Singapore Must Stay Socially Progressive While Conserving Its Cultures: President

He says it must continue to be a place where discrimination of all forms is not tolerated

- Elavarasi Stephen

Singapore must continue to be a place where cultures can be preserved, including those of its many sub-ethnic groups. At the same time, it must also remain socially progressive, where discrimination in any form is not tolerated, said President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

At an Aug 2 event to launch the Encyclopaedia of Singapore Tamils (EST), Mr Tharman said the story of the city-state's Tamil community is, in many ways, that of Singapore itself — one of resilience, multicultural integration and also deep social transformation over the country's 60 years of independence.

The EST is an online resource that documents the history and contributions of the Tamil community here over the past 200 years, and is a collaboration between the Centre for Singapore Tamil Culture (CSTC) and the National Library Board (NLB).

The President noted that in Singapore's early years, migrants from southern India naturally brought with them their caste traditions and practices. As a result, segregation in their social interactions, jobs and living arrangements closely resembled those in their places of origin.