Be Careful of what you say

Article Summary: This article is about two teenagers who made unpleasant comment of different races in Singapore. The first incident is about a Chinese scholar who blogs about unpleasant encounters and comments that there are more “dogs than humans in Singapore.” The second incident is about a NYP (nanyang polytechnic) student who makes racially offensive remarks about Indians on the social network. Both of their comments have led to unhappiness among racial groups and they were punished as a result of their comment.

Comment on article: In my opinion, we must be very careful about our speeches in a multi-racial country like Singapore. If we are careless, our actions and words could have led to racial riots. Foreign investors invest In Singapore and provide jobs for Singaporeans. This is because they are confident that their investments are safe in Singapore due to lack of racial and religious tension here.  As a country whose economy depended heavily on trade, foreign investments and tourism, Singapore economy would be seriously impacted if a racial riot breaks out. 

  Singapore is unlike other country which is racially homogenous where people could causally pass racially offensive remarks. An unintentional remark could have led to discontentment between two racial groups laying the foundations for racial riots. For example the NYP’s student comment have made a person of the other race furious and made a police report about her.

  In order to maintain racial harmony in Singapore, we must tolerate each other differences in beliefs and practices. We must respect people of the other race and not discriminate against them. In order to understand each other more, we could make friends with people of other races and invite them to take part in our traditional celebrations. During school hours, we could also work together as a team, thus strengthening our friendship bonds.

  When people fail to understand and appreciate other people’s racial sensitivities, trouble will break out and everyone in that society will suffer the consequences. Singapore is a multi-racial and multi- religious country and thus there is a great need to understand and promote tolerance, understanding and harmony. It is also very important for all Singaporeans to have a national identity and this must be consciously built. Singapore faces threats to its harmony and so the people must stay alert and ensure that harmony does not break down and social bonds remain strong.

  This article is relevant as it shows that racial harmony in Singapore is not easy and we must do our best to preserve it. It also brings out that we must be very careful with our words. A careless comment could lead to discontentment between two racial groups. Singapore is a live and bring up families and life is peaceful and secure because of racial and religious harmony in Singapore.