history is fun

In your SA2 paper, you will be encountering two different question types.

The first type of question is the (a) type question which asks you how far or to what extent was a factor (called the GIVEN FACTOR) responsible or the reason for a particular issue or outcome.

(a) To what extent was the growth of Singapore as a trading centre the most important impact of the the immigrants? (7)

First of all, you need to identify the GIVEN FACTOR and the ISSUE.

To what extent was the growth of Singapore as a trading centre [given factor] the most important impact of the the immigrants [issue]?

Once you've done that, you need to identify another factor that addresses the issue.

The two issues are:
1) Growth of Singapore as a trading centre
2) Social Impact of Immigrants

Now you need to write one paragraph on each issue using the PEEL structure and follow up with a conclusion that ranks the relative importance of both factors and concluding which was more important.

So your answer should look something like this:

I agree that the most important impact for the coming of the immigrants was the growth of Singapore as a trading centre.

First, with the coming of the immigrants, Singapore began to open itself up as a centre for entrepot trade. It began to import and export goods for different areas to different parts of the world. These immigrants also provided important support services such as workers in the dockyards, plantations, factories and some even provided daily necessities for traders all over the world. All these contributions of the immigrants helped to maintain Singapore as an attractive trading centre and kept it competitive. Without them, Singapore would not have grown so fast from a backwater island to a bustling island of trade and other commercial activities. Hence, the impact of the coming of the immigrants leading Singapore to a well-grown trading centre was the most important.

However, besides the impact of growth of Singapore as a trading centre, there were other social impacts such as acts of philanthropy by rich businessmen. These businessmen from different ethnic groups saw the need to contribute to the well-being of the society and started kind acts such as building schools, hospitals and places of worship for their fellow countrymen. An example would be Tan Tock Seng. Such acts were important as they made lives of the immigrants more bearable and ensured that these immigrants were well taken care off so that they could continue to contribute to Singapore growth.

All in all, the most important impact of the coming of the immigrants was the growth of Singapore as a trading centre as it is due to their hard work that Singapore could continue to grow and this would benefit everyone. As for the acts of the philanthropists, some of these acts were given to specific ethnic groups only, hence the impact is not as great as the first.

More to come.