Pastor Rony Tan

Pastor Rony Tan has just issued a public apology for his remarks made about Buddhism a few weeks ago on his website:

The apology was broadcast over Channel 5 news on 8 February 2010 at 2130 hours. According to a report by Channel News Asia, the Internal Security Department (ISD) has called up Pastor Rony Tan "in connection with his comments and insinuations about Buddhism and Taoism at his church sessions." It is not known if further action will be taken against Pastor Tan.

Pastor Tan made the remarks a few weeks ago to his congregation and was recorded and posted on his website initially. Though it has been taken off, a netizen draven02000 managed to upload it on Youtube where it sparked an outcry in cyberspace.

The two video clips were subsequently posted on Hardwarezone Forum on 3 February 2010 which drew widespread condemnation from netizens.

The Temasek Review published the news on its site yesterday, prompting some angry readers to lodge a police report against Pastor Tan.

Below is the full text of Pastor Rony Tan's apology:

"I have received a number of emails from people who have been saddened and hurt by the testimonies of an ex-monk and an ex-nun. I realized that my presentation and comments were wrong and offensive. So I sincerely apologize for my insensitivity towards the Buddhists and Taoists, and solemnly promise that it will never happen again.

When we have received those emails, we immediately removed the video clips from our website. I urge those who have posted those clips on the YouTube to remove them as well.

After reading the frank views from those emails, I was also prompted to tell my members not only to continue to love souls, but also to respect other belief and not to ridicule them in any way, shape or fashion.

Let's put our goal to build a harmonious Singapore a top priority."Apknews.com

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