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Saturday, March 29, 2008
11:55 AM
I feel that Singapore should adopt Szilagyi’s view of placing more focus on social responsibility. In a multi-racial society like Singapore, the wide array of cultures and religions here make us susceptible to internal conflicts. As such, issues pertaining to these are very sensitive and cannot be neglected. If everyone does not have regard for each other’s culture and religion, it would be impossible for the people of Singapore to coexist. A crude, gratuitous remark could spark off tensions among the different racial and religious groups. This may lead to discontent and unhappiness among people. In addition, it may cause the younger generation to grow up with bias against fellow Singaporeans of other races or religions, causing a social split in the country. This can be seen in the conflict between the Protestants and Catholics of Northern Ireland, whereby children were put into schools based on their religions. As interactions between both religious groups were minimal, the children often grew up not knowing, or having negative views about one another. If there is no social responsibility in Singapore, racial harmony would not be possible and we may face this problem in the future.
Another more detrimental outcome would be the breakdown of relations among the different racial and religious groups. If nothing is done to appease and mend the ties of these groups, Singapore might be faced with a race riot on its hands. It once happened on 21st July 1964, when discontent between Malays and Chinese sparked off a race riot. This led to the death of 23 people, a curfew and the destruction of property. As such, race riot not only takes a toll on the citizens, but would also strain our country’s economy as a substantial amount of money would have to be used to rebuild the destructed properties. Instability in the country would also affect our tourism and trading industry, which accounts for a large part of Singapore’s revenue. It might result in the lost of confidence in Singapore’s future, causing current investors to pull out, and also affect our reputation as a vibrant and reliable investment hub, which Singapore has painstakingly built up over the years. Recently, Malaysia’s stocks plunged after the election results reviewed that the opposition parties won key states like Penang. This shows the pertinence of stability.
However, we should not assume that freedom of expression is totally negative. As a democratic country, I believe that freedom of expression should be practised, but only to a certain extent. Without freedom of expression, new ideas cannot be generated and our society would come to a standstill. Without freedom of expression, people would just be told what to do without having the ability to think for themselves. Though less severe, this bears resemblance to Russia’s situation under Stalin’s rule, whereby censorship and propaganda swayed the views of people.
In conclusion, I believe that Singapore should practise freedom of expression coupled with social responsibility to make our country an open, yet cohesive society.Melissa Chan
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