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SINGAPORE: Despite achieving harmony amongst all races in Singapore, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said on Saturday that the country is still a work-in-progress when it comes to nationhood.
"Are we a nation yet? I will not say we are. We're in transition," he said at the Orange Ribbon Celebrations which centres on racial harmony.
The minister mentor reminded audiences that cohesiveness was not achieved overnight in Singapore.
"Will we always progress? Provided we know where we are and what we have to do to get there, we can easily regress," he warned. "All you need is to have the JI (plant) a bomb or an explosion at an MRT station."
The JI or Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group is among the chief suspects behind Friday's bomb attacks on luxury hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Mr Lee said leaders in Singapore will have to continue to work closely with grassroots to achieve the goal of nationhood.
"Please remember this is an ideal which we may not completely reach, but because we have this ideal, we'll continue to make progress," he said.
On new citizens, Mr Lee is confident that Singapore's education system, where English is the main language, will help assimilate the young ones into society.
"That is the nature of our system, we can 'culturalise' them. We can 'Singaporeanise' their habits, their values. We won't force them to change their religion," the minister mentor said.
Mr Lee added that it may take Singapore another 44 years to become a nation, but once the country gets there, it will have a better society.
- CNA/so
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