Viola's Dreamworld

Saturday, June 30, 2007

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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 Singapore’s multi-racial society, where there is cultural and religious pluralism, which author’s view do you think should be adopted?

Freedom of Expression or Social Responsibility?

I personally feel that Szilagyi’s view should be adopted.

In a country like Singapore where we live within a multi-racial society, there is a need for social responsibility. We cannot be insensitive to the needs and feelings of the other races other than our own. It is because most of us have exercised social responsibility on our part in our everyday life and tasks that we are all able to get along so well, therefore contributing to racial harmony in Singapore. It is because we are tactful and sensitive to one another that there is little disagreement between the races.

“…once messages are out in public, they develop a life of their own and become subject to multiple interpretations, and often manipulation that serves political agendas.”

The above sentence holds so much truth in its words. Imagine if The Straits Times were to publish a cartoon depicting Muslims/Indians/any other race apart from the Chinese as inferior in Singapore, and to paint a mighty portrait of the Chinese instead. One can see it as a way of saying the Chinese are the majority in Singapore, and we do hold more high-paying jobs than the other races (obviously, as we have more people, and therefore our chances increase) yet we are humble and do that show off, though we may be a little higher up in rank than the others. On the other hand, one may choose to view it as an insult to the other races which are in the minority, and thus stir up disagreement and heated conflicts. Different people view things from a different perspective, and this is why we have to be careful.

Remember the incident of the Malaysian bloggers recently? Or perhaps, more closer to home, the Singapore blogger who wrote on his blog something disdainful? (Although I can no longer remember what he wrote about, but I do remember the aftermath and the consequence of his actions.) He paid dearly for his words, and had to serve a term in jail on top of a fine. That was a lesson to him, and he was remorseful for his deed.

We do not need to have such things happen to us on a personal level before we understand the severity of the issue. Social responsibility should be exercised at all times if we want to keep the peace in our country.

Sure enough, there are darker sides to the issue. By choosing social responsibility above freedom of expression, we are holding back a fountain wealth of information that could be released to the public, as well as limiting our knowledge of what the world really holds for us. Some may argue that freedom of expression is a basic right. I do not deny that, but then again, haven’t we always been taught to be tactful and sensitive to one another? Social responsibility is exactly all of this- being tactful and sensitive. If any information is crucial enough and needs to be released to the public and garner awareness, it will be out there. As the saying goes, what we do not know won’t hurt. If it will keep the peace, then why not? Which would you rather have, peace in Singapore or full information of everything but in a world where conflicts are everywhere?

I believe that we all think in rational terms, and therefore the former is a better choice. Peace is a small price to pay for the lack of information. The newspapers may not release certain information due to social responsibility, but if any individual wants to know more, there is no stopping him or her, especially with the efficiency of the Internet today. One quick browse on the Internet, or even on the websites of other newspapers, will be sufficient to provide the individual with whatever information he or her has been searching for. If the message to be brought across may have dire consequences, why publish it and cause uproar? The public can easily gain access to any information they need with a click of a mouse. There is no need to destroy our peace by ignoring social responsibility and focusing on freedom of expression instead.

*700 words

Labels: freedom of speech, social responsibilty

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