Freedom of speech VS. Social Responsibility
In a country like Singapore which is both multi-racial and multi-religious, we cannot afford to allow people give irresponsible comments, which will cause the different races or religions to go into tense relations with one another. Hence, I think that Singapore should actually adopt Szilagyi’s view--social responsibility but this does not mean that freedom of speech is abolished.
We cannot deny that freedom of speech is essential to any democratic society, because it IS a basic foundation of democracy. Furthermore, as what Singer had said, without this right to speak freely, “human progress will always run up against a basic roadblock”. This is because under no circumstances are people allowed to criticize one another. Yet it is these criticisms that will spark off people’s motivation to work harder. It is these criticisms that will make people look at their mistakes and try to improve thus allowing progress. Hence the freedom of speech is actually important in allowing human race to progress.
However, there is a price to pay if people want to practice freedom of speech and this price is “social responsibility”. People are free to say what is on their minds but there is a limit to this. They should not say things that will hurt others, or ruin relations among different groups of people. This is especially important in Singapore because irresponsible comments regarding sensitive issues can actually send the different groups of people targeted into a state where quarrels and fights thrive. This will in turn affect Singapore’s economy as tourists avoid coming to Singapore due to the chaos present. Hence, speakers, media and bloggers all have to exercise social responsibility. Before each statement they make, they must think through it carefully, making sure they can substantiate their stand and that it does not harm anyone because the world is like what Szilagyi said: “Media messages, films and art works cannot be addressed to specific cultural group-traditional borders of culture and nation no longer exist”.
By practicing social responsibility, we can prevent what happened in 2006 about the Danish cartoons. The cartoons caused a big hoo-ha as it was mocking at certain religious figures which “set off mass demonstrations, diplomatic rows and economic boycotts of the Danish products in the Middle East” and also strained the relation ties between Denmark and the Muslim communities. If this were to racial or religious discord was to happen in Singapore, the result would have been disastrous. The trust between the different communities would be broken overnight and tension will brew.
Hence, I feel that social responsibility should be adopted in Singapore.
We cannot deny that freedom of speech is essential to any democratic society, because it IS a basic foundation of democracy. Furthermore, as what Singer had said, without this right to speak freely, “human progress will always run up against a basic roadblock”. This is because under no circumstances are people allowed to criticize one another. Yet it is these criticisms that will spark off people’s motivation to work harder. It is these criticisms that will make people look at their mistakes and try to improve thus allowing progress. Hence the freedom of speech is actually important in allowing human race to progress.
However, there is a price to pay if people want to practice freedom of speech and this price is “social responsibility”. People are free to say what is on their minds but there is a limit to this. They should not say things that will hurt others, or ruin relations among different groups of people. This is especially important in Singapore because irresponsible comments regarding sensitive issues can actually send the different groups of people targeted into a state where quarrels and fights thrive. This will in turn affect Singapore’s economy as tourists avoid coming to Singapore due to the chaos present. Hence, speakers, media and bloggers all have to exercise social responsibility. Before each statement they make, they must think through it carefully, making sure they can substantiate their stand and that it does not harm anyone because the world is like what Szilagyi said: “Media messages, films and art works cannot be addressed to specific cultural group-traditional borders of culture and nation no longer exist”.
By practicing social responsibility, we can prevent what happened in 2006 about the Danish cartoons. The cartoons caused a big hoo-ha as it was mocking at certain religious figures which “set off mass demonstrations, diplomatic rows and economic boycotts of the Danish products in the Middle East” and also strained the relation ties between Denmark and the Muslim communities. If this were to racial or religious discord was to happen in Singapore, the result would have been disastrous. The trust between the different communities would be broken overnight and tension will brew.
Hence, I feel that social responsibility should be adopted in Singapore.
posted by huikiow at
10:49 PM
1 Comments
