Jan 10, 2009
I READ with interest the article, 'Terror threat: New approach needed' by Professor Rohan Gunaratna (Jan 2), and also the comments by Ms Faizah Zakaria on Tuesday ('Gaza: Why Muslims are outraged').
Recently, while waiting for the train at an MRT station, I saw a message on a video monitor that read something like: 'You are born neither an extraordinary nor a common person. You become what you make of yourself.'
Terrorists are terrorists because they choose to become so. No one made them terrorists. Yet we blame one or another religious group. Let us stop that.
Individuals who choose to adopt terrorist ways by displaying intolerance and disregard for others will face the consequences alone.
This lesson is simple, but cannot be taught merely by spreading literacy, democracy and job creation. It needs education.
Education is provided at home by parents and elders, at school by teachers and senior students, at the workplace by fellow workers and supervisors or managers, and at social gatherings by friends.
Singapore's comprehensive achievements since 1965 demonstrate this simple lesson in action.
Mohan Shandilya
[Certainly, I agree that Terrorists have to be held responsible for their actions. But to say that they choose to be terrorists is both true and false. Nobody wakes up one morning and decides, "hmmm... terrorism... that sounds like a career for me! Short hours, excitement, no need to worry about retirement. I think I'll sign up!"
Their circumstances and their environment shape and limit their options.
To say that education alone is the answer and that Singapore has the answer is simplistic, idealistic and more than a bit arrogant.]
I READ with interest the article, 'Terror threat: New approach needed' by Professor Rohan Gunaratna (Jan 2), and also the comments by Ms Faizah Zakaria on Tuesday ('Gaza: Why Muslims are outraged').
Recently, while waiting for the train at an MRT station, I saw a message on a video monitor that read something like: 'You are born neither an extraordinary nor a common person. You become what you make of yourself.'
Terrorists are terrorists because they choose to become so. No one made them terrorists. Yet we blame one or another religious group. Let us stop that.
Individuals who choose to adopt terrorist ways by displaying intolerance and disregard for others will face the consequences alone.
This lesson is simple, but cannot be taught merely by spreading literacy, democracy and job creation. It needs education.
Education is provided at home by parents and elders, at school by teachers and senior students, at the workplace by fellow workers and supervisors or managers, and at social gatherings by friends.
Singapore's comprehensive achievements since 1965 demonstrate this simple lesson in action.
Mohan Shandilya
[Certainly, I agree that Terrorists have to be held responsible for their actions. But to say that they choose to be terrorists is both true and false. Nobody wakes up one morning and decides, "hmmm... terrorism... that sounds like a career for me! Short hours, excitement, no need to worry about retirement. I think I'll sign up!"
Their circumstances and their environment shape and limit their options.
To say that education alone is the answer and that Singapore has the answer is simplistic, idealistic and more than a bit arrogant.]
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