Dr Chan Yew Ming, our faculty member, was a panel member of the Peacemakers Forum 2021 held on Fri, Nov 5, 2021. The Singapore Centre for Global Missions (SCGM) organised this online forum to address two critical issues:

* Seeking Peace in the City, and
* Faith, Ethnicity, and Identity.

The forum sought to address the challenges of living and working in an urbanised and polarised world. As forerunners of God’s peace and presence, Christians must continue to demonstrate courage and wisdom in addressing fault lines while interacting peaceably with others in an increasingly volatile world.

At the forum, the panel of speakers covered a variety of topics addressing multiple issues in the areas of faith, ethnicity, and identity. Religion together with race and identity issues would contribute to splits and increasing tensions in society, if not managed well. In a secular and pluralised world, Christians must increasingly engage other religions and understand better how social and cultural dimensions shape their religious identities. At the personal level, Christians in their witnessing must understand what it means to remain true to their race and culture, and how customs and rituals shape their racial identity. As a part of the panel, Dr Chan Yew Ming presented on the topic of the conflict of religion, ethnicity, and identity from the early history of ancient Israelites during the postexilic period.