SS Descriptions for Sec 3 For you to re-summarise? Everything you need to know to do SS SEQs for topics covered in Sec 3, excluding the linking and explaining! Lim Ting Jie 26/01/2012

[A] GOVERNANCE

1. Principles of Governance

1.1. Leadership is Key

1.1.1. Potential leaders must be upright and honest and able to work together in synergy to be an

effective team to do what is right rather than what is popular so as to interact well with the

people.

1.1.2. Good governance do not occur by chance.

1.2. Anticipate Change and Stay Relevant

1.2.1. The government has to be open to new ideas and be willing to take risks with forward looking

decisions made in anticipation of future challenges.

1.3. Reward for Work and Work for Reward

1.3.1. Meritocracy helps give everyone an equal opportunity to do their best and be rewarded based on

their abilities and hard work to encourage and motivate all Singaporeans to do well.

1.3.2. Surplus from Singapore’s growth is shared among all especially for lower-income group.

1.4. A Stake for Everyone, Opportunities for All

1.4.1. Practices of fairness gives opportunities to every citizen to have a say in decision-making to

develop sense of belonging to the country and interests of various communities are kept in

balance so that no community is disadvantaged.

2. Measures to control flow of traffic

2.1. Area Licensing Scheme

2.1.1. Motorists have to pay for the use of certain roads called ‘Restricted Zones’ by putting ALS

labels to enter the restricted zone.

2.1.2. Gantries were set up around the area to monitor this.

2.2. Electronic Road Pricing

2.2.1. Replaced ALS in 1998, it uses up-to-date technology to enable the transport system to stay

relevant with the times and regulate traffic flow.

2.2.2. Motorists have to pay through a automated card reader to use certain roads and expressways

into the city at certain times of the day as they bypass ERP gantries.

2.3. Park-and-Ride Scheme

2.3.1. Motorists park their vehicles at specific car parks outside the city area and from these

designated car parks, they could use more efficient public transport like the MRT to enter the

city area to avoid traffic jams.

2.4. Vehicle Quota System

2.4.1. As there was a sharp increase in car ownership due to increasing affluent people in the 1990s,

using the COE system, a specific number of new cars are put on the roads based on the quota

set by the LTA.

2.4.2. Car buyers must bid for the COE before purchasing a car and it only entitles the motorist to

own the car for ten years to control traffic flow.

3. Population policies after the 1980s

3.1. Graduate Mothers Scheme

3.1.1. Encourages marriages among graduates and graduates to have more children.

3.1.2. There would be a higher chance of people in the workforce being more educated.

3.2. Three or More If You Can Afford It

3.2.1. As the population was coming to a slow in 1987, the policy aimed to bring replacement level back

to 2.1, encouraging married couples to have 3 or more children if they can afford it by

introducing incentives and allowing Medisave to pay for delivery charges.

3.3. Pro-family measures

3.3.1. As people were having delayed marriages and parenthood, pro-family measures, including 5-day

work week, extended maternity leave and equalised maternity leave, were introduced to help

couples decide to marry early and become parents to increase birth rate.

3.4. Attracting foreign talent

3.4.1. By relaxing its immigration policy since 1989, foreign talent with skills and knowledge are

granted easier entry and subsided housing and an attractive education package. When they begin

to work in Singapore, they develop a sense of attachment and may take up permanent residence.

4. Challenges of meeting an ageing population

4.1. Individual responsibility

4.1.1. Prepare themselves for their old age by being fit and healthy, doing so with proper diet, regular

exercise and regular medical check-ups. All Singaporeans are also encouraged to plan early so

that they are financially prepared for old age and have their own savings and homes.

4.2. Senior citizens as assests to society

4.2.1. Senior citizens are known to have valuable skills, knowledge, talent and work experience. If given

opportunities to remain as contributing citizens to the society, they will add value to the public

and private organisations and help boost family life.

4.3. Family support

4.3.1. The government introduces measures like Senior Citizens’ Week every November to promote

positive attitudes towards ageing, as they know that having a strong and stable family is the

main source of emotional, social and financial support.

4.4. Community help

4.4.1. The community is able to give social and emotional support as well as provide healthcare and

social services.The government provides subsides to voluntary welfare organisations that run

community based services and organise recreational activities for senior citizens.

4.5. Government help

4.5.1. Government implements CPF scheme, a compulsory savings accounts that can be used for

Medisave and withdrawn at 55, tax relief for taking care of the aged or grandchildren while

parents are at work and public housing schemes.

[B] MANAGING HEALTHCARE

1. Ways to manage healthcare

1.1. Encouraging self-reliance

1.1.1. Through Medisave and MediShield, Singaporeans will realise that they will have to rely on one’s

own income to share the costs of healthcare with the government.

1.1.2. The individual can play a responsibility by adopting a healthy lifestyle to fight the rising cost of

healthcare. Adults are encouraged to go for screening programmes for early detection of

diseases.

1.2. Promoting a healthy lifestyle (in accordance with self-reliance)

1.2.1. Regular physical exercises and a well balanced diet are emphasized by the government and bad

habits like drinking and smoking are discouraged.

1.2.2. Health promotion board organises many activities and programmes to promote fitness.

1.2.3. If the people are in good health, they would not need to spend money on medical treatment and

the person can save on medical expenses.

1.3. Keeping healthcare affordable

1.3.1. Government subsidies make up a quarter of government spending on healthcare, like the

different rates of subsides given to different wards.

1.3.2. Government also implements schemes for the individuals to save on medical costs as it cannot

afford to give generous health subsides or taxes will increase.

1.4. Working with organisations

1.4.1. Voluntary welfare organisations are given grants to run community hospitals, nursing homes and

day rehabilitation centres.

1.4.2. These orgnaisations empower the aged to take the responsibility for their own health through a

‘helping hands’ approach, involving day care hospitals, nursing homes and day care centres.

2. Government schemes to manage healthcare

2.1. Medisave

2.1.1. To help build up money for one’s personal healthcare needs, 6-8% of the total worker’s salary,

coming from CPF contributions, is channelled into their Medisave accounts, of which money in

the account can be used to pay hospital bills, certain medical treatment and outpatient

treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

2.2. MediShield

2.2.1. This national healthcare insurance scheme, paid using Medisave, helps to expand payment of

hospitalisation to meet specific needs, enabling patients to make claims for larger medical bills

Medisave scheme does not cover, like long-term hospitalisation and treatment of serious

illnesses like dialysis.

2.3. Medifund

2.3.1. Medifund provides help to people who are not able to pay for healthcare like the self employed

who lacks a CPF contribution and low-income people with insufficient funds in Medisave. Started

off with $200 million, interest earned from this amount will be given to public hospitals

providing help for needy patients where they can apply for the scheme.

2.4. Government subsidies

2.4.1. Direct subsidies are given to government hospitals, nursing homes and polyclinics, making up a

quarter of the government spending healthcare to maximise affordability to all Singaporeans.

Different rates of subsides are to different classes of wards in hospitals with Class C wards

receiving the most subsides.

2.5. Restructuring hospitals

2.5.1. Hospitals are given the freedom to reorganise themselves to meet the needs of their patients,

allowing the government to reduce the amount of subsides to hospitals.

2.6. Means-testing

2.6.1. Resources would be more fairly distributed if those who cannot afford to pay for healthcare get

the most subsides, allowing those who are less well-to-do would benefit more from subsidies and

vice versa.

2.6.2. Patients can check if they are able to pay for their healthcare through means-testing.

3. Managing the National Health Service in Britain

3.1. Managing government spending by Cutting back on welfare benefits like healthcare

3.1.1. The government discovered that they could meet the needs of the people by managing

government parties, therefore in 2000, Prime Minister Tony Blair promised that the government

would increase public spending on healthcare and improve NHS.

3.1.2. This was accompanied by National Insurance contributions in 2003 and increase in tax payers’

contributions

3.2. Increasing efficiency by Privatisation

3.2.1. Privisation was introduced to increase efficiency as the NHS has grown very large but there was

still not enough resources to cope with the demand in the 1980s while people expected more and

better treatments.

3.2.2. NHS contracted out non-medical services from private contractors providing services like

laundry, cleaning and catering in hospitals, allowing hospitals to concentrate on providing medical

services and the government to reduce subsidies, save costs and increase efficiency.

3.3. Providing quality service by NHS Plan and NHS Improvement Plan

3.3.1. As many people starting feeling poor standards brewing up in NHS by late 1980s, the NHS Plan

was created in 2000 to work towards offering patients more convenient services like giving free

use of facilities in private hospitals.

3.3.2. Also, the NHS Direct provided patients with minor illnesses, over the phone, medical advice so

they save save a visit to the doctor.

[C] CONFLICT IN MULTI-ETHNIC SOCITIES

1. Sri Lanka conflict between Sinhalese and Tamils - Reasons

1.1. Citizenship rights

1.1.1. The Ceylon Citizenship Act passed in 1948 granted citizenship to only to those who were born in

Sri Lanka or whose forefathers were born there, leaving many Indian Tamils, who had contributed

to the Sri Lankan economy greatly through tea plantations, stateless.

1.2. ‘Sinhala Only’ policy

1.2.1. After independence in 1956, the Sri Lankan government adopted Sinhala instead of the original

English language as the Offical Language under the Official Language Act.

1.2.2. Tamils found themselves facing difficulty finding jobs as all officials were now required to pass a

test in Sinhalese within three years or face retrechment.

1.3. University admission criteria

1.3.1. Before 1970, the university admission was based on merit and exams were in English, benefiting

the English-educated Tamils. Tamil students had to score higher marks than Sinhalese students

to enter the same course in universities.

1.3.2. A fixed number of places were reserved for the Sinhalese.

2. Sri Lanka conflict between Sinhalese and Tamils - Responsibilities

2.1. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

2.1.1. Militant group, including children below 18 years old, which believes that violence is the only way

to demand and obtain their rights started in 1976.

2.1.2. It has attacked Sinhalese and Tamil members of the police force, supporters of the ruling party,

Tamil politicians who did not support the proposed separate state.

2.1.3. Resulted in a war between Sri Lankan government and LTTE for > than 20 years and 60,000 lives.

2.2. Sri Lankan army

2.2.1. The army has set up High Security Zones which controls access into the zones to keep the LTTE

away, especially Tamil-dominated areas in north and east of Sri Lanka.

2.2.2. Tamils had to flee from their homes when the Sri Lankan army moved into Jaffna to take on LTTE

in 1995.

2.3. Indian government

2.3.1. In 1987, Indian Air Force dropped food and medical supplies in Jaffna after her ships were turned

back by the Sri Lankan navy, violating Sri Lankan airspace

2.3.2. Took control of the Tamil Tigers’ weapons by force when the failed to surrender them

3. Sri Lanka conflict between Sinhalese and Tamils - Impacts

3.1. Political consequence

3.1.1. Armed conflict (LTTE) [DIY]

3.1.2. Foreign intervention (Indian government) [DIY]

3.2. Economic consequence

3.2.1. Unemployment was widespread when thousands of factory and plantation workers and self

employed became jobless

3.2.2. Loss of investments from other countries which decreased three times in four years

3.2.3. With tourism as the major income earners, fall in number of tourists limited funds to develop

amenities and facilities

3.3. Social consequence

3.3.1. In 1983 riots caused thousands of Tamils to flee to Tamil Nadu in South India

3.3.2. Live in overcrowded conditions in refugee camps or with relatives and friends due to Sri Lankan

army

4. Northern Ireland conflict between Protestants and Catholics - Responsibilities

4.1. Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association

4.1.1. Group of middle class Catholics in Northern Ireland who wanted to end discrimination against

Catholics by adopting non-violent methods to protest

4.1.2. Started the Civil Rights Movements and ‘The Troubles’

4.2. British Army

4.2.1. British government sent British Army to keep order, initially seen by Catholics as a neutral force.

4.2.2. British Army could arrest and detain anyone involved in weakening the government without trail

with internment laws in 1971.

4.2.3. Catholics lost faith in British.

4.3. Irish Republican Army

4.3.1. Attacked British soldiers and bombed businesses and shops belonging to the Protestants

4.3.2. Responsible for two-thirds of the deaths from the conflict

[D] BONDING SINGAPORE

1. Challenges Of Multi-Ethnic Singapore

1.1. Managing perceptions of different racial groups

1.1.1. The UMNO organised an anti-People’s Action Party (PAP) campaign when the PAP called for a

non-communal approach to Malaysian politics in the 1964 Malaysian Federal Election.

1.1.2. Made use of Utasan Melayu to spread false claims 3000 Malay families affected by

resettlement instead of actual 200

1.1.3. Sparked off conflict between the Chinese and Malays during Prophet Muhammad’s birthday.

1.2. Managing perceptions of different religious groups

1.2.1. A court trail between Maria Herogh’s Dutch parents and a Malay lady Aminah, whom the Dutch

couple placed custody of Maria under during their imprisonment in Japanese Occupation, and

who raised her as a Muslim, started when the Dutch couple wanted Maria back, sparking off

anger of the Muslims towards the European and Eurasian communities, killing 5 and leaving 100

hurt.

1.3. Threats from external forces

1.3.1. Transnational terrorism started in Singapore when the ISA arrested Jemaah Islamyah (JI)

which plotted to target the US Embassy and Ministry of Education building in 2001.

1.3.2. They continued to threaten Singapore in the Bali Bombings in 2002 and Jarkata Hotel Marriot

Bombing in 2003.

1.3.3. May create ill-feelings among different groups by casting suspicion on particular groups.

2. Managing ethnic diversity

2.1. Building a national identity

2.1.1. Multi-racialism

2.1.1.1. To create a sense of national identity, no special rights are granted to any particular racial or

religious group, enabling everyone to have equal opportunities to succeed and see themselves

as a valued member of society.

2.1.2. Common practices

2.1.2.1. Singing the national anthem and taking the national pledge during flag raising ceremonies in

schools inculcates loyalty and national pride towards Singapore for them to see themselves

as one people.

2.1.3. Bilingualism

2.1.3.1. Since 1966, students are expected to learn English and their own Mother Tongue to enable

every student to communicate in a common language and still learn their own ethnic group’s

culture, allowing Singaporeans to see bilingualism as unique to Singapore from other countries

and a deeper understanding and appreciation of each other’s culture.

2.2. Safeguarding interests of minority groups

2.2.1. Minority representation

2.2.1.1. Minority groups have a say in governance through the Presidential Council of Minority Rights

to ensure that no racial or religious group is disadvantaged due to any bill passed and the

General Representation Constituency to ensure that at least one of the candidates

contesting is from the minority racial communities.

2.2.1.2. Concerns and needs of minority groups are made known to the government, easily

safeguarding interests of minority groups.

2.2.2. Self-help groups

2.2.2.1. Self-help groups of various races help members of their community who are less fortunate to

get aid in their studies and training for their jobs, giving moral support to these people so

that Singaporean can compete with one another on an equal footing.

2.2.2.2. Joint tuition programmes between Mendaki, Chinese Development Assistance Council and

Singapore Indian Development Association provides opportunities for youths from different

ethnic groups to interact and get along with one another.

2.3. Developing common space

2.3.1. Events by grassroots organisations

2.3.1.1. Grassroots organisations like the People’s Association organise a wide range of programmes

and activities to cater to the interests of every Singaporean, like home visits for students to

gain a better understanding of cultures and customs of other races.

2.3.2. Educational institutions

2.3.2.1. Daily interaction of among students from different races and religions studying together

cultivates and strengtens friendships between these diverse ethnic groups.

2.3.2.2. CCAs provides opportunities for students to work closely together, building up teamwork.

2.3.3. Common living space by public housing

2.3.3.1. The ethnic integration policy in 1989 puts a limit on the proportion of races in every

neighbourhood and block, ensuring that there is an even distribution of the different races

in all the housing estates.

2.3.4. Inter-Racial Confidence and Harmony Circles

2.3.4.1. These circles carry out activities like visits to places of worship and playing of traditional

games, creating opportunities for Singaporeans to appreciate their differences and develop

strong bonds among ethnic and religious communities.

2.3.5. National Service

2.3.5.1. All able-bodied men are to serve in the defence of the country when they reach 18 years of

age.

2.3.5.2. Shared experiences like going through military training help strengthen bonds among the men

[E] DETERRENCE AND DIPLOMACY

1. Reasons why conflicts occur among countries

1.1. Competing territory (India and China)

1.1.1. Territories of countries are important to the defence and national pride of many countries.

1.1.2. China protested to India’s frontier which India had inherited from the British since its

independence in 1947, and contested India’s presence by announcing the building of Aksai Chin

Road and occuping territories in many India-regarded areas, sparking war in 1962 between the

two countries.

[Here’s a free link for you] As control over a certain tract of land can be symbolic to a country’s national

pride, vital in the physical defence of a country or economically valuable, the invasion of another country or

extension of this country’s control by taking over territories that may not belong to them will result in the

countries resorting to conflict in order to protect their national interests, in particular, its right to safeguard

its existence, independence and territorial countrol of a country.

1.2. Conflict over scarce resources (Iceland and Britain)

1.2.1. Natural resources of the world are unevenly distributed in the world.

1.2.2. European fishermen like British ones were overfishing around Iceland with high dependency of

the fishing industry, almost exhausting their fish stocks.

1.2.3. Britain refused to acknowledge Iceland’s extension of zone of control over fishing ground and

they suffered diplomatic ties with Iceland for five months in 1976 before coming to terms with

an agreement.

[Here’s a free link for you] As resources within or in reach of a country is valuable to a country’s sustained

economic growth and survival, it is important to safeguard access to these resources to ensure that a country

can protect its national interests, in particular its right for economic development. Also, another country in an

economic crisis may also want access to these resources as it too needs to ensure its own economic progress

and think that it is not right for a country to make full use of the resources in its region and not share it

with other countries. Hence, countries may have to resort to conflict in order to gain access and control to these economic resources.

1.3. Conflict over ideological differences (North and South Korea)

1.3.1. When the UN called for reuniting Korea after World War II, the USSR, which occupied the

Northern Communist part of Korea, invaded the South, which was occupied by USA under

Democracy, in 1950 to unite both sides under Communism.

1.3.2. The UN and USA defended South Korea, and caused China to join the war to protect their own

national interests when they went past the 38th parallel.

[Here’s a free link for you] Because a threat on a country’s ideologies and beliefs could have a tremoundous

impact upon the beliefs and ideology of the people of the country, long standing implications may result,

affecting government and institutions, leading to political strife and instability. Fearing that this will result,

in order to protect their sovereign right to practice their political beliefs, a country whose values and beliefs

are threatened may have no option but to resort to conflict with the threatening country.

2. Practice of deterrence in Singapore

2.1. A citizen armed force

2.1.1. National service was introduced since the departure of the British army, requiring all able-bodied

men above 18 to perform compulsory military training for 2 years and retain their military

obligations as reserves until the age of 55 as operationally ready NS men, undergoing refresher

courses and management of equipment then.

2.2. Singapore’s defence industry

2.2.1. Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) provides modern technology for Singapore

Armed Forces

2.2.2. Buys and upgrades weapons and develops and maintains new systems through research, ensuring

that they have the latest technology and equipment to defend Singapore.

2.3. Total defence

2.3.1. Inspires Singaporeans to be involved in the defence of the country and believe Singapore is worth

defending

2.4. Multi-agency coordination on security [DIY]

2.5. Military cooperation with other countries [DIY]

3. Practice of diplomacy in Singapore

3.1. Bilateral relations [DIY]

3.2. Regional relations (ASEAN) [DIY]

3.2.1. ASEAN initiatives

3.2.1.1. ASEAN Free Trade Area

3.2.1.2. ASEAN Regional Forum

3.2.2. Singapore’s contributions to ASEAN

3.2.2.1. Environmental collaboration

3.2.2.2. Education and professional exchange

3.2.2.3. Economic cooperation and assistance

3.3. International relations (United Nations) [DIY]

3.3.1. UN Law of the Sea Conference

3.3.2. Security Conference

3.3.3. UN Peacekeeping operations

3.3.3.1. Iceland and Britain over scarce resources (success of UN)

3.3.3.2. North and South Korea over ideological differences (failure of UN)