2021 SAJC J1 MSA (WA1) Question & Suggested Answer w Examiners' Comments

1 ST ANDREW’S JUNIOR COLLEGE MILESTONE ASSESSMENT 1 (2021) General Certificate of Education Advanced Level Higher 1 ECONOMICS 8823 5-9 April 2021 Duration: 45 minutes READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your name and class on all the work you hand in. Write in dark blue or black pen on both sides of the paper. You may use a soft pencil for any diagrams, graphs or rough working. Do not use staples, paper clips, highlighters, glue or correction fluid. Answer all questions. At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. This document consists of 3 printed pages and 1 blank page © SAJC 2021 [Turn Over]

2 Answer all questions Question 1: Food prices in Singapore Extract 1: Increase in prices of fish and vegetables at wet markets in Singapore A Vegetables Some vegetables are costing about twice as much as they did just weeks ago. Vendors said poor weather conditions in Malaysia caused a shortage in supplies as farms were flooded, resulting in poor crop output. Transport is an issue because roads are closed owing to severe flooding. Mr Alex Zhou, 35, who runs a vegetable stall in the wet market in Pasir Ris Drive 6, said: "The constant rain in Malaysia has made it hard to transport goods, and we've lost a lot of supply due to the poor weather”. The vice-secretary of the Singapore Fruits & Vegetables Importers & Exporters Association, Mr Jerry Tan, noted that prices usually tended to tick upwards towards the end of the year because of the monsoon season, but this year has been exceptional. He said: "We've never seen such a drastic increase in such a short time before. But suppliers are trying to get their stocks from Thailand and Vietnam, so prices should start to drop and will stabilise soon." He added that the supply for spinach has also been badly affected as it is easily perishable, and thus not easy to get from farther afield, like from Thailand. B Seafood Mr Goh Thiam Chwee, the Chairman of the Singapore Fish Merchants' General Association, said that the prices of popular items, such as Chinese silver pomfret and red snapper, jumped by about 20 per cent, and might possibly increase to 30 per cent as Chinese New Year approaches. Traditionally, fish is regarded as an auspicious food because it is a homonym for abundance. In particular, the Chinese silve