Which is the best policy to build a National Identity among Singaporeans?

There are three main policies to build a common identity for Singaporeans. They are multi-racialism, bilingualism and common practices. Multi-racialism is the policy that every community is treated fairly in Singapore- the interests of the various communities are kept in balance. No community is disadvantaged or favoured by any government policy. So, by practisingthe policy of multi-racialism, racial harmony is maintained as we enjoy religious freedom. Their respect for each other's religion has also enabled us to live harmoniously together since the 1964 race riots. Recognising and using four official languages has also helped to maintain racial hamony as each community can retain and develop its own language and culture.

Bilingualism was made compulsory in 1966 as the mother tongue was used to impart moral values and social tradition. The education system is most strongly influenced by the need for racial cohesion and nation building as we have a multi-racial society which is vulnerable to external influences. English is used as a means of communication with the world and amongst all Singaporeans to forge a common identity, which enhances responsibility and commitment to the family, community and country.

Common practices help to build a national identity as they encourage nation-building. Policies such as flag raising, pledge taking and singing the national anthem enhance national loyalty and patriotism as they are actions which Singaporeans carry out together. When Singaporeans themselves as loyal and full of pride, a national identity will be built. Common practices promote social stability as it gives the people a sense of belonging and pride.

Multi-racialism is the most important policy as it has created citizens of equal status with no biasness or discrimination towards any racial group so that a national identity can be easily forged. This is important as the Chinese form the majority whilst the Malays and Indians form the minority. If any group is relegated to second class citizens, then comflict and disharmony may arise.

The other two policies play complementary roles as bilingual and common practices are par of multi-racialism. In order to promote multi-racialism, it is only natural that the eduation system practises bilingualism so that no ethnic group is given more importance.

Democracy creates stability in a society

I agree with the statement to a certain extent.Firstly lets look at the definition of democracy. Democracy is a form of government of the people by the people. The extraordinary huge achievements of democracy are due to the fact that every individual is not authoritatively barred from developing his or her ideas or skills, on the contrary, democracy unleashes the giant that is in each of us and then incites us to pull our country to better and higher grounds. I do not feel that democracy totally creates stability. There are other factors, too. But democracy is the root and unerlying basis of stability in society. How the country is to be run will be determined by the people. This results in a stable social structure that would attract more foreign investors and businessmen which will in turn give rise to a stable economy with the country not needing to worry about trade and commerce. This shows that the country can become both socially and economically stable because of democracy.

But I also think that democracy as its fair share of disadvantages. For example, in the case of Sri Lanka, there is a constant struggle between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. The Tamil Tigers were mainly started to oppress the government as the government was oppressing the Tamils. The government was biased against the Tamils as shown in the act of it changing the official language to Sinhalese. This act disadvantaged all the Tamils( majority) who did not know how to read or write Sinhalese as all the official documents were in Sinhalese. The biased Sinhalese resulted in a biased government which was elected democractically. This shows that a democractic government can create instability in a country as in can trigger instability in society.

In conclusion,I agree with the statement,Democracy creates stabilty in society. I think that a country that is ruled by democracy should be able to know how to handle conflicts and establish a peaceful and stable society for the people to live in. Also, most of the top countries in the world are democracies, like Singapore and Korea, so, I think that democracy almost always creates stability in a society and should be adopted in all the countries in the world.

Teenage Sex

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Are our teens becoming more sexually active at a younger age? That is the question we need to ask. Children these days are hitting puberty earlier than the previous generations as they are better nutritioned. So, they start to become sexually curious and want to try out new things.

In a recent survey conducted by Aoxiang Counselling Service in 2005 the results showed that as many as one-third of 1,500 students aged between 13 and 14 said they are already having sex. This is a rising cause of worry among parents. So, to curb this this worry, parents should start early. They should educate their children about sex early, so that later on in life, their children do not engage in sex beofre marriage (premarital sex) or sex at a very young age.

For example, when Timothy Tan turned 12 two years ago, his father booked a room at a hotel for a day so that they could talk about sex and all the puzzling questions that come with it. His father, Mr Alfred Tan, is the executive director of the Singapore Children's Society. He consciously sets aside that time to signal to the child about how seriously he views issues concerning sexuality. Just as any parent would tell their children not to take drugs or to steal, they should also make the right judgement when it comes to sexuality. If you do not set the ground rules early, someone else will, such as the internet.

But these issues are not just about having sex or the mechanics of how to have a baby, but the sexuality of the child, which means the erotic significance of the child's identity, relationships and behaviours. Parents set the social, religious and moral standards for the child, so their attitudes towards intimate relationships and how they behave in such relationships says alot.

So parents should treat the issue of sex in a relationship as part of building your child's life skills and keep it fun and non-threatening. And they should also tell the child early that they would prefer him not to have sex before marriage. If you can do this, then, you can broach the subject again later because the trust level as already been built.

So, the key to a child's sex life starts with the parents and how they teach their children to view sex and how they would want it to be for them.