racial harmony day

Singapore, a multi-racial society, consists of cultural and religious pluralism. In the past, nobody would have believed that different races will be able to stay in harmony with each other due to lack of communication and cultural differences etc. Initially, Singapore did experience some difficulties and racial riots occurred. But with extra effort put in by the government, as well as the citizens, Singapore has made it possible for cohesion of different races to live peaceful and harmonious lives. Unite of all races is the key to success of building Singapore. Social responsibility should be taken upon all citizens to stay united as a country. Any form of threats (freedom of speech) that may disturb our harmony should not be adopted. Therefore, I think that Szilagyi’s view should be adopted instead.

As what Szilagyi have said, once messages are out in the public, they develop a life of their own and become subject to multiple interpretations. Misinterpretation of message is undeniable if the message did not come across clearly. Singapore has made it clear that all races are equal; hence all citizens are treated equally despite of their races. Through education and our daily interactions with other races, we have learnt to accept and respect each other’s disparity in perspectives and cultures. Hence freedom of speech will spoil all our hard work by producing such messages that cause misunderstanding among us and cause divergence of Singaporeans.

No doubt Singapore is a democratic country and according to Singer, in such countries, freedom of speech must be included so as to voice out what everyone else believes to be false and even what many people find offensive. I agree that freedom of speech do give us a chance to voice out what we think and speak out our views, which is a benefit citizens in a democratic country should enjoy. But I feel that everyone has to be liable for what they say and what they do so as to be a responsible citizen. Hence, there should be some limitation to this benefit ie. If we know that our speech will cause tension in the relationship between citizens of the same country, we should not say such things.

In conclusion, our freedom of speech should be limited to the extent whereby to protect our peace and harmony among the races. At the same time, it is important for all citizens to understand the importance of social responsibility. This is essential for Singapore, a country made up of many different races, to stay united and continue to progress.

'Prejudice is a disease we can never get rid of.'

I agree with the statement to a large extent. Prejudices are formed as we grow up with the influence by people around us. It is like a disease that is hard to eradicate and will stick with us, since we do not have any solution to the root causes. It is as contagious as a disease; hence many people carry the same prejudices.

Research has shown that prejudice do not develop instinctively. Take for example, a disabled child is seen to be popular among his peers when he is young. It is only in the later years that he suffers discrimination. This goes to show that human basic instinct never teach us to discriminate people. It is the intervention of the children’s mindset by the adults’ own thinking. Hence, I would say that prejudices are being passed on from generation to generation.

Prejudices are merely opinions formed that is based on neither experience nor reason. From the past till now, prejudices such as blacks and whites, difference in races, religions, genders, disability etc still persist. Although statistics show that problems of discrimination due to prejudices have reduced over the years, we still cannot totally eradicate that particular mindset we have towards some group of people. This means that we are still trap in the vicious cycle of prejudices. Changing one’s mindset is an impossible task. Therefore, no matter what, prejudices will remain.

• at least 200words

1. “YouTube has no ethics, it's been created for the sole purpose of entertainment and money.” Do you agree?
2. “The real innovation that Youtube provides is that --- individuals and groups can produce entertainment. The lawsuit is one of the Great Battles over who controls or provides access.” Do you agree?

question 1 : “YouTube has no ethics, it's been created for the sole purpose of entertainment and money.” Do you agree?

The number of viewers in youtube everyday is counted in millions or even billions. Hence we can tell that youtube really provides great entertainment to many and advertisements on youtube will be effective. Hence advertisers will be more than willing to pay and put for the advertisement to be put on youtube. What kind of entertainment can cause the rate of viewers to be so high everyday?


On 4april2007, The Thai government has banned access to the YouTube video-uploading website after it broadcast material critical of the country's king. Such cases indicate that youtube has no ethnics. It claims that the user who uploaded the video did not violate any of their rules and regulations. This goes to show that the rules and regulations to be abided by are not very strict. Further more, Google refuse to take it off after being requested by the Thai government. Therefore, the entertainment that is provided by youtube is merely silly and useless as it has no ethnics. People who want watch it may be because it is free and can act as an entertainment to kill time. Therefore, I agree with the statement to a large extent. :)

introduction :)

hi everyone. I am Chloe. I have studied in Xinmin Primary School until primary 4 and transferred to Nan Chiau Primary School due to the shifting of house. Later on got into my first choice sencondary school- Anderson secondary school. I took up Chinese dance as a co-curriculum activity and has achieved in SYF gold award for the school. I am interested in contemporary dance but at the same time willing to try out new things. Hence i have joined photography club in AJ. I feel that it will be a new experience for me which will allow me to learn a new skill so that i will be more all rounded in the future. During my leisure time, i will usually be watching animation such as bleach and naruto. I find such entertainment important as it helps to balance out my stressful school life. I will also take out some time to read story books as it is one of my hobbies and is important in helping me to brush up the language English.