Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong believes that Singaporeans' sense of shared identity and cohesion has strengthened over the last ten years.
But he feels that only in a crisis would Singapore's social fabric be tested -- like in a terrorist attack, which Mr Lee said "would be like a tsunami hitting our society".
Speaking to 800 grassroots leaders at the National Community Engagement Programme (CEP) Dialogue on Saturday at Raffles City, Mr Lee questioned if Singaporeans would be as calm and resilient as many Japanese have proven to be in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami which hit their country over a week ago.
"There is no scrambling, no jostling, no fighting. They passed the test," said Mr Lee, showing a photograph of the Japanese queuing outside a supermarket after the tsunami.
Mr Lee added that Singaporeans need to go through a crisis before they receive their "report card" on social integration.
This message was put forth by the Prime Minister at the end of a speech in which he emphasised that terrorism still poses a serious threat to the nation.
He also hailed the CEP as a "key constructive effort" in building trust among races and religions.
The purpose of the programme, which began in 2005, was ot build networks among races to cope with racial tensions that may arise from a terrorist attack.
"I'm convinced that over the last decade, we have strengthened our social cohesion and common identity," said Mr Lee.
In a hour-long question and answer session with six other ministers about self-radicalised terrorists to youth apathy, Mr Lee was asked by New Town Secondary 4 student Gerald Chan how Singapore would fare if it was attacked today.
His reply: "You must take the exam before you can see the report card. But we have prepared well so I am confident we will take it in our stride."
