Over the past few days, the religious harmony which religious leaders and the general public has been working hard to achieve was disturbed by one senior pastor’s insensitive and inappropriate presentation and comments about Buddhists and Taoists in front of his congregation. The pastor’s comments had been video-recorded and made available on the church’s website and subsequently became available on Youtube and other websites. His comments also gave rise to tension and conflict between the Buddhist/Taoist and Christian communities.

Fortunately, the incident was quickly contained and resolved even before it got any worse. The pastor has since made public apology to the Buddhists and Taoists for being insensitive and offensive in his presentation and comments. He also solemnly promised that it would never happen again. I certainly hope he meant what he said. I can’t imagine what the dire consequences would have been if this matter was not taken care of.

This brings me to the important role a religious leader plays in leading and setting the right example. I believe that religions are good in general as they promote good-will, peace, and the acceptance of others. Religion, in fact is neutral; it is the misinterpretation of the teachings in religion by individual that will either do good or do bad. While we must have faith in our religions, we must understand that the religious leaders who preach the teachings are human too. Thus, each of us can play a policing role to contribute to religious harmony too.

When I was reading on the basic of Buddhism during my younger days, I came across something written in the book which left a deep impression in me. In his teaching, Buddha advised his disciples not to accept his words on blind faith, but to decide for themselves whether his teachings are right or wrong, then follow them. He encouraged everyone to have compassion for each other and develop their own virtue, “You should do your own work, for I can teach only the way.”

I am not religious in person but like Abraham Lincoln, I believe in doing good; That is my religion too. I believe in supporting the highest good of ourselves and others.

During this time, you’ll see a lot of commercials, banners and posters to remind individual to drink responsibly. I believe that most people are responsible … at least all my friends drink responsibly. When they are drunk, they always make sure that someone else who is sober will be at the wheel. Probably next time, if you know that your friends are drunk or have been drinking a lot, you may also want to exercise a little social responsibility to stop him/her from driving.

Drunk driving is an offence in most countries around the world. Anyone who is convicted of injuring or killing someone while under the influence of alcohol can be heavily fined, in addition to being given a lengthy prison sentence. In Singapore, repeated offence of drunk driving can cause you to be fined up to $30,000 SGD and three years’ imprisonment. For an offender causing death or serious injuries can also be caned up to 6 strokes.

In a report from CNN, a man in LA was charged with three counts of murder when he ran a red light and struck a car, killing a Major League Baseball pitcher and two others while under the influence of alcohol. Just for that split seconds he had caused lost and miseries to three families.

According to the Office for National Statistics of UK, “There were 8,724 alcohol-related deaths in 2007, lower than 2006, but more than double the 4,144 recorded in 1991. The alcohol-related death rate was 13.3 per 100,000 population in 2007, compared with 6.9 per 100,000 population in 1991.”

In the US, in 2006, an estimated 17,602 people died in alcohol-related traffic crashes—an average of one every 30 minutes. These deaths constitute 41 percent of the 42,642 total traffic fatalities (from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

In Singapore, there was a significant rise in drink-driving arrests recording a 7% rise from 3,733 cases in 2006, to 4,009 cases in 2007. From a speech by Dr. Teo Ho Pin, dated 13 December 2006; he cited an accident which happened earlier in March that year. Two colleagues were on their way home together on a motorcycle and they crashed into the centre divider along Bukit Timah Expressway and their bodies were found lying along the road. It was found later that both men had a high concentration of alcohol in their blood. In that tragedy, two families lost not only their sole breadwinners but also their husbands and fathers. Indeed as what he mentioned, “The penalties of drink-driving are very high – with the ultimate penalty being death.”

Often time, you may think that you are still sober enough to drive after drinking but there are too many cases where drunk drivers caused death of their loved ones and innocent parties.