2009 KS Bull Issue 2

message from the principal ksbull volume 2 2009 Raffl es Institution (Junior College) I hope all of you are familiar with C. S. Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia which has been serialised and made into movies. C. S. Lewis was a contemporary of Tolkien author of Lord of the Rings and both were fellows at Oxford University. Being dons and professors of Literature and the Classics did not mean that they wrote in highfalutin language and complex sentences. In fact, what makes Lewis’ novels bestsellers is precisely the simplicity of the language used and the clarity of his meaning. Some of you may have come across Lewis’ tips on good writing: 1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn’t mean anything else. 2. Always prefer the clean direct word to the long, vague one. Don’t implement promises, but keep them. 3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “More people died”, don’t say “Mortality rose.” 4. In writing, don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the things you are describing… instead of telling us the thing is “terrible,” describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. 5. Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say “infinitely” when you mean “very”; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. Perhaps this advice is worth mulling over as you read through this volume of KS Bull. Enjoy! Lim Lai Cheng Principal, Raffles Institution @XxpokesxX

contents Message From the Principal 1 GP – 2009 JC2 Common Test 1 “Celebrities make the worst role models for today’s youth.” Comment. [Claire Goh, 09A03A] 4 “Celebrities make the worst role models for today’s youth.” Comment. [Zhang Hongchuan, 09S03L] 6 Is investing in the arts ever worthwhile? Discuss the question with reference to your country. [Lin Tong, 09A03A] 8 “To lodge all power in one party and keep it there is to ensure bad government.” (Mark Twain) Do you agree? [Gan Yu Neng, 09A03A] 10 “To lodge all power in one party and keep it there is to ensure bad government.” (Mark Twain) Do you agree? [Quek Xin Er, 09S06U] 12 “Globalisation makes the world a better place.” To what extent is this true today? [Lee Jia Wei ,09A01A] 14 “Globalisation makes the world a better place.” To what extent is this true today? [Rishabh Srivastava, 09S06S] 17 Is ambition always to be encouraged? [Ngai Kuo Ying, 09A03A] 19 Should euthanasia be legalised in Singapore? [Anish Kumar Hazra, 09A01B] 21 Should euthanasia be legalised in Singapore? [Wang Zhemin, 09S03L] 23 “More government intervention, not less.” Is this the best way to solve the problems we face in the world today? [Yong Xin Tian, 09A01C] 25 “Countries have every right to respond with aggression when provoked.” Do you agree? [Lee Di Wei 09A01C] 27 In your opinion, is your country doing enough to protect the environment? [Wee Zongwen, 09S03E] 29 GP – 2009 JC2 Common Test 2 “Foreign aid is ineffective and wasteful.” Is this true? [Mak Shin Yi, 09A01A] 32 “Foreign aid is ineffective and wasteful.” Is this true? [Teo Ee Nah Vivien, 09SO3M] 34 What is wrong with organ trading? [Klaxton Kok, 09S06T] 36 What is wrong with organ trading? [Rachel Phoa Huiling, 09S03L] 38 ‘Popular culture has destroyed the true meaning of love and marriage.’ Do you agree? [Seow Ai Lin, 09S06K] 40 “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter” – Winston Churchill. To what extent do you agree? [Jesulyn Lim, 09S03F] 42 “The book is dead. Long live the Internet.” Discuss. [Brian Soh, 09A01A] 44 “The book is dead. Long live the Internet.” Discuss. [Gan Yu Neng, 09A03A] 46 “Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.” Comment. [Nicole Thio, 09S06W] 48 “Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.” Comment. [Paul Tern, 09S03M] 50 ksbull volume 2 2009 Raffl es Institution (Junior College) @XxpokesxX

contents “Ours is a nation of immigrants that should continue to welcome immigrants.” Discuss this in relation to Singapore. [Daniel Chew Wen Chao, 09S03M] 52 “If you’ve got it, flaunt it.” How far is this statement a reflection of societal attitudes today? [Lin Tong, 09A03A] 54 “A study of history will only make us more pessimistic about the future of the human race.” Discuss. [Ho Jiayun, 09A01A] 56 GP – 2009 JC1 Common Test “Religion divides rather than unites.” Discuss. [Gerald Sng, 10S03P] 58 Religion divides rather than unites. Discuss. [Nigel Fong, 10S03O] 60 “New forms of the media have made mainstream media redundant”. Discuss. [Yong Zhiyi, 10AO1E] 62 To what extent does technology enhance the arts? [Yeo Tze Qing, 10A01A] 64 KI – 2009 JC2 Common Test 1 Paper 2 Explain the author’s claims and conclusions about psychology. Evaluate his reasoning and challenge or support it with arguments of your own. [Sharon Tan, 09S06Y] 66 KI – 2009 JC2 Common Test 2 Paper 1 Discuss the point of view that, in scientific research, it is not ever possible to isolate the hypothesis being tested from the influence of the theory in which the observations are grounded. [Yap E-lynn, 09A01B] 69 Paper 2 Explain the author’s claims and conclusions about art. Evaluate his reasoning and challenge or support it with arguments of your own. [Yap E-lynn, 09A01B] 72 KI – 2009 JC1 Common Test 1 “Since eternal and necessary truths can only be acquired via reason, knowledge should only be founded on reason, not experience.” Discuss. [Hou Shihang, 10A01A] 75 Editorial Team 78 ksbull volume 2 2009 Raffl es Institution (Junior College) @XxpokesxX

ksbull volume 2 2009 Raffl es Institution (Junior College) 4 gp-2009 JC2 Common Test 1 GP essay 1 “Celebrities make the worst role models for today’s youth.” Comment. Claire Goh (09A03A) In an era when mass coverage and the media have infiltrated every last nook and cranny, and children from Antigua to Albania know the name Britney Spears, it is hard to question the pervasive presence of the celebrity. The rise of the paparazzi and the ubiquity of tabloids have made it well-nigh impossible for anyone with a modicum of, or the remotest claim to fame to do anything that does not eventually end up under public scrutiny and judgment. As such, those catapulted into the public eye invariably must bear the mantle of the “role model”, whether they desire to or not; I will argue that celebrities are not always the worst role models (contrary to popular belief) – it depends on what kind of celebrity status they have achieved and what they do with their fame. To a large extent, how accountable parents are for the correct education of their children plays a large role as well. The idea of the “role model” is a difficult one to define. Depending on one’s individual value system, it is subjective and therefore one person’s role model may hardly be another’s. For instance, one might approve strongly of Christina Aguilera’s talent, but another more conservative person could point to her once- tumultuous private life as something that negates the extent of her natural gifts. However, fundamentally, a role model is someone that one wishes to emulate, that one looks up to as a personification of one’s desired attainment, and typically there is also the association with having an upright moral standard. This image, however, runs counter-intuitive to that popularly held of the celebrity. The idea of the celebrity has been so closely integrated with the idea of the entertainment celebrity that the image it conjures is that of a drunk, vacuous and promiscuous person, preoccupied with shallow concerns of appearance and prone to making laughable sartorial gaffes such as going around town sans undergarments, à la Britney and Paris, or suffering “wardrobe malfunctions” on national television. However,