I applaud the Public Service Commission (PSC) for its open-mindedness and far-sightedness in granting a scholarship to a recipient to pursue a master's degree in Buddhist studies at the University of Oxford (From sleeping in void decks to enrolling at Oxford, July 18).

Unknown to many Singaporeans perhaps, Buddhist studies taught in leading academic institutions such as Oxford, University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, and Stanford University is a secular interdisciplinary programme of study and research.

Students are taught critical analysis and scholarly research on various aspects of Buddhism, including art, history, philosophy, psychology, which are vastly different from what is taught in Buddhist monasteries and institutions in Singapore.

In a multi-religious society like Singapore, one of the ways to promote inter-faith and mutual understanding is through the promotion of religious studies programmes in our institutes of higher learning.

For instance, the National University of Singapore's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has a minor in Religious Studies programme and the Nanyang Technological University's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies offers a certificate in Comparative Study of Religions in Plural Societies.

I am also heartened that PSC recognises the importance of having humanities-educated scholars in the civil service.

Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh, when he spoke at the 2018 Humanities Symposium last year, said: "What we should aspire for is holistic education. We want our humanists to understand technology and our technologists to understand the humanities.

"An education in the humanities trains us to think, write and speak clearly. As long as we are human beings, the humanities will always be at the heart of civilisation."

Jack Chia Meng Tat (Dr)