I am very proud to be part of a proudly conservative, multicultural, and open-minded nation.
But we have to carefully balance the public’s demand for free speech, with a harmonious society where people like me can say what I want, and everyone who is not like me should be careful because everything they say might incite racial and religious riots.
We also have to carefully balance the needs of our society’s underprivileged, environmental concerns, women in the workplace, the preservation of cultural sites, who pays what price for water, and everything else about life, against the overriding importance of corporate interests and urban development.
Please do not misunderstand me. We should always decide in favour of corporate interests and urban development.
But by merely publishing letters like these in its forum, the Straits Times will have more than done its part in ensuring that citizens of Singapore have a nuanced and balanced view of the issues at hand.
And of course, by writing such letters, I am contributing to spirited and robust debate in Singapore, which means that I am a good person.
As a mother/grandfather/churchgoer/vegetarian/expert in a highly specific and completely unrelated field, I am also concerned about how to protect our youth from Facebook/philosophy/tattoos/needlework on the MRT/overprotective parents.
If we do not protect the youth of Singapore from this dangerous trend, how will they ever learn right from wrong?
I am utterly convinced this letter makes me sound like a reasonable human being.
