Nominated MP Thio Li-ann argued at length in Parliament on Tuesday that secularism, as practised in Singapore, did not exclude religion.

Referring to Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng's recent reiteration that religion and politics must not be mixed, she said that while this was sound, 'there are difficulties of definition as no bright line demarcates 'religion' from 'politics'.

She added: ' 'Secularism' is a protean, chameleon-like term. What it means depends on the context and who is using it; it can be a virtue or a vice. It is timely to eschew glibness and examine the Singapore model of secularism with precision.'

By way of elaboration, she pointed out that during the parliamentary debate a few years ago on whether or not to have casinos in Singapore, many MPs prefaced their speeches by stating their faiths.

'Everyone has values, whether shaped by religious or secular ideologies; all may participate in public discourse to forge an ethical social consensus. This is democratic and cherishes viewpoint diversity,' she said. 'While religion is personal, it is not exclusively private and has a social dimension which is not to be trivialised.'

A debate on the role of religion in the public sphere erupted recently after a group of women seized power at the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware).

Some saw the coup as religiously motivated as several members of the new executive committee attended the same church. This new guard said their motive was to return Aware to its 'original' purpose, as they saw it as having veered towards promoting a gay and lesbian agenda.

On May 2, the 'new' executive committee was ousted in a rowdy extraordinary general meeting attended by thousands.

The Government subsequently issued a statement responding to questions from The Straits Times, urging restraint from all sides and stressing that religion and politics must be separate in political engagement.

Professor Thio's mother, lawyer Thio Su Mien, mentored the group of women who took over Aware. Calling herself the 'feminist mentor', she said that she had been concerned about what she saw as Aware's pro-gay stance and had urged women she knew to challenge its attempts to redefine family and marriage.

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