2013_TPJC_H1_Econs_Questions

TAMPINES JUNIOR COLLEGE JC2 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION CANDIDATE NAME TUTOR NAME 1 2 ECONOMICS Additional Materials: Writing Paper 8819 Monday, 16 Sept 2013 3 hours READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write in dark blue or black pen. You may use a soft pencil for any diagrams, graphs or rough working. Do not use paper clips, highlighters, glue or correction fluid. Section A (Case Study) [70%] Answer ALL questions Section B (Essay) [30%] Answer ONE essay question The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. H1 CIVICS GROUP This document consists of 9 printed pages.

2 Section A Answer all questions in this section. Question 1 The Rise of Singapore’s Integrated Resorts Extract 1: As Casino Begins, Watch for its Social Impact From the inception of the idea for the first casino in 2004, it has met with much resistance among concerned citizens. Several groups, including the Muslim and Christian communities and social activists, expressed their disapproval to the casinos — a move that is both peculiar and noteworthy in apathetic Singapore society. Despite public worries over the negative social impact of casino gambling as well as opening of doors to undesirable activities including money laundering, prostitution, and organised crime, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced in April 2005: 'After weighing the matter carefully, the Cabinet has collectively concluded that we had no choice but to proceed with the (Integrated Resorts) IRs.' As a social safeguard to combat excessive gambling, the gambling levy was put in place, together with the setting up of the National Council on Problem Gambling and measures such as ‘casino exclusion’, to stop problem gamblers and those in financial difficulties from entering the casinos in Singapore. Already, the crimes are rolling in along with the chips that the casino is raking in. It is inevitable. When you want to open something like a casino, you are really opening a can of worms. Hopefully, somehow, the money the casinos make and the shot in the arm for the tourism industry will be more than enough to cover the social costs. But how high a price can society afford to pay? Adapted from www.globalissues.org, 9 March 2010 Extract 2: Sin Galore Since opening last April the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) casino has become perhaps the most profitable in the world. Together with Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), another casino complex opened in Singapore last February, it is close to out-grossing the entire Las Vegas strip. Singapore seems to have gone from strait-laced container port to gambling mecca in one bound. Yet no one is bragging about it. The entrance to the MBS casino is curiously hard to find, tucked away in the basement. Neither casino is advertised anywhere in Singapore. For decades Singapore's government resisted pressure to allow casinos at all, fearful of the crime and social ills they might breed. When it finally relented, it insisted that access to