PM Goh's vision: nation free of racial tribes

"Singapore is too small to break up into two or three separate countries. But racial riots can tear the country apart," Mr Goh told parliament in an unusually candid speech focusing on Singapore's weaknesses.

Racial riots in the 1960s, pitting the Chinese against the local Malays, still loom large in the memory of the 33-year-old island-state.

Singapore's 3.2 million people are predominantly Chinese at 78 per cent, with 14 per cent Malays and seven per cent Indian.

"Singapore is not a nation. We do not all speak the same language. Nor do we share the same religion and customs. We have different ancestors," Mr Goh told legislators.

Parliament was debating the ruling People's Action Party's national vision for the 21st century.

Mr Goh said one of Singapore's prime tasks in the 21st century was to try to become a nation.

"We have many pools of DNA. To build a nation out of these different pools is not easy . . . But we can work to lower the divide," he said.

"We have to accept the hand we were dealt with: 600 square kilometres, no natural resources, densely populated, and a disparate collection of people, most of whom have migrated from other parts of the world."

In a speech replete with references to Serbs, Albanians, Jews, the Scottish, the Welsh and French-speaking Canadians, Mr Goh said the power of ethnic identity was often stronger than decades or centuries of co-existence in a multi-ethnic state.

"Do not think that racial riots would never break out again in Singapore," Mr Goh said, adding they could be caused by insensitive handling of racial issues or instigated from outside.

Singapore's tough security laws served as "safeguards" against such events, he said.

The Internal Security Act, for which Singapore has often been criticised abroad, allows for indefinite detention without trial.

But even laws do not guarantee that Singapore would not split along ethnic lines, Mr Goh warned.

"In a crunch, where the interest of the tribe and the state diverge, can we be sure that the sense of belonging to a state will be stronger than the primordial instinct of belonging to a tribe?" he asked.

Mr Goh also criticised the younger generation of Singaporeans for putting "self-fulfilment" ahead of the country's needs.

"Our task of nation-building is enormous. But we must persevere," Mr Goh said. "We can build the Singapore tribe."