Saturday, July 7, 2007 . 8:23 AM

Freedom of expression is indeed important in democratic Singapore, so that people can voice out their views for the benefit of the country. At the same time, having a multi-racial society means that sensitivity of religious issues has to be taken into consideration amidst having freedom of expression as well. Szilagyi's view should have been adopted in this case, however I feel that actually both freedom of expression and social responsiblity should be adopted but in a balanced manner.

In multi-racial Singapore, more emphasis should be placed on social responsibility ahead of freedom of expression and speech. It is important that we show respect for each other's culture and religion and be sensitive when it comes to issues pertaining to religion and cultures. Not forgetting about the 1964 race riots that occured in Singapore as a result of racist remarks, all of us should take it as a learning point and continue to maintain the peacefulness among the 4 different main races in Singapore by exercising social responsibility.

Singapore is a democratic country, there's no doubt that having freedom of expression and speech is essential in a way in a democratic society like Singapore. As mentioned by Singer, "freedom of speech is essential to democratic regimes, and it must include the freedom to say what everyone else believes to be false, and even what many people find offensive". Indeed, being able to critic about issues is important in democratic regimes, however due to cultural and religious issues, everyone should be more self conscious about whatever they say and do. With regard to the famous issue about the publishing of provocative cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, the publishing and republishing of those cartoons in European newspapers was really a great mistake. Despite condemation from European politicians and the previous UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the publishing of these provocative cartoons was enough to spark rage among the Muslims around the world. Yes, freedom of expression is important in the mass media, but there should be a limit to whatever that is published in a global newspaper. Such cartoons could have been by newspaper editors instead and anger amongst the Muslims could have been avoided.

Even though Szilagyi's view sounds more relevant to be adopted in multi-racial Singapore, it is not feasible for the Singapore media to merely adopt and function on just social responsibility. Being a democratic country means that people should be allowed to provide their opinions freely, thus the Singapore media should strive towards striking a balance between social responsibility and freedom of expression.