I was reading the papers just now.
It seems that the authorities are prosecuting people who write stuff on their blogs which promote hate crime and racial discrimination. And they're not sparing minors. Reading The Sunday Times today, they've arrested this 17-year-old private school student who posted such stuff on his blogs. Misadventure? Maybe...but i can't help but feel that the authorities of our sunny little island are being too extreme.
I mean...for goodness' sake, this guy is just a kid. It's not like he's been raping and pillaging or like he's been waving a knife in his momma's face for more pocket money. Are you going to ruin his future just because of something he said? I haven't watched the latest jack neo movie but our society has become one which treats ex-cons like they're freshly from the furnaces of Hell.
Speaking of which...it has just dawned on me that although rapists and serial murderers may be psychopathic or just, well, plain evil, but it is the evil of the angry masses which is always left unseen. It is they who have committed the worst of atrocities. Case-in-point. Upon the liberation of Eindhoven after the Normandy landings, women who were reported as having provided the Germans with sexual services could be seen publicly humiliated on the streets. Maybe they didn't have a choice. But still.
There was the case of this guy who allegedly sexually assaulted, murdered and then dismembered the body of a 8-year-old little girl. After the court sentenced him to hang, he was allowed some time with his family, which came from Malaysia. One indignant bystander told his weeping mother:
'Why are you crying? He is a monster. He deserves it.'
It's such self-righteous thinking which is truly fearful. You see ordinary people turn into angry, hate-filled monsters. Sigh. Evil is everywhere.
Anyway...this whole spreading hate issue brought back something which, if you've read George Orwell's 1984, must be familiar with: the concept of Thoughtcrime.
Thoughtcrime (n.): A deviation of mentality from what has been indoctrinated into one. The very formation of such deviant thoughts constitute the crime, even without any material action being taken.
Hate crimes are a category which has been criticised as being thoughtcrime legislation. And while it is the duty of the government to ensure that people do not do things out of bigotry, it is also the duty of the government to ensure the viability of its charges. By arresting someone as young as that, it has effectively failed the second abovementioned duty. Blogs are an expression of one's thoughts, and it is a room for one's private thoughts. What are you trying to prove by arresting someone who writes racist statements on his blog? That the concept of thoughtcrime exists here, in Singapore? Or maybe this is some form of pre-crime: nipping the thorn in the bud?
Has he been going out there inciting people to attack Muslims? If not, then i guess people will have to be really careful. Anyone at the local kopitiam who says a racist joke is subject to criminal investigation, and many people who are serving the nation like me would have been court-martialed many times over. Isn't it scary? The people have become the government's own thought police: apparently they were the ones who called the police and warn the authorities.
Some have described our island as being run by a benevolent dictatorship: maybe this is one of the expressions of it. At least they're only slapping those convicted with a fine, not carting them off to some mental institution where they are treated with psychoactive drugs.
And to those people who think that this is utterly wrong, think again. If we don't learn to loosen up at times or be a bit more accomodating, then what kind of open society are we building?
posted by quatscherei @ 16:01
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