More on Little India's Riot
A useful article that can be used to address:
1) the plight of the disadvantaged
note some of the various alleged grievances suffered by the foreign workers here (second half of column 3)...note also that PM Lee has publicly dismissed the welfare of the workers being an issue in igniting the riot, claiming there's no evidence of this. Let's wait for the report from the inquiry committee that will shed more light on this in a few moths' time...
2) harsh punishments
are these sufficient enough to deter future riots? or should we also consider OTHER alternatives like tackling root causes like their grievances? Or should we also use technology like CCTV in tandem with harsh punishments?
Try comparing this with the riot and protest ongoing in Thailand.
3) media
there's a bit on this towards end of article....Note how viewers often walk away from the media with a distorted o misrepresentation of reality, and I'm not saying the media is doing this deliberately. By giving us snapshot of reality, we often walk away with the misguided notion that the snapshot is representative of the WHOLE. eg, only 400 rioters, but we think the WHOLE one million plus foreign workers here are all rioters (but actually only about 0.04% are rioters!).....only one or two black sheep Singaporeans circulating xenophobic comments online but outsiders walk away from the chatrooms with the impression that the WHOLE Singapore is xenophobic....a testament that inaccurate impressions can acquire the illusion of truth when fed from the media, esp new media.
Sample Qns:
1) How effective are harsh punishment in dealing with crime?
2) Can we ever rely on the media to convey the truth?
3) Many developed countries are paying increasing attention to the needs of the disadvantaged. How true is this in Singapore?
1) the plight of the disadvantaged
note some of the various alleged grievances suffered by the foreign workers here (second half of column 3)...note also that PM Lee has publicly dismissed the welfare of the workers being an issue in igniting the riot, claiming there's no evidence of this. Let's wait for the report from the inquiry committee that will shed more light on this in a few moths' time...
2) harsh punishments
are these sufficient enough to deter future riots? or should we also consider OTHER alternatives like tackling root causes like their grievances? Or should we also use technology like CCTV in tandem with harsh punishments?
Try comparing this with the riot and protest ongoing in Thailand.
3) media
there's a bit on this towards end of article....Note how viewers often walk away from the media with a distorted o misrepresentation of reality, and I'm not saying the media is doing this deliberately. By giving us snapshot of reality, we often walk away with the misguided notion that the snapshot is representative of the WHOLE. eg, only 400 rioters, but we think the WHOLE one million plus foreign workers here are all rioters (but actually only about 0.04% are rioters!).....only one or two black sheep Singaporeans circulating xenophobic comments online but outsiders walk away from the chatrooms with the impression that the WHOLE Singapore is xenophobic....a testament that inaccurate impressions can acquire the illusion of truth when fed from the media, esp new media.
Sample Qns:
1) How effective are harsh punishment in dealing with crime?
2) Can we ever rely on the media to convey the truth?
3) Many developed countries are paying increasing attention to the needs of the disadvantaged. How true is this in Singapore?
posted by Dark Shadow | 1:43 PM
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