SINGAPORE: The racial and religious harmony that Singapore enjoys today did not come naturally, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday (Oct 4), speaking at the Community Leaders’ Conference.
However, some Singaporeans may be lulled into thinking that the harmony is natural, given the progress the country has made. Mr Lee said that is complacent and dangerous. He added while things are discussed more openly now, it is unwise to assume that one does not have to be careful or sensitive when dealing with issues of race and religion.
"It's always work in progress," said Mr Lee.
Mr Lee said that from time to time there have been prickly issues and incidents with a racial tinge in Singapore. These have been dealt with cooperatively and maturely, with community and religious leaders, as well as the groups themselves, not allowing it to boil over. "So we've got to actively preserve our racial harmony in Singapore," he said.
But developments around the world also affect Singapore, cautioned Mr Lee. He pointed to terrorism and in particular ISIS as one such major external problem, noting that while Iraq and Syria may be far away, the threat is not just in the Middle East, but Southeast Asia as well.
Mr Lee highlighted that about 30,000 people from around the world have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight for the militant group, including many from Southeast Asia. Malaysia has also arrested more than 100 of its citizens for their suspected involvement with ISIS. "We are worried," said Mr Lee, noting that individuals have also been self-radicalised.
In Singapore, nine people who were self-radicalised have been detained to date. Some had planned to go to Syria to join ISIS. One had already made his way to Turkey but was stopped and sent back.
Mr Lee said another had plans to assassinate the President and Prime Minister, and attack public places to strike fear in society, if he could not make his way to Syria. Last month, two Singaporeans aged 18 and 29 were also detained.
"So we've got to be on our guard," he said. “It can happen. It's happening around us. If it comes to Singapore, I think we must be very, very careful that we don't let it pull our fabric apart. We cannot rule out that possibility it can happen."
Mr Lee said that to ensure the country's racial harmony is not destroyed, Singapore must nurture and build up its racial ties and confidence now. This is what is being done through organisations like OnePeople.Sg, the National Steering Committee on Race and Religious Harmony and the Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circles.
Mr Lee added that in principle, Singapore has made a lot of progress, though more should be done in practice. He cited a joint IPS-OnePeople.Sg study two years ago, which showed that while the majority of Singaporeans subscribed to racial and religious harmony, less than half had one close friend of a different race.
But there is still reason to celebrate how far Singapore has come at SG50, said Mr Lee. He noted that younger people, who have not seen such racial strife before, have to be constantly reminded how precious such harmony is.
The Community Leaders’ Conference was organised by OnePeople.Sg - an organisation that seeks to promote racial harmony.
- CNA/xq