Irish Republican Army (IRA)

Do you think the person who made this video supports or opposes the Irish Republican Army? Why? What do you think is the underlying message of this video?

Click Read More to access the lyrics of the song.

Northern Ireland: Conflict

Take a look at the following video.

This video shows you scenes from the height of conflict between Catholics and the Protestants. Click through to the Youtube site to look at the provenance of the video.

Do you think this video is reliable and useful in understanding who is to be blamed for the conflict in Northern Ireland?

If you read the comments you will realise that this conflict is not as simple as a clash between religion, but it is of differing loyalties.

The Protestants, who tended to be descendants from immigrants from Britain, want Northern Ireland to be part of the United Kingdom. These people we call the Unionists, who wants a union between Northern Ireland the United Kingdom.

On the other hand, we have the majority Irish Catholics, who have no sense of belonging to Britian and the United Kingdom. They identify largely with Republic of Ireland, seeing themselves as one people. Britain and United Kingdom were foreign and alien. Since they are Irish, and they want to be a part of the Republic Ireland, we call them the Loyalists.

Sri Lanka & Tamil Tigers

The Tamil Tigers were cracked down hard by the Sri Lankan government. After several victories by the Sri Lankan army, the Tamil Tigers admitted defeat in May 2009. Even then, Tamil Tigers continue to exist in small areas of Sri Lanka and remain active.

Although the armed conflict has ceased, look at the following videos to look at the displacement and disruption the conflict has brought to the people of Sri Lanka.

On the other hand, look at how some in Tamil Tigers believe that they are freedom fighters, that they have no choice but to take up arms.

While you look through these videos, I want you to click through to Youtube and look at the provenance of the videos. Do you think they are reliable? Do you think they are useful for you to understand what happened in Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka

Colombo, Sri Lankan capital

Easy way to remember causes of the Sri Lankan conflict:

Citizenship rights
University admission
Resettlement
Sinhala Only Policy
e

This is a highly probably SEQ which will ask you to evaluate the importance of 2/3/all of these factors.

Rank these factors by the most important to the least important, and come up with explanations for each of these factors and why one factor is more important than the other.

Apply this to the consequences of the Sri Lanka conflict.

Political	Armed Conflict Foreign Intervention
Economic	Unemployment Loss of foreign investment No. of tourists dropped
Social	Sri Lankan Tamils driven out of their homeland

Come up with explanations for each of these factors.

Rank the consequences from most important to least important, and come up with explanations why one is more important than the other.


This would be a really good way for you to prepare fully for SEQs so that you do not need to think on the spot during exams, giving you more time to think through your SBQs. Hope these helps!

Sec 3 NA Holiday HW

The above is a clearer photograph of the source in your holiday HW.

Full resolution photograph available here: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2069/2392920656_9e43774409_b.jpg.

Affordable healthcare in Singapore?

As the elections draw closer, more information, commentaries and criticisms of the current government and its systems emerge on the Web. I subscribe to a particular Mr Wang (http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/) who is now an in-house lawyer at an European investment bank. His following article is extremely relevant to healthcare in Singapore.

Issues to think about:

• Is healthcare in Singapore affordable?
• Is Medishield and Medifund, as well as the various government subsidies really enough?
• Are community subsidies enough to tide the lower income group through tough times such as huge hospitalisation bills?

Think about the medical bills that the people around have incurred. Remember the bill that my dad incurred for a 3 day 2 night hospital stay. Remember my deceased friend's $100,000 hospital bill for a 2 month stay.

Is healthcare really affordable in Singapore?

For me I think healthcare is a fundamental human right, and no one should ever be denied of the right to the medical care. However, the related costs of it is so high in Singapore that people deny themselves treatment because they cannot afford it, and seek for more affordable alternatives.

On the flip side of the coin, a welfare state which pays for its citizens' medical bills is an inefficient one, eg. Britain's National Health Service (NHS). More to come on that.

In the meantime, ponder over the above issues.

You may also want to consider if you believe the source, and practice your inference skills. What do you think Mr Gilbert Koh is trying to say? Who is the target audience, and what does he want the target audience to do?

* * * * * * *

Feb 15, 2011

Healthcare for Singaporeans in Malaysia

This is one of the rare occasions on which I disagree with Lucky Tan (who is, by the way, one of the most read-worthy bloggers in Singapore).

In a recent post, Lucky discusses a New Paper article which talks about Singaporeans being able to use their own Medisave savings to seek medical treatment in Malaysia. Lucky writes:

If your healthcare system is not universal and becomes so expensive that citizens have to go to a developing country for treatment, it is a tragedy, not an achievement. However, if you read today's New Paper, it seems to be saying the MOH has helped Singaporeans to save money by allowing them to use their Medisave for hospitalisation in Malaysia. All of us have to thank Minister Khaw for this flexibility of being able to save money by travelling to Malaysia when we get sick.

The article doesn't ask about adequency of govt support for poorer Singaporeans when the cost of private care in Malaysia is less than half (according to New Paper) that of subsidised care in Singapore. It doesn't ask why these people have to go to Malaysia to save money when Minister Khaw can get his heart fixed for $8....so poor people pay more and rich millionaires like Khaw get cheap healthcare - there is certainly a moral issue here.

The New Paper article is filled with smiling patients who are happy to save money going to Malaysia for treatment but I believe the story in many real cases sound more like tragedies. Take Singapore singer Yue Lei case as an example[Link]. He had to sell his home and go to Mahkota Hospital for cancer treatment because healthcare in Singapore is too expensive. Singapore often boasts of having one of the highest standards of medical care in the world but when the govt wants to keep its expenditure on subsidies down by sending poorer sick Singaporeans to Malaysia, it says the standard of care in a developing country is just as good as Singapore's.

Being able to get poor Singaporeans to go to developing countries for medical care takes the pressure off the govt to do more to contain costs and ensure universality in our system. We shouldn't have allowed this ...it is a tragic development for poor Singaporeans who get sick and don't get adequate help.

I disagree with Lucky, because I think that the New Paper article did the public an excellent service, by highlighting the fact that Singaporeans can use their Medisave to seek medical treatment in Malaysia.

It is important for more Singaporeans to be aware of this, especially because the costs of healthcare in Singapore can be so high. It is useful for all of us to know that there are viable alternatives for us, just across the Causeway.

Lucky goes on harping and complaining about why isn't the Singapore government providing affordable healthcare for Singaporeans in our country. These are ridiculous assertions and the sooner you realise it, the better for you.

The government isn't here to take care of you. The government isn't here to serve Singaporeans. The government isn't here to care for the poor and the sick.

The government is just a large, unwieldy, faceless piece of machinery programmed to carry out its own political agenda; pursue its own policies; and serve its own interests. Those interests may or may not coincide with your interests. If they do, well, that's just a coincidence.

YOU need to take care of you. The sooner you understand this, the better for you. You will see the pointlessness of complaining about why the government is not providing affordable healthcare to Singaporeans. You will see the value of gathering knowledge about how to better survive on your own resources.

Knowledge such as how to go to Malaysia and get medical treatment there.

Posted by Gilbert Koh aka Mr Wang

Source: http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2011/02/healthcare-for-singaporeans-in-malaysia.html

for those of you who wandered here for your HBL

below is a recent article about the baby bonus and the declining birth rate. is the baby bonus really inadequate? do we really need to hand out up to $500,000 per baby? what if parents decided they needed money and therefore decided to have a child so that they will get that sum of money?

do we have that sum of money?

does the government, then, becomes a parent to the child itself for offering monetary support and educational infrastructure?

these are some issues for you to think about as you plough through your home based learning. :)

what can you infer from the cartoon accompanying the newspaper article?

* * * * * * * *

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_640826.html

Mar 3, 2011

3 MPs offer suggestions to boost birth rate

By Rachel Chang

WHEN dangled a baby bonus in cash of $500,000 per child, with no strings attached, some childless women would change their minds.

This finding emerged from a straw poll conducted by MP Zaqy Mohamad (Hong Kah GRC), who argued in Parliament on Wednesday that such 'in-your-face, upfront and simple' cash incentives would go further in convincing women to have more children.

'There is a tipping point, a price,' he said. 'Just that the Government hasn't found it, or is finding the price too tough to swallow.'

Mr Mohamad was one of three MPs to offer suggestions on how to boost the abysmal birth rate during the debate on the budget for the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in Parliament on Wednesday.

The other two were Nominated MPs Viswa Sadasivan and Paulin Tay Straughan. All three argued that the current array of subsidies and tax relief under the Government's $1.6 billion 'Marriage and Parenthood Package' are insufficient in convincing Singaporeans to have more children.

However, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, who heads the National Talent and Population Division under the PMO, said that more time was needed to assess the impact of the package, last enhanced in 2008.

3D & 3N2 Term 1 Contents Page

3D

S/N	Date	Item
1.	19 Jan	Ch 2 Mindmap/Notes
2.	23 Jan	SEQ - Principles of Governance
3.	08 Feb	Sample LORMS for Principles of Governance
4.	08 Feb	Graded Assignment 1: SEQ on Traffic Flow
5.	09 Feb	Inference Worksheet on Baby Bonus Scheme
6.	18 Feb	Graded Assignment 2: SBQ on Fertility Rate
7.	01 Mar	LORMS for Graded Assignments 1 & 2
8.	02 Mar	Common Test 1

3N2

S/N	Date	Item
1.	28 Jan	Mindmap on Traffic Control and Population
2.	08 Feb	SEQ Scaffolding on Principles of Governance
3.	11 Feb	Sample LORMS on Principles of Governance
4.	11 Feb	Graded Assignment 1: SEQ on Traffic Flow
5.	09 Feb	Inference Worksheet on Baby Bonus Scheme
6.	23 Feb	Graded Assignment 2: SBQ on Fertility Rates
7.	01 Mar	LORMS for Graded Assignments 1 & 2
8.	02 Mar	Common Test 1

Any questions

Please post your questions under this post. I will try to reply all your questions by 11pm.

All the best for your SS Common Test tomorrow!

IMPORTANT TIP FOR TOMORROW'S TEST

please please pleaseeeeeee study the LORMS SEQ that i distributed today. if you study it very well, you will score very well too :)

of course, you will have to study the entire chapter too. these include:

• principles of governance
• traffic flow management
• population boom and decline

all the best!!!!

SBQ on Low Fertility

The cartoon is drawn to reflect something on low fertility and if you infer correctly, it should be on the reasons for low fertility rates in Singapore.

Refer to Arifin's answer [given out today] for both the wrong example and the right example.

For 3D, look at his purpose paragraph and look at yours. Compare why he got the full L3/5marks and you only got L3/4marks or did not manage to hit L3 at all.

Requirements for Common Test 2011

You will be required to complete the following in 50 mins:

1. SBQ - Inference (3NA) / Higher Order Inference (3Exp)
2. SEQ on Ch2

Please manage your time well. You should spend no more than 15 minutes on your SBQ, and no more than 30 minutes on your SEQ.

The remaining 5 minutes is a buffer just in case you spent more time than you should.

3D

Higher order inference - requires 1 supported inference and identification of purpose.

• Supported inference - Inference/Support/Explanation
• Purpose - Audience & Action/Reaction of audience

3N2

You are required to write 2 supported inferences only. Do not include purpose as it will not be marked this common test. Your supported inferences must have a valid inference with relevant support and explanation, otherwise it is counted as invalid.

* * * * * * * *

Simple inference

Give 2 inferences, and get relevant evidence from the source.
Look at the question:
- What does this source tell you/show you (ISSUE)

Always look at issue AND guiding questions PLUS background information and put the source into context

Higher order inference

2 inferences with PURPOSE (hit highest level)

What cartoonist/writer wants the audience to do/to have

the source wants audience to [key verb] [issue] and act/react [in particular way]
the cartoonist/writer wants the [audience] to feel [key verb/adjective] [reiterate inference] so that [reaction from audience]

how to get intended audience – look at the provenance. put yourself in the shoes of the author/writer.

valid inference + evidence + intended audience + outcome

ALL LINKED!

SEQ on ALS

The SEQ was not very well done because most of you failed to explain your factors very well. Provided below are the LORMS for the SEQ on ALS. Please look through it and identify the explanations, and see how those explanations actually do explain rather than reiterate your point.

To what extent has the Area Licensing Scheme (ALS) been successful in managing traffic flow in Singapore?

L1	Writes about Area Licensing Scheme but without Focus/reference to the question. Award 1 mark for writing in general about the ALS without answering the question. Award 1 additional mark for further details provided. E.g. The ALS made congestion outside the CBD worse as many motorist decided to take passengers just to avoid paying ERP.	[1 – 2]
L2	Answers the question by describing given factor or/ and Identifies/Describes other factor(s). Award 2 marks for describing the given/other factor Award 1 additional marks for further details provided or 1 other factor identified, up to 2 marks for both elements E.g. The ALS was designed to manage traffic flow by charging motorists a fee for using certain roads at certain times(usually peak hour) of the day. Most of these roads were located in the city areas. These roads were bounded within areas designated as Restricted Zones. E.g. In 1988, the Electronic Road Pricing(ERP) system replaced the ALS as there was room for improvement. As technology improved, there were more efficient ways of monitoring and regulating traffic made available. The use of up to date technology would enable the transport system to stay relevant with the times. E.g. The Vehicle Quota System(VQS) is a system imposed by the LTA to regulate the number of cars in Singapore. The LTA determines the number of new vehicles allowed for registration. It was decided that one of the ways to administer the VQS was through the COE system. Under the system, a specific number of cars are issued based on the quota set by LTA. The factors affecting the number of vehicles included the number of vehicles which were de-registered and the state of the economy. In this way, there is a limit of new cars that can be purchased. Car buyers must first bid for the COE before they can purchase a car.	[2 – 4]
L3	Explains given factor or 1 other factor(s). Award 5 marks for a weakly explained factor. Award 6 marks for a well-explained factor detailing impact. E.g. The ALS was designed to manage traffic flow by charging motorists a fee for using certain roads at certain times(usually peak hour) of the day. Most of these roads were located in the city areas. These roads were bounded within areas designated as Restricted Zones. The Area Licensing Scheme was effective in managing traffic flow because when it was introduced, the number of cars entering the CBD dropped from 32,500 to 7,700 vehicles. This could be due to many motorists being deterred from entering the CBD due to its cost of entry. It could also be those motorists who did not really need to be in the CBD now decided not to enter the area. The ALS was supplemented by the Park and Ride Scheme where motorists were encouraged to park their vehicles in car parks located just outside the CBD boundary and entered the CBD via public transport. This would ensure that fewer cars would enter the CBD. E.g. In 1988, the Electronic Road Pricing(ERP) system replaced the ALS as there was room for improvement. As technology improved, there were more efficient ways of monitoring and regulating traffic made available. The use of up to date technology would enable the transport system to stay relevant with the times. The ERP helped reduce traffic flow because it extended the ‘reach’ of the ALS by erecting gantries on roads and highways(e.g. PIE) outside the CBD which experienced heavy traffic. Thus the ERP was able to manage traffic flow more effectively than the ALS because it covered more traffic jam-prone areas. E.g. The Vehicle Quota System(VQS) is a system imposed by the LTA to regulate the number of cars in Singapore. The LTA determines the number of new vehicles allowed for registration. It was decided that one of the ways to administer the VQS was through the COE system. Under the system, a specific number of cars are issued based on the quota set by LTA. The factors affecting the number of vehicles included the number of vehicles which were de-registered and the state of the economy. In this way, there is a limit of new cars that can be purchased. Car buyers must first bid for the COE before they can purchase a car. Traffic flow is managed because the VQS/COE affects the number of cars on the road. With fewer cars on the road, there will be a lowered incidence of traffic jams. This happens because the VQS restricts car ownership by controlling supply and hence making it more expensive. Consequently, only motorists who really need to use cars or can afford it will purchase cars.	[ 5 – 6 ]
L4	Explains given factor and identifies/describes other factors. Award 7 marks for explanation of given factor and identification of other factor(s). E.g. L3+ There are also alternative factors that can manage traffic flow such as the ERP and the VQS.	7
L5	Both Aspects of L3. Award 8 marks for explanation of given factor and 1 other factor. Award 9 marks for explanation of given factor and 2 other factors explained and up to 10 marks for detailed explanation of ALL three factors.	[8 – 10]

For those of you who are interested in concluding the paragraph properly (this is required of you in O levels, the LORMS for conclusion are as below:

L6

L5+ Discusses the relative importance of the different factors (not tested for Term 1) Award 11 marks for weighing relative importance of given factor with one other factor. Award 12 marks for weighing relative importance of given factor with two other factors. E.g. The VQS is the most successful way in managing traffic flow because it controls the supply of cars in Singapore. The other factors (ALS/ERP) merely target car usage. Controlling car usage is less effective because than restricting car supply because many motorists might be able to pay the ERP charges. This reduces the effectiveness of such systems in controlling traffic flow. Furthermore, traffic jams could occur in areas not marked by the ALS/ERP. On the other hand, if the COE is priced high, then it would deter people from buying a car altogether and these people might switch to public transport, hence lading to a reduction in traffic flow.

[11-12]

hello :)

this site is open to all of you who are unfortunate to be stuck with me for the rest of the year.

please feel free to use any of the information found in this blog. i will also be posting up any extra notes and tips for your tests and major examinations.

love,

ms chia :)