Singer believes that freedom of expression is essential to any democracy and therefore should be 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-cultural society, where there is cultural and religious pluralism, which author's view do you think should be adopted?
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.
Freedom of expression is defined as the concept of being able to speak freely without censorship. It is often regarded as an integral concept in modern liberal democracies. However, I feel that in a multi-cultural society in Singapore, freedom of expression should not be executed as it may incur many conflicts among people from different racial and religious groups. As a result, I agree with Szilagyi's opinion.
Many of us have known the painful history of the Holocaust, whereby the Nazi Germany and its collaborators murdered approximately six million Jews during World War II.Even today, the Jews still remember the history. When David Irving denied the Holocaust, many Jews felt angry, as the sensitivities of the Holocaust victims, who were their ancestors, were ignored. David Irving was convicted as a result. This is one of the many cases of freedom of speech which resulted in occasional alimony among people. We should not let anybody to pass any callous remarks which affect a particular group of people. Had David Irving not done what he did, he would not have been thrown behind bar.
Although in democratic countries, freedom of expression is a basic right, there should be a limit to it. We can imagine the chaos when individuals are free to express their opinions and say spiteful things to one another. Riots may occur leading to the disruption of peacefulness in a country. The world will become a malicious and unfeeling one. Many people will be hurt - They will be humiliated because of their particular way of thinking or their skin colours, which is not really something which they can change.
In this society, we need to bear a social responsibility, which means be accountable for our own doings. Furthermore, there is a need to respect and tolerate people with different background, skin colours and racial and relious groups.
7 July 2007
29 April 2007
"Prejudice is a disease we can never get rid of." Discuss.
Prejudice, according to the dictionary, is the intolerance of or dislike for people because they belong to a specific race, religion, or group. This is an unavoidable phenomenon in our society. We all grow up hearing different views on people belonging to races or religion different from ours. The term socialisation is used to describe this. Since young, we have heard various issues, predominently notorious ones about other races from our parents and therefore developed this racism. The stories, just like diseases, are passed on from one generation to another and this attributes to the prejudice which can never be got rid of.
Because many people have a narrow interpretation on a particular idea, it is likely that they will stick to that idea. We all think that we are the best and hence excludes other people who are different from us. The mindset is deeply rooted and very difficult to eradicate.
For example, not long ago, the sports shows on cable TV employed female hosts like Jamie Yeo and Charlie Webster. Although it is a breakthrough for these female hosts, they have received derogatory comments. Some sports fans even lament that they are just eye-candies. This is a perfect example to illustrate the point. People just assume that women have no knowledge of sports and dismiss them quickly. But in real they may perform equally professional as men do.
Thus prejudice will be in our society forever because there are too many differences among different groups of people. It is not easy for us to accept other cultures, languages and rituals. However, we can create a harmonious environment by being amiable and approachable to people and not judge them by their colours.
Prejudice, according to the dictionary, is the intolerance of or dislike for people because they belong to a specific race, religion, or group. This is an unavoidable phenomenon in our society. We all grow up hearing different views on people belonging to races or religion different from ours. The term socialisation is used to describe this. Since young, we have heard various issues, predominently notorious ones about other races from our parents and therefore developed this racism. The stories, just like diseases, are passed on from one generation to another and this attributes to the prejudice which can never be got rid of.
Because many people have a narrow interpretation on a particular idea, it is likely that they will stick to that idea. We all think that we are the best and hence excludes other people who are different from us. The mindset is deeply rooted and very difficult to eradicate.
For example, not long ago, the sports shows on cable TV employed female hosts like Jamie Yeo and Charlie Webster. Although it is a breakthrough for these female hosts, they have received derogatory comments. Some sports fans even lament that they are just eye-candies. This is a perfect example to illustrate the point. People just assume that women have no knowledge of sports and dismiss them quickly. But in real they may perform equally professional as men do.
Thus prejudice will be in our society forever because there are too many differences among different groups of people. It is not easy for us to accept other cultures, languages and rituals. However, we can create a harmonious environment by being amiable and approachable to people and not judge them by their colours.
19 April 2007
GP Blog question
YouTube has no ethics, it's been created for the sole purpose of entertainment and money. Do you agree?
From 2006 onwards, YouTube has become a phenomenon. Video clips on random issues can be viewed by people for free. Not even is registration needed to view the video clips. Hence as more people frequent this site, advertising companies see the great opportunity to advertise their products on YouTube. After all, YouTube receives 20 million visitors every month.However, the rising popularity of YouTube has also made it the centre of criticisms. Many people believed that YouTube has no ethics and that it has been created for the sole purpose of entertainment and money. I agree to this because the YouTube effect has created many confusion and propaganda.Many of the video clips are posted by individuals acting on their own. In the process, inaccurate infomation is disseminated. For example, there is a video clip on health issues like encouraging women to do a monthly self-exam for breast cancer. In which the message sent to the public is in the form of a hip-hop song. However, a researcher said that many of the new therapies touted were unreliable and unscientific. One clip even attribute breast cancer to abortion.
There are also random video clips like a baby laughing or a grandfather telling his life stories. Such videos are mainly for entertainment purposes. For videos which touch on political issues are also unreliable. Many videos could be produced so as to manipulate public opinion. How will we know that, for example, a video showing a Chinese shooting a Japanese is true, when actually the video is produced by the Japanese to gain people's sympathy? The YouTube effect has hence brought about mixed feelings. It is hard to know what to believe. This is a problem about ethics, where moral principles are concerned.
In any case, I think YouTube is definitely not a site for serious work. It is fine to browse the videos but the general public should be aware of the issues and not be easly manipulated.
From 2006 onwards, YouTube has become a phenomenon. Video clips on random issues can be viewed by people for free. Not even is registration needed to view the video clips. Hence as more people frequent this site, advertising companies see the great opportunity to advertise their products on YouTube. After all, YouTube receives 20 million visitors every month.However, the rising popularity of YouTube has also made it the centre of criticisms. Many people believed that YouTube has no ethics and that it has been created for the sole purpose of entertainment and money. I agree to this because the YouTube effect has created many confusion and propaganda.Many of the video clips are posted by individuals acting on their own. In the process, inaccurate infomation is disseminated. For example, there is a video clip on health issues like encouraging women to do a monthly self-exam for breast cancer. In which the message sent to the public is in the form of a hip-hop song. However, a researcher said that many of the new therapies touted were unreliable and unscientific. One clip even attribute breast cancer to abortion.
There are also random video clips like a baby laughing or a grandfather telling his life stories. Such videos are mainly for entertainment purposes. For videos which touch on political issues are also unreliable. Many videos could be produced so as to manipulate public opinion. How will we know that, for example, a video showing a Chinese shooting a Japanese is true, when actually the video is produced by the Japanese to gain people's sympathy? The YouTube effect has hence brought about mixed feelings. It is hard to know what to believe. This is a problem about ethics, where moral principles are concerned.
In any case, I think YouTube is definitely not a site for serious work. It is fine to browse the videos but the general public should be aware of the issues and not be easly manipulated.
22 March 2007
Hello everyone! I am Chen Chen. I am new to AJC and now I'm still trying to adjust to this new environment. A lot of people think that I'm very quiet and to some people I may even appear unfriendly. This is not true because when I get really close to friends you will be shocked by how crazy I can be. I like to laugh a lot and sometimes it can't stop. it can be quite embarrassing at times because I may get a lot of stares. But anyway I think the best part about life is that we can laugh and be happy every day. I think my parents are pretty cool because I know they care for me a lot. And there are my friends too- they are always there for me and they make me laugh. I think JC life is tough but it can be exciting too! I look forward to JC life!
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