PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong asked Singaporeans to work at preserving the precious and harmonious multiracial society here, which is unique among nations.

This is especially important now in a recession, he said last night.

Promoting cohesiveness 'In our multi-ethnic society, we have many occasions to come and celebrate, to learn about one another's traditions and culture, to promote better understanding and to strengthen our cohesiveness. To come closer together, this is very precious.' PM LEE

Celebrating the Tamil New Year with some 1,000 Indian residents of Ang Mo Kio GRC, he said many other countries find it difficult to manage ethnic relations.

But in Singapore, the different races live in harmony - and they can be proud of their own culture while feeling they are all Singaporeans.

'In our multi-ethnic society, we have many occasions to come and celebrate, to learn about one another's traditions and culture, to promote better understanding and to strengthen our cohesiveness,' he noted. 'To come closer together, this is very precious.'

Singaporeans must ensure that everyone is confident about having equal opportunities and treatment, said Mr Lee.

They must be sure of this too: 'If you have talent, you have the opportunity to go up.

'If you are appointing people, go on the basis of merit. It doesn't matter what your skin colour is - you have a fair chance in a multiracial society.'

Engineer J. Sathianathan, 31, agreed with Mr Lee and said no one should take Singapore's racial harmony for granted.

'I don't feel discriminated against and I have many good non-Indian friends. But at the same time, we need to continue to work and put in effort to understand each one's cultures,' he said.

Read the full story in today's edition of The Sunday Times

aaronl@sph.com.sg