2018 KS Bull Issue 2

KS Bull 2018 | Issue 2 © Raffles Institution Unauthorised copying, sharing & distribution prohibited 1 KS Bull 2018 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 shared for any reason and by any means whatsoever. Note: The comments that follow each student response include both markers’ and editors’ comments.

KS Bull 2018 | Issue 2 © Raffles Institution Unauthorised copying, sharing & distribution prohibited 2 CONTENTS 2018 Year 6 GP Common Test 2 | Paper 1 1 Should a government always listen to its people? Ivan Toh Sheng Wei | 18A01A 4 2 Should a government always listen to its people? Soh Ying Qi | 18A01C 9 3 ‘Poverty is the result of personal failure.’ To what extent is this true of your society? Caleb Leow Yong Quan | 18A01A 13 4 ‘Poverty is the result of personal failure.’ To what extent is this true of your society? Jonah Tan Sheen | 18A01A 18 5 ‘Poverty is the result of personal failure.’ To what extent is this true of your society? Sng Hong | 18A01C 22 6 “The provision of financial or material aid to countries in need does more harm than good.” Discuss. Kaitlyn Ng Ke Yi | 18S06G 26 7 Should we even be wary of artificial intelligence? Valeska Tan Ying Lin | 18S03F 31 8 In a world where information is made up, can the media still be relied upon to convey the truth? Ashley Teo Jia Yee | 18S03S 35 2018 Year 6 Class Essay Assignment 9 “History is just a set of lies.” Discuss. Catherine Liew Hui En | 18S03L 40 2018 Year 6 GP Common Test 2 | Paper 2 10 Paper 2 – Passage 43 11 Paper 2 – AQ Response Huang Bairun | 18S06A 45

KS Bull 2018 | Issue 2 © Raffles Institution Unauthorised copying, sharing & distribution prohibited 3 2018 Year 5 KI Common Test | Paper 2 12 Paper 2 - Passage 47 13 Paper 2 – Response Samuel Foo Hern Kai | 19A01A 48 2018 Year 5 GP Common Test | Paper 1 14 Assess the view that women have been unfairly treated today. Chew Jay Hong | 19A13A 51 15 How far can scientific or technological developments be a solution to global problems? Ian Tay Rong De | 19S06H 55 16 How far can scientific or technological developments be a solution to global problems? Keane Loi Jun Yi | 19S03D 59 17 How far can scientific or technological developments be a solution to global problems? Lim Zinn-E | 19S06J 63 18 ‘Traditional media has lost its place in today’s society.’ Discuss. Andrew Lau Ka Keong | 19A01B 67 19 “A country should take care of its own interests before others.’ What is your view? Lynette Teo Xuan Hui | 19A13A 72 Editorial Team 76

KS Bull 2018 | Issue 2 © Raffles Institution Unauthorised copying, sharing & distribution prohibited 4 1 2018 | Y6 | GP Common Test 2 Ivan Toh Sheng Wei | 1A01A Should a government always listen to its people? Can governments claim to be by the people, of the people and for the people if they do not listen to the voices of the people? In an age of populist governments rising to power by tapping on the grievances of the silent majority, it would seem that governments should always listen to their people so that the government can fulfil its duty of serving the people’s needs better and implement policies more effectively with the people’s support. However, the more complex and nuanced reality is that governments should take the people’s views into consideration but not always follow the popular opinion in policy -making since the masses might suffer from information asymmetry, might only consider their own short-term benefit, and neglect the most vulnerable actors or elements of our society. Thus, in order to fulfil the objectives of any good government, which would be to improve the lives of people and stay in power, governments should not always listen to their people but consider the advice of technocratic experts or abide by higher principles enshrined in the constitution. Firstly, it could be argued that governments should always listen to the people as acting on the needs of the people would allow governments to effectively serve the people and improve their living standards, since it is likely that the masses would know their own needs and solutions the best. Most governments around the world are democratically elected in to power, which means that citizens have given them their mandate and trust. These elected representatives are thus expected to live up to the expectations placed on them by listening keenly to the feedback of citizens, and implementing legislation that will address the needs of the citizens. Even for authoritarian governments or non -elected components of the government such as the civil service or the judiciary, the onus is still on the government to adequately meet the needs and demands of the citizens since they have placed their trust in the system. Furthermore, the masses would be most in touch with their own daily concerns since they are informed by their own lived daily experiences, in contrast to bureaucrats in ivory towers

KS Bull 2018 | Issue 2 © Raffles Institution Unauthorised copying, sharing & distribution prohibited 5 trying to second guess what citizens want. Hence, governments should listen to the feedback and votes of citizens to decide what legislation to implement and how it should be implemented. A salient example of the government listening to its people in order to accurately reflect the desires of the masses would be Prime Minister Mahathir of Malaysia and his newly elected Pakatan Harapan government, who decided to abolish Malaysia’s 6% Goods and Services Tax (GST) and opened an investigation into Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, since these were the demands of the majority of Malaysians, who felt that current GST levels and government corruption were severely hampering their ability to maintain their purchasing power and Malaysia’s long-term economic development. In contrast, the Barisan National government of Malaysia was voted out because they were stubborn and out of touch on issues such as GST and their refusal to clamp down on corruption. Thus, governments should always listen to the people to accurately meet the people’s needs and improve the people’s standard of living. Secondly, governments should always listen to their people to ensure smooth implementation of policies with the support of the masses. Even the best ideas will not be able to be successfully implemented in so ciety through government policies if there is no buy -in and popular support from various stakeholders in society. Governments that want to consolidate power and implement policies decisively and effectively should listen to the people and implement widely accepted policies so as to avoid public backlash and resistance. Gaining the support of the masses would mean that policies will be well received by the cooperative majority, leading to increased popularity and a stronger hold on power for the government. For instance, President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has waged an all -out war on drugs and has implicitly granted police extra judicial authority to execute drug pushers, leading to widespread approval for the current administration domestically and increased tip offs on drug dealers, as his controversial policy is in line with the popular opinion that the spread of drugs is a menace to the Philippines. Evidently, governments should always listen to the people to ensure the feasibility and effectiveness of any government policy. However, while the above arguments make a compelling case for w