history is fun

In my earlier post, I covered the (a) question which is the how far/to what extent question.

This post will cover the (b) question which relates to a hypothesis or an assertion which is made. An example of this question is as follows.

(b) The fall of Singapore in 1942 was a complete success for the Japanese. How far do you agree? Explain your answer. [8m]

Now as you can see, the first part of the question is an assertion, it is not a factor. Hence, this should tell you that it is different from the (a) question.

What this question is looking out for is an argument of whether indeed the fall of Singapore was a complete success for the Japanese, hence it requires you to use all the relevant knowledge about the subject area to answer the question of whether or not it was a complete success.

In your answer, you should utilise the PEEL structure in order to organise the facts and to tell us how the facts support the assertion in paragraph 1, then tell us how other facts contradict the assertion in paragraph 2. Then in paragraph 3, determine, is it more yes than no or vice versa?

A sample answer should look like this.

I disagree that the fall of Singapore was a complete success for the Japanese .

The Japanese achieved a brilliant victory in all aspects. Not only had they managed to defeat the British armed forces during the Battle for Malaya and Singapore, but they had also destroyed the two famous battleships of the British thereby asserting their superiority. Besides that most of the Europeans were so terrified that they ran away for their lives. The British who all along had been invincible in battle had been dealt a devastating blow by the Japanese in such a quick time and with minimum casualty on the Japanese sides. Thus it is indeed a qualified success on the part of the Japanese.

However, it should also be born in mind that the Japanese were successful only from a military perspective. While the victory over Singapore was won, yet it was another matter in capturing the hearts and minds of the people. The Japanese were feared and hated by the local people so much and they were secretly despised. Furthermore the Japanese also mismanaged the economy and there was a shortage of essential commodities like food, clothing, medicine and other stuff. Furthermore there was uncontrolled inflation and the people’s lives were more miserable than during the British. Thus it would be incorrect to say that the fall of Singapore was a complete success for the Japanese.

In conclusion, it would be incorrect to assume that the fall of Singapore was a total success for the Japanese. While it was indeed true that from a military perspective it was a success yet it was severe failure from all other aspects. In terms of the economy, in terms of freedom, and in terms of happiness the Japanese occupation was far from success. The fact that even today the Japanese occupation is remembered as the days of darkness stands as testimony to the fact that the Japanese Occupation of Singapore was not a success.

More to come.

Regards,
Mr Tan