Monogamy Sunday (15/9)

This Sunday (15/9) is Monogamy Day in Singapore on the occasion of the 58th anniversary of the Women’s Charter. It is a day when we celebrate how bible monogamy became fundamentally embedded in our social consciousness.

The big idea behind biblical monogamy has a very long tradition in the West. The bridal tradition that began under the jewish huppah has morphed into what you see in most weddings today, one of the most important and celebrated days in the newly-weds action plan in setting up the nucleus that contains the DNA of everything that society deems is right and fitting, including the 5 sovereign foundations of Nationality, Language, Ethnicity, Religion and Modality.

All these societal traits come under the umbrella of the Women’s Charter for every couple in Singapore (except for the indigenous peoples under Sharia). Thus for the vast majority of Singaporeans, biblical monogamy is normative even for those faiths outside the four walls of the church.

This is a very great blessing as it is a tremendous responsibility to locate the Women’s Charter, now into its 58th year, in the unique development of Singapore’s legal and social history.

Furthermore, as a church located in Singapore’s red-light district (Geylang), the blessing of biblical monogamy has been even more acutely felt over these past 15 years of outreach to the street and brothel communities in the back lanes and alley ways. The prostituted sisters, like Ruth in the bible, have come to our feet in seeking rest, shelter and a corner of the church blanket – to serve the homeless, the outcast, the fallen and the trafficked victims, providing direct assistance not only in the name of the law but also in the name of love. Every time we give out a cookie baked in our love kitchen, we are extending a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on, we are also, by extension, declaring what has already been decoded and defined in our constitution, statutes and charters that have been cast in stone these past 58 years.

Thus, the Women’s Charter, in effect, has dealt a blow to the flesh trade first by the penalties it assigns to traffickers but also and more importantly, it has allowed ordinary citizens of Singapore to participate in the fight against infidelity and illegitimacy at its very roots. Simply put, biblical monogamy means that daddy should come back at nights, that together, the family should be given priority over business, over education, over even the government.

Thus, the Women’s Charter has allows couples under the Act for monogamous marriages to take back the moral high ground and to lay claim on the blessings that the one Adam – one Eve model espouses.

What impact has this bit of social legislation (Article 46 of the Women’s Charter, 15 Sept 1961) had on the landscape of Singapore society? Practically, it has authorised the wife to be restored to her rightful place as queen over her 2 person realm, for her voice to be restored as she becomes co-heir over the estate and assets including the children that she bears in the union.

The 15th September should be acknowledged every year not only by lawmakers but also by the general population as one of the elemental documents with a very positive and consequential outcome for Singaporean couples that has changed the living face of our society.

The merits of Article 46 is clear: the transformation of savages into gentlemen and the civilising principle that has made Singapore what she is today if she continues to abide by the uncompromising first principle of biblical monogamy. “Unless the Lord builds the house, the labourers labour in vain” is the biblical injunction. It is in the wholehearted and intentional acceptance of laws, immutable and immovable, that we find a society rooted in righteousness that exalts a nation. It was not LKY that made Singapore great. It is her laws, especially those laws that are aligned to biblical revelation that are good laws. What constitutes a “good” law? Those laws that are aligned and perfectly matched to what we find in the Bible. Those are “good” laws. What is a good politician except him or her whose decisions and outlook are congruent with those found in holy Scripture. In the matter of the Women’s Charter, there must no be debate.

Even before the establishment of a nation must come the establishment of her laws, even before the SAF, prior to the HDB, anterior to EDB, NTUC, even earlier than the establishment of City Hall, the civil service, the foreign service, the legal services, the essential services, etc – was the biblical framework for a country to be based on the freedoms expressed in christian monogamy. In short, to be Singaporean, is to identify with that sort of person that is pure in motive (but not perfect), a person that, in the largeness of your heart is completely forgiving (knowing that no one is righteous apart from Christ), that the holy vows we make on our wedding day must be kept everyday of our married life, “for better, for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health”.