Facebook is a popular social networking site that is being used by millions of people all around the world. With it, people are not only able to keep in touch with their friends, but they could also set up interest groups, play games, tag photos, update status, share personal information with their friends, share links, upload videos, send virtual gifts and many others. In other words, it actually gives you the lee-way to do what you want.
Though it is a social networking site, some "black sheep" among the users have misused it for other purposes. And, I am talking about the recent case of three youths who were arrested for their Facebook remarks.
The Chinese youths aged between 17 and 18 posted racist remarks. They set up a interest group named after a derogatory term to describe the Indians. The trio were arrested on Sunday after a report was lodged on Saturday. They are out on bail now and investigations are going on.
Time and again, such cases have been happening. Even though, we may talk about freedom of speech and with the vast availability of internet, we can do it on a more extensive scale. There are many forums and social networking sites to discuss topics, ranging from micro-organisms to macro-economics. On such sites, people are also free to discuss and share their opinions about the topics. But at times, they do also put in crude and discriminating remarks.
Personally, I feel that this act by the trio portrays the immaturity and the lack of racial tolerance. Though, it may not have been done to steer up racial instability in the country but purely for joke, it is still unacceptable. We have to realize that living in a multi-racial and multi-religious society, we have to think before we say. Although certain things to us may be fine, but to some it may not. We also have to put ourselves in the shoes of our fellow people to know how they may feel if such remarks are made against them.
Therefore, it is important that parents at home and teachers in school do emphasize the importance of racial harmony in Singapore. Though the internet is a power tool, they should also remind that youths should not misuse it and educate them what consequences they may have to face if failed to do so.
All in all, be a wise citizen and netizen.
By coming across the above article, it reminds me of cognitive schmeta, which is the metal framework that we have developed over time. This applies very well to the teenage boys who have wrote such comments against the Indians. They could have encountered past experiences that could have casued them to write the deregatory comments. However, this does not mean I am supporting them in any manner. But it is typical of the human brain to come to a conclusion of something without looking at it through other perspectives. This is the mistake that the boys made. The boys also predicted future behavious and govern personal action and response based on their past and personal experiences. Therefore, it is important that teengaers should be careful in what they do or say on public forums and social networking sites so as to avoid getting into any form of trouble.
ARTICLE: THREE YOUTHS ARRESTED FOR FACEBOOK REMARKS
"The Pen is mightier that the sword"
ReplyDeleteYour article relates very well to this idiom, that words and communication are more powerful than physical fighting.
Verbal communication through language and such acts as mentioned in your article, can be used to convey a certain feeling (in this case resentment) towards a particular subject or group. It is true that such networking systems provide and impetus for better communication, however when abused, it can leave detrimental effects.
Thank goodness the boys were 'silenced' soon after they made their remarks.
It really scary how mere words can start a war or a conflict. Like anything in life its a double edge sword it can help you, at the same time it can destroy you.
ReplyDeletePeople would need to be more sensitive about certain issues and not commenting what so ever they want. Cause miscomuncation can lead to serious disaters.
I agree that they lack maturity. but along with that, they also lack some degree of morality. Their racist words and actions only reflect how myopic and uneducated they are in thoughts and behaviour.
ReplyDeletePerhaps between parent and child, there wasn't proper installation of social morals and expectations, resulting in a perception that it is fine to say such things without any form of consequences.
While we should not scoff, I do feel that getting caught, sets the tone that such misconception and audacity should cannot be tolerated in an environment where we take pride in the fact that we are a multi-racial society.
I think there's a thin line between being funny and being disrespectful. But this teens, they lack of tolerance and are very ignorant in what they say. IMHO, if we got nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.
ReplyDeleteI think apart from being childish and irrational, I feel that they are abusing their so-called right to "free speech".
ReplyDeleteI believe some teens have the misconception of free speech, thinking that it gives them an all access card to saying whatever that comes to their mind. Also, they view the internet as an informal place where they can interact with their friends and therefore say whatever they want.
They need to understand that the internet is a very public platform and racist, derogatory or basically any nasty remark from them should not be published.
This shows just how hard it is to regulate the internet content because of how vast it is. As a result, it depends on proactive users to report such matters to the authorities.
ReplyDeleteThe three boys arrested should be a good enough example of how making remarks freely without thought can bring about undesirable results. Not only were they being immature and rude, it also shows that ethnocentrism exists whereby people think that they are superior as compared to others based on race.
Racism and you
ReplyDeleteMy indian friend was in the mrt once and this young chinese boy insulted him by calling him this, 'mummy mummy apu neh neh lanjiao black'. This boy mother looked at the boy and pulled him away from my friend who was burning up inside. My friend, being the cool cat that he is controlled his rage and let the matter slip by.
But for how long would we let things like this go. Its only a matter of time before something bad like a racial riot would occur and who are we to blame? We obviously need to spend more time and effort to educate our young about sensitive issues like race and religion if we are ever going to survive in this multi-cultural society.
ps: sorry for the use of the singlish but its one those things that has to be said to deliver the I M P A C T
Insensitive behaviour and social misconduct as seen in this incident from the two boys could be derived from improper upbringing, apart from the influence from their social network. It all begins from home. Different upbringing reflects different culture. Something that may be a joke to some may not be to another. However, one should always be educated on the sensitivity of certain pertinent issues. In this case, racial sensitivity being one. More often than not, people who communicate freely in their vernacular at home tend to be at ease with their branding/ stereotypes of people. Unfortunately some aren’t discerning enough to tune it off when needed as they carry forward this behaviour everywhere they go, such as the train incident mentioned by Adam. Hopefully this arrest has given enough warning to the masses on how serious such issues are.
ReplyDelete