GuideMeSingapore

It was a rather unusual National Day Speech delivered by PM Lee this year. The nation watched with keen anticipation, expecting remarks on the economic crisis, possible stimulus measures and comments on the foreign worker policy. However, PM Lee had a slightly different agenda in mind. While he did touch upon the economy, a greater part of his speech stressed on maintaining social cohesion in Singapore.

One might find it strange as the common perception is that it isn’t that important an issue in Singapore to be spoken about at such length. But then again, on second thoughts perhaps it is important and timely. After all Singapore is a multi-cultural society with various ethnic communities. Added to this melting-pot is the continuous influx of expats who in turn belong to various races and religions.

According to PM Lee,

‘People may assume that we do not have a problem since we have lived in harmony for so long. Or perhaps they realise that the subject is sensitive and so shy away from discussing it.”

While Singapore’s social cohesion is commendable, let’s face it – the country is no utopia. It has its fair share of ruffles but what keeps the social fabric together is a sense of tolerance and accommodation. Imagine the state of affairs if newspapers were to report every minor issue or disagreement. It would snowball into something so huge that the entire economy would collapse. This is not a sweeping statement. Look at what happened to Australia. The racial issue amongst the student community has impacted the nation’s image and immigration trend, posing huge losses for the economy. Today, students and even foreign professionals are shying away from Australia and turning to countries where they know their racial or religious sentiments will be respected – a case in point being Singapore.

It doesn’t take long for a spark to turn into a fire. Given Singapore’s cosmopolitan society and high dependency on foreigners, collectivism is vital for the nation’s survival and the “Singapore Brand.” Lack of social cohesion could have a spiralling effect impacting immigration, labour availability, tourism and so on. The economy could tumble down like a ton of bricks. Singapore must (at all costs) preserve social cohesion which is the foundation of a pro-business environment and PM Lee didn’t mince any words in driving home this fact.

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