The extent of freedom of speech in Singapore's multi-racial society.

In the article " Free Speech, Muhammad, and the Holocaust" the author Peter Singer states that each and everyone of us should be given total freedom of speech to express our thoughts and views regardless of the sensitivity of the issue. He thinks that even the controversial Danish cartoons about Prophet Muhammad was just a way the cartoonist expressed his feelings and that there is no point in questioning his acts. As he stated in his article "freedom of speech is essential to democratic regimes, and it must include the freedom to say what everyone else believes to be false, and even what many people find offensive."

In contrast, the author Zsofia Szilagyi from the International Herald Tribune believes that freedom of speech should be allowed and appreciated provided it does to hurt any one's feelings. She thinks that the press should not have published the Danish cartoons when they know that it might cause a great uproar from the Islamic nations. She thinks that social responsibility is the key to prevent such controversial situations. As she says in her article "In our networked world, the existing societal and political tensions can be inflamed instantly through the transfer of messages from one cultural context to another."

I think that author Zsofia Szilagyi's views are more applicable to our multiracial Singapore. People should try to understand that sometimes saying nothing is better than saying something that hurts. It is important to understand others feelings and respect them in order for peace to be upheld in a nation or a community or even at home. If we take the peace that we experience now in Singapore and start saying bad things about different religions we will be in the danger of starting another racial riot. The previous racial riot that took place in Singapore was the Maria Hertogh riot between the native Malays and the Europeans 11Th December 1950. It continued for three gruesome days in which eighteen people were killed and about 173 people were injured badly.

In order to prevent disputes between different racial groups it is highly important for the public to be responsible of their actions. If the unity among Singaporeans is disturbed, Singapore will not be able to prosper and grow just like how a bee hive becomes useless when a stone hits it and a commotion occurs in the hive and eventually all the bees leave the hive. Hence it is social responsibility to be sensitive of the issues they raise to maintain peace and harmony in Singapore. We should also respect each others culture and traditions. This view is enforced in Singaporeans right from the beginning through primary education and also through the commemoration of Racial Harmony Day.

Happy Racial Harmony Day people !!!

Prejudice is a disease that can never be gotten rid of.

Prejudice means an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prejudice) and disease means any harmful, depraved, or morbid condition, as of the mind or society( http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/disease)


I totally disagree with the statement. As the meaning above states, prejudice is just a feeling and that too a feeling which is formed without any knowledge which means that once a truth is known it might change. Infact it definitely will. People's perception over certain things change due to their experiences. Hence it is logicl to say that prejudice is something that will change and it can be gotten rid of people's minds. The difference is just the time that is taken to change it. Prejudice will be removed from people's mind when they analyse someone or something before forming a view. They also be more broadminded and should be able to take criticism. People should also treat others with equal respect regardless of race language religion or gender.

However it seems like it will take ages to get rid of it. Everywhere in this world there is some sort of prejudice. Be it racial or gender based. It seems like it is a cancer which takes countless surgeries for the tumor to be finally removed from the body. But the point to note is that it will be removed somehow. One of the examples of prejudice is stated below. It is an article from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3303261.stm

Racial prejudice 'rising in UK'

Britain's ethnic minority population is now 4.6 millionBritain became a more racist place last year after almost two decades of falling levels, a study suggests.
Almost one in three people admitted feelings of racial prejudice, compared to one in four a year earlier.

Media reports about immigration and a possible reaction to the 11 September attacks could be to blame, the 20th British Social Attitudes report said.
It predicted a "bumpy ride" in the immediate future, but greater tolerance in the long term as education improves.

'Very prejudiced'

According to the report, 2002's rise in racism followed a slow decline since 1987, when 39% of people admitted racial prejudice. The latest figures include the 2% of people who described themselves as "very prejudiced".

'Great changes' in UK attitudes

Britain's ethnic minority population has grown by 53%, from three million in 1991 to 4.6 million in 2001, the report added.

But authors Catherine Rothon and Anthony Heath said they found no link between the number of people settling in the UK and the level of prejudice.

Instead, they said it was "noticeable that there was a huge increase in articles relating to immigration from 2000 onwards".

This, the report suggested, "could well be linked with the reversal in 2002 of what had until then been a downward trend in levels of prejudice".

The researchers added that although many papers urged readers not to link Islam and terrorism after 11 September, "numerous" articles made just such a connection.
University education

Despite the recent rise in racism, the report predicted a return to increasing tolerance in the years to come.It suggested this would happen as more people went to university.
"People with degrees are less likely to describe themselves as prejudiced than are other educational groups," the study said.

The report said that people were more likely to become racially prejudiced as they grew older, although the effect of this would be "very small".

"Our best guess, then, is that the 'bumpy ride' will continue in the short term, but that in the medium term a continued decl

1. “YouTube has no ethics, it's been created for the sole purpose of entertainment and money.” Do you agree?

Today youtube is one of the most popular websites on the internet. It caters to the various needs of people effectively. There are various humorous videos which relax the minds of those who are stressed up. On the other hand there are also numerous educational videos that help students understand certain concepts that are difficult to absorb by just reading. For example biological concepts such ad the process of meisis and mitosis.

I agree to a certain extent that youtube has no ethics and that its solely meant for entertainment and making money. For instance there are videos which are pretty much meant to make fun of celebreties including movies stars and political figures. There are even videos which are annoying as they include humorous scenes about serious current incidents such as the Iraq bomb blasts and also their opposition agaisnt the United States. This hepls people to showcase their creativity as it takes great thinking to comeup with a totally humorous video clip out of a issue that is very sensitive and well buzzed about. Though the videos are funny they are annoying and are not at all informative or ethical.These videos acquire great response from the mass because they are entertaining and as more people watch for their humorous theme the video maker gains money. All in all it is sure that youtube has no ethics, if there was ethics ever in youtube will these vidoes be allowed to be published online in the first place? Well my answer is a sure big NO !! opinions differ acoording to individuals though !!

On the other hand as i mentioned earlier many videos are eduational not only helpful in science but also in subjects like history and geography. For example the videos on plate movements and various ancients civil wars or other imporatant memorable moments of human race. So this shows that youtube is not only all about entertainment but that it is also meant to be a portal to showcase and share important and useful informations.

Therefore in conclusion I think that youtube has no ethics because majority of the videos found there are not at all ethical and are just yet another souce of entertainment.


Anu ... what I write is what i believe ....its not just for the sake of writing !!!

A beginning

Every race begins with A step. Similarly creating this blog is my first step to make my thoughts and opinions known to the world. Hope this is a good start for many more interesting things which are yet to come.