General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
A - Level H1 General Paper
Argumentative/Expository Essay
And
Application Question
Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
Last Updated:
26.10.14
0
General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
Random Topics
Concern of Global Growth
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7 billion in 2011, 1 billion increase from 1999
[Ailing planet is struggling to cope with demands of modern man]
For / Pros
Depletion of Natural Resources
Commercial overfishing in areas like
East China Sea where over excessive
fishing led to 80% of fisherman going
bankrupt and is damaging to the ecosystem as it is unable to cope
according to China.org.cn
Excessive logging and deforestation
36 football fields lost every minute
according to WWF World Fund
Depletion of Crude Oil by American
Petroleum Institute to be as early as
2064
Worsening Environmental Problems
Averaged over all land and ocean
surfaces, temperatures have warmed
0.74 degrees over the century
according to the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change
Global Mean Sea Level has risen 3.2
millilitres over the past 20 years
according to FIG Congress
Economic
Already lack of jobs with high global
unemployment rate at 9.2% as of
2012
Existing record food and oil prices
due to lack of supply for huge
demand due to high population
Corn USD8 per bushel
Health/Lack of food
Uganda, Nigeria, Bangladesh, poverty
with unsanitary housing face poor
health, existing problems due to lack
of land
Somalia, population has doubled in
past 24 years with 12 million at risk
of starvation according to AlJazeera.
Against / Cons
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1
Solutions to Food shortage
Genetically Modified Food
Environment Secretary Owen
Paterson called for European Union
to drop GM barriers for crops to be
grown and sold which could be
difference between survival and
starvation of millions round the
world
FoodArk by national geographic,
FOA.org both have extensive plans
on how to feed not just 7billion, but
the expected 9.1billion people by
2050
Corrective Solutions in place
China One-child policy
Leisure, education, empowerment of
women
World population expected to
decline between 2050 and 2100
according to UN Population
Prospects
General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
com
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Singapore Context
Immigration and Geographical
Singapore, Whitepaper Population,
6.9 million by 2020
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Singapore Context
Efforts to reduce Environmental
Pollution
[REFER TO ENVIRONMENT NOTES]
Corrective Solutions in place
Low birth rate at 1.2
Ways to combat Terrorism + Causes
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Address
Address Political injustices
Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland, drastic
reduction in paramilitary activities
after they were given parliamentary
representation
Address Economic injustices
Repress
Ineffectiveness of non-repressive stance
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Address Social injustices
Extreme ideologies
Al Qaeda
Hamas
Ineffectiveness of giving in to
terrorists
Ineffectiveness of use of repression
Proactive steps by terrorism
Palestinian Liberation Organization
(PLO) welcomed into international
fold after it recognized Israel’s right
to exist in peace in 1993, did not seek
active destruction of its neighbour
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Singapore Context
Singapore Context
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Reading
Positive Trends
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Singapore Context
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2
Negative Trends
Fall due to New Media
National Endowment for the Arts
(NEA) in 2004 and 2007 found that a
decline in reading correlates with
Americans’ increased participation in
variety of electronic media
Singapore Context
General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
Importance of Books/Reading
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Books
Self-help books
Nick Vujicic – Your Life Without
Limits
Anthony Robbins
Quotes such as “We can change our
lives” (Obvious)
Chicken Soup for the Soul
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Guide Books
For Dummies
Horrible History, Horrible Science
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Social Issues/value
Brave New World
Depicts society some 600 years into
future where children produced by
batches of test tubes
Entertainment through drugs
Archie Comics
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Entertainment
Marvel Comics
Archie Comics
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Entertainment
Marvels comics
DC comics
Singapore Context
Self-help Books
Darren Tay – high achieving law
student about public speaking
Adam Khoo – I am a genius and so
are you 800,000 copies
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Online Sources/Others/Comics
 Humans or New York
 Glimpse into lives of strangers
 #1 best seller
Entertainment
Mr Midnight, Mr Mystery
3
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SGAG, 9GAG
270k likes, 20mil likes
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News outlets – BBC,
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Singapore Context
News outlets - CNA
General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
Role of Robots
Refer more on Own Notes Part 2 Technological Advances
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Rescue use
Search and Rescue
CRASAR robot
Firefight
Anna Konnda - Water-powered
hydraulic robot snake (mimic of
anaconda snake)
3 meters long, “moving hose”
Mine clearance
Digger D3, employed in Sudan
Experimental Testing
Petman, human like movements to
test chemical resistant clothing
Disability
Motorized Exoskeleton
(ReWalk – Argo Medical
Technologies)
Singapore Context
War use
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Drone
[See Drones]
Survellance
Israeli Tadiran, employed during
1982 Lebanon war
Singapore Context
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Old Media VS New Media
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-Ve New Media
Warp notion of beauty and glamour
Decline in literacy
Harvard Educational Review in 2008
“only reading novels on a regular
basis outside of school is shown to
have a positive relationship to
academic achievement for lowincome high school students”
Decline in literacy
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+ New Media
Digital Literacy is Necessary for
Today’s Jobs
96% of working Americans use
new communications
technologies as part of their daily
life
62% of working Americans use
the Internet as an integral part of
their jobs.
Between 1998 and 2008, the
number of domestic IT jobs grew
by 26 percent, four times faster
than U.S. employment as a
whole. By 2018, IT employment is
expected to grow by another 22
percent.
[Commerce.gov]
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Singapore Context
Singapore Context
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General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
Music
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Positive
Social Change
Lady Gaga’s born this world – LGBT
Ebony and Ivory – Race equality
John Lennon’s Imagine – Peace
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Skills, purpose of songs may not just
lie in lyrics
Dance, guitar solos, etc
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Relief efforts
We are the world – (Michael Jackson)
and adapted for Haiti Relief by
various artists such as Beiber, Miley,
etc
Movie Efforts
2 steps from hell – music for films
such as harry Potter
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Emotion
Love - Carpenters, Beatles, taylor
swift – love story, you belong with
me, etc
Happiness – Don’t Worry Be Happy, 3
little birds (Bob Marley)
Not giving up - The Middle (Jimmy
Eats the world)
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Negative
Moral Decline
About giving up and lack of hope Linkin Park – Given Up, numb,
About smoking, drugs, etc - Young,
Wild and Free (Wiz Khalifa and Snoop
Dogg)
About anger and murder – They
Deserve to Die (Cannibal Corpse)
Negative messages Attera Totus
Sanctus - “sexual sin is every man’s
right” (Dark funeral)
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Lack of Meaning
Friday – Rebecca Black
Gentleman - Psy
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Technology
Auto tune by artists such as T-Pain
Events/Pride
National Day Songs - Count on Me
Singapore, This is Home
National Anthems – Majulah
Singapurea
School songs
Culture
Man Jiang Hong (Yue fei)
Singapore Context
Singapore Context
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General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
Competition and Cooperation
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-ve
Exploitation of Workforce
[Refer to Human Rights – Notes Part
2]
Scientific Fraud
China grants and promotions based
on number of articles published,
Wuhan University estimated
$150million worth of fake journals
2010, Nature, a science journal
reported 1/3 of more than 6000
researchers admitting to plagiarism,
falsification or fabrication
Singapore Context
Growth Impediment
SIA sold 49% of Virgin Atlantic to
Delta Airlines in 2012. SIA paid
600mil pounds compared to Delta’s
360mil USD from 2000 to 2012,
critics attributed to Virgin’s difficult
to work with culture
Exploitation of Workforce
Singapore constantly rejects calls for
minimum wage system
Competition over work resources
Performance Based Evaluation
System, Performance Bonus Scheme
Education
PM Lee announced in 2013 intention
to revamp PSLE and education
system to more holistic, less
competitive one
Scientific Fraud
Dr Melendez, former NUS professor
had publication on Nature
Immunology retracted following
irregularities
Sports
Foreign Sports Talent Scheme 1993
Table tennis squad – criticized for its
foreign talent policy
2008, Feng Tian Wei, Li Jia Wei, Wang
Yuegu - Olympic silver medalist
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+ ve
Research and Development
Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney
joint venture in producing aircraft
engines
Singapore Context
Growth Strategy
Keppel Bank and Tatlee Bank
merger in 1998 allowed them to
achieve record 390% net profit
LVMH, acquired Crystal Jade
Group boosting Crystal Jade’s
expansion plans, opening 18 new
outlets in 2014, new restaurant in
San Francisco
LVMH, acquired KuDeTa,
expanding to HK, Charles and
Keith, expanding to China
Innovation
Hyflux – membrane
development, collaboration with
research experts, universities,
institutions
Prevention of inefficiency
X-Inefficiency, prevention of a
lackadaisical workforce, lower
price, Singtel, Starhub, Mobile
One (More details in Own Notes
H2 economics CS)
Sports - Counter
Team building
Dunman High School Student
given Sportsmanship Award when
he informed umpire shuttlecock
had touched him before going
General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
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out of play, resulting in loss of
match
FST adopted in 2000, Singapore
Soccer Team, Daniel Bannett, Agu
Casmir
[Example of Failure: Du and Zhang –
Shot-Put, went back to China after
training and salary disagreements ;
Luan and E Xiaoxu were involved in
court cases with the SAA over unfair
dismissal; while Dong had
disappointed in performance]
Politics
Pressured to populist policies, 2011
elections, CPF Housing Grant, CPF
Top up grant, slow inflow of foreign
talent
7
General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
Weapons Spending
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+ve
More in H1 and H2 History Own
Notes
Ensuring global protection
US spends $640bil compared to
$607bil, the combined total of 8
other nations including China, India,
Japan, Germany, UK, etc
20% to ensure world commitment
Economic Benefit
US 10% increase in defence
contribute to $20bil a year in overall
stimulus and 300,000jobs
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Singapore Context
Smaller Countries for Protection
Singapore – “Poison Shrimp”
Approach
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8
- ve
Lack of threats
Defense today is higher than any
time during World War II
3rd world war is remote
US had 5% population but 50% of
military expenditure
US needs 1% of GDP just to
maintain arsenal
Financial doldrums
Greece paid over 1.6bil for
submarines that they did not
even need, causing them to owe
1bil euro as part of deal and 3
times the price for its cut to
secure European Union aid
package
Pakistan in 2nd IP War in 1965
Cost to impressive period of
economic growth during early 1960s
Between 1964- 1966, Pakistan's
defence spending rose from 4.8% to
9.9% of GDP
By 1970–71, defence spending
comprised a whopping 56% of
government expenditure
Unnecessary Intensification
India expansion of uranium
enrichment plant
Arms race with Pakistan
Kargil Conflict 1999
China successful testing of DF-21
and Intercontinental 3141
Ballistic Missiles, J31 Fighter Jet
Singapore Context
General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
Sanctions
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+ve
Smart Sanctions
Freezing assets of specific individuals
South Sudan’s commander, Marial
chanuong – deprived of luxury goods
and arms embargoes
Largely ineffective, but act as
symbolic opposition
Ukraine Crisis saw US sanctions on
Russian banks, European Union
embargo on arms sales to Russia as
well as equipment to restrict access
to oil industry equipment to impede
Russia’s need for equipment to drill
in Artic
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Singapore Context
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9
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Unable to influence change in
policy
Countries do not want to be seen
as week and concede to sanctions
Iran’s nationalism by hardliners
North Korea juche ideology
Populace suffers
North Korea
Difficulty in implementation
Not all countries willing to stop
trade
US stop business with Iran but
companies such as Halliburton
continue doing business by
stating it is fully independent and
foreign based
China and Russia chose lenient
sanctions
Singapore Context
General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
Arts, Fashion and Design
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Positive Examples
Buildings/Structures
Old: Colosseum, Pyramids of Giza
New: Palm Jebel Ali, 3 gorges dams,
Burj Khalifa
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Vehicles
Lamborghini Reventon – design after
F22 Raptor
Ferrari Enzo
Lover’s Deep – submarine $285,000 a
night
Dixon Yacht Design – custom designs
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Mobile phones
Vertu
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Counterfeit Goods
Fake Lamborghini Murceilago LP640
at $65000, fitted with 2.2L engine as
opposed to the 12V engine, however,
exterior and interior looks exactly the
same
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Copied Design
Iphone – Xiaomi, range of phones all
looking the same
22 fake apples stores located in China
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Interior Design
Fish Tank Kings
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Bags and Clothing
Coco Chanel
Patek Phillipe
Rolex
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Natural Beauty
Jungfraujoch, Aurora Borealis, Grand
canyon, Victoria falls, etc
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Negative Examples
Buildings
The Shard UK (seen as ugly, arrogant,
inappropriate)
Avant-garde movement saw
construction of upside down houses
and transparent houses – clearly not
livable
Outrageous Cost
Hermes Birkin Ostrich up to
S$100,000
Hermes Crocodile skin up to
$120,000
Waiting list of up to 3 years
Chopard $25 mil
Arts Pieces
Damien Hirst controversial artworks
fetched 100 million pounds in 2008
Fashion and design based on perspective
Singapore Context
Singapore Context
Marina Bay Sands – Attraction vs
 Esplanade – Criticism of looking like
Ugly
durian, eyes of fruit fly
Gardens by the Bay
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The Sail + Infinity Pool
Pinnacle@Duxton – Longest
continuous sky gardens offering
panoramic view
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10
General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
Meritocracy and Competition
-ve
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Corruption
Education bribery in China –
Washingtonpost 2013
Gifts, presents and money
Beijing middle school often requires
payments and bribes of upwards of
$16,000, according to many parents.
Six-figure sums are not unheard of
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Motivation
Charles Taylor – moral force
contained in the idea of selffulfilment
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Continuation of class
strata/Education
79% of students born into the top
income quartile in the U.S. obtain
bachelor’s degrees, only 11% of
students from bottom-quartile
families graduate - according
to Postsecondary Education
Opportunity.
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Level playing field/Rags to Riches
Li Ka Shing, work in plastic factory
at age 15 – World richest East
Asian
Daniel Craig – used to sleep in
parks
Stressful Lifestyle
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40 Koreans commit suicide every day,
making it the nation’s fourthhighest cause of death in 2012
Increase for ages 15-24
46% in Cambridge depressed
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Failure
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~Social
Fails to account for external reasons
Insults poor as deserving of their
situation
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~Idealistic (Disadvantaged)
Handicap
Poor
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+ve
Singapore Context
Education/Continuation of Class
strata
Special privilege for residents within
1, or 1 to 2km distance from primary
schools
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Singapore Context
Best indicator
PM Lee defended system of
meritocracy in 2012 “if we’re not
going on merit, what are you going to
look at?”
General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
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Prestigious schools such as Nanyang
Primary School or Anglo-Chinese
Primary school are all around
expensive housing areas – landed
property
Elite.com.sg to find houses within
schools
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Students from families with at least 1
or both parents as university
graduates - Brand schools ACSI, 72%,
Victoria 45%, neighbourhood 7 to
13%
Stress and Health
10 year old jumped to her death
saying to her maid that she hoped
not to reincarnate as human being to
have to do homework again after
faring poorly in midyear exams
12 year old jumped after she was
placed in normal academic stream
22% of children from 6 to 12
indicated thoughts of suicide
17.2% of primary school children
with symptoms of depression
Psychiatric help increased by 16%
from 2005 to 2010 (more than ½
from primary schools)
Majority of the American and
Japanese children said that losing a
friend or the death of their parents
was their number one fear,
Singaporean students said that not
achieving good grades was what they
were most afraid of.
Over 50 % of schoolchildren
diagnosed with shortsightedness
which, according to the Health
Promotion Board, is caused by
engaging in “long hours on near work
such as reading and doing
homework”
Economic Growth/Education
PM links meritocracy as one of the
main areas which has allowed
economic growth
Among the top performers
worldwide, we have the highest
proportion of students who are in
that top performing group
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Reward for Excellence
Edusave Scholarship Award
Edusave Entrance Scholarship for
Independent Schools
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Level Playing Field
Chong Phit Lian – Work 3 jobs, gained
enough money to university, worked
up corporate ladder to become 1st
woman CEO of Jetstar Asia
Olivia Lum – CEO of hyflux who was
originally an orphan and had to get
by
Ron Sim – Education ended at O
levels, despite this, worked in various
sectors, over various shifts to
promote his goods, eventually
founded Osim
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Compassionate meritocracy/Measures to
ensure society remains competitive while
caring for the rest, preventing elitism
12
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Policies to help the less fortunate
Loving Heart Multi-Learning Centre
Free Tuition, pupil breakfast
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Policies to help disabled
Pathlight Secondary School
General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
Ageism
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Existence
Media – Politics
Raising of John McCain’s age in 2008
Presidential elections
Raising the issue of age for Hillary
Clinton in elections
Youngest president Kennedy at 43,
Reagan at 69
Less Existent/Efforts Against Ageism
 Media
 60 years Jackie Chan
 Arnold Schwarzenegger 67,
Sylvester Stallone 68
Media – Popular Culture
Big Bang Theory portrayed Mr
Proton, old professor and weak,
lonely, etc
Seniorplanet.org Research shows
that people who watch large
amounts of television believe that
older people are in poor shape
financially and physically, have no sex
lives, and are closed-minded and
inefficient.
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Examples
Warren Buffet 78 still making
good investments
Rupert Murdoch 77 owner of
News Corp
Oldest nobel Laureate at 90,
average 50, showing age does not
matter
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Singapore Context
Discrimination against older workers
Singapore retirement age at 62,
however, employers have to offer reemployment to those up to 65,
however, they suffer pay cut and lose
bonus benefits
CPF decreases with age at junctions
50,60 and 65
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13
Singapore Context
Preference for Old workers
Old Chang Kee gives priority to
jobless older workers
80% of chain’s staff is aged 45 or
older
Based on reason that older workers
are more responsible
Adapts by making computer interface
on cashiers with pictures for less
technologically inclined
Schemes for Older workers
Workforce Development Agency
(WDA) created ADVANTAGE grant
scheme to help fund training for
companies
National University Hospital used
grant to install an automated trolley
system make it less physically
demanding for older storekeepers.
The Workfare Training Support (WTS)
Scheme encourages low income
elderly workers to upgrade their skills
General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
through training so that they can
improve their employability and have
the opportunity to earn more.
Ageism is acceptable
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Yes
Age and Health (Economic)
Dementia, forgetfulness – economic
inefficiency (BUT made up by
experience)
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Age and Physical
Justified on the grounds for jobs such
as fire fighters, airline crew control,
police officers
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Singapore Context
Physical Health
Motorist above 65 for class 4 and 5
have to go through annual medical
examinations and undergo
proficiency driving test
For class 2 and 3, every 3 years
For PPCDL, pass medical examination
every 3 years after age of 65
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Social
Socially unacceptable
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Workplace
A workforce composed of
different age demographics
creates an environment where
each generation brings different
skills and talents to the table –
McQuerrey, Business writer for
27 years
Singapore Context
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14
No
Age and Job Performance
Korean Income and Labor Panel
Study –no substantial difference
was in the perceived job
satisfaction of public employees
of different ages
UK study also saw slight
decreases in capacity and
performance beyond 60
General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
Happiness
Also refer to Social Media, etc topics
Factors of Happiness (+ve and –ve)
 Positive Emotion
 Most Latin American countries in
2013 Gallup poll said that had
positive emotions, with Paraguay
and Panama topping list at 85%
 Thailand at 83%
 Bottom Syria at 36%, Chad 52%
 HOWEVER 2012 gallup poll,
showed Singapore as least happy
despite high GDP whereas
Panama with GDP 90th in the
world was happiest
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Health
University of Illinois showed that
there is a correlation between
health and happiness, healthy
people feel happier and
happiness allows one’s well being
People who considered
themselves happy were less likely
to get sick and expressed fewer
symptoms even if they did
contract the virus - Carnegie
Mellon University
Depressed adults are 60% more
likely to have type 2 diabetes,
possibly because the stress
hormone cortisol raises blood
sugar levels
Relationships
Martin Seligman conducted study
at the University of Illinois
Top 10% of students with the
highest scores of personal
happiness and fewest signs of
depression were “their strong ties
to friends and family and
commitment to spending time
with them
15
Avenues to be Happy
Self-Help Books
[Refer to self-Help Books Own
Notes]
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Volunteerism
Physchologytoday found that
volunteer work reshapes and
redirect values, perspective and
live goals for the better

Relationship improvement

Achievement

Changing Perception

Religion
General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments


Culture/Mindset/Relativity of
Happiness
SG complain, lower positive
emotion (refer above) compared
to Latin America


Religion
Conducted over 160,000, among
weekly churchgoers, 85%
reported being "very satisfied"
with life, but this number
reduced to 77% among those
who never went to church Inglehart 1990

Mindset/Attitude

Actions (refer to right –
volunteerism)


Basic Necessity/Wealth
Psychologytoday - After a person’s
basic needs have been met (food,
shelter, etc.), the relationship
between income and happiness is
quite small (Howell & Howell, 2008).
SG Vs Latin countries (view above)



Media and Expectations
A study at Harvard University has
found that people who grow up with
very little are more likely to be
satisfied later in life and appreciate
their experiences. “Materialism is
toxic for happiness,” says Professor
Ed Diener. “Commercial emphasis is a
setup for disappointment.”


Freedom and security
Countries at bottom of positive
emotions – Iraq, Afghanistan
(irregularity – Singapore)
Singapore Context

Singapore Context


16
General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
Poverty
[Refer more in Own Notes Part 2 – Poverty]
-ve




+ ve
Hunger
Sanitation

Singapore Context
1 Room Flat – 35 square meters

Singapore Context
Singapore, it is highly unlikely that
you will find beggars lining the
streets or see starving children
walking the pavements, scrounging
for food. The poor and needy in our
society struggle with “relative
poverty” —simply defined as that
their financial resources fall
substantially below what is needed
to pay for the necessities of living in
Singapore.
Stress
[Refer to Happiness Above]







-ve
Physical Effects
Eczema, Sleep problems
Mood
Anxiety
Behaviour
Drug, alcohol abuse
Suicide
Singapore Context
Caused by

[Refer to Meritocracy/Happiness]
Singapore Context


17
General Paper - Statistics, Evidences and Arguments
Dreams
-ve
+ ve





Singapore Context

Psychologist believe it plays
important role in helping us
consodlidate learning and tackle
stress, rehearse real life challenges
People deprived of entering dream
phase of sleep (REM stage) exhibit
symptoms of irritability and anxiety
Psychoanalysis unearth patient
Singapore Context

Change






-ve
Technology and Work
Machine and replacement
Social Norms (Privacy)
Paparazzi
Moral Decline
Youth







Singapore Context

+ ve
Standard of Living
Leisure
Economy
Population
Human Rights – Speech
Human Rights – Woman
Social Norms (Acceptance – LGBT)
Singapore Context

Wealth
-ve



+ ve
Happiness

Singapore Context
Singapore Context


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