Is It possible to have an inclusive and tolerant society?

" You don't belong here, now go away!" the group of boys berated.
Being the only Chinese, James was not well respected by his peers. I
am sure we have all seen such racial discrimination happening before.
In this society, we have different races, religions, genders and class.
However, tolerating others seems to be an arduous task. With a
developing nation, it is important that everyone has social cohesion to
overcome any problems. Without any cohesion, what will our country
become? Therefore, this racial discrimination has led me to a
question: Is it possible to have an inclusive and tolerant society ? In
my opinion, it is possible because of the increased in education and a
fair government system.

Firstly, education is essential in having an inclusive and tolerant

society. Education plays a big role in developing one's values and
ethics. What we have become now is mainly due to education- an
easygoing or spoilt person. Similarly, a proper education will result in
one being more respectful and aware of his surroundings. In addition,
an education allows social interaction among people and helps to build
solidarity even among people with different backgrounds. For example,
our well-educated prime minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, recently
attended an event to support people with special needs. Through this
example, he has truly shown the importance of well-taught education
to be mindful of others. Therefore, education plays a key role in
building a good character who respects his peers and allows
opportunity for interaction among the society.

Secondly, a fair government system is crucial in maintaining an

inclusive and tolerant society. Would you feel undignified if someone is
bias towards others and put you at a disadvantaged? This is a sign of
disrespectfulness and may easily anger one's emotions. However,
meritocracy is a system by which rewards people based on merits and
is undeniably a impartial method. This ensures everyone is on an equal
ground and is treated equally. Firstly, it provides everyone with an
equal chance to compete and allows a fair competition. Secondly, an
unbiased system ensures no tension increase due to favoritism. For
example, the scholarship award is given to students based on results
and unrelated to the different groups of people- race,religions, genders
and class. Therefore, a fair system allows everyone to have an equal
chance and prevent any conflicts due to unfair advantage.

However, it can also be impossible to have an inclusive and tolerant

society due to self-opinionated people. Being over pampered child,
several Singaporeans has high regard of themselves and will tend to
disregard others. They are disrespectful towards others and is
intolerant towards their behavior. Naturally, they would not interact
much with others and has a weaker social interaction. This results in
the tension among Singaporeans and conflicts tend to occur. For
example, the incident of an Indian family cooking curry in HDB has
stirred up several discussions of being inconsiderate. It would have
seemed the fault lies in the Indian family, however, the fault also lies in
the neighbors for not understanding the different cultures. For their
own benefits, the neighbors complained to make things difficult for the
Indian family. Therefore, having an inclusive and tolerant society
seems impossible because self- opinionated people are making things
tough for others and willing to give a chance for interaction.

Having an inclusive and tolerant society can be managed despite

having self-opinionated people by proper education and having a
meritocracy nation. Having a peaceful and caring environment is
probably what everyone hopes for and it is important that we achieve
it to prevent any more riots such as the Maria Hertogh riots. Hopefully,
the ending would be like this: " Of course we were joking, James, you
are more than welcome to join us!"