That there has been a general election called every four or five years since 1963 testifies to the fact that Singapore is a democratic country.

The interesting point of this year's election is that the opposition parties were relatively united. They had a strategy not to contest against one another.

The Straits Times and other local media played their part in giving fair and equal coverage to all parties.

Now that the election is over, we have to live with our differences and survive together as a nation.

Together, we have weathered the storms. We have fought side by side with our founding fathers, and with hard work and industry, to be where we are today. Let us begin our 51st year with new vision.

What we need to do is to continue to be special, to be able to do what others cannot.

Thanks to founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, we have a multiracial and multicultural society with a global language, English.

We know small is beautiful and, with globalisation, our smallness can be even more beautiful if we build upon it with the same esprit de corps of the past 50 years.

We need to reflect on the words of Mr Lee. When asked whether there will be a Singapore 50 years from now, he said: "Of course there will be... even better!"

Anthony Goh Tee Kow