2021 KS BULL Issue 2 (RI)

KS Bull 2021  Issue 2  The  views  expressed  in  each  essay  are  purely  for  the  academic  purposes  of  crafting  a  viable  argumentative  response. They do not necessarily reflect the personal opinions of any student or staff member, nor do they  necessarily represent the perspective(s) of Raffles Institution.    No portion of this collection may be reproduced or sh ared  for any reason and by any means whatsoever.    Note: The comments that follow each student response include both markers’ and editors’ comments.

KS Bull 2021 | Issue 2 © Raffles Institution   Unauthorised copying, sharing and distribution prohibited  2    CONTENTS    2021 Year 6 GP CT | Paper 1    ‘It is harder than ever to be a journalist today.’ Comment.  1  Pay Tianna  |   21S03O  4  2  Cuison Jacob Dimaano  |   21S06H  8        Should environmental sustainability be given greater priority   in your society?  3  Lam Zhen Yi,  Matthew   |   21S06S  11        Discuss the view that the world would be better off with more women   in leadership.  4  Megan Cheah Shi Qi  |   21S03D  15          2021 Year 5 GP CT | Paper 1        'It's a woman's world today.' How far do you agree?  5  Jenica Tan Weizi  |   22A13A  18  6  Bernice Chong Boon Yen  |   22S06J  21  7  Chia Si Nuo Deborah  |   22S06J  24        Is marriage still an attractive option in today's world?  8  Treruangrachada Anantaya Kylin  |   22S06S  27

KS Bull 2021 | Issue 2 © Raffles Institution   Unauthorised copying, sharing and distribution prohibited  3      2021 Year 6 KI CT | Paper 2 – Section A        Critically evaluate the argument with reference to the nature and construction  of knowledge in ethics. Respond with your own critical comments to support  or challenge the author’s position.  9a  Passage    30  9b  Guan Yong En, Justinian  |   21S03F  32          2021 Year 5 KI CT        Critically assess the view that sense experience alone is sufficient   in the construction of knowledge.  10  Cayden Ong Xiang Jun  |   22A13A  35        ‘When it comes to what we ordinarily call knowledge, belief is   the only undeniable condition.’ Critically assess the view.  11  Allyscia Clare Pereira  |   22S03D  39  12  Chloe Neo Yi Ting  |   22S03O  43  13  Gene Chong Kenqin  |   22S06A  47      Editorial Team  51

KS Bull 2021 | Issue 2 © Raffles Institution   Unauthorised copying, sharing and distribution prohibited  4    1  2021 | Y6 | GP CT | Paper 1  Pay Tianna | 21S03O      ‘It is harder than ever to be a journalist today.’ Comment.    “Freedom of the news is freedom of jour nalists to advance their own agenda.” A statement that was consistently asserted by Singapore’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, has ostensibly become the truth in the eyes of many. Ma ny governments and authorities around the world have begun to subscribe to this belief, and thus view journalists and the potential power of their articles to create unfavourable outcomes for society as a ticking time bomb. Conseq uently, policymakers have put in place a slew of measures to regulate their reporting. With the rise in regulation of media, the ever-dangerous political landscape that journalists must navigate, and the increasing competition from non-traditional sources, I opine that it is harder than ever to be a journalist today. Optimists may argue that with the rise of new media platforms, journalists can reach out to a large audience, and the articles th ey publish can be accessed easily by all, therefore making their job in relaying info rmation to the masses easier than ever. Indeed, the Internet and the social media platforms it provides serve as an alternative conduit for dissemination of news to the masses, at an unprecedented speed and ease that could not have been imagined with physical newspapers or television broadcasts. Many reputable, traditional news outlet s such as The New York Times or The Washington Post have established thei r online presence through websites or Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts, allowing people to obtain up-to-date news anytime, anywhere, without the need to deal with the physical distribution challenges of the antiquated newspaper. This is particularly convenient for journalists, since they can now reach out to their audience more rapidly, and publish truths that need to be broadcast urgently. For example, in 2017, journalist Elena Milashina alerted the world to a violent purge of men suspected to be gay in the Russian Republic of Chechnya. With the speed that online platforms prov ide and the ease at which people could access these platforms to read the news, sh e successfully warned many of the state- sanctioned detention, torture of gay men, effectively saving their lives by prompting them to go into hiding or flee from the area. Hence, the easy accessibility and speed of new media platforms empowers journalists to relay news faster than ever, to more people than was originally possible, thus en abling them to fulfil their jobs as truth- seekers better than ever. This not only app lies to journalists from traditional news

KS Bull 2021 | Issue 2 © Raffles Institution   Unauthorised copying, sharing and distribution prohibited  5    outlets, but also to those individual ones that work from non- traditional platforms such as Substack. The newsletter-esque website enables journalists to publish articles, without the need to be employed by an established news outlet. Already, famous journalists such as Glenn Greenwald an d Matthew Yglesias are among the most - subscribed-to journalists on the platform, and they enjoy greater freedom in what they publish, without regulation or censor ship by news editors, allowing for more reporting and discourse regarding current affairs. Thus, the growth of new media platforms has indeed made it easier than ever to be a journalist today. While the above point is irrefutable, I believe that the increase in regulatory laws, the progressively dangerous an d polarised landscape, and growing competition from other platforms has made the journalist’s job today far more difficult than ever before. The rise of autocratic government or even democracies of a le ss liberal nature has led to greater regulation of the press, pressurising journalists to publish articles that are favourable to those in power. With the growing power of journalists to reach out to the masses and sway the opinions of the public, many politicians have become wary, and thus have clamped down on t h e m w i t h i r o n f i s t s . T h i s i s e s p e c i a l l y s o w i t h repressive governments in places such as North Ko rea, Russia, China and, increasingly, Turkey. In 2016, as part of Turkish President Erdogan’s personal war against independent media, he shut down 131 new outlets. In particular, he replaced the office of editors of popular newspaper, Zaman, with people of his own choosing, which led to the newspaper’s complete reversal in stance from being very critical of the government to glossing over any news that could be perceived as dissident. As of today, 90% of tradit ional media outlets in Turkey are contro lled by conglomerates with close ties to the government, giving the authorities unchecked power over the media landscape. Turkey is not an anomaly – similar situations are taking place all over the world. With the Chinese government’s decision to shut down democratic newspaper Apple Daily in Hong Kong, to Ru ssia’s implementation of a new law that threatens journalists with hefty fines or jail time for publishing news that ‘negatively affects the public’, governments all over the world have, in different permutations, established strict checks and balances on journalists, severely restricting the ability of journalists to publish unbiased truths that may reflect badly on the government. Facing fear of being fired by draconian employers or charged with lawsuits, many journalists have no choice but to