2024 KS BULL 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 2024 | Issue 2 © Raffles Institution Unauthorised copying, sharing & distribution prohibited 2 2 CONTENTS 2024 Year 6 GP Timed Practice | Paper 1 To what extent can popular music today be considered works of art? 1 Sivamuthu Nihidha Varshini | 24S03O 4 ‘Given the complexities of today’s world, only the educated should be allowed to vote. Do you agree? 2 Pan Haotian | 24A01B 7 Is it still wise to put our hopes in international organisations? 3 Chua Yu Jie | 24A01B 10 4 Ernest Tan En-Rae | 24S03M 13 5 Wong Kheng Hshin | 24S06O 17 2024 Year 5 GP Timed Practice | Paper 1 To what extent does social media promote undesirable behaviour? 6 Amanda Lim De Ying | 25A01B 21 There is no point in fighting for gender equality today.’ Do you agree? 7 Chen-June Kee Fay | 25A01B 24 Schools fail to adequately prepare students for adult life. How far is this true? 8 Matteo Jude Wee Sze Yu | 25S06D 27

KS Bull 2024 | Issue 2 © Raffles Institution Unauthorised copying, sharing & distribution prohibited 3 2 2024 Year 6 KI Timed Practice | Paper 2 | Question 1 9 Passage 30 Responses 10 Lau Ken Ern | 24A01A 32 11 Soh Jun Hee | 24A01A 35 12 Emma-Ruth Oh | 24S07A 37 2024 Year 6 KI Timed Practice | Paper 2 | Question 2 13 Passage 39 Responses 14 Lau Ken Ern | 24A01A 40 2024 Year 6 KI Timed Practice | Paper 2 | Question 3 15 Passage 42 Responses 16 Wong Xing Le | 24A01A 43 Editorial Team 45

KS Bull 2024 | Issue 2 © Raffles Institution Unauthorised copying, sharing & distribution prohibited 4 2 Taylor Swift's Eras Tour has taken the world by storm, with fans flying across the globe and spending hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, on tickets to the Eras Tour and their outfits. Of course, it is not Taylor Swift alone who has been going on tours to perform. Other popular singers like Olivia Rodrigo, Laufey and various other musicians have been holding concerts worldwide. However, these fans are often met with criticism from non-fans on the superficial nature of popular music, and how it is a waste of time, energy and money to be travelling to the popular singers’ concerts, and to listen to their songs. Now, this begs the question, can popular music be considered works of art, given the commercial nature of it? Well, I for one believe that popular m usic can be considered works of art given that it can be original, requires skill to produce, invokes deep responses in its audience, and has helped in the preservation and spreading of cultures. Detractors might argue that popular music cannot be considered works of art as popular music lacks the refinement that one would expect from a work of fine art, such as a painting in the Louvre or Metropolitan, or even one of Shakespeare’s famous plays. Th is might be supported by how some popular music is popular simply for having a catchy tune, while the lyrics themselves have no real meaning behind them. For example, sped-up versions of songs are often popularised by social media, where one can barely make out the lyrics of the song. Then, of course there is the use of curse words, sometimes to the point of being excessive in popular music. Jojo Siwa’s ‘Karma’ is a good example of how a song with really not much meaning, one that was filled with unnecessar y curses, was made popular simply due to the entertainment factor behind Jojo’s publicity. This clearly exemplifies how popular music does not need refinement to become or remain popular, and sometimes might even be popularised due to this very lack of refinement. This is in stark contrast to many of the famous paintings around the world like the Mona Lisa, The Scream, or even Picasso’s abstract art, which all had a certain level of finesse and refinement to become world-renowned. However, while it may be true that some popular music lacks refinement, I think it would be too sweeping of a statement that all popular music lacks any qualifying characteristics that make them works of art. One way in which popular songs can be considered art works is how popular music often requires a specific set of skills that need to have been honed. If we were to look at one of Taylor Swift’s songs, at first glance it might seem as though all she writes about are her ex -boyfriends or break -ups. Howev er, upon deeper inspection, there is a staggering amount of skill and originality needed to produce each of her songs, accompanied by the music videos. Firstly, she needs to compose a tune that is catchy enough to become popular amongst her audience, and come up with lyrics that convey her messages, while still being memorable enough. This in itself requires the skills of being a good composer and writer. In fact, many singers write songs with rather poetic lyrics that ooze originality to Sivamuthu Nihidha Varshini | 24S03O 2024 | Y6 | GP TP | Paper 1 | Question 1 1 To what extent can popular music today be considered works of art?

KS Bull 2024 | Issue 2 © Raffles Institution Unauthorised copying, sharing & distribution prohibited 5 2 appeal to their audience. For example, in Taylor’s most recent album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’, she had a song where she used world play of the term LOML, which she first introduced in the song as ‘love of my life’, just to flip the meaning at the en d to the ‘loss of my life’. Apart from writing good music, in order for the music to gain traction, the music needs to be accompanied by good publicity and a well-directed, and captivating music video on top of performances at concerts. This requires anoth er set of skills like acting, directing, that further reinforces the fact that popular music does require a long list of skills from its creators, and it is the highly-skilled creators that have enabled their music to gain popularity. Then of course, there is the point that popular music, like any good piece of artwork, elicits a strong response from its audience. Many popular songs have helped fans find joy, relief and peace. The fact is that popular music is the everyday man’s art. Gi ven the simpler nature of lyrics and tune, than say the lines of a play by Shakespeare or a piece composed by Mozart, the masses who have no prior artistic knowledge can relate to and enjoy the popular music. To exemplify this point, we can use songs like ‘Lover’ by Taylor Swift or ‘Iris’ by Goo Goo Dolls. ‘Lover’ seeks to embody exactly what the title suggests. It is often used by lovers from all over the globe to express their affection for one another. Another popular song by Taylor Swift called ‘Love Story’ has even gained enough traction that it is used by many to propose to their significant others, sometimes at Swift’s concerts itself. The fact that people feel so deeply connected to popular songs, enough to propose to their lifelong partners with it , really says something about how impactful popular songs can be. On the other hand, songs like ‘Iris’ evoke emotions other than joy, and can even be tear -jerking. These songs have embedded experiences that everyone can relate to in their human lives, like the struggles of not fitting in with others, that tug at the heartstrings of many. In fact, some curse words can serve to add to the provocative nature of popular music that awards it the title of being a work of art. Some popular songs