Democracy creates stability in a society

To me, stability in a society means that everything is in a balance. When I say in balance, I mean there are minimal problems in the social, political and economical sense. Social being there is minimal crime, mutual understanding between people from different races and religions. From the political point of view, I think that it means that the government and its people have a understanding between each other, that the people will feel that what the government does is right for the welfare of the nation and that the government will know what the people want and try their best to go according to the wishes of the people. Economically, employment rates will be high, the income of the people will be reasonable and there is minimal inflation.

As for democracy, there are many forms of democracy. However, all of them have something in common. What they have in common is the rights that the people have. Most importantly, the people of the country or nation can exercise their own political power, in the sense that they are given the power to choose who should lead them, who they think can help to bring benefits to them and improve the standard of living. That should be what democracy, in my point of view, is supposed to be.

It is hard to tell whether democracy can really create stability in a society. Basically, when democracy is put in a society, it means that people have the freedom to do what they want, but only to a certain extent. Moreover, it means that people are allowed to choose who they want to represent their interest, to choose make smart decisions so that they can benefit from the decision made, be short-term or in the long run. So the question is whether democracy is the answer to stability in a society.

Part of this question lie on the definition of society. From what I know, a society is group of people with common interests and they live together in mutual understanding. They also live together to achieve a common goal, be it in a religious, social or any other sense. Singapore itself is a very good example of a society. Even though we are a multi-cultural and multi-racial nation, we are still able to live together in harmony despite our differences. The common goal we have is to achieve total acceptance of the various races and religions within the nation. However, all these were not caused by democracy. It might be true that the Singapore Government has chosen to take its stand as a democratic government, however, the cause of the mutual understanding that people with different backgrounds have with each other is the policies that had been implemented since Singapore became independent. These policies are basically that we should not discriminate other races or else we would be jailed.

However, it is again not true that democracy cannot create stability. Using Singapore as an example again, democracy has given the minority races the same standing as those from majority races. It is unlike in the conflict between the Sri Lankan Sinhalese and Tamils. In their case, they have used democracy to turn against the minority. The Tamils, who were once the ones with the upper hand in Sri Lanka, were somehow overturned by the Sinhalese, only due to their population number. The Sinhalese made use of their numbers to overthrow the Tamils and unmistakably, put everything in their advantage. They also created a government which did not have any Tamils, reason being so that there will be nobody to bring up the issues of the Tamils.

However, in this case, we are looking at a whole new platform. A new platform meaning that democracy has been misused to benefit oneself and to put others, or the minority, at a disadvantage.

Hence, democracy will be able to create a stable society. As stated in the first paragraph about stability in a society, democracy can help to solve lots of problems. With democracy, people will have equal placing in society. This gives them the same opportunities to get jobs, to get scholarships and so on, regardless of their background. This will minimise the amount of crimes committed. The people have their say in the affairs of the country and how the government is handling the nation.

In conclusion, I agree that democracy is able to create stability in a society. That is if it is used in the correct way, and not tweaked to benefit a certain group of people and put others at a disadvantage.

A Teenager's Rebellion - Right or Wrong?

Section: Mind Your Body
Publication: The Straits Times 13/02/2008
Page: 18
No. of words: 676

Rebellion of a teenager
In the article of Rebellious Teenage Brother, it says that it is normal for teenagers to rebel. That will make a lot of teenagers jump for joy and a lot more parents worry more. However, is it really okay for teenagers these days to go astray and cause trouble in their neighbourhood?

For me, I’m also a rebellious kid myself. However, I don’t smoke, don't have a tattoo and don't go out till the wee hours of the night. So, I should still be one that does not rebel to that extent. But there is one thing that I feel is common amongst the youngsters of today – wanting to be with their friends more than anyone else. I’m the same here. My mother will nag at me if I don’t reach home at the designated time allocated and will question me till something is squeezed out of me. Most of the time, I would lie, “A lot of project to do. Have to stay back and finish up.” But the fact is I am either hanging around in school with my friend, talking about work and life. I feel bad sometimes when I lie about it. But if I don’t lie, I will die from my mother’s nagging. When I come to think of it, what’s wrong with hanging out with your friends?

Coming back to the point, is it alright to rebel? Rebelling might be something that most teenagers might do to get their way, but ultimately it all comes back to the person who is in charge. In most cases, the person in charge of the situation at hand would be someone of higher authority. Let’s call this person Mr A. This is when things start to turn worse. The teenagers would group together to plan the fall of the Mr A. That is when a gang is formed. This is not the kind of rebellion that I would like to see. It is not rebellion anymore. It is plain law-breaking.

So, some might ask, “When is the time to stop the rebellion of a child?” According to Kenny Toh, a life coach and founder of The Coaching Academy and International Network for Parents as Coaches, it is better to let the teenager express his feelings and let him know that his feelings are accepted. It can be better if someone else shows him the right way to control his feelings towards certain situations and make him feel that he is loved. Trying to stop the thoughts that the teenager has might cause oneself even more problems and it will become harder to overcome it.

Overall, I feel that being rebellious is just nature. But there should be guidance to show the young people the right way and make them feel that they have a part in the world, that there is someone out there who cares for them.(479 words)