SINGAPORE needs to remain an open, fair and inclusive society – whether it is about people with disabilities being included; differences on the basis of race, language or religion; differences between the wealthy and not so wealthy; differences between foreign sports talent and local sports talent, or foreign talent in general and local talent; and so on and so forth. If you agree with me that our survival depends on us maintaining an open and inclusive society, then I hope you would also agree with me that the key thing is to maintain integration – not assimilation, not uniformity, not selfish pride, but integrating all the different threads that make up Singapore society.
