Daily Lessons from Life 06 April 2012 - Good Friday

Today is Good Friday. A very important and sacred day for the Christian faith which promulgate the belief that Chirst died on the cross and were resurrected on Easter Sunday.

I wish all my Christian friends a Good Friday and Easter Sunday blessed.

"Real life rules must be kept online: Yaacob - AsiaOne Apr 06, 2012

Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts Yaacob Ibrahim said the freedom and flexibility to air one's views online is welcomed, but it should be governed by real life rules.

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of self-help group Mendaki's 30th anniversary celebrations, Mr Yaacob Ibrahim said behaviour on the Internet must reflect a person's knowledge on whether certain things can be said.

The impact on social media is far greater than in personal interaction, he said.

Recent incidents about netizens making derogatory comments on race and nationality have caused a furore among Singaporeans.

Mr Yaacob also said that areas such as race, language and religion are areas where boundaries must still be held and that there are laws to protect these areas.

However, he said the Government will continue with the light-touch approach towards Internet regulations and only intervene when social security or racial harmony is affected.

Internet code of conduct still necessary

Mr Yaacob told the media that he believes an Internet code of conduct is necessary and that the onus is on Internet users to define its contents, even as MICA will supervise and guide the process of developing such a code."

I agreed.

Lessons for me are:

1. responsible writing is a given;

2. it is better to be neutral when you do not have the facts. Going off the handle on what you read on-line without knowing more will make us look like fools. Not that this should be the main deterrance for us not to shoot then aim!;

3. one must be careful when touching on sensitive topics like races, languages and religions as Singapore is a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural society living in harmony for many years due to everyone's being sensitive about these issues.

Great to find myself agreeing with a Minister as he spoke of the fundamental principle of responsible free speeches - in real life or in cyber space!