March 2022 — Gp Lah!

Essay Questions from Past Years

Essay Questions from past years. Have a look at these General Paper Essay Questions from past years.

‘History records male acts, written by males and holds little interest for females as a result.’ Is this a fair comment?
Would it matter if all the performing arts venues in your society, such as concert halls and theatres were closed down?
‘The book has no place in modern society.’ Discuss.
How far can an individual be held responsible for crimes against humanity?
Can mathematics be seen as anything more than a useful tool in everyday life?
‘The person who dies rich dies disgraced.’ Discuss.
How important is it for people in your society to retain a sense of tradition?
‘Taking risks is an essential part of life and should be encouraged.’ Discuss.
Is there any value in preserving minority languages in the world?
Is violence ever justified?
The most influential individuals in history are those who have caused the most harm.’ How far would you accept this view?
To what extent are the rights of animals protected in your society?

‘Efforts to protect our environment today are mere symbolic gestures.’ How far do you agree with this view?

To condemn environmental efforts as totally futile is the same as saying that all efforts taken to conserve the environment are in vain. The efforts to conserve the environment are not totally futile as much has been done to protect the environment.

Countries have pledged to protect the environment by signing international treaties. 127 countries have adopted legislation to regulate plastic bags. 27 countries have instituted taxes on the production of plastic bags, and 63 countries have initiated mandates to manage single-use plastics. These efforts show that efforts taken by various governments are not mere token gestures. Many countries have implemented recycling rates of over 50 per cent. Germany and South Korea are model examples. Some countries are beginning to apply circular approaches to waste reduction and conversion of unavoidable waste into an asset through job creation—building the business case for resource-efficient approaches and providing livelihoods to vulnerable communities. One example is Jordan. Supported by the European Union and UN Environment through the EU SWITCH Med Programme, the Association for Energy, Water and Environment in Jordan worked with 15 hotels and 17 restaurants to carry out a waste audit and find ways to reduce their impact. Such initiatives have become blueprints for other countries to adopt and follow. Much is being done for the environment.

To stem air pollution, many countries are taking large strides to ensure that people can breathe clean air. The Philippines and Sri Lanka, supported by UN Environment, have begun to tax electric and hybrid vehicles lower than conventional vehicles. The impact has been clear. The number of electric and hybrid cars in Sri Lanka’s active fleet grew 10 times between 2013 to mid-2018, with 150,000 such vehicles now on the streets. This growth saw the percentage of cleaner vehicles in the active fleet rise from 4 per cent in 2013 to 23 per cent by mid-2018. In the capital Colombo, where past research showed heavy traffic accounts for over 50 per cent of air pollution, this has made a real difference to human health. These are not singular examples. Environmental scientists opine that replacing the current fleet of buses and taxis in 22 Latin American cities could save 36,500 lives by 2030. The UN Environment body, through its MOVE platform and with the support of Euroclima+, is assisting Argentina, Colombia and Panama with national electric mobility strategies, and is helping Chile and Costa Rica to expand the use of electric buses. Although the efforts are not evident, much has been done to save the environment.

Much more is happening across the globe. Breathe Life, a campaign by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, the World Health Organization and UN Environment, is running initiatives that cover 52 cities, regions and countries, and reach over 153 million citizens. For example, campaign partners energized the public through a sporting challenge that saw 55,000 people pledge to commute by bicycle or on foot. There are now more than a million electric cars in Europe. The rise of renewable energy will help, with investment in new renewable sources outstripping fossil fuel investments each year. All of this work is having an impact.

There are some instances of greenwashing by companies like Volkswagen or Starbucks, but largely efforts are being taken in the right direction. There is still pervasive use of single-use plastics, but education and awareness efforts are paying-off to convince people to change. While critics may laugh at turning off lights for 1 hour on Earth Day, we are making progressive steps at changing attitudes and our environment.

How far do you agree that having children is just another lifestyle choice?

The world today is facing an appreciable drop in global population due to declining birth rates. This growing phenomenon is here to stay as long as mankind continues to exist and remain indifferent towards having children. Increasingly, not having children has become a lifestyle choice for those in the first world.

Decades ago, traditional couples believed that having children is necessary so as to continue the family line. Others also saw the need to have children as they believed that they would be well taken care of in their old age. This mentality has led many families, especially those in rural areas or developing countries, to ensure that they have many children. The situation is different now. With financial independence, many couples believe that they can achieve their bucket-list faster if they remained a pair and avoided a 20-year commitment to raise children, or the prospect of doctor visits or paying for an education loan. Many see being childless as a worry-free life.

Women who do not have kids, tend to understand motherhood as all-encompassing and overwhelming responsibility—one that might interfere with their next promotion. The choice to be childfree gave women the freedom to work and men freedom from work. Research has shown that childless women end up just as satisfied with their lives in the end. The challenges of today’s world is far different from the past. As such, many prospective parents feel that they may not have the skills and ability to raise children. There is a general fear of not being mentally or emotionally equipped for parenthood.

People who have grown up in a confused or very liberal environment are also choosing not to have children. These groups opine that the best thing about being childfree is not having to think about anyone else in terms of choices that are made. Ultimately, the freedom to choose, one way or the other, is something we should celebrate. But just how free that choice actually is, when much of society still expects women to choose to be mothers, is something worth considering.

A growing contingent of young people are refusing to have kids — or are considering having fewer kids — because of climate change. The growing antinatalist movement is another factor that correlates with lifestyle choice. This philosophical movement based around the tenet that it is cruel to bring sentient lives, doomed to suffer into the world that is already suffering. They feel that people who have children by celebrating childbearing without acknowledging the consequences for themselves and the planet are doing injustice towards their progeny.

In conclusion, while some couples embrace having children, others view it as part of enhancing their lives or the lives of their loved ones. Reasons for having children have undoubtedly changed over the years, as people now do not only have children for the sake of completing their family portrait.

That loneliness is a major problem in city life? How far do you agree?

The city – full of zest, glitz and glamour and all that jazz. It is said to be the pulse of a country and where economic progress is centred at. Amidst all that are its people who create the city as it is, living in six degrees of separation. As life becomes profoundly more mercurial and intricately complex with tectonic shifts, the labyrinth we live in today has robbed most of us, to say the least, of something we yearn for, desire, need, want – creating an empty space that is loneliness. Though loneliness is a major problem in city, it is not necessarily the only problem given the myriad of troubles that plague the world today.

The advent of the internet has enhanced the connectivity between two people regardless of geographical boundaries. It has created various matchmaking and online chatting services that allow people to fall in love without meeting each other prior. A burgeoning number of couples who are dating first got to know each other via online dating services. For instance, Taiwanese author Gladden met his girlfriend of four years via her blog. Matchmaking companies use the internet to find a potential bride for someone. Family members have been able to stay in touch via skype. Thanks to technology, communication has been enhanced that diminish prospect for loneliness to be dominant in one’s life and create a major problem, especially in city life.

As people today adopt a more active lifestyle and are interested to acquire new skills, more are dining out, joining classes and spend a relaxed day somewhere out. This has widened the breadth of interactions between people. Through social interactions, we are able to make new friends that do away with loneliness. Social support systems available such as religious institutions too provide the opportunity for city dwellers to interact with each other. In Singapore, more locals are actively joining marathon (Nike Race – within six days all spots were taken) and taking up speed dating services. One reason for lower loneliness too is that companies these days emphasize corporate social responsibility (CSR) that create a compulsory requirement for employees to do community service. It is refreshing for a city dweller to temporarily take leave from the fast pace, hectic working life that causes one to be caught up with it and lose social interaction that is vital for anyone being.

If one stays connected to world issues, the comprehensive problems that engulf us today, makes loneliness take a back seat. The passionate debate about environmental issues, child trafficking and slow economic growth have wider and grave consequences. Solutions to these problems have not been absolute and abided to as promised which poses a more serious problem than loneliness which has available avenues for one to channel and suppress. In fact, it is these problems that actually proliferated one’s communications with each other. Demonstrators from all over the globe usually come together to protests against something they agree such as protests against the IMF and the negative impact of the capitalist economy. As these people come together for a common course, the similar interest they share, allow one to forget loneliness and feel content to fight for something they believe in with like-minded people. City dwellers, they no longer are, but unrecognized soldiers.

However, though on a majority scale, loneliness may not be a problem, for some it is a significant problem that would pose a major problem to their loved ones. In a city, besides workers, students who live in one have access to various electronic goods that can strip away communication from the world. Point in case – video games. Consumers can become so absorbed in it that at times they forget they are actually living, forgetting their daily routines as they become preoccupied with the games. In Japan, video gamers are known to have died from being obsessed with playing that they forget to blink. It could be because they could be lonely and play such games to negate loneliness, self-immersed in it and worry parents.

Globalisation has sewn the world closer and has seen a greater influx of migrants to cities in hope of a better life by earning higher wages that are used to support their families. The “city-dwellers” would feel loneliness as they are separated from loved ones and do not really know anyone in the place they have migrated to. Moreover, they also do not have the financial means usually to afford electronic goods that allow them to remain in touch with the loved ones. For instance, many Bangladesh, Thai and Chinese workers stay in Singapore in dormitories – evident of their low income to have a comfortable place of their own. While their roommates may transiently erase loneliness, these migrants who live in the city are lonely but do not pose a major problem for a government to interfere.

Loneliness – the feeling of being cut off, alienated and disconnected from the others in an urban environment that thrives on a high standard of living seems to have or inverse relationship between city and loneliness. In view of the majority, it does not pose a major problem in city life but for the minor few whose character may not be appreciated by others or for those who do not speak the same language, do experience loneliness in large volumes, but it is more on a personal level than a national one to be seen as a major problem.

‘Music is meant primarily for the individual’s private enjoyment.’ Discuss.

Music, though evolved with the aid of technology, still significantly retains its trait of bringing people together as people groove to the music, not alone but together. Music is a public expression of one’s feelings and emotions that are made so that others can feel what that one person feeling. Thus, It is not true that music is meant for private enjoyment. Music is mainly for group enjoyment.

Music, an expression of one or a few emotions and thoughts. It is therefore not created solely for the enjoyment of one in their own private time but created that the masses can be in sync with the people that produce or post the music. Music also has religious purposes. Such music gives the congregation a special feeling and fellowship. Buddhism uses music to further emphasize their values to their followers. Values of patience and compassion are being inculcated into various songs so that Buddhists can be constantly reminded of the need to practice such virtues.

Similarly, Christians and Catholics have hymns and songs of praises to praise the Lord and to remind them of the goodness and kindness of the Lord in their everyday life. Although Christian music has evolved from hymn to rock or any other modern genres, the purpose of their music is still the same, to bring people together and live the values espoused in the music collectively. Thus it would be silly to say that music is meant only for an individual’s own enjoyment when there is such a significant purpose of music that spreads across every major religion around the world.

Additionally, music is used to integrate people on so many levels; to throw music to the other end of the spectrum would be a gross generalisation. Music brings the world together. Karaoke is best enjoyed in a group. Music concerts become more entertaining when the group participates. Song contests and reality shows like American Idol, The Voice and Eurovision are all testament that music is a form of energy best heard loud and in a group.

Pop-punk listeners are generally a vibrant bunch. Country and Indie music listeners usually have a more emotional and kinder side to them. Music allows a peek into the listener’s personality. But the reality is that people find other music enthusiasts to connect and be friends. Thus even on an individual level, music is not primarily used for one’s private enjoyment only. Sure, headphones and in-ear devices have been made for private enjoyment, but primarily, it is the collective synchronicity that makes music worthwhile.

Some people use music to distress or relax. Classical music can soothe the mind. One can argue that such music is adhered to individual needs and provides the outlet through which one can address and satisfy one’s needs. Gym enthusiasts have their own playlists to help enhance their workout, and heartbroken lovers can seek a special song to soothe their soul. Music in all its capabilities and connotations does provide for the avenue to address one’s emotions and even change them, but the truth is that music is constructed for the masses and not an individual.

While opportunities exist for music to be privately enjoyed, the reason for its existence is a collective one. Music is a glue that binds generations and even religious groups. While we individually may hear a bird chirp, it in reality chirps for the whole world. The same is with music. Music is meant for collective enjoyment, not private.