history is fun

Answers

1. Study Source A
What does the source tell you about opium smoking in Singapore?

L1- (Lifting from source) (1)
Two coolies were smoking opium.

L2- (Inference unsupported) (2)
From the source I can infer that
1. smoking opium was a pastime for the coolies;
2. opium was probably affordable and easily available;
3. opium smoking affected both young and old.

L3- (Inference supported) (3-4)
From the source, I can infer that smoking was a pastime for the coolies as the picture shows them smoking and resting. I can also infer that opium was probably affordable and easily available as they were smoking in the open and not in an opium house. It was affordable as the two smokers seemed to belong to the lower income group of the society as they were bare-bodied and looked weather-beaten. Lastly, opium smoking was a bane for both the young and old as the two smokers were from different age groups.

2. Study Source B
Why did the doctor say this?

L1- (Lifting from source) (1)
The doctor said that addicts were reduced to begging and living on rotten fish and decaying vegetables around the market, ending up in prison or hospital for the poor, or driven to suicide.

L2- (Inference unsupported) (2)
The doctor says this because he wants to tell people of the danger and ill-effects of smoking opium.

L3- (Inference supported) (3)
The doctor says this because he wants people to know the danger and ill-effects of smoking opium. This can be supported by the statement that opium addicts ‘were reduced to begging and living on rotten fish and decaying vegetables around the market, ending up in prison or hospital for the poor, or driven to suicide.’

L4 (Inference supported) (4)
The doctor says this because he wants to warn people of the consequences of opium smoking. He reported that addicts would often become impoverished and ended up begging and living on the street. He wanted his warning to be known so that people would not pick up smoking.
L5 Inference + purpose and intended response/impact (5)
In addition, his report could also be intended for the British authority depicting the ill-effects of smoking opium. He reported this to them so that the authority would do something to curb the problems of opium smoking.

3. Study Source D
Is Source D reliable in its report on opium smoking?

L1 Details only 1M
e.g. Yes, it is about opium smoking. / No, it is not.

L2 Answer based on provenance only 2M
e.g. Yes, it is reliable as it is a reported by a group of officials. / No, it is not as they were officials.

We find that many opium smokers only smoke in moderation and there has been no increase in the habit of smoking. We also cannot prove that the evils of opium smoking have in any way increased during the past decade.

L3 Answers based on source content 3M
e.g. Yes, it is reliable. It says that the opium smoking was under control as the number of opium smokers had not increased. In addition, it stated opium smoking was not necessarily bad.


L4 Cross-reference to other sources (unreliable) 4-5M
e.g. I am not sure about how reliable this would be. Source D says that opium smoking was not necessarily bad as ‘the evils of opium smoking’ had not increased over the years However, when I cross-reference with Source B, it says that opium smoking had had dire consequences on its victims as they would end up begging, becoming too weak to work and some even commit suicide. Therefore, Source D is unreliable as it ignores the ‘evils of opium smoking’.

Source D is also unreliable because when I cross-reference with Source C, it also states that a young lady could die of opium smoking due to its damaging effect on health. This can be supported by ‘her lungs had collapsed, seriously damaged by swallowing raw opium and by years of smoking it.’

L5 1 Cross-reference (above) and purpose 6M
The source is unreliable as it is a report submitted by a group of officials selected by the British government. As the report was meant for the government, the reporting committee might not report the truth of the evils of opium smoking as this might upset the authority as the settlement’s revenue was largely derived from the taxing of opium. Hence, this source is unreliable.

Communism in Malaya

1. The source tells me that the British government dislikes the communist. This can be supported by the portrayal of the communists as a vicious wolf in the cartoon.

The cartoon also tells me that the British government wanted to warn the people of Malaya that the communist could not be trusted. This can be supported by the cartoon that shows when a villager is shown feeding a wolf, he is bitten by the wolf instead. This proves that the government wants to show the communists as deceitful and ungrateful lots.

2. Both sources are different in their views about the new villagers as they disagree on the treatment of the new villagers. Source B states that the new villagers would be given ‘after-care’ services such as health and other welfares. In contrast, Source C states that the government would mistreat the villagers some if they resisted the British some would even be burnt.

Both sources are, however, similar as they agree that the British had included the villagers as resistance against the communists. Source A states that the British ‘had planned for this to be a huge advantage for them in their fight against the communists.’ Source B also says that once the British used this tactic, they could not mobilize the people to resist order anymore.

Lastly, both sources are different in purpose. Source B is a description of the resettlement policy by a British official who was probably trying to promote the policy to the people and the British government. His purpose was to make these people believe that resettling would improve their lives so that they would take it up and not resist resettlement and this would make fighting the communists easier. In contrast, Source C is an account by Chin Peng. He was recalling about the incident to the world and as a communist leader, his purpose was to highlight the atrocities of the British and make people sympathize with the communist so that people would support their cause and understand their fight against the British.

3. Source C is unreliable in what it says about the British. Source C suggests that the British were unreasonable government as they forced people to resettle and would even burn people alive if they resisted.

However, when I cross-reference with Source B, Source B suggests that the British were thoughtful government and they had the people’s welfare at heart. This can be supported by a range of social services that the British introduced and the intended improvements they wanted to make for the people. Therefore, Source B disagrees with Source C.

Lastly, Source C is unreliable as it is an account by Chin Peng. He was recalling about resettlement to the world and as a former communist leader, his purpose was to highlight the atrocities of the British and make people sympathize with the communist so that people would support their cause and understand their fight against the British and not condemn them for what they done in the past. Therefore, what he said might be biased against the British and hence this makes the source unreliable.

1. Why was Singapore considered as an impregnable fortress? 4m

Singapore was considered as an impregnable fortress because of the thick mangrove and forested area in the north. This was considered useful as a form of natural defense as the enemies would find it hard to penetrate into Singapore from the north.

Singapore was also considered as an impregnable fortress as it had guns pointed out to the seas in the east and south. One of it could be found in Siloso and the other one in Changi, known as the Johore Battery. This would ensure prevent any attacks from the sea as enemies ships would not find it hard to come close to Singapore.

2. The main reason why the Japanese Occupation was considered as a nightmare was due to its economic hardships. HFDYA? EYA. 7m

The Japanese Occupation was considered as a nightmare for the people of Singapore as it was a period full of social and economic hardships.

Firstly, I do agree that the Japanese Occupation was nightmarish due to its economic hardship. In those days, there was high inflation and the banana notes that the Japanese printed was worthless. Prices were very high for daily necessities and people could not afford to buy many things. Goods were also scarce and people could only get what they wanted except from the black market. Due to all these problems, many suffered from malnutrition and illnesses as the economy was absolute shattered by the Japanese.

However, economic hardship is not the main reason why life during the Japanese Occupation was nightmarish. It was terrible as well as socially there was little freedom for the people and punishments for minor offences were high. People lived in fear throughout the occupation too as the Japanese would kill anyone suspected of anti-Japanese sentiments indiscriminately to ensure their rule would not be challenged. Hence, living under the Japanese was unbearable as people were fearful of being killed or punished unfairly by the Japanese.

In conclusion, I do agree that the Japanese Occupation was nightmarish due to its economic hardship but it is not the main reason. The main reason why it was nightmarish was because even though people suffered from inflation and lack of food, some of these problems were solved by rationing and people were also known to grow their own crops to survive. But it was nightmarish mainly because people mostly would not know when the Japanese would take them away as the Japanese were unpredictable most of the time.

Hi all,

The answer for the question:

The most important impact of the coming of the immigrants was the growth of Singapore as a trading centre. HFDYA? EYA. (7)

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.


Best of Luck!!!

hi all,

This is the 2007 SA paper for your practice.

Best Wishes,
Your History Teachers

hi all,

You can practice SBQs using the sources at the back of your Activity Book. Please use the questions in exercises 1 and 3 of this worksheet as these questions are more relevant than those in the Activity Book.

The LORMS for exercise 1 and 3 are at the end of the document, so once you've finished, please do check your answers using the LORMS.

Thank you.

hi all,

In order to revise your SBQ skills, please go the following link for the notes posted by Mr Leo on inference and the following link for the notes posted by Mr Leo on reliability.

Here are some lesson slides on the skills which can be downloaded here.

Please do see your history teachers to clarify any aspects of the skills that you are not sure about.

Best Wishes,
Your History Teachers

hi all,

For help with the Structured Essay Questions, please refer to an earlier post by Mr Donald Leo at the following link.

The worksheet attached at the following link are some additional questions on merger and separation with answers for your practice and reference. Remember to try the questions first and have a look at the answers thereafter to see if you are on track.

Hope you find this helpful!

Best Wishes,
Mr Tan

hi all,

The slides for chapter 10, The Nation Building Years.

| View | Upload your own

hi all

Slides on Chapter 9 for your reference.

Thanks.

| View | Upload your own

| View | Upload your own