Dear Say No To Clones,
Thank you very much for your contribution to my blog. I found this very insightful & would like to share this on my blog to readers. Can you please contact me in my Facebook Page so I can be connected to you? Many thanks - Little Fish.
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This article below first appeared in my comment section under "Cyber bullying: Buy Simi Medal? Import Simi Success?"
By Say No To Clones:
Xenophobia – “An unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange”
By definition, that is what “xenophobia” means. The recent news about forum trolling and unreliable public opinions at forums by faked communities in the internet and social media raised another question on the validity and seriousness of xenophobia in Singapore.
No doubt Singaporeans are getting more vocal with the increasingly frustrations recently on some national issues such as transportation or housing, Singaporeans are still generally a peace loving society.
It is a reader’s basic understanding that many from the general public voiced against their unhappiness over and about foreigners in Singapore through the various internet social media platforms especially news discussion forums. However, given the above understanding also that such trolling and falsified opinions are deliberate mere acts by a couple of mischief perpetrators with some unknown suspicious agenda, one has to realize and rethink about the possibility that the perceived situation may not be as tricky as one thought to be.
However, what is more pressing and frightening are the motives and acts of these people behind these faked public opinions which possibly stirred up these anti-foreign sentiments deliberately, attempting to trick the general public at large that such a sentiment exist, and hope to ride along with the psychological condition of creating a situation and fear or doubts out of nothing from a non – existent situation to begin with – Making a situation real from a falsified belief that the situation existed which is untrue in the first place, or not as serious as it is.
This act of attempting to manipulate and abuse the trust of social media and its users by these perpetrators surpass the xenophobic feel, which after all is understandable from a human perspective where humans are often believed to be more comfortable with no changes or prefer not so over drastic differences with our level of comfort zones in life.
While we are certain racism has no place in any society especially ours, we must also look at the entire situation from a wider perspective and understand the many impacts it will have on our society. Saying no to xenophobia is simply saying no to the potential human sentiments which may be exploited over by the perpetrators’ manipulative whom we gave our trusts to. Xenophobia is not against ANYONE who understandably feels insecure over foreign inclusions at a given stage, but through education and understanding, it is possible to understand what we have read and learnt better.
Eradicating Xenophobic sentiments without displacing the very sources which sparked such sentiments, in this case those attempting to falsify public opinions with the intention to disrupt and sow discord within the society for any personal or political agenda, will only see a cause worth pursuing for the sake of our coming generations rendered fruitless at the end of the day.
It is important not to fall under the very traps such perpetrators set up in attempt to divide the society. Voices and rebuttals against those who voiced anti-sentiments or over xenophobic will only bring about more clones to attempt to mislead the public and tip the scale in a false light. Reporting anyone who suggest racism or attempts to fake public opinions will or those trying to stir a huge unnecessary public debate deliberately with obvious intent, on the other hand contain and control the situation and send a message out to the rest that social stability and harmony are something we will defend for it will shape the very fabric of our society for ourselves and future generations.
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Little Fish note:
Dear readers, if you would like to Speak Up Against Xenophobia in Singapore to stop all the anti-foreigners nonsense that has been circulating on cyberspace, please visit & 'LIKE' my Facebook Page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Speak-Up-Against-Xenophobia-in-Singapore/349773545082229?ref=hl
Dear readers, if you would like to Speak Up Against Xenophobia in Singapore to stop all the anti-foreigners nonsense that has been circulating on cyberspace, please visit & 'LIKE' my Facebook Page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Speak-Up-Against-Xenophobia-in-Singapore/349773545082229?ref=hl
Dear Little Fish,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your appreciation with the humble contributions and your interest in sharing with your blog followers which is my privilege. I am afraid I do not have any pages where we can link up for your meaningful cause.
I believe it is every concern citizen's duty and rights to step forward and speak up against any matter which may deem harmful to the progress of our nation, in this case the dangers of being over xenophobic and the lack of understanding of how small pockets of perpetrators are motivated with suspicious agenda to disrupt and discord.
The matter of fact with the many recent resentments on Feng Tian Wei's triumph for Singapore in the London Olympics, in humble views, is anything but merely a patterned attempt by these perpetrators to hijack any possible opportunities available like they often do to discredit Singapore and our efforts to better integrate the society as a whole.
Such approaches, together with the perpetrators and its hosts, should be addressed and situation arrested and never be allowed to score a victory for their many attempts to disintegrate and cripple our society, one which has always been based on the pillars of ethnics harmony and racial tolerances.
While the society embraces the freedom of speech, having said that, the freedom of speech does not present one with the freedom to abuse.
It is empirical that efforts have been made to integrate the new inclusions of foreign workforce into the society through many community events and it is also evident that plans have been laid to maintain an acceptable level of population mix with relatively reasonable explanations presented on the reasons why any given society, especially with a small country like ours, must adopt and adapt to changes in order to stay among the forerunners of economic might. The unwillingness to accept such facts and hard truths have no rooms or reasons to entertain false belief systems or values of xenophobia, which may possibly spiral and result into a dangerous populous situation and environment within any given societies.
As we work towards a more vibrant net environment and encourage more social media engagements, such platforms are however relatively new in our social scene to say the least.
Efforts by our policy makers and office bearers have stated and delivered on the honest intentions to better engage the population in hope to build a more cohesive partnership between the governances and the very people eager to play a heavier role in shaping our only home and country. As such, it is critical to identify and arrest such abusers and internet behaviours so that we are able to, as a nation, progress and move forward.
It is paramount to heighten and enhance the efforts to better share and educate the general public on the various facts so that these perpetrators will not have the opportunity to mislead the general public farther.
(Cont follow up post)
(Contd)
ReplyDeleteWhile everyone is entitled to their subjective opinions and belief systems, the rightful approach is to keep the social media patrons better aware and cautious of such activities and encourage one to find out and learn more from available credible sources so that one can own a better understanding and make better decisions for themselves.
It is unavoidable for various social media sites to ride on issues of such, whether ethically or not, to fetch the readership and responses of the public. However, with the intellectual progresses our country has witnessed, it is my comfort and belief that the public can, will and have the ability to assess and differentiate between the rights and wrongs.
While the public are better informed through efforts such as your blog and others, the general public can also play a small role in exposing such behaviours and social media abusers and insist on saying no to these perpetrators and their hosts.
The general public ought to better understand why and realise that it is precisely the lack of confidence, sense of inferiority or insecurity and the desperate need to deceive and falsify public opinions as the perpetrators had to obtain falsified support for the many weak reasoning and arguments. The very behaviours of these abusers speak volume for itself.
It is both saddening yet frightening that such perpetrators have chosen fabricating in the name of loving this country with resistance and continue to exploit the value of social media engagements.
Such behaviours and intentional deceiving attempts, if not addressed, could potentially hand our society a huge blow for progress, integration and preservation of the very fundamental values we and our forefathers have fought so hard for and earned, which made our country what and who we are today.