Essay Outline:

❏ Introduction:
- Hook
- Link
- Stand
- Thesis overview
❏ Counter argument: Optimists would maintain that...
❏ Rebuttal: While xxx does provide an optimistic viewpoint, I believe her optimism must be tempered
with some realism
❏ Three body paragraphs: supporting arguments
❏ Conclusion

Society:
➔ To those accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression
➔ All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others - George Orwell, Animal Farm
➔ An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics - Plutarch,
Greek Platonist Philosopher

Global Examples:
● The Gilets Jaunes - France's Yellow Vest Movement which began as a protest against the diesel
(implemented as part of President Emmanuel Macron's anti-climate change agenda) but morphed
into a general-anti government, anti-capitalism protest. Protestors were disproportionately from
low-income social classes and suburban or rural areas and were aggrieved by the lack of
representation and tough economic circumstances they faced. Macron's reputation for being a
wealthy elite did not help. → economic inequality

● The Black Lives Matter Movement - On 25 May 2020, the circulation of video footage capturing
George Floyd's murder by four Minneapolis police officers quickly incited local protests. Three
nights later, our social media feeds streamed with live images of protestors burning Minneapolis's
Third Police Precinct. Over the course of June, uprisings expanded nationally and internationally at
unprecedented speed and scale, leaving a series of now iconic images, videos and exhortations in
their wake. → systemic and institutionalized racial inequality

● The African American civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr in 1960s and the
anti-apartheid movement in South Africa led by Nelson Mandela in the 1990s. Such grassroot
activism and large-scale protests have been complemented by legislation and policies which aim to
limit the impact of racism, such as hate-crime laws, positive discrimination and affirmative action. →
racial inequality

● Actress Jennifer Lawrence's fight for equal pay in Hollywood empowered other actresses to follow
suit and highlighted how widespread the gender wage gap is in the film industry and beyond. →
gender inequality
● Emma Watson's famous "He for She" speech at the UN in 2014 helped redefine feminism as being
for men too. → gender inequality

● The World Health Organisation estimates that 5000 women lose their lives each year in "honour
killings" on grounds such as adultery, refusal to accept an arranged marriage, having been a victim of
rape or even talking to a stranger. → gender inequality (gender-based violence)

● The #MeToo Movement - revealed that gender violence and seuxal assaullt are still common even in
dveeloped nations. The movement began in October 2017 as a social media hashtag encouraging
women to speak out and share their experiences of sexual assault, fronted by high-profile celebrities
such as Rose McGowan and Angelina Jolie. Several high-profile men were brought down by the
allegations, including Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein, restaurateur Mario Atali and comedian
Louis CK. → gender inequality (gender-based violence)

● The Nirbhaya Fund - Indian rupee 10 billion corpus announced by Government of India in its 2013
Union Budget. The Finance Minister expected the fund to support initiatives protecting the dignity
and ensuring safety of women in India. The fund was set up after the the New Delhi bus gang rape in
hopes of ensuring the empowerment, safety and security of women in India. → gender
inequality

● In 2019, Brunei extended its penal code to include death by stoning for same-sex conduct. Following
international outcry and boycotts against Brunei-owned businesses, the Sultan extended a
moratorium on the death penalty. → sexuality inequality (sexuality-based violence)

● 2015 Rohingya Refugee Crisis - Rohingya people have long faced violence and discrimination in
Myanmar. Armed conflict escalated in August 2017 in Rakhine State, causing the forcible
displacement of Rohingya to nearby Bangladesh. The Rohingya, a mostly-Muslim minority ethnic
group in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, are escaping what the United Nations has described as
genocidal violence that follows decades of persecution and human rights abuses. → religion
inequality

● The Yemeni Crisis - Yemen has been called by the UN as suffering from the worst humanitarian
crisis amid a five-year civil war. It was a protracted crisis characterized by widespread poverty,
conflict, poor governance and weak rule of law, including widely reported human rights violations.

● The Ethnic cleansing/ genocide of Uyghur minority in Xinjiang, China - There is an ongoing series
of human rights abuses perpetrated by the Chinese government against the Uyghur people in
Xinjiang, where there is an estimated of 1 million Uyghurs in detention facilities. They have been
subjected to inhuman treatments such as enslavement, torture, rape, enforced sterilisation and
persecution. The UN has collectively reached an agreement that this enthinc cleansing is a crime
against humanity.
● The Venezuela crisis: The South American country has been caught in a downward spiral for years
with growing political discontent further fuelled by skyrocketing hyperinflation, power cuts, and
shortages of food and medicine. Most critics cite anti-democratic governance, corruption and
mismanagement of the economy as causes of the crisis.

● The 2019-2020 Hong kong protests - Hong Kong's protests started in June against plans to allow
extradition to mainland China. Critics feared this could undermine judicial independence and
endanger dissidents. The bill was withdrawn in September but demonstrations continue and now
demand full democracy and an inquiry into police actions.

● The Chilean protests - The 2019–2020 Chilean protests are a series of massive demonstrations and
severe riots that originated in Santiago and spread to all regions of Chile, with a greater impact in
the main cities. Civil protests took place throughout Chile in response to a raise in the Santiago
Metro's subway fare, the increased corruption, cost of living, privatisation and inequality prevalent
in the country.

● Protests turn violent in Lebanon - Protestors clashed with security forces in cities across Lebanon on
April 28 after a surge in food prices and a crash in the local currency, as a lockdown to fight
COVID-19 crisis worsens the economic crisis that Lebanon has been facing since October 2019.

● Myanmar military coup: Myanmar's military has seized power after detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and
other democratically elected leaders. Troops are patrolling the streets and a night-time curfew is in
force, with a one-year state of emergency declared. US President Joe Biden raised the threat of new
sanctions, with the UN and UK also condemning the coup.

● Montgomery Bus Boycott: The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and a social protest
campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery,
Alabama. Four days before the boycott began, Rosa Parks, an African American woman, was
arrested and fined for refusing to yield her bus seat to a white man. The U.S. Supreme Court
ultimately ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus system, and one of the leaders of the boycott, a
young pastor named Martin Luther King, Jr., emerged as a prominent leader of the American civil
rights movement.

● Poverty in China: China President Xi Jinping declared “complete victory” over absolute poverty. In
his speech, Mr Xi said China had invested an exorbitant amount of money in fighting poverty over
the last eight years, and he also acknowledged the need to revitalise rural areas and narrow the
developmental gap between urban and rural areas. Close to 100 million Chinese living in rural areas
have been lifted out of absolute poverty since Mr Xi came to power in late 2012.

● 2020-2021 Farmer Protests in India - an ongoing protest against three farm acts which were passed
by the Parliament of India in September 2020. The acts, often called the Farm Bills, have been
described as "anti-farmer laws" by many farmer unions, and politicians from the opposition also say
 it would leave farmers at the "mercy of corporations". Farmer unions and their representatives have
demanded that the laws be repealed and have stated that they will not accept a compromise.

● Honour killings, female genital mutilation, child marriages: gender based violence → reflects the
deep-rooted inequality between sexes and constitutes a form of discrimination against women, and
represents society’s control over girls and women and perpetuates normative gender roles that are
unequal and harmful

● Vaccine inequality: exposes the fault lines in our society and amplifies the inequalities faced by the
already marginalized

Local examples:
● SLS - One of MOE’s key initiatives to transform the learning experiences of Singaporean students
through the purposeful use of technology to enable students to engage in different learning modes,
including self-directed and collaborative learning.

● Gender White Paper - From next month a series of engagements between the public and private
sectors, as well as non-governmental organisations, will be held with the aim of identifying and
tackling issues concerning women in Singapore. These will culminate in a White Paper to be issued
by the Government in the first half of 2021, which will consolidate feedback and recommendations
during the sessions, to be called “Conversations on Women Development”.

● Personalised Learning Devices: Roll out of tablets and laptops from 2021-2022 to aid in blended
Learning which aims to enhance schooling experience and further develop students into
self-directed learners

● Financial Assistance Scheme

● Edusave scholarships and bursaries

● Pink Dot - Pink Dot SG is an annual event that started in 2009 in support of the lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender and queer community in Singapore. Attendees of Pink Dot events gather to
form a "pink dot" to show support for inclusiveness, diversity and the freedom to love.

● Ethnic integration programme

Factors contributing to inequality:

 Technological advancement
Educational attainment and unequal
educational opportunities
Rise of non-standard jobs
Politics
Tackling inequality
Promoting equal access to opportunities
Fiscal policies
Technological advances drive economic growth, and improves
the quality of healthcare, education, communication and
productivity. However it can also increase wage inequality since
it disproportionately raises the demand for capital and skilled
labour. Middle- and low-income jobs have been rendered
obsolete by automation and/or suffer from depressed wages as
the ability to work with machines and computers becomes
highly valued and compensated.
While education in itself can help close the inequality gap, it is
important to note that access to education is deeply unequal.
Advantaged children tend to fare better in school, and give
their own children the same or better head start they had. In
this way, education helps to perpetuate and reinforce class
status across generations.
Non-standard jobs, which tend to be lower paid and less secure
than permanent ones, are on the rise. Non-standard workers
also tend to receive less training, fewer benefits and have fewer
prospects for wage growth.
In The Price of Inequality (2012), Joseph Stiglz argues that
inequality is mainly due to the wealthy wiedling political power
to control legislative and regulatory processes so as to
disproportionately benefit themselves. This is a
self-perpetuating process whereby concentrated economic
power is converted into political power which in turn leads to
further concentration of wealth and income.
➔ Providing universal access to education can
help address inequality
➔ Affirmative action can level the playing
field for the disadvantaged, for instance via
mandatory quotas for minority candidates
➔ Skills and job training for the
underprivileged can be subsidised or
provided
➔ Subsidies, often funded by taxes, have an
indirect effect on inequality in that they can
improve the quality of life of the least
 well-off. They can help to reduce inequality
more indirectly, by providing education
and job opportunities to the
underprivileged, thus improving social
mobility.

Legislation ➔ Awareness campaigns can seldom have

sustained or substantive changes. To
address inequality, responsive
policymaking must exist to institute
effective changes through legislation. This
is so as while public pressure can indeed
speed up or push for policy changes, laws
influence what we deem acceptable or as
the social norm, legitimising our collective
values.

Education ➔ Changing mindsets about inequality and its

causes

Characteristics of Singapore society:

Pragmatic, concerns usually surround economic issues and survivals
Competitive-driven
Prioritises productivity/ efficiency
Conservative vs progressive mindsets
Family oriented: family based values
Meritocracy as a governing principle
Racism, prejudices against certain groups
Patriarchal despite reforms
Racially tolerant but not embracing
Multiracial and multicultural society
Civil society concerned with the needs of the minorities
Harnessing media technology to spread awareness
Conservative silent majority - apathetic
Highly globalized and connected city, with heavy focus on technological developments
High levels of censorship by the government

Environment:

Global Examples:
 ● Oil drilling in Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park: In 2013, Ecuador president Rafael Correa scrapped
his old plan of leaving the oil in Yasuní National Park untapped, which when extracted, could
possibly have added another 547 million tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. When met
with backlash by critics and political opponents, Correa had argued back that he had no choice but to
permit drilling to pay for poverty relief. In 2016, oil drilling began in Yasuní.

● Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) Controversy: In 2016, the DAPL project was slated to begin but
sparked huge protests for its controversial intrusion into Native American territory, threatening
sacred burial ground. Environmentalists and Native Americans were concerned that construction
would have severe impacts on air, water, wildlife and farming. In the event of an oil spill or leak, the
livelihoods and health of thousands of people would be severely jeopardised. Despite the protests,
former US President Trump gave the green light for the project in 2017.

● Germany’s Energy Transition: Since the 2010s, Germany has revolutionized its energy sector by
relying more on renewables. It aims to phase out nuclear power by 2022 and coal by 2038.

● In 2018, as part of its National Sword policy, China instituted a ban on imports of wastepaper and
plastic and heavily restricted other forms of scrap, aiming to mitigate harmful environmental and
health effects of overseas waste. Since China’s ban, its plastic imports have plunged by over 99
percent.

● The Green New Deal aims to decarbonise the US economy and stimulate green growth, and to
achieve sustainable, equitable development in the face of climate change. Thus, it targets broad
economic, social and environmental transformation, However, despite garnering much support for
its ambition, it also received much criticism for its vagueness. People criticise it to be an aspirational,
incoherent wish list, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling it a “green dream”.

Local examples
● By 2025, Singapore aims to increase its solar capacity by more than four times from current levels to
meet about 2 percent of its total electricity needs - the equivalent of powering 260,000 households
annually.

● The government is currently aiming to install solar panels on surfaces such as rooftops, reservoirs
and offshore maritime space. It is also investing in power storage technology, as well as carbon
capture, storage and utilization technology to cut emissions.

● In 2019, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong used the NDR to announce that Singapore would adopt
the Dutch concept of polders, along with a system of pumps and canals to defend the low-lying
island state from rising sea levels. → part of climate mitigation and adaptation

Global and regional agreements:

Achieving consensus is tricky because each country must balance global commitments against national
interests, and the two often conflict. Furthermore, because environmental goals often conflict with economic
needs, environmental protection laws often meet with backlash.