Blogging task
Singer believes that freedom of expression is essential to any democracy and therefore should not be limited. On the other hand, Szilagyi believes that more focus should be placed on social responsibility.
In the context of
Write a response of at least 300 words and 2 content paragraphs, and include materials from both articles as well as your own knowledge and experience.
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Since Primary school, we have been learning about the 5 aspects of Singapore's <Total Defence> of which one is Social Defence, whereby all Singaporeans should understand and be sensitive to the cultures and traditions of one another, in order to build strong bonds across different ethnic groups. Only then can we strengthen Social cohesion; so I feel that Singapore should adopt Szilagyi's view of everyone practising social responsibility instead of Singer's view of having unlimited Freedom of Speech for all.
No doubt it's true that 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 (extracted from article 1 by Singer). I disagree with the point that all issues, including those which will threaten National security, to be made public for any Tom, Dick and Harry to appraise! Have we not forgotten about the 1964 racial/communal riots between Malays and Chinese over two five-day periods beginning on 21 July and 2 September respectively?
Therefore, there must be some forms of Censorship by local media companies to prevent the incident like the provocative nature of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, which is condemned by many all over the world. As discussed in one of our GP lessons for Term 2, the values of Cartoons and Comics may not be just that simple... They may include: Economy, Humour (Satire), Accessibility, Attention, Subtlety, Implicitness, Impression/ Impact.
As I have mentioned before in Blog entry #2, "Race and religion are potential fault-lines for social division", it is just not practical to allow firms to republished (the cartoons) and mass production, knowing very well that this may cause chaos in Singapore (-_-)
It is stated in Article 2 by Szilagyi that, "In our networked world, existing societal and political tensions can be inflamed instantly through the transfer of messages from one cultural context to another." This is very true as due to the concept of a SHRINKING WORLD with advancement of technology, now we all effectively live next door to one another :p Learning lessons from real-life examples that happen in other countries, Singapore must be careful as to not step on the list of Social Taboos and destroy her own future.
Bearing in mind that Humans is the only resource that Singapore has, we can't afford to have any outbreak of internal conflicts as it will hampers her development in this ever-competitive century. Given so, the system to protect the collective interests of society is preferred.
I am glad that Singapore does value Freedom of Expression and Individual Rights to a certain extent: Singaporeans are free to comment on anything as long as they don't pass any eg racial opinions which intentionally or unintentionally to create unrest in Singapore; for our government will not tolerate anyone regardless of what their social status is!
The million dollar question is none other than-- " How to strike a balance between both!?!"
Thank god that the beloved country that I am born in has the capability to do so and managed to keep Social Tension to the minimum; or should I say almost none =) 21st July marks Racial Harmony Day for Singapore annually. Other than having the luxury to be clad in beautiful traditional costumes to school, we students should not forget the rationale behind celebrating this day, don't you agree with me?
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Able to disinguish the differing views of the authors and relate them to own experiences. Nicely, jean!Grade: B
Posted by Guest-mdml @ 9 Jul 2007, 08:30:38 AM
