ON THE 50th anniversary of Singapore's self-government, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong used the year's biggest political platform to issue a rallying call for unity across different races and religions.

A large part of his speech in English was devoted to addressing the climate of rising religious fervour, which he acknowledged was 'an unusually serious and heavy subject for a National Day Rally'.

But he said that social cohesion was critical to Singapore's long-term success, and singled out racial and religious divides as the 'most visceral and dangerous fault line', potentially worse than the rich-poor gap or any divide between Singaporeans and foreign residents.

The subject of religion was highlighted in his Malay and Mandarin speeches as well at the Rally at the University Cultural Centre.

Religious leaders were present among the audience of 1,600, which included politicians, civil servants and grassroots leaders.

In carefully crafted yet unambiguously phrased remarks on the need to maintain racial and religious harmony, he revealed that the Cabinet had discussed it at length and was behind him on this.

'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.

'Yet from time to time, we must discuss it, honestly but tactfully, to assess progress, recognise trends in our society and the world, and remind and tell ourselves where we must do better,' he said.

As a globally connected, multi-faith society, Singapore is not immune to the worldwide surge in religiosity. Examples include the heated culture wars between Christian conservatives and liberals in the United States, and the intense revival of Islam among Muslims worldwide.

Taken to extremes, he noted that this trend could lead to aggressive proselytisation, intolerance and people not mixing with those of other faiths.

Mr Lee reiterated several ground rules for how religious groups should engage society, the fundamentals of which are laid down in the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act passed in 1990.

The rules include keeping religion separate from politics, and keeping schools and offices as secular common spaces.

While Singapore is doing well compared to other countries where sectarian and religious conflict is rife, 'let us also never forget what being a Singaporean means'.

'Being a Singaporean means not just tolerating other groups, but opening our hearts to all Singaporeans,' he stressed.

He credited religious groups for having done good work to help not just their own flocks, but all segments of Singapore society. However, he drew the line at them imposing their views on others.

His appeal to religious leaders: 'Help your flocks to understand our limitations and guide them to practise their faith taking our (multi-faith) context into account.'

Giving a recent example, he said he was grateful that the National Council of Churches of Singapore did not support churches getting involved in the April leadership tussle at women's group Aware. A group of Christians had tried to take over the civil society group, which they felt was becoming pro-gay.

Mr Lee said the stand of church leaders was a responsible one, adding that 'had it not been for these statements, we would have had a serious problem'.

Economic uncertainty and improving health care for an ageing population were the other two challenges the Prime Minister flagged.

With Singapore climbing out of recession in the second quarter and the depressed labour market picking up, Mr Lee was satisfied that the $20.5 billion worth of medicine to help companies and workers this year was taking effect.

This Resilience Package introduced in January included temporary subsidies to a company's wage bill for local residents. It will not be extended for now, he said.

He also proposed ramping up facilities in community hospitals for elderly patients who no longer need intensive treatment in a big hospital, but are still not well enough to go home.

By and large, this year's Rally took a long-term and more reflective view of Singapore's development, in contrast to recent years, where the Prime Minister had used the occasion to unveil a raft of major policy changes.

Mr Lee put it this way at the start of his English speech: 'Day to day, we watch keenly the economic numbers - growth data, unemployment data, trade data...It is like monitoring the temperature chart of an H1N1 patient.

'But we need to step back and see things in the longer perspective.'

Unity and resilience were two recurring themes across diverse subjects. For example, he gave a pat on the back to all Singaporeans who had worked tirelessly as a team to contain the H1N1 flu virus.

He gave another example of this resilience in how Singapore's furniture companies reinvented a 'sunset' industry and are now making inroads into global markets.

His bottom line: If society stays cohesive, 'we can overcome our economic challenges and continue to grow, strengthen our social safety net (and) shape the nation together'.

The Prime Minister ended his speech with a photographic slideshow illustrating how the island has been dramatically transformed over the past five decades.

His wish was 'that in another 50 years, we will have built another Singapore which is equally unimaginable today'.

-end of ST article