Posts Tagged ‘Holy Week’

Catholic ire catches Singapore Holy Week dance party promoters off-guard

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012

Holy Week might not seem the best time of year to feature scantily-clad nuns in ads promoting a dance party anywhere in the world. It’s probably therefore not surprising that such an event has courted trouble in Singapore, a city famous for its low tolerance of anything that might upset its racially and religiously diverse communities.

The party was advertised with an image of a woman donning a wimple and a revealing piece of black clothing.

Called Escape Chapel, the event was supposed to be the first Asian foray for the organizers of popular British music festival Escape Into The Park, which takes place each year in Swansea, Wales.

“We’ve used this opportunity to express how deeply remorseful we are for the all the upset we’ve caused to the Catholic community in the days leading up to their most holy of weekends,” Creative Insurgence Director Aaghir Yadav said in a statement.

“We never intended to offend or mock the Catholic faith and chapel – and are very sorry for the poor judgment we’ve displayed in our marketing decisions.”

Archbishop Chia Wednesday said the church accepted the apology and that the incident was a reminder “of the need for mutual respect for all religions in our multireligious country.”

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The sad, secular substitutes for Easter

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012

Perhaps no period of the year — not even when Christmas is reduced to XMAS — tells us better how impoverished are the sad, searching celebrations presented as stand-ins for Passover and Holy Week. Like a journeyman basketball player who lacks the magic of Michael Jordan in his prime, these events, sent in as subs, Read more