Gathering online thoughts

I wanted to make a joke about sedition (click for extensive coverage and background) -- word of the season -- in my previous post, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised that it wasn't funny at all. And I don't know which is sadder: that there are horrific racists in our midst, or that people think that the way to eliminate racism is to throw these racists into jail.

Huichieh of Singapore Angle puts the conundrum in perspective while many other bloggers are quick to take sides:

"... it is tyranny to think that a society can or should legislate on what can be thought. The point is not that thought does not lead to action, or that action does not exemplify thought; rather, the point is that any attempt to do so is inevitably little more than men pretending to be God--pretending to be able to see to the hearts of men when their thoughts have not yet become action. The bone of contention, however, is the middle of speech: neither thought simply, nor action yet."

Prevailing opinion (which I am going with simply because I lack the legal know-how to determine otherwise) seems to be that the charges are very much valid, but that's all I'm going to say about the matter, simply because I have yet to determine where the line between stupidity and pure evil is. That, and Huichieh has summed things up really nicely.

On a somewhat related note, but moving away from specifics, Ball of Yarn reminds us of something we all know, but often fail to put into practice:

"... while more [people online] are now aware they have to exercise care when it comes to community sensitivity and political-correctness, they are still blissfully complacent about the understanding that what they say today can have far reaching consequences tomorrow."

And while "censorship" has become a dirty word these days (frankly, it's also painfully troublesome), Ball of Yarn is refreshingly honest in his endorsement:

"... all that you get to read about me has obviously passed some internal censorship process and however personal those thoughts may appear, they're here because I'm 90% sure a sibling, a parent, a cousin, a friend or even an acquaintance will not be harmed by my opinions."

Sometimes, this internal censorship fails, and that's where we slip up. Other times, it works (too) well, and the silence that ensues is often mistaken for indifference. (Conversely, behind the verbosity of the fervent is sometimes nothing more than cantankerous, self-righteous dribble; what you see is not always what you get.)

Adrian Loo of A Life Uncommon explains the thought process behind just one of many instances of holding one's tongue (italics mine):

"I have found it far preferable to engage in a heated discussion of such issues with someone who genuinely cares or works in the field, rather than try politely to enlighten clueless gentlemen about why public transport/buildings should be made accessible to the disabled, or that Singapore schoolchildren are simply not learning enough about their less privileged peers, and then have them go home and forget all about it."

Sometimes that's exactly how I feel, and I feel terrible for feeling this way. I'm constantly espousing the need for us to stand up and be counted for what we believe in, but the truth is that sometimes I'm just so tired, and I have to wonder what the point is -- of us extensively discussing this over and over again -- if people don't care anyway. And suddenly, I'm not sure which it is that I should be more fearful of -- fanaticism or apathy.

I guess this brings us full circle, back to racism and how to tackle it, and back to the point where all I can say is that I don't know. I do know that racism is not countered by more intolerance, or by merely stifling freedom of speech. Beyond that, I can only pray and hope that we will come to realise the senselessness in skin-deep prejudice and hatred.