2020 KS Bull Issue 1

KS Bull 2020 Issue 1 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. All submissions have been edited for language before publication. No portion of this collection may be reproduced or shared for any reason and by any means whatsoever.

KS Bull 2020 | Issue 1 © Raffles Institution Unauthorised copying, sharing & distribution prohibited 2 CONTENTS 2020 Year 6 GP Timed Practice 1 Why is it that, in spite of international efforts, world peace remains unattainable? 1 Matthew Tan | 20S06D 3 2 Lim Zheng Wei | 20A03A 8 Is it fair to say that technology has only worsened conflict in society? 3 Chee Kar Ho Russell | 20A01B 14 Is our trust in science misplaced? 4 Brendan Mark | 20S03C 21 5 Koh Yi Hui | 20S03H 25 Do you agree that a university education is becoming increasingly unnecessary today? 6 Boo Jin An, Joshua | 20A01B 31 7 Elliot Han | 20S06F 36 Consider the value of having routines in today’s world. 8 Nellie Toh | 20A01A 41 ‘We can never rely on social media to tell the truth.’ Do you agree? 9 Angeline Lai | 20S03H 45 10 Regan Ng | 20S03O 51 ‘Support for the arts should come mainly from the government.’ Discuss. 11 Alvan Png | 20A03A 55 12 Siddarth Venkateswaran | 20S03Q 60

KS Bull 2020 | Issue 1 © Raffles Institution Unauthorised copying, sharing & distribution prohibited 3 2020 | Y6 | GP Timed Practice 1 Matthew Tan | 20S06D Why is it that, in spite of international efforts, world peace remains unattainable? Slavery is not a relic of the past. The inhumane use of biological and chemical weapons is not a relic of the past. Conflict is not a relic of the past. Contrary to the mainstream perception that the world today is a far cry from the barbarism and atrocities committed decades and centuries ago, many of the horrors of humanity we thought we eradicated still continue to haunt our society today. They hide behind a façade of lies and cover-ups, standing between us an d world peace: the ideal that every global citizen lives harmoniously together and that no one is mistreated or violated. Counterintuitive as it may sound, it is precisely our international efforts to achieve world peace that have aided in allowing such acts against peace to proliferate in the shadows: the United Nations (UN), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and more. World peace remains unattainable in spite of international efforts because of weak international organisations that cannot enforce peac e, the continued presence of strongman authoritarian leaders who blatantly disregard international efforts, and the hijacking of international efforts to obtain world peace by malicious countries, despite the fact that some may say international organisations have made leaps and bounds in creating peace. A common (and often over -optimistic) argument for the attainment of world peace is that international coalitions and organisations have registered numerous successes in resolving conflict and ensuring peac e. Supporters of this argument cite the fact that numerous countries working together, combining their resources, efforts, and intel to solve global problems is what makes international efforts far superior to other alternatives like unilateral action. The y often raise the example of the

KS Bull 2020 | Issue 1 © Raffles Institution Unauthorised copying, sharing & distribution prohibited 4 global coalition against the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as the hallmark of what international efforts can achieve. In the initial fight against the Daesh, it was only Syria and Iraq that fought b ack. The lack of international cooperation was what caused them to be largely unsuccessful in their defence; major cities like Raqqa, Mosul and many others throughout Syria fell like dominoes into the hands of ISIS. It was only after countries all around t he world chipped in that ISIS was finally suppressed. Countries like U.S.A. and Russia contributed military might in drones and fighter jets, while smaller nations like Myanmar and Singapore contributed intelligence. The cumulative efforts of countries internationally was key in eliminating this critical threat to world peace. However, it is not accurate to claim that power in numbers necessarily equates to a successful defence of world peace. It is the coordination between different countries that makes o r breaks international efforts. Often, because countries may not be directly affected by a conflict happening half-way across the world, they have no incentive to help in international efforts, and waiting for them to attain world peace is not reliable. The coalition against ISIS remains a fringe example because it is a rare case where a huge number of countries were affected. In the majority of smaller but significant conflicts like the current Rohingya or Yemen humanitarian crises, many countries are unwi lling to lift a finger because the conflict is localised to a region and does not impact the rest of the world. International efforts there are sorely inadequate at attaining peace. In fact, on the topic of quantity not necessarily leading to quality, too many countries being involved can even regress our march towards peace. One reason why world peace has not been attained despite immense international efforts is that international organisations are handicapped by a need for consensus between too many countries that prevents enforcement of peace. In international organisations existing today, the United Nations stands out the most. It is supposedly responsible for fostering world peace by acting as a common platform for countries all around the world to engage in dialogue, arrive at a common conclusion, and act on that conclusion. However, the huge number of countries in the

KS Bull 2020 | Issue 1 © Raffles Institution Unauthorised copying, sharing & distribution prohibited 5 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) means that for any conf lict resolution being discussed, there is almost certainly one country that does not agree with the rest. One might think that this is not that significant of a problem, given that the UNGA functions on requiring just a super - majority vote (two -thirds of m embers agree) to act and intervene in a conflict, rather than an absolute consensus where not a single country dissents. Unfortunately, in a web of global alliances and relationships, if one country refuses to ratify a resolution to foster peace, that country can easily call on its allies to follow its votes. For example, the news organisation CNN uncovered a booming slave trade in Libya in 2017, where slaves from all over the African continent were being sold and trafficked. When the UNGA tabled a resoluti on to open an investigation into Libya, it was not just Libya that voted against it, but numerous other countries like Ghana, Mali, and Niger that voted against it as well. On top of being close regional allies with Libya, these countries were also where the main supply of slaves in the trade was. Other countries like China and Russia voted against the resolution too, because they were afraid of setting a precedent of having one’s sovereignty violated by an investigation on the pretext of checking for human rights abu ses, something they are guilty of as well. This saga effectively shut down any hope of salvation for the innocents in Libya who were robbed of their freedom, because the investigation could not be carried out without a successful vote. Although cliché, the saying “Too many cooks spoil the broth” aptly sums up why world peace is unattainable despite international efforts. Second