SINGAPORE — The bedrock of Singapore’s success over the past 50 years lies in the Republic’s determination to be a multiracial society, the culture of self-reliance and mutual support, and the faith maintained between the Government and its people, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. 

Singapore separated from Malaysia in 1965 because the Republic “believed in the ideal of a multiracial society”, said Mr Lee in his National Day Rally today (Aug 23). “We believed that before race, language, and religion, we should, first and foremost, be Singaporean.” This, he said, was the fundamental reason for the foundation of Singapore.

It would also be wrong for some to think that racial and religious harmony is not a problem anymore. Singapore is always at risk of “deep fault lines opening up” and must never take the present happy state of affairs for granted, Mr Lee said.

From the start, everyone had to pull their weight because Singapore could not afford freeloaders, said Mr Lee. Founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who died in March, had urged time and again that Singapore had to become a “rugged society”, noted Mr Lee. “We don’t use that term quite so often anymore. But our people must still be robust and tough, able to take hard knocks, always striving to be better,” said Mr Lee. 

He also cited the Tanjong Katong Primary School’s Omega Challenge as an example of how the young could toughen themselves. Seven students, two teachers and a guide who took part in the activity died in June when they were caught in an earthquake on Mount Kinabalu. 

While it will take Singapore a long time to get over this tragedy, Mr Lee said such adventure training has to go on to bring up a generation who will grow up tough and be able to work closely together. The ruggedness would also stand Singapore in good stead on the world stage. “If we are soft and flabby, we are going to be eaten up. We have to be rugged, we have to have that steel in us,” he said. 

Singapore has also developed a bond between the Government and its people, said Mr Lee, adding that the Government “has kept its promises” and has kept its politics honest. In turn, people expect the Government to perform and trust the Government to have their best interests at heart.

Hence, he said, the Government has been able to push through tough policies. These include passing laws for acquiring land without paying market prices in the past in order to build public housing and industrial estates, as well as laws to quarantine people during the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003.