Should aid be given only in times of prosperity?

Markers seek to reward candidates who pursue issues with knowledge and depth.
All the PYTP received demonstrate that. They include but are not limited to the following-


a. Understanding what inspired question / debate in the first place
b. Awareness of basic concepts and conceptual terms  / vocabulary associated with topic
c. Good command of 5-8 main examples, at least.
d. The main debates surrounding issue and willingness to stand by one


What does it mean to have depth and mastery over a topic?
 Let recall the different levels of depth that ought to help you build a good command for a topic.
The example will be based on questions related to international relations and foreign aid.


As shared in previous lessons, there are 3 different stages of content-acquisition in mastering a topic.
Read 5 readings here (some should refresh your senses based on the older ones in the Global Issues InfoPack) and make notes / create a mind-map on capture all ideas.


Note that you cannot progress to appreciating Level 3 without first having some basic command of what a topic involves...this strategy forms the bedrock to mastering any key concerns addressed in General Paper.


Level 1:Foundational Understanding and Basic Concepts


http://www.borgenmagazine.com/where-does-the-money-go-understanding-different-types-of-foreign-aid/


http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/development/aid_rev1.shtml


Level 2: Awareness of Underlying Issues


http://www.povertyeducation.org/the-foreign-aid-debate.html




Level 3: Ethical Implications in providing foreign aid
https://www.brandeis.edu/ethics/ethicalinquiry/2013/March.html


http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/05/05/maintaining-foreign-aid-moral-obligation-ngos-say-ahead-cuts
http://borgenproject.org/us-obligation-give-money-abroad/



Test yourself:
Using essential essay skills, structure and discourse markers taught, how would you respond to the following (high SI questions) on this issue?


1. Question 12@ RI Prelims 2015


2. In times of economic hardship, should a country still be expected to provide financial or material aid to others?

3. To what extent can international aid be really effective?


4. Should developed countries be expected to do more in times of crisis?

Dangerous research : When science breeds nightmares

Love the line taken from NYT article. Attached below.
Never dismiss a given question in an essay. It was inspired for a reason.
How would you partition the points and allocate the due attention it deserves or would much of it depend on context and circumstances as well?







5 Questions. Tease out the trends within-


1. ‘How inventions and discoveries are used is not the concern of the scientist.’  Do you agree?


2. To what extent can the regulation of scientific or technological developments be justified?


3. Would you agree that unlimited scientific research is the only way to make real scientific progress?


4. To what extent is it acceptable for private companies to be involved in financing scientific research?


5. To what extent is it acceptable for private companies to be involved in financing scientific research?






5 useful articles below. Be mindful of those (the first?) who appear to answer the question in a fluent way but are evasive in their approach. The points are useful though. How would you get them to engage question directly using readings and discourse markers taught?


http://gigabytemon.livejournal.com/4640.html


http://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/apr/14/research.science2


http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/03/opinion/03iht-edstein_ed3_.html


https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/bioethics/whatis/


http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/in-defence-of-academic-research

The debates over statistics and mathematics...

1. ‘Unlike the Arts, such as writing or music, Mathematics lacks the capacity for creativity.’ How far do you agree with this statement? (Cambridge 2013)
2. Consider the view that the study of mathematics is intellectually satisfying, but of little practical use. (C. 2005)
3. Discuss the view that too much faith is placed in statistics. (C. 2008)
4. Consider the view that mathematics possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty. (C. 2012)
5. Question 3@ Paper 1 Prelims 2015 ?

Begin with these 2 fascinating videos-


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gd-gUlBv_s


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiaVGBEFiZs

 Tested and probed in different years, what are some common assumptions raised in these questions?

Why generate doubt over a form of philosophy well-known for its entrenched logic, objectivity and sensibility? 

Are they really cold abstractions devoid of poetry, aesthetics and creativity? Are 'maths and stats' really disembodied, abstruse and vague as commonly perceived by

non-scientists or the non-specialist?

Are these dualisms justifiable to begin with ?

5 cool articles below to help you move a little deeper into the concepts that drive these questions and uncover some interesting perspectives about a subject which you think you may be familiar with.

http://www.mathaware.org/mam/03/essay3.html

http://virtualmathmuseum.org/mathart/MathematicalArt.html

http://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2010/sep/29/statistics-lies-abuse

http://public.wsu.edu/~taflinge/evistats.html

http://www.truthpizza.org/logic/stats.htm

How would you now undertake the questions above with the wisdom gained?

Looking forward to further conversations on this :)

Don't Call us Beaten: The Other Side of Singapore's Education System

Do make time to catch this important screening...

Many of us will never be able to fully articulate the struggles faced by these children. We were all there once, though the struggles might have been quite different.

A colleague elsewhere was frank enough to say that there must be something 'rotten' in the state of education here given the experiences some children have to go through at the age of 13. Harsh words aside, it's best if you could watch this for yourself and make your own assessments. There are no arguments to formulate if we do not make time to know issues from the ground.

http://video.toggle.sg/en/series/don-t-call-us-beaten/ep1/343461

The study of General Paper must go beyond good performance in exams. We would have truly failed one another if we do not graduate with proper skills to gain deeper perspectives, understanding and empathy for other people and be willing to represent or even defend their views fairly based on what we read, watch, learn or write.





Learn from the students and teachers from Northlight and Assumption Pathway School, who will share with you the other side of Singapore's educational spectrum.

Politics in SIngapore Society: Closing Reflections to GE 2015

A timely refresher course on social media and politics which may interest some of you:

GE 2015: The best commentaries

http://www.straitstimes.com/politics/12-commentaries-on-ge2015-that-you-might-want-to-read#xtor=CS1-10

 http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/social-media-and-the-eclipse-of-the-opposition

Global Perceptions towards Democracy, elsewhere-

 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/15/opinion/across-the-globe-a-growing-disillusionment-with-democracy.html

History = Just the past and nothing more?

Pardon my obession with this topic, not just because bright traces of this question have already been embossed onto this year's Prelims. It has got a lot to do with SG 50 and a recent Cambridge passage you encountered just before the exam.

This discipline remains a taken-for-granted issue often undermined by modernity's obsession with STEM-based economies and their accrued value. You cannot move deeper into its waters unless you first excavate the underlying assumptions as to why its value has grown increasing more important ( or less so?)

To those stubborn souls who still insist on taking on 'black hole'  / low SI essay questions on your final lap, know that there is much ground to cover before you execute the decision. This is one experimental question you could work on. Stretch yourself and see how far you can go in light of Question 4 in your prelim paper. Insights from the following source may look rather dated. However, several arguments do stand the test of time. Provide your own examples  in light of your own knowledge, society and experiences (Gee, sounds like an AQ question). Here are 3 powerful and accessible article for your immediate consumption...





http://www.history.ac.uk/makinghistory/resources/articles/why_history_matters.html



https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/archives/why-study-history-(1998)





http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/28/tristram-hunt-history-teaching-schools




To the risk-adverse (I say wise) pilgrims in this cohort, as always, no harm injecting more depth to what you already know, simply because it's your intellectual responsibility and reward to do so. You know you will still go far even if this area of interest crops up for your final Paper 2 on Nov 2nd.

Reconciling Science and Religion and the long contentious road to integration

It will always remain a difficult topic to write about simply because there are no textbook answers to this question. Note the use of theological language by the Pope in an attempt to 'fit better' with the language and rubrics of science.

For centuries, proponents of these 2 fields of knowledge may have eluded one another in an attempt to give each other equal airtime.  To appreciate any developments in this area, one must first understand the language of discourse used. Just as you do not use the language of biology to describe the study of economics, the same may apply to science and religion.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-francis-declares-evolution-and-big-bang-theory-are-right-and-god-isnt-a-magician-with-a-magic-wand-9822514.html

It beats all the age-old if not trite, tried and tested accounts of Galileo (and Copernicus) used in too many essays. By the way, it's good to move with the times.

http://www.catholic.com/tracts/the-galileo-controversy

http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/533/copernicus-galileo-and-the-church-science-in-a-religious-world

Value of the arts in Singapore (Part 2): '7 Letters' & SG 50

On film and Singapore society-

To those who have already caught this masterpiece, these are my own personal reflections invested in social media. I disagreed with those who found the film too sentimental or tepid to qualify as a good piece of work.

To the many who missed it, look out for it some day on your onward journey. I hope it will find a place in your heart.





1. 'These films tell the stories of our relationship to place , sculpted or framed by the wisdom of those who gazed upon and imprinted their lives on this land long before we came...land as gift, memory , identity & kinship, not to be wrenched without thinking or traded like commodity. The reductionist agenda many governments take in clearing the land of its former markers (even to the point of re-naming them) has made some of us feel all the more alienated from time to time. 

In our attempts to 'develop' a country, we have altogether omitted a deeper recognition of the actual country itself, forever tied to our elders, their wisdom and their remembering, one that makes us whole. 



2. Having watched, lived n experienced (in and against) some of the clips (Pontianak) , landscapes (rural setting) and also participated in some of the rituals featured (Qing Ming n dad having worked in tP railway station ) , I read it all quite
differently. 

It worked in terms of social memory and at an allegorical level, the connection to language, place , identity and memory was very moving.

Friend helped to interpret the song that was played at the end of the final clip . Am still trying to search for it online--- to do with the liminal gaps n interstices of the heart... the Chinese language puts it best in ways that can never be fully translated into this medium.



3.  Pineapple town was difficult to execute to begin with. It was an embodiment of identity- orphaned by a sense of loss and alienation within an alternative family setting which not everyone may be familiar with. 

In fact, All 7 clips hint of an attempt to explore our kindred ties with Malaya of the past. The rail n station scenes , always incomplete , emptied or hollowed out (a motif of sorts?) map the emotional realities we feel whenever we sever ties with place or with people. 

It was also compounded by a renewed desire to reconnect with time , through travel, language , folklore , custom and ritual. These become useful paths, tools or practices we rely on just to stay human. 

There's a deeper meditation on the greater peninsula in which our national identify is tied against. 



The 2 feature songs here and Tong's final piece embraced all of that for me. The hauntingly rich  lyrics and imagery stitch together a type of nuance best expressed in the language they were first composed in and can never be fully translated into English.


And so be it :)




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEXPV4NtMuk


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVaao4Sftxc


============================================== 
Other perspectives-

From undergrads-
http://studentry.sg/2015/09/07/7-letters-a-love-letter-to-singapore/





From an academic and diplomat
http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/mda-deserves-a-bouquet-for-taking-a-risk-with-7-letters

Value of the Arts in Singapore (Part 1)

http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/the-arts-power-on


A must-read for all prospective students who wish to make a committed focus on the arts, be it Paper 1 or the uncharted AQ (Paper II, SG 50 and GP, well better be safe than sorry) to come. This summative article charts the trends which have made the arts increasingly more visible in Singapore society (and why it was perceived to be less so in the past). It is not possible to mount a sensible argument on the arts ( in Singapore) if we do not first have a basic understanding of its place in Singapore's developmental history.







Why would the arts scene be seen as a hallmark in any civilized state or progressive society?

How can we further develop and build on artistic energy, legacy and cultural vibrancy to become critical components in enhancing a country's social compact? 

What rich implications would it have on our standard of and quality of life and living?


The questions above form the core of all arts-based questions in Paper 1. It also be traced all the way back to your first Paper 2 assignment back in Term 1. Remember 'Complex Culture' ?

SOL vs QOL: Is there a Difference?

These are 'everyday' concepts that we take for granted...even the press and politicians get their cards wrong on some of these. To underestimate their importance is to downplay the significance they have on broader issues surrounding nation-states and the world at large. This could include international relations, educational rankings and even governance.


On an intellectual, if not practical level, such concepts equip us with the right vocabulary  / conceptual language to talk about a country's “liveability”.  This important article can help you to better understand the difference between SOL & QOL, which many take to be the same thing.
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/financial-theory/08/standard-of-living-quality-of-life.asp

How would this empower you to discuss social, political or economic issues with greater clarity?

Aftermath of GE 2015: One Perspective, A Set of Life Experiences and the Beauty in Analogies

A very personal article here, written with much balance and personal voice. It considers everyday incidents and draws a larger purpose and and delves into deeper concerns from recollections made- the kind of skill you are trained to do in AQ.

At its heart is an elegiac take on an emigrant's thoughts, having to leave Singapore for another country. The analogies used in its closing remarks may stir deeper sentiments in all.

I wonder if these are some of the aspirations students hold when they tell us that they desire to study abroad.

http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2015/09/post-election-catharsis-humbled-thankful/

Disenchanted by a market-driven world

" success or failure in the market economy are ascribed solely to the efforts of the individual. The rich are the new righteous; the poor are the new deviants, who have failed both economically and morally and are now classified as social parasites..."



The life you once led, the choices you want to have...
the life you end up living or the life you are bound to live...

Sounds like part of the battle cry between various political parties as election fever enters mid-week  here...this piece is hauntingly similar to the one posted by Au in the previous post...

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/05/neoliberalism-mental-health-rich-poverty-economy

Feeling empty in a land of plenty...and how to write about it.

Writing about social issues can be a tricky affair. In dealing with human perceptions and feelings, always be aware that it cannot be defined by absolutes. No psychologist will attempt that for fear of losing credibility. Yet students pen their thoughts about social attitudes and human actions as if they have divine insight into every urge that shapes the human spirit. On a bad day, Maslow's hierarchy is used as a convenient means to cover up for lack of maturity in writing about these issues with an informed mind or with quiet authority. Even established bloggers resort to careful hedging of their views to better support their points. Am sure few of you are complete strangers to Au's blog. This specific entry is a good example of the need to introduce ideas with care. Note the use of trends, comparisons, qualifiers and universal concepts to write about issues which are very difficult to ascertain let alone, prove in reality. Au is too much of a character to withhold his voice and so, the stand is a strong one-

https://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/rich-but-feeling-empty-exhausted-and-alienated/#more-11392










Continue to develop a heightened awareness of this writing skill as you move into October month when lessons end and students are expected to submit well-chosen and written essay to seal their confidence for the final lap.







As we cross into mid-election week, the sentiments expressed in these 4 entries may  also bear common faith to all that you have heard in rallies so far- how critical it is for governments to fulfil their roles well and the kind of existential tensions or gaps that can result when power and policies are exercised or executed without full consideration of deeper needs that people have.




The many slogans crafted by political parties are partial attempts to win us over...framed with the stand that  political leadership ought to contribute to people living a more fulfilling and purposeful life, in terms of our collective security, freedom and welfare. Of course, it's easier said than done. Perhaps that's why democracies evolve over time, developing ways and surfacing new arguments or fiery personalities to motivate us to move in the best direction possible.


The last article traces how the political scene has changed since 2011.




In everything, even in Chee's speech, there is intelligent 'hedging' at work, careful avoidance of premature remarks and  absolute statements, all in the drive to communicate well so as to get their message across to us in an effective way.




It is the same training ground for you each time you pen an essay or AQ response in the season to come.




Let's observe, read, listen, critique and learn...






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWKEaX1uQwU




http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/normalisation-political-cyberspace-2011-ge

'In staid Singapore', as perceived :)

An insightful piece that uses accounts from our founding histories and past voting trends to register and comment on changing aspirations here. It argues for a deeper look into this year's general elections. Look out for a few sharp and memorable analogies here for the world's 'most planned country', as quoted.

Will you be taking a short break from prelims to witness this in person?

http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1855255/staid-singapore-national-election-could-change-its-course