racial harmony in Singapore

i agree more with Singer's viewpoint and believe that Singapore should adopt a more unrestricted freedom of expression.

however, i do still agree that social responsibility is critical and must not be compromised to ensure a peaceful democracy.

Singer defended the freedom of speech by quoting John Stuart Mill that if a view is not "fully, frequently. and fearlessly discussed,"it will become "a dead dogma, not a living truth." i fully agreed with this statement.

it will be counter-productive for the administration to ban us from breaching topics regarding races so vitally relevant for the society especially the multi-racial Singapore.

also as a student taking general paper, a necessary subject for junior college student in Singapore, we are required to acquire the skill of critical thinking. we are expected to evaluate and criticize on ideas, not just merely accept them as truth. it will be illogical to teach us to question yet deny us the right to question.

it is a matter of time before such topics will be broached and instead of waiting for such literature to explode suddenly and uncontrollably, we should as well actively discuss them in an open-minded forum.

Singapore leaders have been planning such forums in recent years like the online 'Your Discussion Corner' in REACH government website that allows public discussion of issues like homosexuality and establishing the Speaker's Corner in Hong Lim Park.

Criticisms of such forum are varied, like one may have the same worries with Szilagyi that the free speech made may infringe upon the sensitivities of other people and cause conflicts. such worries are not unwarranted with a prominent example of the Danish offensive cartoon.

with considerations to such incidents, there is no doubt that we need to balance free speech and sensitivities of people.

however, i sided more to a more liberal society. overconsideration of sensitivities will hinder progress. for example, if Galileo Galilei back in 1615 had considered the Church sensitivities and never published his theories that the Earth revolves around the Sun, much scientific discoveries may not have been made now and mankind would not have progressed as far as it is today. consideration of sensitivities is necessary for a peaceful society but not so much that progress is impeded.

in the discussion of racial harmony, we should have more leeway to say about racial issues. Singapore is no longer as volatile as in the past where the nation had just been born and we have more troubles to worry about. now, after 40 years of rapid progress, we have ascended from a third world country to a first world country. many Singaporeans are educated, with 61.1% of the population achieving at least secondary qualifications in 2006.

with higher education levels, people will be less easily manipulated and have the capacity to think about the moral implications. although discussing racial issues is bound to ruffle up some feathers, with an open-mind kept, conflicts would be reduced.