MJC ZENITH Oct 2014

ZENITH Oct 2014 General Paper @ Meridian JC Page 1 of 24 ZENITH 2014 This is a special edition of ZENITH, especially for the graduating class of 2013/2014. Many of you have reflected on how useful you find the essays in ZENITH, thus this is the editorial team’s one last publication for you before you embark on the A levels. This issue will be a no-frills truncated version of the usual publication, containing only essays, and the Brush Up section which you will find useful to tackle P1 questions with criticisms. A big thank you to all the students who have contributed good essays, reviews, poems and other assorted pieces of work to ZENITH over the past two years. You have indeed demonstrated what good writing is, and your breadth of knowledge displayed also underscores the importance of a consistent reading habit. All the best for the A levels! You are most welcome to send feedback and suggestions in enhancing future issues of ZENITH. Editorial Team ___________________ Mrs Janice Lok Mr Conrad Lee Miss Hafizah Amid Ms Farhana Hajiah Najimudin Mr Yeoh Keat Wei

ZENITH Oct 2014 General Paper @ Meridian JC Page 2 of 24 …in ZENITH Essay Selection /box3 Is there still a place for penmanship in the digital age? [2014MJCJ2MYEQ8] /box3 Is interdependence among nations really beneficial? [2014MJCJ2MYEQ12] /box3 How far, in your society, should unpopular views be open to discussion? [2013 A levels Q12] /box3 Consider the view that mathematics possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty. [2012 A levels Q7] /box3 Consider the appeal and value of superheroes today. [MJC2014JC1PEQ10] /box3 ‘Books are always more powerful than their screen adaptations.’ What is your view? [MJC2014JC1PEQ1] /box3 ‘Women will never enjoy the same rights as men.’ Do you agree? [2006 A levels Q6] /box3 How far is your country prepared for future crises? [2006 A levels Q6] /box3 Is stress really harmful? (MJCJ2MBT13Q8) 3 5 8 10 11 14 15 18 20 Brush Up ! Ways to Refute an Insult, Criticism or Harsh Judgement 22

ZENITH Oct 2014 General Paper @ Meridian JC Page 3 of 24 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 POC of the question you are answering. Is there still a place for penmanship in the digital age? [2014MJCJ2MYEQ8] rom the Declaration of Independence, to a hastily written love letter by Napoleon Bonaparte to his lover Josephine, penmanship has always played an integral role in making our mode of communication inimitable and unique. Whether it is the long, fluid lines of the cursive style or the elaborate, vigorous strokes of the Gothic manuscript, not only is the ability to write well cherished, but also the art of doing so beautifully. Yet, since the advent of the type-writer, followed by the word processer, ad infinitum, specialised modes of writing have increasingly lost their position as an important means of communication. Indeed, with the power to type comes the loss of an art – penmanship – which seems to be slowly embarking on a pernicious fall from its former glory. Today, at a time when beauty appears to have been forsaken, comes a hope –the appreciation of penmanship has seen a revival in recent years in the ways that connoisseurs of fountain pens, calligraphy, and writing in general have gathered together to develop new ways of sharing and enlivening their interest from its moribund state. Like them, I am also of the view that penmanship still holds an important place in the digital age. Technophiles and even the general populace share the view that penmanship is outdated – a relic of the past that is useless in the face of efficient and modern technology. They argue that technology has given us the ability to express ourselves at an unprecedented speed, especially as the time required to formulate and type out a paragraph is much less than if one were to write it out fully. Therefore, they argue, why bother when a much more efficient and powerful tool is at one’s disposal? Indeed, I do concede that typing offers one much greater convenience and efficiency than writing. However, what technophiles fail to consider is that the act (and art) of writing, to physically allow ideas to take form on paper, is lost in the shift to typing. We are exchanging the right to express ourselves permanently for the possibly detrimental ability to erase – to take back what we did or wrote without consequences – especially in the ways that we need to carefully mull over as well as reflect on our own thoughts before penning something down on paper. The implications of such a trade-off have been damaging. A recent study by the Fountain Pen Network has found that there is an inverse correlation between poor penmanship and the ability to express oneself clearly. Certainly, as we change from actualizing our ideas and thoughts on paper and therefore experiencing them, to typing and being able to delete words, we lose our coherence of thought and precision in articulation. The powerful, riveting speeches of Abraham Lincoln has given way to the ambiguous, unclear whisper of George Bush Jr. The digital age, with its rapid fire spurts of information, threatens to worsen our ability to express ourselves. Thus, I feel that penmanship is still relevant as it promotes the necessary skills we need to put together and communicate clear, exact and organized thoughts and ideas especially across to others around us. Supporters of digitalization would also go on to insinuate that the changing needs of modern society calls for further changes to our platforms of communication. Arguing that penmanship was only relevant in the past because it was the few modes of communication available, they derisively claim that it is not only old-fashioned to keep it alive today but also irrelevant to our current-day desires and needs. In the digital age, the constant deluge of information necessitates a rapid, impersonal and concise response, and penmanship is simply too bothersome and personal to be of use. Indeed, new F

ZENITH Oct 2014 General Paper @ Meridian JC Page 4 of 24 technology continues to embrace interconnectivity, and convenience like Google Docs, which allows one to type on the go and even collaborate with others who are all typing and contributing to a particular document at the same time. What then, is the need for penmanship in this hypersonic generation where speed is king? Be that as it may, I still feel that penmanship holds renewed power in the digital age. Due to the backlash of the digital age, which has taken all personal sentiments and eroded them for brevity and the ease of access, there is now rejuvenated interest in developing penmanship as a tool and as a skill; for while it may be considered to be ‘inefficient’, it is still a powerful and intimate means of communication. A personal letter, written by hand in a beautiful script, can convey layers of meaning and emotion far beyond the reach of static, constant letters on a screen. The unique licks of the letter ‘L’ as it glides on paper in the cursive script may define character; the occasional bolder and stronger emphasis may reveal powerful sentiments;