03/06/2000
Associated Press Newswires

SINGAPORE (AP) - The government of tightly controlled Singapore said Monday it will not ban the Falun Gong spiritual group simply because it has been labeled a cult elsewhere.

"As long as they do not breach the law, or do anything that is against law and order, their activities will continue in Singapore," said Ho Peng Kee, minister of state for home affairs.

He was referring to the Falun Buddha Society, the Singapore branch of the spiritual movement.

Falun Gong was recently outlawed as an "evil cult" in China. The group is becoming increasingly popular in Singapore, whose population of 3.2 million is about 77 percent ethnic Chinese.

Group members say there are more than 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners in Singapore.

The city-state is known for its strict controls on some religious groups. A Singapore congregation of the Jehovah's Witnesses Christian group, which opposes the country's mandatory military service, has been outlawed for decades.

China last year banned Falun Gong as a menace to public order and Communist Party rule, and launched a massive crackdown on practitioners. Members had earlier gathered in peaceful protests against government oppression.

According to the Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China, hundreds of Falun Gong followers in China have been put on trial and 5,000 more sent to labor camps without trial.

Practitioners say Falun Gong teaches meditation, exercises and ideas drawn from Buddhism and Taoism that promote health and morality.

The group has attracted millions of followers in China and abroad.

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