
Social Faultlines  Singapore was made up of people of different
ethnicity, cultural backgrounds and distinct ways of life. There
were also diverse language and religious groups

Weak social cohesion could lead to
- potential external threats  aggressors taking advantages of our
faultlines to disrupt our way of life
- economic slowdown
- social distrust - as seen in the Maria Hertogh Riots, other than
fatalities and social unrest, the communal riots caused suspicion
among races
 Sensitivities & dangers of politicizing issues regarding race and
religion
 Need to foster social cohesion

Providing a place for every child
 more schools were built allowing youths to mingle and study.

Building national loyalty – singing the National Anthem, reciting
the pledge, NE(later in 1997)

CCA – children are encouraged to engage in activities outside
school, share a sport, club with peers – forge friendship with
people of all races and ethnic groups  social cohesion

Language policies –
 1966 Bilingualism was made compulsory
 while MT was recognized,
 EL functioned as a common language among different races  helped
to break down racial barriers for a more harmonious society.

Integrated housing & Self-contained towns (describe)
 different income groups & social groups lived together, interacted at common
areas such as shopping centres, schools, playgrounds and bus terminals.
 Common spaces such as the void deck & corridors provided a place where
different families could interact/ commemorate significant events with the
community

Home Ownership –
 more people encouraged to own homes
 sense of ownership enhanced the sense of belonging to Singapore and with
the physical setup of the towns, encouraged interaction and greater harmony
among residents.
 With the sense of ownership, there is a greater stake for residents to be
responsible for the harmony that they enjoy. Hence, home ownership also
contributes to the social stability of Singapore.

Community Centers & Residents’ Committees (1978)
 organized a wide range of activities – eg cooking, dancing, art…
 Building a sense of community by encouraging residents to interact /
to contribute to the community  brought people together 
encouraged > understanding and harmony.

Quota System (1989)
 limit to the proportion of races in every neighbourhood and block to
encourage people of different races to reside in each block
 greater interaction & prevent formations of enclaves
All 18-year-old able-bodied male citizens/ called
up for 2 (and a half years) of military training
 Brings together young men of diverse
backgrounds and income groups, bonding them
together through the shared experience of
living, training together (give egs)
Shared exp/ promote understanding & bond as a
nation
Promotes greater understanding and sense of
belonging  > willing to defend Singapore


This is a good L5- except that it's too long!
The factors all contribute to developing social cohesion at different stages of our lives. For instance, Housing develops social
cohesion as within the family and house, the children would get accustomed with living with people of other races. At such a young
age, the children are easily influenced; it would help to develop a mindset of having social cohesion in Singapore, which is very
important for developing social cohesion in Singapore. Furthermore, the children can cultivate social cohesion and harmony even
before they go to school to receive education, which helps and contributes to developing social cohesion in Singapore. Also,
common facilities such as Community Centres and void decks provide space for neighbours of different races to interact with each
other. Thus, this is important as it ensures that the children are developing the right mindset of having social cohesion in Singapore.
Education is one other important factor in developing social cohesion. It also cultivates and develops our social cohesion when we are
slightly older and start to go to school. In school, the teacher educates the children through formal teaching and imparts values to
the students. Co-curricular activities were also made compulsory. In each CCA, there would be students of different religions and
they are exposed to each other. This develops their social cohesion. Education also allows more interaction between students of
different races as they have to collaborate in project work and therefore develop the social cohesion , where it would be able to
influence children more easily when they are young. This development would also continue to be cultivated all the way to National
Service. This would further enhance and strengthen the positive mindset of the children having social cohesion in Singapore. This
would also allow the children to cultivate a strong mindset of having social cohesion in Singapore. Thus, it is important in developing
social cohesion in Singapore. Lastly, National Service is very important in developing social cohesion in Singapore. This is because
during National Service, people of different races get together to have 3 months of basic military training, and serving 2.5 years of
NS. National Service is also made compulsory for all Singaporeans. During this period, the people would be able to develop social
cohesion as they would “suffer hardships” together during National Service. Also, they would learn how to cultivate teamwork with
people of different races. This further enhances and strengthens social cohesion among the people. Thus, National Service is very
important in developing social cohesion in Singapore. In conclusion, all three factors are equally as important as they are all part of
the different stages of developing social cohesion in Singapore. Housing cultivates the mindset from young which is further
strengthened through educating the people. Then, it is finally cultivated through National Service. Thus, all three factors are equally
as important as the rest.(GOOD! But it's very lengthy... do you need to include so many egs esp if the egs are well explained in your
L3 & L4? You'll not have time to complete the essay!)

Education is the most important factor amongst the three factors. The most
impactful period of people’s lives is during childhood. What people are taught
determine who the person would be. When children are taught and lived with
their parents, they would receive informal education. They would have thoughts
with their parents.(what do you mean?) Sometimes, the thoughts are negative
such as prejudice. This is informal education. The formal education is structured
to help to bring about social cohesion. Every child in a class is encouraged to
socialize and work with people of different races. Everyone is also taught in a
similar language, English, and they would use this language to socialize with each
other, and understand people of different ethnic groups better. National Service
and Housing is also very important. In National Service, boys are already mature
and they would already have a fixed mindset. For example, an National Service
man is racist. It would be very hard to change his thoughts. Thus, it is difficult to
change their mindset. In housing, people would tend to get along with people of
similar races rather than people of different races, so it does not promote social
cohesion (This is another criteria and it's not true in reality? Do you mean 'more
likely to'?). All the three factors are connected. Education is the first factor, or
first step. It provides the right mindset for people so that they can socialize even
further in National Service and in their housing residences. Thus, education is the
most important factor as it can influence people the most.

Weak L5.
I feel that education is the most important factor to social cohesion in Singapore. Education
starts from young and it will follow us throughout our lives, into the future. It will have the
greatest impact when we are young because it influences us the most. We spend almost half
of our life in school and will thus it will have the greatest impact to us compared to the other
two factors. We spend two years in National Service and our whole life living in HDB flats.
However, it is the quality in which the time spent is school that makes it a more important
factor than the rest. This is so because NS and HDB are more informal as we do not really
communicate effectively other than the occasional ‘Hi’ and ‘Hello’, thus it is not effective
interaction and will thus not promote social cohesion in a way. In school, we are taught
academic and moral values in a formal way. This is done by our teachers to educate us on our
moral being. Also, in school, students belonging to different races and religions of students
are learning together in a conducive environment, which pull us together. This can be seen as
in 1960, when the government introduced the integrated school system, in which two classes
might have the same subject, but each in a different language. This helps to encourage and
promote interaction between the pupils and teachers of different language streams, THUS
PROMOTING SOCIAL COHESION. This is evident as there are many project work and
assignments that teachers and students have to do together. Therefore, as students of
different races and religions receive education together in schools, they are encourage to
communicate and will bond together in the process. Thus, I feel that education is the most
important factor in ensuring social cohesion in Singapore.(But why do you say that NS is
informal? Isn't it also a structured environment vs HDB?)