[TMJC 2025] P2 Prelim 2025 Suggested Responses

H2 History Paper 2 Prelim 2025 Suggested Responses Section A 1. Compare and contrast the evidence in Sources A and B on ASEAN’s response towards the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. Similarity ASEAN responded to the AFC by organizing efforts to manage its impact on the member states. / ASEAN responded to the AFC by organizing diplomatic meetings and issuing directives / ASEAN’s approach to the AFC was to enlist the aid of international organizations like the IMF Source A ‘ ASEAN produces a tropical cyclone of paper’ inferring of the admin paper generated to facilitate such ministerial meetings. Or ‘it was left to the International Monetary Fund to deal with the crisis’ Source B ‘they had endorsed a proposal for an ASEAN financing arrangement In Phuket, in March 1997’. ‘this would supplement the IMF’s resources and other international financial institutions. Why Similar Sources similarity can be seen in the common context of both sources focusing on ASEAN’s institutional framework at that time and how it responded to the AFC that swept through the region in 1997. Explanation + Substantiation Both sources describe ASEAN as a regional institution. Hence, ASEAN lacked a central bank or monetary fund tor regional pooling resources in place at that time. This meant that ASEAN’s response was limited to issuing joint communiques and pledges of cooperation as described above and thus had to depend on external international organizations for immediate assistance. How Different Differ in the impact of ASEAN’s response to AFC. Source A condemns them as ineffective rhetoric, while Source B argues that there was practical help from the more stable ASEAN countries to those who were struggling. Source A Criticises the ASEAN Way as “a cover for inaction and ineffectiveness” and that ASEAN “specialises in standing around uselessly”. The aforementioned actions had no discernible impact and that it was left to the “International Monetary Fund to deal with the economic crisis.” Hence, very explicit in its condemnation of ASEAN’s ineffective response to the AFC. Source B In contrast, more optimistic of ASEAN’s intended actions to manage the AFC. For example, the statement highlighted the actions to be undertaken by ASEAN such as the agreement to “develop a cooperative financing arrangement for the region” and to “provide financial assistance to any Member Countries requiring such assistance.” Hence, seems to provide concrete actions that would be instrumental in helping ASEAN navigate the AFC. Why Different The sources’ differences can be explained in their differing purpose & context.

Explanation + Substantiation Source A (2009, Australian newspaper), criticizes the weak response by ASEAN. This was because this source written more than a decade after the Asian Financial Crisis. Hence, by 2009, it was clear that the IMF and other global actors had played a more central role in rescuing crisis-hit economi