Freedom of Expression or Social Responsibility? (June Blog Task for Racial Harmony Day)

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?



In Singapore, racial harmony day falls on the 21st of July. It is a day to remind all races in Singapore that we need to live together harmoniously, as it was on this day in 1964 that a racial riot between the Chinese and the Malays. In my opinion, racial harmony is of utmost importance, not only in Singapore alone, but also throughout the world. Just simply by publishing a cartoon, a racial unrest can surface, as seen from the cartoons, published on newspaper in 2006 that were being depicted as an insult to the Islamic countries.

In response to this social unrest around the world, there is a debate on whether more emphasis should be placed on the rights of media to publish on what they want or the responsibility of society. So, in the context of Singapore's multi-racial society, should freedom of expression or social responsibility be accentuated? In my point of view, I believe that social responsibility is more important and thus, should be adopted in Singapore.

While freedom of expression is essential in a democratic country like Singapore, social responsibility is more far-reaching. The former may go out of hand and people will be offending other races through what they say, which they think that is fine. Too much freedom given to the people may result in misunderstandings between the different races, when someone did not filter through what they say about other races. It is now that social responsibility has to come in. People and most importantly, the media, will have to learn to be sensitive to others and to be aware of the consequences of what they say. Especially so for the media, as they are the answer to how information is being disseminated globally. Therefore, what they report will have an impact on the groups of people worldwide who are involved in the issue. This might lead to retaliation from these groups of people.

However, with social responsibility, all these can be prevented and a multi-racial Singapore will then be able to survive and flourish even with different racial groups living together on this island. As everyone plays their part of refraining saying anything that is damaging to the society's interest, all racial groups will feel respected and there will then be no existence of unhappiness, which might lead to anger.

In conclusion, social responsibility acts as a preventive measure against racial unrest, while freedom of expression may breed racial unrest, as it may act as a trigger when used inappropriately. Therefore, I feel that Singapore should focus more on social responsibility to maintain the serenity present in our nation.