Saturday, June 2, 2007
I agree with Szilagyi’s views that more focus should be placed on social responsibility. Freedom of speech may be an essential aspect of democracy, however censorship should still be practiced to a certain extent. Szilagyi’s article is spot-on in pointing out the fact that the media cannot control how the public chooses to construe their messages and often they only subscribe to the views that serves their own agendas. Because of Singapore’s multiculturalism, it is especially susceptible to conflicts between the various races and religions. Therefore, we cannot permit total freedom of expression because there would definitely be someone who would abuse this right. Hence, censorship should still be practiced. In his article, Singer says that “By contrast, 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. We must be free to deny the existence of God, and to criticize the teachings of Jesus, Moses, Muhammad, and Buddha, as reported in texts that millions of people regard as sacred. Without that freedom, human progress will always run up against a basic roadblock.” I disagree with this statement. If we do allow that to happen, there would not be any human progress. Instead, there would be social regression as misunderstandings and conflicts would arise between the offending and offended parties. As Szilagyi mentions, “Whether we like it or not, now we all effectively live next door to one another.” Any comment on others may be misconceived as a personal attack on them, eventually leading to divisions within the society. In Singapore, we cannot have that happening as that would be suicidal to the well being of the nation. Perhaps a point could be taken from the racial riots that occurred in the 1964, where mass violence was caused by insensitivities towards other races. A cohesive society is the basic foundation of the success of Singapore. The lack of it would have been detrimental to our economic development. Therefore, I conclude that more emphasis should be placed on responsibility rather than freedom.
Nicholas stepped on your garbage at