Blog Task 2.
Consider the merits and demerits of censorship and state your reasons why you think it is un/necessary.
Consider the merits and demerits of censorship and state your reasons why you think it is un/necessary.
To have or not to have Censorship implemented???
Personally, i feel that there should still be some forms of Censorship present in our country; although certain censorship standards can be rather hard to fix...
For Movies, it is better to have the different rating systems like PG, NC16, M18 and R21 to help limit people who are too 'young' for certain shows. The higher rating like M18 and R21 are usually reserved for movies with Sexual Content and Strong Violence +) However, over the years, there have been many cases where shows successfully 'downgraded' to NC16 or even PG. The question is how should the censorship board base their rating on? Is it true that all movies with bloody scenes can't be PG or what? Physical age is not a good way to judge one's maturity as others can argue that 'young' teenagers may not be so innocent afterall!
With the advanced technology available, children can have easy access to those that we termed as RA rated resources and even with the movie rating, they can still find their ways to watch it online:p So, try to exercise online censorship as well?!?
As we all know, China is one such country that practise Internet censorship. Government of People's Republic of China (PRC) has too set up an Internet police task force to help filter contents of Internet made obtainable for its citizens. They have not only banned access of certain websites, but erased countless critical comments appearing on Internet forums, bulletin boards, blogs, vlogs or any major portals such as Sohu and Sina within minutes!
Stop to think... Is it reallie feasible to do things to such extent in a non-communist country--Singapore? No doubt that Singaporeans are pretty obedient and follow many polices that the government suggests, where will all the "Freedom of Expression" and "Freedom of Speech" be if we do so?
As the saying goes, "Race and religion are potential fault-lines for social division!" . This is extremely true for a multi-racial and multi-religious nation like Singapore (-_-) All of us regardless of our different backgrounds will have to work hand-in-hand to enable Singapore in achieveing greater heights as we are the only resource that she has! Any attempts to create social unrest eg starting a racial riots will be dealt with seriously be the Law.
For instance, three Chinese bloggers who made racism comments online was charged in court in the last few months of Year 2005:
On account of Gan's age (17 years old then) and clean record, District Judge Bala Reddy had called for a pre-sentencing report to see if Gan could be placed on probation.
Gan is the third racist blogger to be convicted this year.
On Oct 7, marketing executive Nicholas Lim and animal shelter assistant Benjamin Koh were given landmark jail sentences for similar offences.
Lim was convicted of one charge and given a 'nominal' jail term of one day. He was also fined the maximum of $5,000.
Koh, who was convicted of two charges, was jailed for one month.
They were the first people to be jailed under the Sedition Act since 1966.
YES, things can get that serious even though censorship was not 100% implemented in our country. Talking about the Freedom of Expression and Individual Rights, Singaporeans are free to comment on anything as long as they don't pass any eg racial opinions which intentionally or unintentionally to create chaos in Singapore; for our government will not tolerate anyone regardless of what their social status is!
People should learn to practise Self-Censorship and what more for educated Singaporeans, they should have an idea of what is right and what is wrong despite Censorship not implemented strictly. Without Censorship, we as readers, viewers and audience may get to see more objective reports and know the true reality but...
In order to protect national interest and ensure that negative messages are not circulated esp. to the younger generation, i am supportive of Censorship. While sensitive issues like racism are avoided, the social tension of our country will be kept to the minimum as well =)
Moreover, it is ridiculous to have massive influx of unwanted resources that caused undesirable results present in our society! There ought to be some regulations and controls imposed before things get out of hand.
As statistics reports have proven, some murderers actually learn about ways to torture and kill their victims via surfing the net and watching movies with strong violence! Try not to view the whole issue as horrible Censorship board not allowing certain shows to be screened locally but the fact that they are trying to provide us with a safer environment to live in :)
All in all, it's more necessary than not to have Censorship.
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an excellent entry, jean! well-researched and substantially wrtitten! =]Grade: Amdm l
Posted by Guest-mdm l @ 30 Apr 2007, 11:14:46 AM
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