Sunday, April 29, 2007
Consider the merits and demerits of censorship and state your reasons why you think it is unnecessary/necessary.Censorship is exercised in the media of all aspects, be it the television, music, articles, images etc. Government plays the parental role in regulating the powerful mass media in society, and they are the ones who determine what the media should present to the people. These are taboos (politics, religions, horror, racial, pornography, offensive etc.) which media will avoid from reporting so as to refrain getting themselves into trouble with the law.
To censor or not to censor is a controversial topic and is subjected to individuals. However, there are always two sides that we have to view in an issue.
Media serves as a tool for us to receive new knowledge and to express our thoughts and feelings. If censorship was not carried out, people will be free to access any form of media and it will be of a higher possibility for them to get hold of taboo materials. Singapore is a multi racial country and it is vital for people of different races and religions to live harmoniously together, hence is it very sensitive to discuss on racial and religion issues. If all has the freedom to voice out their thoughts and feelings, no one will ever think of the consequences of their words. A racial riot may spark off easily when one simply comments about a particular race and Singapore will be in a dire state. With censorship, the national security is guaranteed as it serves as a safety valve to prevent any exposure of sensitive materials that may agitate the different races.
B.G. George Yeo once said “ Act of censorship is itself symbolic and an affirmation to young and old of the values we hold as a community.” Internet, especially, is where we are able to access to almost everything in the world with just a click on our mouse. We are all aware that children of tender age are most vulnerable towards pornography, they easily get addicted to it and promiscuity will be encouraged in them. This upsets the growing up process of a child and with their upright values tarnished, they may grow up into an incorrigible person. In this area of concern, censorship protects the young from early exposure of pornography, gore and violence by allowing them to mature in a healthy environment. It also protects the rest of the human population from gruesome images or scenes that may be disturbing them.
On the other hand, censorship is a contradiction itself. Government encourages the common people to express their thoughts and feelings freely but at the same time, they censor those comments that they view as taboo words. It is actually depriving us of the freedom of speech and violating our human rights by not revealing the truth to us.
Censorship easily causes misunderstanding, as the message is not brought clearly across. Without censorship, it will actually allow transparency and help demystify the doubts of people. The early exposure of certain things, such as sexual issues, may not be a bad thing after all as it can serve as an education for the young. Instead of blocking all access to it and causes the curiosity to burn in children, don’t you think that it will be better for us to first educate them and help clear their doubts for their questions? The ignorance of many things around the world is often the result of censorship. Transparency of media is a form of fairness to the population, as it reveals everything to the public and not hide any information from them.
All in all, censorship should take place so as to protect the society from materials that are morally unaccepted and offensive. However, this is subjected to one’s perspective of a matter and it is very tough for us to justify. Personally, I feel that censorship is necessary as people are often unable to differentiate what is right or wrong, hence by exercising censorship, it will help us to drain away materials that are deem as taboos.
the world will turn WILD.
12:50 AM
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Monday, April 16, 2007
What have you learnt about the media in the way they present what is perceived over what is real? (Based on the article "Spilling blood with oil in Iraq" –6april2003)
Media exists in many different forms-newspapers, magazines, television, radios etc. It is the means of communication, which reach or influence people widely and hence it has the obligation to update us daily with the world’s happenings. But has it ever come across your mind that the information we received may not be totally factual? Have we ever doubted the credibility of the media?
With the encouragement for the freedom of speech and with their powerful command of English Language, I am sorry to say that today’s media frequently weave creative stories and present to us what they perceived over what is real. The information we received are only a part of the truth but when we zoom out our lens to take a look at the whole picture, we will often realize that we are misled by our innovating media.
Pressure from the government may be the best explanation for the actions of the media. The media is used as a tool by the government for propaganda purposes and the government will definitely not tolerate scandals or news that are of disadvantage to them. Eventually, it is understandable that media will only broadcast the glory of the government and make obscure reports on the mistakes made by government. With reference to the article "Spilling blood with oil in Iraq", my above stand is strongly supported.
As far as everyone knows, the Iraq war has sparked off as USA argued that Iraq is producing weapons of mass destruction. However, none of the arguments for war was substantiated from the start. Has any weapons of mass destruction been found till this stage? The answer is no. So why does people still has the strong belief of the existence of such weapons? The phrase-"
creative untruths" is used in the article to describe the news given to us by the reporters. From only two simple words, we can infer that media is not always trustworthy. They can lie. As quoted from the article, "Many Iraqi civilians have been
crippled,
traumatized and
killed in 12 years of war", we can see that the usage of these words in bold have aroused our strong feelings towards the real situation in Iraq. We can eventually see the whole picture of this cruel reality through inference from these words- USA’s real motive of the Iraq war is to have full control of Iraqi oil But how many are actually aware of this true story? I believe only the minority does.
To put it nicely, the media may have their restrictions or obligations to report a certain piece of information to the world and thus it is dependent on individuals whether or not to trust them in wholesale.
However, I personally feel that we should widen our scope and not just narrow our source of education to one. Only then, we will be able to look at things from different perspectives and eventually find logic to it.
the world will turn WILD.
8:15 AM
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Monday, April 9, 2007
Tada~ my gp blog is finally up! Let me do some self-introduction before getting down to do my very first blog entry assignment.
SERENE is my name but I, as a person, am definitely not serene. Somehow, I feel that I have a split personality. You can call me an extrovert, as I can be really talkative and hyperactive at times. (p.s. I love to crack lame jokes.) However, there are times when I will really mute myself and remain silent for a long period of time. Well, you cannot blame me for that as majority of the females has mood swings at particular days in a month. I have to admit that I have a weak command for the English Language, as I am a Mandarin-oriented person. (You can actually draw this conclusion if you know I am taking CLL as one of the subject. Chinese is a beautiful language. =]) Hence, pardon me if you find weird sentence structures in my essay. But
wait, you must always remember to correct me from my mistakes by leaving comments after reading each of my essays. Learning from my own mistakes is the only way for me to improve my English language and I will appreciate your help. =)
MY TOPSY-TURVY LIFE. My body clock is definitely unique as compared to many people out there. When people are out in the sunlight, I will be in my dreamland; when people are all snoozing away, I will be wide-awake. Having a nocturnal life, I sleep mostly in the day (except during school days) and wake up at around midnight. My brain is most active at dusk and thus I’ve adopted the habit of studying late into the night after having my afternoon nap. Luckily, I am able to switch my body clock to "normal mode" during school days, although I may still feel sleepy from time to time in school.
MUSIC. It is my love, my passion. I have been learning the piano for eight years and I simply love it! The only obstacle that prevents me from playing certain songs is my miniature pair of hands. Sadly, I do not have long and slim fingers like many pianists, thus I often meet with great difficulty with songs that involve the playing of notes in an octave. Besides piano, I have also acquired the skills to play Guzheng, a Chinese String instrument, during my four years in secondary school. The pursuit of my passion for music is perpetual. It is never ending. I am now in AJC guitar ensemble and, of course, my ultimate aim is to learn to play the guitar! (Hahas. =D) There are so many musical instruments that I yearn to learn, regardless if they are Western or Chinese instruments. Saxophone, Pipa (another Chinese orchestral instrument), drums, western flute…I know I am greedy. (Bleah.xp)
I guess these are all you need to know about me! The rest is for me to know and for you to find out! *winks.
Goodnight, people.
the world will turn WILD.
7:56 AM
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