For the unfettered free speech activists in Singapore, however, they should know that the calm that has since descended after the initial flashpoints stoked by online hate only took place when our liberal colonial masters adopted some uniquely Singaporean laws. Kier Stammer’s Labour Party’s accelerated prosecution of keyboard warriors and quick custodial sentences drove home the point that warriors who hide behind a keyboard to disseminate hate are culpable for the violence they incite. In just over a week, the tensions have simmered down. Just like global markets after their early August rout appear to be marching back triumphantly as traders come back from the beach and the market storm blows over — for the time being.
A British comedy franchise comprising 31 films, four Christmas specials, a television series and stage shows between 1958 and 1992, Carry On’s humour was based on innuendos and making fun of British institutions and customs. Like John Cleese, Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle’s Monty Python, much of the self-deprecating humour, satire and outrageous skits staged were part of a world that no longer exists today. A world where we could laugh at ourselves in a simpler, less woke world without the risk of offence taken by race, religion and “me too” and one where we could live and let live, keep calm and carry on.
The recent racial riots in the UK are a sad case in point. The disturbances show how fragile communities and societies can flip on a spur. Accentuated by online self-radicalisation or hate, little sparks can start bonfires nationwide. It did not help that famous folks like Elon Musk were re-tweeting false information from across the Atlantic, declaring civil war in the UK. It may well be an agenda of the Republican right that suggests conspiracy theorists amplify the fault lines in the UK over immigration and Islam to tarnish Kamala and the Democrats with the same brush. Or was it pure coincidence?
