Riots in Britain

"Britain's riots began Saturday when an initially peaceful protest over a police shooting in London's Tottenham neighborhood turned violent. That clash has morphed into a general lawlessness in London and several other cities that police have struggled to halt."

First, there was the royal wedding, Prince William married Kate Middleton and we kept our eyes glued to the screen for hours. Then came Zara philips, the Queen's granddaughter's wedding and we were really fascinated by how beautiful it was. And now, the riots in Britain? Oh Britain stop trying to steal the limelight from the rest of the world already! Riots are not new to Britain. There have been similar riots in Britain that occurred in the summer of 1981. For me, the only riots I have seen in Singapore are when 16 year olds, full of teen angst decide to do something stupid, just for the fun of it, it definitely does not involve burning of cars or buildings. Maybe because in Singapore, we are too afraid of the law (well at least most of us are)! I seriously see no point in rioting. I believe riots serve no purpose except to relay a message to their target groups in a vicious way. Instead of going over the top, they should go about it in a more rational way. It is clear that emotions are high and the loss of someone's life is very tragic but that does not mean that they should go about rioting and in the process, take more lives. Already, a 26 year old man has died after being shot yesterday, hundreds of police and protestors have been bruised. Dozens of shops have been looted and set on fire. Thank god, the government is dealing with this issue in an efficient way, they have already arrested many of the rioters, 16000 police officers have been ordered onto the city's streets and have been granted permission to use plastic bullets. (The plastic bullets have never been previously fired on the British mainland.) Riots threaten to tear a country, the home in which we live in, apart. I do not think it is worth it.


I would like to leave you guys with this quote. Something to think about.


The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility. -Martin Luther King, Jr.