2011 KS Bull Issue 2

Issue two 2011 @XxpokesxX

Raffl es Institution | ksbull issue 2 | 2011 Message from the Principal In past forewords, I talked about writing simply and in grammatically correct sentences. I drew attention to rhetoric and substantiation to ensure that your argument has weight and force; and I emphasised the need to address an audience so that there is a sense of purpose to your writing. As I thought over why I would read one article and not another, the word “insight” came to my mind. In an age where there is an abundance of knowledge and content, what readers want are interesting insights into issues. Insights come about when you have processed information and integrated your own views to derive an analysis of the core of the matter. Recently, we read about the riots in London. Analysts had their views on why the riots happened. BBC referred to the impact of social media and dissatisfaction with inequality within society. I found Prime Minister David Cameron’s insights particularly pertinent. In his speech to the British Parliament, he termed the riots “criminality, pure and simple” and viewed their root cause as “culture” rather than “poverty”. He attributed the riots to signs of a moral decline in British society and a culture that “glorifi es violence, shows disrespect to authority, and says everything about rights but nothing about responsibilities”. Not everyone agreed with him. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, for instance, felt that there was no problem with moral standards in society generally. The riots, he said, were primarily caused by a minority of disaffected and alienated young people who were outside the social mainstream and who constituted “an absolutely speci fi c problem that requires deeply specifi c solutions”. Both men obviously have different world views stemming from their own political leanings. I think the riots refl ect a disintegration of the social fabric arising from a very heterogeneous population and a school system that allowed for too much individual freedom and an ambiguity regarding values. I am speaking, of course, as an educator. What is your own understanding of this, and other issues that you write about? I would encourage you to venture to express your own insights, based on your own reading and analysis of a situation, rather than merely refl ect others’ perspectives. It will defi nitely make for a more interesting read. Lim Lai Cheng (Mrs) Principal @XxpokesxX

Raffl es Institution | ksbull issue 2 | 2011 Message from the Principal General Paper Year 6 Common Test 1 (2011) 2. ‘The government always acts in the interest of the people.’ Discuss. [Yuen Wing Yan/ 11S06S] 5. Is pragmatism an impediment to real progress in Singapore? [Lee Zhuyi/ 11S06K] 7. ‘The arts disturb while the sciences reassure.’ How true is this? [Zhang Junyu/ 11S06L] 3. ‘Terrorism is born out of oppression.’ Do you agree? [Chua Cheng Xun/ 11S03F] 4. Is pragmatism an impediment to real progress in Singapore? [Benavon Lee Shuhui/ 11A03A] 9. ‘Democracy is not for everyone.’ Comment. [Lin Sen/ 11S06K] 11. To what extent does the media create mediocrity? [Kang Shiyi/ 11S03F] 14. How important is history in shaping a country’s future? [Chua Shan Jee/ 11A03A] 15. How important is history in shaping a country’s future? [Yeow Yuet Cheong/ 11S03G] 16. To what extent is nature valued in your country? [Soh Sze Hui Brenda/ 11S07B] 17. To what extent is nature valued in your country? [Tan Wen Yun/ 11A03A] 12. Is China a better role model for the world than America? [Emily Liu/ 11S03P] 13. Is China a better role model for the world than America? [Mao Ruijia/ 11S06L] 10. To what extent does technology facilitate crime? [Clement Chung Bing Cong/ 11S06B] General Paper Year 6 Common Test 2 (2011) 18. ‘Women in the developed world have never had it so good.’ Do you agree? [Tiffany Seah/ 11S03E] 19. ‘Retirement is a redundant word today.’ To what extent is this true? [Amanda Tai/ 11A01C] 20. ‘Big business cannot be trusted.’ Discuss. [Adi Chew/ 11A01A] 21. ‘Big business cannot be trusted.’ Discuss. [Dora Heng/ 11S06U] 22. To what extent does your country challenge the current state of affairs? [Ong Zhi Song Vincent/ 11A01C] 23. ‘We have no permanent friends, only permanent interests.’ Is this a good principle to follow in conducting relations between countries? [Bryan Cheong Sui Kang/ 11A01C] 24. Do you agree that the barriers to scientifi c research in the 21st century are more ideological than technological? [Tan Yi Jie Gifford/ 11S03R] 25. Would you agree that the world needs more order than it needs freedom? [Joel Lim/ 11A03A] 26. Would you agree that the world needs more order than it needs freedom? [Ren Zhaolin/ 11A03A] 6 8 10 12 14 16 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 Contents 1. ‘The government always acts in the interest of the people.’ Discuss. [Liu Mo/ 11S06L] 6. ‘The arts disturb while the sciences reassure.’ How true is this? [Sarah Giam Yi Xin/ 11A03A] 8. ‘Democracy is not for everyone.’ Comment. [Eunice Chiam/ 11S06S] @XxpokesxX

Raffl es Institution | ksbull issue 2 | 2011 General Paper Year 5 Common Test 1 (2011) Knowledge and Inquiry Year 6 Class Assignment General Paper Year 6 Common Test 2 (2011) 27. To what extent do you agree that the media has been a liberating force? [Anni Chowdhury/ 11S03R] 31. ‘Social media has changed the face of politics.’ To what extent is this true? [Tan Yu Ann/ 12S03E] 37. “It is not fruitful to judge the appropriateness of people’s responses to art.” Discuss this view with reference to knowledge in the aesthetics. [Lynette Lim Xueling/ 11AO1C] 28. To what extent do you agree that the media has been a liberating force? [Sarah Giam Yi Xin/ 11A03A] 29. ‘Diversity is divisive.’ Discuss. [Sim Fu-Hua/ 11S06Q] 30. ‘Diversity is divisive.’ Discuss. [Zhang Mengshi/ 11S06K] 36. “Kantian phenomenalism may have its appeal, but for all intents and purposes, we live our lives as naïve realists.” Discuss with reference to knowledge construction in society. [Stacey-Ann Lee Wanpei/ 11S03H] 32. ‘Social media has changed the face of politics.’ To what extent is this true? [Charmaine Yap/ 12S03P] 33. Consider the view that globalisation destroys culture. [Nol Swaddiwudhipong/ 12S03M] 34. ‘Education has only resulted in more inequality.’ Do you agree? [Kwek Mu Yi Theophilus/ 12A01B] 35. ‘Education has only resulted in more inequality.’ Do you agree? [Tan Zi Xiang/ 12S06D] Editorial Team Knowledge and Inquiry Year 6 Common Test 2 Editorial Team 68 60 62 64 78 80 66 70 72 74 76 82 Contents @XxpokesxX

6 ‘The government always acts in the interest of the people.’ Discuss. essay 1 Liu Mo | 11S06L General Paper Year 6 Common Test 1 (2011) Witnesses to the fall of the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and the rampant corruption of dictator Kim Jong Il may invariably raise the question of whether governments genuinely take care of the interests of the people. Indeed, every single government – be it a divinely ordained monarch or merely a group of elders under the leadership of a tribal head – is obliged to represent the interest of the people, safeguard people’s interest and ensure a better standard of living for all. Nevertheless, it might be overly idealistic to jump to the conclusion that the government always acts in the interest of the people without examining real life examples of how bad governments may compromise people’s interest, and the limitations of government policies that have been formulated to advance people’s interest, but have failed due to politicians’ pursuit of their own agenda. At the most fundamental level, every government is obliged to shoulder the responsibility of improving the people’s living standards and alleviating their suffering as this is the very reason for its existence. A communist government promotes a ‘command economy’ to ensure fairer distribution of resources, hence promoting equality and raising the living stand