Racial Harmony Day at The Chinese Kindergarten: When Faith Builds Friendship

Today, our Little Olive Tree community experienced something quietly historic.

At The Chinese Kindergarten, we celebrated Racial Harmony Day together with our friends from Ar-Raudhah Mosque Kindergarten. It was the first time our church kindergarten opened its doors to welcome a partner of a different faith to come in, celebrate with us, and simply be present with one another.

Not as a “special programme.” Not as a photo opportunity.

But as a real moment of unity.

A first step that mattered.

"In Singapore, we often say “unity in diversity,” and we mean it." But sometimes, the most meaningful expressions of unity don’t happen on big stages. They happen in ordinary spaces — in classrooms, corridors, and playgrounds — when people choose hospitality over hesitation.

For us, opening our doors carried weight. A church kindergarten is not just a building. It represents a community, a set of convictions, and a way of life. Welcoming friends from another faith into that space was our way of saying: Here we are. We are friends. We support one another. We appreciate one another.

And we did the same in return — listening, learning, and seeking to understand.

Faith was never meant to divide

We want to say this clearly: "Faith was never meant to divide people."

At its best, faith forms people who know how to love — people who can hold their beliefs with conviction while still holding others with dignity.

Yes, we have different beliefs. We don’t pretend otherwise.

But at the core of it all, we are human. We share the same hopes for our children. We share the same desire for safety, belonging, and a future worth building. And we share the same colour of blood.

That is why today mattered so much.

When children lead the way

The most beautiful part of the day wasn’t a speech.

It was watching the children.

As they moved from craftwork to games, from introductions to shared laughter, it felt like we were just one school. There was no distinction — apart from the ethnic costumes they wore and the physical differences that make each of us unique.

But even those differences didn’t create distance. They created curiosity.

"Children have a way of showing us what’s possible when we don’t teach fear."

They held hands.

They mingled.

They laughed.

They played as if friendship was the most natural thing in the world — because to them, it is.

And for every teacher and parent who witnessed it, it warmed the heart. It reminded us that the heart of it all is love.

Hospitality is a form of courage

"Hospitality is not passive."

It takes courage to open your doors. It takes humility to admit you don’t know everything about someone else’s culture or faith. It takes intention to create space where differences don’t become walls.

Today, we exchanged greetings and extended welcome — not only to celebrate Racial Harmony Day, but to understand one another better.

How does a church kindergarten work?

What does it mean to be a faith-based preschool in a multi-religious society?

What does it look like to honour one another without compromising who we are?

These are not small questions. And we’re grateful we got to take a first step toward answering them together.

Love that heals

As a Christian preschool community, we believe love is not just a feeling — it is a commitment.

We believe love is from God above.

And even if not everyone receives God’s love in the same way, we can still choose to give love in a way that reflects His heart: with gentleness, respect, and sincerity.

Scripture tells us that love covers a multitude of sins, and love heals. In a world that can be quick to label, quick to suspect, and quick to separate, we want our children to grow up seeing something different.

We want them to see adults who build bridges.

We want them to experience communities that practise welcome.

We want them to learn that differences don’t have to become divisions.

A shared mission for the children in our midst 

If there is one thing that became clear today, it is this: we are aligned in a shared mission.

"We want to provide the best quality of education to the children entrusted to us."

We want them to be exposed to Singapore’s rich cultural heritage — not as a checklist, but as a lived experience that shapes empathy.

We want them to look beyond themselves.

We want them to notice others, appreciate others, and learn how to stand side by side with people who are not the same as them.

Not because they have “met before,” but because they understand something deeper: we are inherently human, and we are human together.

Looking ahead: a beautiful friendship 

We truly believe this is just the beginning of a very beautiful friendship.

We hope there will be more opportunities to partner — to learn from one another, to serve our communities, and to model for our children what it looks like to live with conviction and compassion.

As Singapore heads toward National Day in August, we hold onto the hope we teach our children:

One people.

One nation.

United — not by sameness, but by shared commitment to love, respect, and the common good.

This is what we commit to at Little Olive Tree.

A simple closing prayer and wish 

May our children grow up brave enough to befriend.

May our communities grow wise enough to listen.

May our schools be places where love is practised — not only spoken.

And may Singapore continue to be a home where unity is not just a slogan, but a lived reality.