‘Sloppy argument’: Netizens challenge Ho Ching’s views in religion post

SINGAPORE: A social media post involving religion from former Temasek Holdings CEO Ho Ching gave rise to some strong reactions from netizens, several of whom questioned the points she made.

Mdm Ho, who is also the wife of Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, posted a screenshot of a chart from Our World in Data of the number of people based on religion. 

She pointed out that in 2020, there were more Christians (2.3 billion) than any other religious adherents, followed by Muslims (2 billion), but that “interestingly” there were 1.9 billion people who professed no religion. 

Hindus accounted for 1.2 billion people, followed by Buddhists (320 million) and other religions (170 million).

“Jews were 15 million, coming in at 0.2% of the global population.  Jews have not yet recovered to pre-war levels. The Holocaust is estimated to have killed over 6 million Jews, or about 1/3 of the pre-war population, mostly killed in Europe,” she noted.

Mdm Ho also pointed out how the Jewish population growth has slowed, apart from a minority of Orthodox Jews who tend to have larger families.

She then added the part that many commenters took exception to: “Surely, we can make space for this tiny minority group to live in peace and security, instead of trying to find all sorts of excuses to try to demonise them in order to extinguish this tiny group which has contributed disproportionately to the progress of our civilisations over the centuries and millennia?”

What commenters are saying

The comment that set off a rather heated discussion came from a Facebook user who acknowledged “the horrors of the Holocaust or the right of Jewish people to live safely and peacefully,” but brought up recent actions from Israel. 

“Compassion loses credibility when it is applied selectively,” they added.

As this has been a highly polarising issue, especially since October 2023, others sprang to present opposing views, defending Israel.

Another Facebook user, however, wrote, “Mdm Ho, being a minority does not excuse and qualify one to be a violent bully in the present.”

Others argued for a more nuanced take on the issue, asking not to conflate religion and nationhood.

“The size of a religious group has nothing to do with whether a state, ideology, or political project deserves protection,” a commenter wrote, opining that they found the post to contain a “sloppy argument.”

Some, meanwhile, pointed to Singapore’s history of good relations with Israel. /TISG

Read also: ‘We let our insecurities hit out at others’: Ho Ching on racism against Indians in Singapore