There is a story about a vulture's son who complained to his father: "Papa, you have fed me many kinds of flesh. Thank you. But you have never found any human flesh for me. Please bring me some. That is the best flesh, is it not, since humans rule the world?" The father tried but could find none. Then, one day, someone placed a pig's head near a mosque. The next day, someone left a cow's head near a temple. Riots broke out. Hundreds were killed and lay on the streets. The father vulture brought large chunks of human flesh for his son. The young vulture was delighted. "Papa, this is far, far better than the flesh of pigs and cows. I have eaten both. But this is so delicious. No wonder that humans rule the world. They deserve to."

Singapore has no indigenous vultures, so far as I can tell. They are rare but recurring migrant visitors, with the Himalayan Vulture being the most frequent. Here is why. They find no human flesh to feed on, should they be so inclined. And why? Because, among other things, Singapore does not have religious riots dotting its social calendar.

Not that peace is not tested. Recently, a Singaporean Chinese man was arrested and charged for his suspected involvement in sending a parcel containing pork with a note saying "halal Babi chop" to a mosque. ("Babi" means "pork" in Malay. "Halal Babi" would therefore be a double insult.) What happened was that the police were contacted, the Singapore Civil Defence Force was activated, and staff and worshippers were evacuated from the building as a precautionary measure. Hazardous materials specialists found no dangerous substances such as explosives. The matter went to court. And that was that.

What is commendable is the speed with which the authorities acted. What is equally commendable is that mosque-goers, their families and their friends (all connected instantly in Internet real time) gave the authorities social time in which to act. Muslims did not become a mob taking the law into their own hands because they knew that the Singapore state would act impartially. Singapore is three-quarters Chinese but life here is not majority-Chinese. The law is not. Justice is not. Break the law, and you will face the Singapore state, not a three-quarters Chinese state. Observe the law, and you will have the backing of a 100-per-cent Singapore state. It is as simple as that.

It was not always that simple. Two dreadful riots involving Chinese and Malays occurred in 1964 and 1969, the first just before and the second in the lengthening aftermath of Singapore's Independence in 1965. They left a lasting impression on Singaporeans that racial and religious violence should have no place in their new country. Singapore thrives on exports and is open to imports, but imported dissension is not on the duty-free list. Instead, it is banned - along with drug trafficking, which attracts the death penalty, and serious infringements of the law that get males the cane. Harsh laws? No. Tough laws? Yes. Most Singaporeans would say so. That is why they live in peace. That is why the sons of vultures, if any, do not get to eat the flesh of humans, the rulers of the world, here in multiracial and multi-religious Singapore, a microcosm of the world.

Singapore's peace is a result of enlightened laws. There would have been no need for laws in a perfect world: Perfection itself would have been an obvious law to all. It is because the world is imperfect that societies need laws to make an imperfect world even less imperfect.

Founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew understood this distinction instinctively. He knew that humans would be humans. They would never become angels. The point was not to try and make them so. The point was to prevent them from becoming vultures whose children would need to be satisfied with human flesh. The point was to change human habits by the strict application of laws.

Lee passed away a decade ago. The political generations that have succeeded his time in governance from 1959 have kept his realist realm of possibilities closely in mind. Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam, who has to deal with the day-to-day realities of religious and racial coexistence in Singapore, is an example of the kind of leader who can stay true to his own faith and ethnicity while preserving the overall need for peace in a secular state. He was educated at Singapore's top school, Raffles Institution, and read Law at the National University of Singapore, where he graduated at the top of his class with First Class Honours. He had a brilliant career in legal practice, which he gave up to join the Government. No one sees him as being exclusively Hindu (although he is a Hindu). He is seen as an effective national leader who oversees the application of laws that allow Hindus to flourish along with Taoists, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, other people of religion, agnostics and atheists in the secular state called Singapore.

There are many varieties of secularism. It has two extremes. One keeps the state away from God, and the other keeps God away from the state. Singapore's secularism does neither. It allows citizens to believe in God, but it also expects them to abide by the laws of a state that does not presume to be God. What matters is that people's quest for religious certainty and finality should not mess up the human arrangements made for peace on earth. Do that, and the secular law awaits you. Do not do that, and you are free to be your religious self.

There is no way of keeping migratory vultures out of Singapore, but it is necessary to prevent them from becoming indigenous.

That is my story of the vulture.

The writer is Principal Research Fellow of the Cosmos Foundation. He may be reached at epaaropaar@gmail.com