'Intolerance: Minority Group and Society Essay\r'

'Princess Diana in one case said, â€Å" The greatest problem in the populace right away is credulity. Everyone is so intolerant of each other. ” It is indeed unbowed that credulity is one of the greatest problems faced by the word today. Intolerance refers to lacking the capacity or willingness to recognize and respect the beliefs, practices or traits of others. In the past, thither has been uncount suitable number of incidents of one being discriminatory against other individual who is unlike the majority of the population.\r\nFor mannikin, in the context of my parliamentary law, capital of capital of capital of capital of capital of Singapore, bigotry has been displayed towards racial minorities, religious minorities, single mothers, contraryers, the sapphic Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQ) community and umteen other marginalized groups. most might argue that superstition of these minority groups is less reciprocalplace in my ordering today as compar gond to the past.\r\nHowever, I personally sense of smell that intolerance is still widely seen in my nine today, due to the conventionalist nature of Singaporeans, globalisation and the progressively competitive Singaporean society. Some schools of thoughts argue that the intolerance towards those who atomic number 18 diametrical is gradually being lessen today as in that respect atomic number 18 greater opportunities for rearing that relieve oneself direct to increasing desegregation of deal who ar varied.\r\nEducation in Singapore produces hearty integration among the different racial groups in Singapore. Schools in Singapore provide a unwashed space for social integration not nevertheless among topical anesthetics from confused ethnic groups, hardly besides among the local and international students. Schools in Singapore also place healthy emphasis on Civics and Literacy schooling to inculcate respect and appreciation of different cultures in Singap ore. For example, by dint of the celebration of Racial Harmony twenty-four hours and International Friendship Day, students argon able to hold the different cultures of their peers better.\r\nAnother aspect in which development has led to a reduction in intolerance is the alternative education pathway for children with special needs. superfluous education programs that cater to these children aim to help them draw independent and enable them to function well in society. This is evident through and through the increasing number of social enterprises that cater to those who ar physically or intellectually challenged. These people gain not only a chance at being employed but also have a chance to act with members of society on a more haunt basis, something which is not as common in the past.\r\nThis is promising due to the developing special education firmament in Singapore, which has seen success in populace education and in helping children with special needs to commix into mainstream society. Therefore, education has been a platform that has moved my society into a more tolerant one. Intolerance towards those who ar different is gradually being reduced in my society, as there argon increasingly more ground-up initiatives that have successfully advertized awareness and understanding. umpteen non- presidential termal organisations (NGOs) and Voluntary Welfare organisations (VWOs) or even individuals that have engaged in advocacy that sets knocked out(p) to raise public awareness about(predicate) minority groups.\r\nThus, prejudiced mindsets towards several minority groups in Singapore are gradually being eroded. An example of this is the Yellow screw thread Project that started out in 2004, is organized by CARE network Singapore, which aims to help ex-convicts reintegrate adventure into society. Inmates are encouraged to sign up for skill training courses so as to be able to take up more jobs after their prison house sentence. It was repor ted that by 2008, through awareness of the programme in Singapore, 560 new employers had registered with the Singapore Corporation of reconstructive Enterprises (SCORE) to offer jobs to ex-offenders.\r\nThough this may not only reflect the mindset of the entire population towards ex-convicts, it signals an outset up of attitudes that are gaining speed. Therefore, intolerance is less familiar in my society due to the efforts undertaken by various organisations to successfully raise awareness and understanding of the public towards these marginalized groups. While there are merits in the above arguments, it is too naive for one to simply enter that with education and efforts by activist groups, intolerance towards those who are different are not as common as in the past.\r\nIn feature, intolerance towards those who are different is still widely seen in Singapore today because of the maintenance of erosion of national value in this increasingly liberal-minded world, in turn tea raway(a) us to promote our conservative beliefs with greater intensity. With globalisation, there has been an increasing influence of the Western Culture. Due to the fear of erosion of traditional family value that are the founding of social institutions such as the family, people are becoming more intolerant of changing determine and remain conservative to ensure that these traditional determine are not holy terrorened by foreign cultures and values.\r\nIn order to protect traditional values and social institutions, institutionalized discrimination towards certain groups of people in society exists in the form of government policies implemented. This reveals an unwillingness to accept those who may be different and accord them with equal rights. For example, in the case of Homosexuality, instalment 377A of the Penal Code criminalises acts of gross indecency between men in Singapore.\r\nThe Woman’s hire also does not recognize marriages that are not between men and wom an in or outside of Singapore. The refusal of the government to recognize the legitimacy of gay marriages reveals an unwillingness to respect the range of sexual penchants that are different from the traditional concept of sexual orientation the society may have. Another example is the tip paneling rally on the 28 June 2014, which generated strong responses among Singaporeans. An Islamic religious teacher launched the â€Å"Wear light-hot Campaign” in retaliation to the pink Dot LGBTQ movement.\r\nThe Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC) supported this prevail whereby over 6,400 members of the church dressed in white to attend a special â€Å"family worship” dish out conducted by the church. This was done to protest the annual Pink Dot rally with their Senior Pastor, Lawrence Khong, who views this movement as a â€Å"decline in moral and family values. ” Thus, this shows that condescension the increasingly liberal and Western influenced world we watch in, Singaporeans still remains a more often than not conservative society that is still strongly rooted to our traditional values.\r\nTherefore, intolerance is not only still largely frequent but it has in fact step up over the years. Next, into lerance towards those who are different is still prevalent today because the cast upd mobility in a borderless world today has heightened the level of interaction amongst people from different cultures. Thus, increasing the incidence of cultural clashes. Globalisation has enabled greater mobility of people and there has been an increasing migration of people to run short or work in foreign lands.\r\nWith more foreigners entering the country, the chances of cultural clashes between the foreigners and local residents rises, specially when foreigners do not assimilate the local culture. An example of Singaporean’s intolerance towards foreigners is evident through the Not In My Backyard movement. In 2008 when the government announ ce plans for an unused technical school at Serangoon Gardens to be converted into a dormitory for foreign reflexion workers, residents of the Serangoon Gardens housing estate responded with an online petition, which was signed by 1,600 out of 4,000 households in the immediate vicinity.\r\nThey cited fears of flagellums to their security, the possibility of increased shame in the area, and fears about maids hooking up with foreign workers as reasons to object the construction of the dormitory. Therefore these mindsets and prejudices towards foreigners in society reflect intolerance of those with different cultures from the local cultures in society. Lastly, in the competitive world today, the threat to one’s livelihood has make intolerance of the different still prevalent in Singapore.\r\nSingapore is seen as a land of opportunities for migrants with skills. Many foreigners are attracted to work or settle in Singapore as they can earn more in Singapore to improve their stan dards of living. However, many Singaporeans view the increase in the number of foreigners as a threat in terms of competition of jobs and living space.\r\nThis has led to their discontentment with foreigners. An example of Singaporeans viewing migrant workers, as a threat to their livelihood is evident through a recent incident of the cancelation of the celebration of Philippines liberty Day compositors case in Singapore. Organisers of a aforethought(ip) Philippines Independence Day celebration in Singapore on the 8 June 2014 decided to cancel the outcome altogether, owing to difficulties in getting an alternative place for the event.\r\nThe event was supposed to be held at Ngee Ann city Civic Plaza, in Singapore’s shop district but this had stirred up a lot unhappiness among Singaporeans as they opposed to the choice of the venue. Some even threatened to resort to violence if the event were to take place. The organisers had to remove a Facebook page about the event af ter it dew hundreds of anti-Filipino comments. Through these actions and discontentment of Singaporeans towards such events further emphasizes the point that Singaporeans view these foreigners as threats to their lives and are thus unaccepting of the activities they carry out. Therefore, intolerance is still prevalent in the Singapore society.\r\nIn conclusion, despite efforts made by the government and various activist groups to promote inclusiveness and multiculturalism and reduce intolerance towards marginalized groups of society, intolerance is still widely seen in my society today. This observation is largely attributed to the fact that our essentially conservative Asian society skews our perception of tolerance in order to maintain its determine of power.\r\n'