"Tolerant" society?

In Britain we are fond of saving that we are a tolerant society. We are only tolerant because we are, in many cases, too spineless to make hard choices for the good of our people. We make laws, but do not enforce them effectively. As a result we see a breakdown of our social infrastructure and a lack of respect for the rule of law.
Past Singapore leader Lee Kuan Yew observed, that it is all right to be soft hearted, but not to be soft headed. We have much to learn and even more to do, before we can reverse the trend.