General Paper

I bet that it is the dream of most to be able to pursue a job in something they love. It can be in the field of sports, arts or anything else. However, the issue of practicality remains. Money is the basic necessity for one to be able to survive in this fast paced society. It is especially so in a developed country like Singapore. An athlete might be a really unstable job in the eyes of many. Each year, the Singapore Sports Council takes in about a 1000 athletes. The competition can be quite stiff. It would be hard to stand out and actually represent Singapore to take part in any competitions. It is simply too hard to succeed and It would be difficult for anyone to stake their life on the small chances or even to commit to it. 

Passion is definitely not the limiting factor in this issue. I believe that their main concern would be the unpredictable future of their life that awaits them when they have to retire or even quit as an athlete. Hence, in order to better support them, the society could create a concrete career path so that they could secure an income when they do have to quit.

The world is a huge place, made up of billions of people that are of many different races. The majority of us proceed on with our daily lives without worrying about our basic necessities. It is not that much of a problem, and even less of a concern for us, but it is not the same for the people suffering from poverty. Imagine, dreading the awakening of every single day, having to worry about food and fear not able to survive to see the next day. That is the big difference between the two extremes of the rich and the poor. Will this inequality ever end? Would we really be able to resolve the problem of global poverty? These are the questions that I have pondered for a long time and after much debation, this would be the conclusion that I have come upon.

I believe that the future is pretty bleak. Firstly, humans are selfish and greedy creatures who care mostly only about their own survival. When we try to get involved with a problem that does not affect us in any way and even try to resolve it - we are just not sincere. Secondly, there is bound to be a difference economically. We are all competitive creatures, just like how the nature works - we fight and try to become the most superior amongst all the animals.  Just like how there is a difference between the herbivores and the carnivores - the poor exists - because the rich does, as simple as that. Thirdly, who would be able to salvate a person who chose self destruction? If one were to allow people to exploit them, make use of them without any form of retaliation, he has no one to blame but himself. A person is only poor because he allows himself to become one and if he refuses to save himself from these conditions - no one else can.

Let me elaborate on my first point. Globally, the countries have held conferences and conferences - with much desire to resolve global poverty. However, just what are the success rates? Ever since I was young, my mother has discouraged me to stomach any food that was given to me - because the children in Africa are starving. I strive my best to do so. It serves as a promise from me - to them, showing how much I appreciate the food that they might not get to enjoy. Many years have gone by, but they are still suffering as of now. In fact, poverty is getting worse. Rich countries would take advantage of the poor anytime - to obtain the resources that they do not have.

Going on to the next point, just like how the lion serves as the ‘king’ of the forest, humans are currently standing at the top of the pyramid, with the advantageous ability to speak and to communicate with one another. Yet we are not satisfied, we compete within ourselves. In schools - we have the grading system. Sure, it serves as a great motivation for students to work harder - fighting to achieve a brighter future than someone else. This difference is always there. Many countries want to have a stronger military than the others, they want to become the richest, the most influential, basically - the best. While they are at the top, there has to be a foundation to support them. They might exchange roles - but the inequality will never disappear.

Finally, moving on to my last point, humans are hooked onto several destructive habits - such as gambling, smoking, drinking and the consumption of drugs. These habits might cause one to be poor - but they lack the self control to revert themselves back into their original state. There are plenty of help support groups to do so, but even so, it ends up like a virus without cure. The human mind is weak. The weaker countries dare not defy the stronger ones - fearful that they would be attacked. They are then made use of and ended up becoming poor. Just like how the citizens do not oppose the ruler - even when they are suffering in pain, from hunger.

Nevertheless, one day, the weak would become stronger than ever before and surpass its’ ruler when it has become so sick of the oppression. The roles may reverse - but the disparity between those two would remain and probably, impossible to get rid of.

Fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by a belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or a threat and poverty fits the description very well. In fact, it is an extremely frightening phenomenon that negatively harms the poor themselves, the society, the environment and even the global security. So just what kind of detrimental effects is it causing? Firstly, the poor themselves are lacking of basic sanitation, clean water or electricity. This causes them to be more prone to chronic diseases and premature deaths.There are also many who are suffering from malnutrition and much more who are forced to live with a harsh lifestyle. Secondly, the society would then have to bear the increase in social tension, much internal conflicts and even violence between the people that is caused by poverty. Thirdly, in order to survive, the poor often exploits the environment’s resources. Last but not least, the country is often blamed by the poor for their living conditions. There are many who choose to avenge and fight for their “justice” by performing terrorist attacks. Thus, poverty also endangers the global security. Poverty should be feared, but we can also work on eliminating this fear. Afterall, poverty is a problem that can be resolved.

It is not easy to be rich. It takes a lot of time, luck and many other factors. So why should the rich help the poor when they are the ones who have worked so hard to obtain what they currently have? Firstly, many may argue that it is their moral obligation to do so. They may be the ones who have caused the poverty problem to get worse by exploiting them just so that they could maximise their profits in trade or otherwise. Secondly, they are the ones who have the capability to do so, the ones who can help to reduce the sufferings of the people and prevent the death of many. Thirdly, the rich could prevent possible riots that can be caused by the poor due to the grudge they have against them. That is why the rich should help to lessen poverty. However, it does not mean that they should be providing help infinitely. The aim of the aid is to allow the poor to gain independence and lead a steady life, not for them to grow to be overly reliant on the rich. Once that is accomplished, the aid would be no longer a necessity.

Marriage signifies the agreement between two individuals that they would be together until death separates them. Without a doubt, marrying the love of your life would be the most romantic thing - even if the marriage is between two homosexuals. This is a fact that would remain unchanged with the times and definitely something to be considered. However, there are also cases where people are forced to marry a stranger out of their will - mostly, for the sake of the dowry. These sort of marriage should never continue.

A quote by Deborah Wiles states that “The secret to not being afraid is to understand what scares you,”

So, what causes these problems to occur? I believe that they are a result of the movement of the society. Every small little action affects the whole motion. If more people choose not to get married, then there would be a crisis of a declining population which would then lead to an ageing population. However, if people were to give birth to too many babies, it would lead to a danger of overpopulation. These are the impacts of our actions as a mankind.

These problems can definitely be resolved. But if nothing is done, the consequences would be extremely dreadful.

To what extent is migration an effective solution to population problems?

As a child, it was my dream to be able to live in another country. I wanted to live in a place where I could experience the four seasons. The huge difference between the way of life in Singapore and that in other countries really made migration an attractive idea. Migration was very appealing. It remains to be so for many individuals, making it a plausible measure to solve population problem.

I bet the starving children in Africa would love to migrate as well. Instead of having remaining in a country where the survivability rate is low, I strongly believe that they should be allowed to migrate to other countries where they can be better taken care of. There are insufficient resources in Africa to tend to the people there. People are living in unhygienic conditions and they are suffering whilst we are enjoying our life in calamity. Migration would really help them out and be an effective solution to overpopulation.

Other than that, migration would be really effective in solving ageing population problems. The low birth rate in Singapore would cause a shrinkage in the working population in the future. This means that there would be lesser people to share the economic burden of taking care of the ageing. It would add to the responsibility of the government to look after the elderly. By spending more money on the aged, there would be less money for other areas within the country. Migration would be an extremely effectual way to resolve this issue. By allowing more foreigners into the country, it would be able to temporary resolve the possible problem posed by the lack of manpower.

However, the surge in the amount of foreigners coming into Singapore, is making a lot of citizens upset. The foreigners are accused to be the main reason for the rise in cost of living and how they are taking away the jobs of the residents and leaving them unemployed If the government continues to import foreign workers into the country without appeasing the people in the nation, it would cause much social unrest and a potential revolution. This is incredibly worrisome and one of the reasons why migration can be an ineffective solution to population problems.

Migration might be a good solution to solve populations problems in the short run but it might create more problems in the long run.

“Foreigners coming into Singapore, how does it affect different aspects of the country?”

a) Write an essay or an argument proving which major areas/aspects, and people in Singapore would benefit or be hurt with more foreigners coming in in the next few years.

b) Taking into account of all these arguments, do you think we should welcome or reject more foreigners?

a) Singapore is a small nation where people are the utmost important resources. However, our population is slowly shrinking due to the declining birth rates. This would mean that there would be less manpower in the future and would affect the economy negatively. In order to resolve this issue, Singapore has chosen to allow more foreigners to come into the nation to serve as our working force. This has made a lot of citizens upset and caused much commotion within the nation.

There are many kinds of foreigners coming into the nation. Foreign students, foreign workers taking up jobs that are unwanted by Singaporeans, foreign talents and other immigrants who have taken an interest in living in the country. The foreign talents such as athletes representing our country to participate in the Olympics and winning fame home are definitely benefiting our homeland. Foreign workers who work hard to build the state is without a doubt, also contributing much to our nation.

In spite of the benefits they bring us, we also have to consider the possible harms of having too many of them in our country. There are quite a few foreigners who are unhappy living in Singapore. There was a strike last year instigated by 4 China bus drivers. They were discontented with their pay and complained about the poor living conditions. This has affected the efficiency of the transport system. If nothing is done to resolve this issue, it would give rise to even more problems in the future. The amount of foreigners that are currently residing or working in Singapore makes up to 40% of the population. There is even a risk of them toppling our country if an uprising were to occur. Instead of relying on the foreigners, we should try to resolve our population problems with other solutions.

In conclusion, even though the foreigners bring about much benefits to our country, we should also be careful of the impeding harm that they might cause us in the future.

b) Taking into account of all these arguments, I strongly believe that we should be restricting the amount of foreigners coming into our nation.

‘Foreigners can never be accepted in our society.’

TS #1 In the past, various people from all over the world have come to Singapore with different nationalities to settle down. They were all “foreigners” to the country. However, despite their differences, they were able to accept each other and this is what makes Singapore the way it is now. A country made up of many different races living in harmony.

TS #2 Even though the foreigners can be very different from us in some ways, they are not aliens. We can still interact with them the same way we do with our peers. They are just another human being struggling to live on this planet. We are from the same species. We may share the different culture, but we can still share the same ideals. We have feelings. “Foreigners” are just another way to address a person from another country. There is no reason why we should be discriminating against them.

TS #3 Due to the huge amount of foreigners coming into the country, it has increased the competitiveness of jobs and several other resources. This is upsetting a lot of citizens as they feel that the foreigners are the ones responsible for robbing away their jobs and causing the quality of their lives to drop. If these ill-feelings are to remain unresolved, it might further create much hatred towards the foreigners, making it hard for us to accept them.   

TS #4 In conclusion, as long as we learn to accept each other, it is definitely possible for us to accept the foreigners into our society.  

‘Foreigners bring only troubles to our society.’

TS #1 Singapore is a very small nation that relies heavily on its people to survive and to prosper. Hence, it is very important to maintain a large working force to support the country. However, the declining birth rate in the recent years would result in a smaller working population in the future. Therefore, there is a need to bring in foreigners into the country to increase the work force. The foreigners would then benefit the nation by contributing to the economy and helping the country to sustain in its’ current state.

TS #2 Jobs such as cleaners, construction workers are taken up by the foreigners. They are the ones doing the intense labour and keeping the nation in a clean state for a meagre pay.

TS #3 Due to the huge amount of foreigners coming into the country, it has increased the competitiveness for jobs and many other things. This would make it harder for people to sustain a living in Singapore, consequently creating much ill-feelings towards the government for making life more difficult for them.

TS #4 In conclusion, foreigners bring about both troubles and benefits to the nation. They do not bring the nation with only troubles.