Responsible public speech is part of a cohesive society, says Edwin Tong

Be especially mindful about hateful speech as conflict can be set off by words: Minister

- Chin Soo Fang

In a cohesive society, people understand the impact of their words and take responsibility for what they say publicly, including in online spaces, Mr Edwin Tong said on June 26.

"Sometimes, this will mean sacrificing our own desire to be able to say what we want about anything we want, wherever we want, in favour of being more caring about the impact they have on the person next to us," he added.

Mr Tong, who is Law Minister, noted that people should be especially mindful about hateful speech, as conflict can be triggered by words.

"If we are more mindful, we will have more open, honest, public discourse, based on facts and not hate and disinformation," he said.

He was speaking at the close of the three-day International Conference on Cohesive Societies held at Raffles City Convention Centre. It was organised by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, of which Mr Tong was formerly minister.