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SSA1201 Week 1 Introduction to Sociology
Studying Singapore Society
What do you know about Singapore’s history and the manner it was presented? From what sources
or materials did you learn about Singapore’s history? Do you readily accept these interpretations?
‘The social world guides our life choices…’
What we think as innate has actually been enforce onto us by society through state policies, the
people around us, and the media. We think we have the free will to make choices but the choices we
make have o'en been narrowed by society. For instance, what we expect in our partners are similar
socio-economic background, education level, and a*ractiveness.
It is fascinating to think about how we think we are in control of our lives when there are invisible
social factors acting on us. Why are we oblivious to these factors? ‘We are trapped in the private
orbits of our lives narrowed down to scenes of job, family, relationships, ambitions.’
‘The facts of contemporary history are also facts of the successes and failures of individual men and
women.’ (Mill C. Wright, 1959) This highlights how our lives are interconnected with history and we
need to understand both to understand one. Social events like war and economic prosperity all
a3ects the course of events which a3ects us in one way or another. What is to make it on a smaller
and specific scope, our actions may a3ect the lives of others too. However social imagination may
seemed to be an excuse for individuals by blaming social events and accepting it as part of external
factors rather than working to overcome it. But by understanding that it is part of social events and
understanding that their individual counterparts are facing the same thing, it helps to get them out
of the trap of the world. It is interesting to think of social imagination as a healthy skeptism.
