanist Conference 2024, which took place August 30-31.

For Ate Mutya, in particular, this trip was monumental in that she also got to run for Board Member of Humanists International during their General Assembly, which was held the day after. (She ended up getting elected, much to our excitement!)

Humanist Society (Singapore) did a fantastic job hosting the dozens of delegates who came by preparing six enlightening talks surrounding Interfaith Dialogue and tapping the Ministry of Home Affairs to give us three tours tackling the history of the city’s social diversity. The Society also gave us plenty of time to mingle and befriend one another during several social nights, which my extroverted side (trust me, it’s usually not that active) appreciated!

Admiring the experts

Mohamed Imran Homaed Taib and Nazhath Faheema‘s talks at the conference were so candid that they took me aback. The two of them spoke from the perspective of the modern moderate Muslim and about how they’ve gotten caught between two sides – that of their Muslim heritage and progressive secular thought. Ms. Faheema, a peace ambassador, radiated an infectious optimism as she explained the duality of her situation. For those thirty minutes that she had the mic, she was the living embodiment of nuance, a woman who simultaneously educates traditional Muslims and secular thinkers about the perspective of either side – often while being misjudged herself.

Mr. Taib, an interfaith expert who conducts multicultural events in Singapore, spoke from a more somber place, but understandably so. Not all Muslims are as acclimatized to diversity as the ones in Singapore, which means getting through to them becomes a constant exercise of mincing words. People like Mr. Taib and Ms. Faheema have become, for better or worse, intermediaries whose roles are becoming more crucial by the day.

For his talk, Dr. Pepper Lim ruminated about the push-and-pull between conservative Muslim values and progressive ideals in Malaysia, his home country. He spoke highly of his countrymen but called out a few of their cultural traits that needed reevaluation. Some delegates took issue with how he framed this tug-of-war during the following Q&A panel, ironically proving his point about how difficult it is to summarize Malaysia’s complexity.

In their presentations, Dr. Paul Hedges and Dr. Takashi Ichioka generously anchored the seminar with hard facts. Dr. Ichioka (“Japan’s only representative in the conference,” he later joked to me) has studied the intersection of faiths in Singapore for years. His conclusion about Interfaith Dialogue–that to achieve harmony, Singapore needed to “initiate more friendship meetings” among its diverse denizens–was sobering in its simplicity. Dr. Hedges was once Ms. Faheema’s professor, which gives one an idea of his impact on local interfaith discourse.

Finally, we lucky delegates also heard from Paul Tobin, Founder of the Humanist Society (Singapore), about the state of secular humanism in the country and beyond. I can never help but be awestruck whenever I hear the stories of humanist leaders who began their journeys before I’d even heard the word “humanism”; that half-hour with Mr. Tobin was no different. Because of his and the Society’s tireless work, secular voices are on equal footing with the religious voices in Singapore, and that is worth applauding.

Coming from a country where people have been divided by politics more than ever in the social media age, seeing Singapore’s determination to make diversity work was low-key inspiring. If nothing else, it proved to me that diversity can work if a society insistently treats it as the default setting instead of a glitch. It may not be a catch-all solution, but for this tiny island nation, at least, it has worked.

Admiring the city… and my peers

Experiencing Singapore on the ground was oodles of fun. Hopping around the hawker centers with Team HAPI resulted in a couple of Michelin-star lunches I will never forget. Wandering the city streets at night felt safe and navigable, with spots like the riverside esplanade hinting at a nightlife worth uncovering in future visits.

Then there’s the massive nature reserve in the middle of Singapore, Gardens by the Bay. How a city of five million justified the creation of that sprawling green complex bewilders me, but that’s just because I’m not used to seeing people care so much about being green. Singapore really, really cares (I probably should have realized that when I saw the forest valley at Jewel Changi Airport), and I wish more megacities would take notes.

Coming together with my fellow humanists from around the world for this conference oddly felt like a kind of homecoming. If we–a ragtag bunch of freethinkers and misfits, so far as I can tell–were able to unite and confront the same issues plaguing our disparate cultures, surely there’s hope for the Philippines to do the same with its local struggles? That this conference took place in Singapore, a society that prioritizes diversity as the status quo, was only fitting.

It proved to me that diversity can work if a society insistently treats it as the default setting instead of a glitch.

It was the best immersion activity I could have asked for this year, and I can’t wait to discover how I grew from it.