In his National Day message this year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong surfaced an important reason for the underlying sense of hope with which Singaporeans are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. It is that citizens appreciate that the Government's goal has been always to protect both lives and livelihoods. It sought to strike that difficult balance through a combination of public health measures, social discipline, and financial support for families, workers and businesses. Of course, healthcare workers played an essential part as well in making the system work. The net result has been that relatively few lives have been lost to Covid-19. That the country has low mortality, and a highly vaccinated population, came on the back of measures that did exact an economic price. But given the situation here, compared with many other countries, it would not be out of place to suggest that the material sacrifices of people and businesses have not been in vain. Thus, there was cause for some cheer this National Day.

However, as the message also noted, Singaporeans cannot take social cohesion for granted. Covid-19 has strained fault lines in society and surfaced difficult issues that the country needs to deal with. Three in particular are that of helping lower-wage workers progress, addressing anxieties over foreigners, and managing issues of race and religion. Memories of the past can help provide lessons for dealing with difficult issues.