Dr Vivian Balakrishnan made it clear that it is not a good idea to mix religion and what he called the hurly-burly of politicking on the ground.

He gave this piece of advice yesterday when commenting on the dispute between the new and old leaders in the ongoing saga at the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware).

Speaking after a ministerial visit to Nee Soon South, Dr Balakrishnan prefaced his remarks by stressing that the Government would not be getting involved 'at this point in time'.

Saying the dispute is 'not a national problem', he added: 'This is a problem they (Aware) have to solve themselves. Let me state categorically that at this point in time, the Government has no intention of intervening.

'Let them settle this democratically, according to their own rules, abiding with their constitution.'

But what he would do was to offer three pieces of advice - not to just Aware, but also to all Singaporeans.

ONE: Religion should be kept out of petty politics.

'It is potentially dangerous for religion to descend into the fray of petty politics - and more important than that, because we live in a multiracial and multi-religious society, we want to protect and nurture the special place religion has in our society.

'We don't want our religious organisations to be compromised or be damaged by the hurly-burly of politicking which occurs on the ground. It's not a good idea to mix the two.'

Read the full story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.