<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>PM Lee celebrates Tamil New Year
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>He urges Singaporeans to strive to maintain precious and harmonious multiracial society </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Aaron Low
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PM Lee helping to put the finishing touches to a 98.5m-long rangoli, a floor decoration made with rice powder that is displayed on festive occasions. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->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.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>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
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>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.
Accompanying Mr Lee at the event held at the new Anchorvale Community Club in Sengkang was Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Balaji Sadasivan.
Also present were their fellow MPs from Ang Mo Kio GRC, Dr Lam Pin Min, Ms Lee Bee Wah and Mr Wee Siew Kim.
They were treated to Indian dance performances and shown gowns that an Indian bride would wear.
Mr Lee lit a traditional oil lamp with Dr Balaji, also president of the Singapore Indian Development Association, to mark the new year or Puthandu.
He helped put the finishing touches to a record-busting 98.5m-long rangoli, a colourful floor decoration made with rice powder. It is usually displayed at Tamil homes during festive seasons.
Mr Lee and the MPs also had a half-hour-long private discussion with Indian community leaders from the GRC. [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>He urges Singaporeans to strive to maintain precious and harmonious multiracial society </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Aaron Low
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
PM Lee helping to put the finishing touches to a 98.5m-long rangoli, a floor decoration made with rice powder that is displayed on festive occasions. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->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.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>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
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>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.
Accompanying Mr Lee at the event held at the new Anchorvale Community Club in Sengkang was Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Balaji Sadasivan.
Also present were their fellow MPs from Ang Mo Kio GRC, Dr Lam Pin Min, Ms Lee Bee Wah and Mr Wee Siew Kim.
They were treated to Indian dance performances and shown gowns that an Indian bride would wear.
Mr Lee lit a traditional oil lamp with Dr Balaji, also president of the Singapore Indian Development Association, to mark the new year or Puthandu.
He helped put the finishing touches to a record-busting 98.5m-long rangoli, a colourful floor decoration made with rice powder. It is usually displayed at Tamil homes during festive seasons.
Mr Lee and the MPs also had a half-hour-long private discussion with Indian community leaders from the GRC. [email protected]
