MJC ZENITH Aug 2013

ZENITH Aug 2013 General Paper @ Meridian JC Page 2 of 58 ZENITH 2013 After taking a six month hiatus, ZENITH is back! In this bumper issue, look out for our important sections featuring a large collection of 15 students’ essays and the ever-handy skills section, which features the use of illustrations in essays. Other staple sections to look out for include student book reviews, as well as what’s just in in Library@Meridian. Also, with all the media attention recently about Edward Snowden and Wikileaks, find out all about whistleblowers in Zenith Abstracts. Lacking statistics in your essays? You will find very useful statistics compiled from the Economist’s Daily Chart, covered in Zenith Read Up! As the exams draw near for both the JC1s and JC2s, the Zenith team wishes all of you good luck! All illustrations are courtesy of Daryl Cagle (http://cagle.slate.msn.com/) You are most welcome to send feedback and suggestions in enhancing future issues of ZENITH. Editorial Team ___________________ Mrs Janice Lok Mr Conrad Lee Ms Belinda Lin Miss Davina Lim Miss Hafizah Amid

ZENITH Aug 2013 General Paper @ Meridian JC Page 3 of 58 …in ZENITH Essay Selection /box3 Are the poor an inevitable feature of any society? [GCE04Q2] /box3 Discuss the importance of religion in society today. [GCE04Q11 /box3 Can small countries have a significant voice in world affairs? [GCE04Q7] /box3 Consider the view that the study of mathematics is intellectually satisfying, but of little practical use. [GCE05Q10] /box3 “National boundaries make little geographical or economic sense nowadays.” Discuss. (GCE06Q4) /box3 As long as people in the public eye do their job well, does it matter what they do in private? [GCE09Q12] /box3 Should everyone be expected to donate suitable organs after death? [GCE12Q9] /box3 ‘Too much attention has been given to gender equality.’ Discuss. [MJCJC2MYE2013Q5] /box3 Consider the view that religion divides. [MJC2013JC2MYEQ9] /box3 How far do you agree that conformity is no longer desirable today? [MJC2013JC2MYEQ12] /box3 Is it fair to suggest that the media manipulates more than it informs? [MJCJC2MBT2013Q11] /box3 Is it realistic to expect businesses to be socially responsible? [MJCJC2MBT2013Q6] /box3 Is it ever justifiable for a government to use violence against its own people? [MJC2013JC2MBTQ1] /box3 The education system is facing greater challenges today than ever before. Discuss. (MJCJC1MYE2013Q5) /box3 Wealthy countries are not necessarily successful countries. How far do you agree? (MJCJC12013MYEQ11) 4 6 8 11 13 16 18 20 23 26 28 30 33 36 38 Brush Up! - The use of Illustrations in Essays 41 Abstract Whistleblowing: Who are they and Why they do it 47 Read & Review 54 Just in Library@Meridian 56 Read Up! Useful facts & statistics from the Economist 57 Notices 58

ZENITH Aug 2013 General Paper @ Meridian JC Page 4 of 58 ZENITH Essay Selection Editor’s advice to students: Editor’s advice to students: Editor’s advice to students: Editor’s advice to students: While you may find the examples and points in these essays useful in answering other questions, please be judicious in using such information in a manner that is relevant to the point of contention of the question you are answering. Are the poor an inevitable feature of any society? [GCE04Q2] irst-time visitors to the United States via San Francisco are often in for a big surprise. Landing in what is, quite literally, the richest city in the richest state of the richest country in the world, they usually expect to see the glitz and glamour of one of capitalism’s crown jewels. Instead, heading into downtown San Francisco, they are greeted by a massive homeless population that spares no effort in begging for the smallest of change. Even in many of the most developed regions in today’s world, poverty is part and parcel of these societies. This thus raises the question: are the poor indeed an inevitable part of any society? I believe that while absolute poverty might one day be completely eradicated, poverty will always exist in a relative form due to scarce resources, competition for capital, and the fact that some people are less skilled than others. While I will go on to prove that poverty is, indeed, an inevitable part of any society, I must first concede that it is foreseeable that absolute, rather than relative poverty could one day be completely eradicated. On one hand, what many in developed countries perceive as ‘poverty’ is often relative poverty, which refers to an individual possessing a small amount of capital relative to the per capita income of his or her society. Absolute poverty, on the other hand, refers to a situation in which a person’s income falls below a certain threshold required for basic survival. The UN defines it as a situation in which a person earns less than US$1.25 a day. Over the past decades, most efforts to eradicate poverty have focused on its absolute form, such as in the UN’s Millennium Development Goals which dedicates the first of its eight primary aims to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. While abolishing even absolute poverty is an uphill battle, it could conceivably occur within a few decades. Given the fact that, in the past ten years alone, India has lifted more than 200 million people out of absolute poverty, there is no reason that given sufficient time and effort, the rest of the world will not be able to do the same. However, while poverty may not be an inevitable part of society as far as absolute poverty is concerned, I will go on to show in the following paragraphs how relative poverty is likely to always be a part of any society. The first and most basic reason why the poor are indeed an unavoidable part of any society is the fact that resources in our world are scarce. In economics, this is known as the Central Economic Problem in which the world has limited resources to satisfy people’s unlimited wants. As such, it follows that not everyone will be able to satisfy their desires, causing some to be better off than others. This issue is exacerbated by the rapidly depleting resources of today’s world, combined with the exponential rise in the world’s population. For instance, current estimates show that the world’s supply of fossil fuels is expected to run out by around 2042, and that approximately half of the world’s rainforests will be lost around 2020, which will result in a significantly lower amount of resources for distribution. Combined with the fact that the world’s population has more than doubled in the past 50 years, and that this growth rate shows no signs of relenting, there will be far fewer resources available per capita. This unsurprisingly leads to some having insufficient resources as compared to others, which in turn is referred to as “poverty”. Hence, the poor will likely always be a feature of any society. Secondly, relative poverty is a natural outcome of competition and free markets, and hence will always remain a part of our social fabric. In a laissez-faire capitalist F

ZENITH Aug 2013 General Paper @ Meridian JC Page 5 of 58 system, such as that used by the United States, it is natural for employers to try to increase their wealth, providing them an incentive to lower employees’ wages that results in an increasing economic inequality: while the ric