2022 TMJC J2 MBT P2 Suggested Answers (Revised)

TMJC J2 MBT 2022

PAPER 2 SUGGESTED ANSWERS (Revised)
From Passage 1
1. In line 6, how does the author support her claim that the way the world eats has also changed
‘dramatically’? Use your own words as far as possible. [2]

From the passage In your own words

How the world eats has also changed dramatically a) Speed: By showing us how technological
due to technological advancements. A little under advancements (context) have very
two decades ago, restaurant-quality meal delivery quickly/swiftly changed the way the world
was still largely limited to foods such as pizza eats. [1]
and Chinese cuisine
b) Range: By showing that we can now enjoy a
wider variety of food sent to our homes.
(context)

1 point = 1 mark

2. From paragraph 2, what reasons does the author provide as to why food delivery has become ‘a major
category in the e-commerce market’ (lines 10 – 11)? Use your own words as far as possible. [2]

From the passage In your own words

Nowadays, food delivery has become a global market
worth more than $150 billion, having more than
tripled since 2017. The advent of appealing, user-
friendly apps and tech-enabled driver networks,
coupled with changing consumer expectations, has
unlocked ready-to-eat food delivery as a major
category in the e-commerce market.
a) The creation of attractive and
intuitive/convenient apps (must have both)
b) that efficiently direct drivers to areas of
needs / connects drivers online/in a
system
c) together with clients whose tastes and
preferences are evolving.

Any 2 for 2

3. Why has the author placed brackets around the phrase in line 16? [2]

From the passage In your own words

Indeed, while the ease of and cost of restaurant food a) Function: To include additional information
delivery may be low enough to make it an easy (about consumers)
decision for consumers to decide not to cook,
plenty of other studies show consumers (including b) Context: Typically, one would not expect
millennials) are spending more time at home, and young people to stay at home much or cook
they are actually cooking as part of the personalised in the kitchen. However, millennials are
‘experience’ that some then brag about on social actually engaging in these activities.
media.
*If student only provides function, the part in brackets
has to be included to get 1 mark.
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2022 TMJC J2 MBT P2 Suggested Answers (Revised)
4. What does the author suggest are the benefits of adopting a ‘smart green lifestyle’ (line 23)? Use your
own words as far as possible. [3]
From the passage
Using the term coined by the economist Carlota
Perez, it is the ‘smart green lifestyle’: the potential
trigger to secure sustainable, inclusive economic
growth through technology. This includes the
aspiration for good health, the move towards
organic and locally-sourced fresh foods, the
adoption of environmentally-friendly lifestyles,
and the growth of ‘anti-mass production’
sentiment, particularly evident in food production and
consumption.
5. From paragraph 5, how confident is the author about the co-existence of restaurants and dining at
home? Use your own words as far as possible. [2]
From the passage
Whilst it is unchartered waters, as we learn to
navigate the beautiful co-existence of restaurants
and the increasing preference for dining at home,
more meaningful experiences may be built.
In your own words
a) Continued economic development /
economic growth that can be maintained
b) Economic development that is shared
among whole communities,
c) Freedom from ill health / strive for
optimal wellbeing
d) Conservation of the earth/our habitat /
lower carbon footprint (inferred)
e) Aversion to goods that are made available
in large quantities (students may suggest
anything related to the negative impacts of
mass-production eg. environmental
degradation, exploitation of human labour)
Any 3 for 3
In your own words
a) The author is very confident/optimistic
about the coexistence as
b) we are able to choose the one that meets
our needs / may find the choices that we
make more personally enriching / we will be
able to find our own balance between
eating at restaurants and dining at home [1]
OR
c) as can be seen from the choice of words
such as “beautiful” & “meaningful”
*Rather and quite (not accepted as it suggests
tentativeness but if second part shows some
understanding, 1 mark can possibly be awarded)
*Part a) must be answered correctly in order to get
the second mark (b or c).
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2022 TMJC J2 MBT P2 Suggested Answers (Revised)

From Passage 2
6. Summarise the factors that propelled the growth of the restaurant industry.
Write your summary in no more than 120 words. [8]

No. From the passage In your own words

Paragraph 1
1 Immigration was the first economic change that
contributed to the growth of restaurants
2 Starting a restaurant is a good career move for
new arrivals;
3 …it neither requires formal qualifications… nor,
at least for chefs, fluency in the local language.
Due to the flow of people into a host country /
movement of people across countries
Setting up / establishing a restaurant is a sensible way to
make a living/money,
As the barriers to entry are low.

4 Migrants also tend to improve the quality of an Immigrants typically help restaurants to do
area’s restaurants. better/advance/progress/enhance/boost standards

5 …where cooks could infuse new flavours… Because they can incorporate fresh tastes that pay
…with the attendant cultural influences homage to their heritage

6 As a result, restaurants grew even more Consequently, restaurants became more

tempting. irresistible/enticing.

Paragraph 2
7 The second factor was the changing economic As more women started to work,
situation of the family.
8 The true cost of an at-home meal involves not The duration expended on procuring groceries became
just the outlay for the ingredients, an added consideration apart from the price
but the time spent on shopping and preparation.
9 As more women entered the workforce during the Making the opportunity cost of cooking too high.
20th century, the cost of cooking at home became
more apparent than ever.
Now a working woman who cooked dinner would
be sacrificing time which might otherwise be
used to earn money.
10 Thus, eating out made increasing economic This made dining out a more logical/rational/practical
sense, even if it may not have been the choice.
cheaper option.
Paragraph 3
11 The rise of knowledge-intensive jobs, …and As the world became more
globalisation, knowledge-driven/knowledge-based and
interconnected,

12 …made rich people’s work more financially People saw an increase in remuneration for their work
rewarding – and enjoyable.
13 The upshot was that the people with the most They were also busier at work. As such, eating out
money to spend on dining out increasingly became a necessity.
needed it most,
… since they had the least free time

Marks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

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2022 TMJC J2 MBT P2 Suggested Answers (Revised)

No of points 1-2 3-4 5 6 7 8 9 10+

Sample Summary

One of the factors that propelled the growth of the restaurant industry is (1) the flow of migrants into host
country. (2) Setting up eateries was a is a sensible way to make a living as (3) the barriers to entry are low. (4)
Migrants boost standards of eateries by (5) introducing fresh tastes unique to their heritage. (7) As more
women started to work, (8) the duration expended on procuring groceries became an added consideration
apart from the price, (9) making the opportunity cost of cooking too high. (10) This made dining out a more
practical choice. (11) As the world became more knowledge-driven and interconnected, (12) people saw an
increase in remuneration for their work. (13) They were also busier at work making eating out a necessity.
119 words (12 points)
From all the passages
7. Passage 1 states that ‘consumers (including millennials)… are actually cooking as part of the
personalised experience…’ (lines 15 – 16).

Identify one specific idea from Passage 3 which can be used to support this statement. Justify your
answer. [2]

From the passage In your own words

Food stars are a little bit more creative in the kitchen,
routinely making food from different cultures, or
fusing dishes together. They are bold in playing with
flavour and experimenting with different cooking
styles.
Specific Idea:
Home cooks innovate their dishes by cooking food
from other traditions / societies or mixing styles
together. They explore various cooking methods
from different backgrounds.
Justification of answer
Home cooks are tweaking recipes to suit their own
likes and preferences. They choose to include or
omit certain ingredients to their dish, making it a
highly unique one that is suited/tailored to the whims
and fancies of the home cook.

8. Passage 2 states that ‘Starting a restaurant was a good career move for new arrivals; it neither required
formal qualifications nor, at least for chefs, fluency in the local language’ (lines 3 – 5).

Identify one specific idea from Passage 3 which can be used to undermine this statement. Justify your
answer. [2]

From the passage In your own words

Thousands of young people trained to be chefs.
Many invested years of their lives, often taking
classes while also holding down internships in local
eateries or staging in well-known restaurants… All
these, in fact, were necessary conditions to secure
Specific Idea:
For chefs to be successful, they would have needed
to study for long periods of time and chalk up work
experiences in top notch dining establishments as
part of one’s accreditation.

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2022 TMJC J2 MBT P2 Suggested Answers (Revised)

coveted positions in renowned kitchens.

Justification of answer
Time, money and effort needs to be put in and it is
not such a simple matter to become a successful
chef.

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2022 TMJC J2 MBT P2 Suggested Answers (Revised)

Application Question
10. The reading passages cover a range of views about eating at home and dining out.
How far do you agree that there is an increased preference for dining at home over dining out?
Support your answer with reference to:

 the ideas and opinions from at least one of the reading passages
 examples drawn from your own experience and that of your society. [12]

Author’s argument
…coronavirus pandemic has changed a lot
about modern life
…cooking at home has become easier
The advent of appealing, user-friendly apps
and tech-enabled driver networks, coupled
with changing consumer expectations, has
unlocked ready-to-eat food delivery as a major
category in the e-commerce market.
Passage 1
Agree
Government policies restrict the size of groups
dining out- varying from none to 5. Eating at
home can accommodate more people
especially for bigger households.
With vaccination differentiation measures,
those who are not vaccinated are not allowed
to dine in at all.
Domestic helpers share the load of preparation
and clean up.
A highly popular cooking device known as the
Thermomix is a blender that also cooks and
stirs your food at adjustable temperatures and
speeds. It also comes with a built-in scale, a
steamer attachment, and a touchscreen that
will walk you through recipes for everything.
This helps cooking novices to prepare meals
successfully.
Small city-state which makes delivery
especially efficient in addition to the algorithms
that super-charges the efficiency.
The convenience of user-friendly apps is
further enhanced by cloud kitchens set up by
food delivery companies eg Deliveroo and
Foodpanda and Grabfood
to house several food brands together. This
Disagree
Practical and technological help comes at a
cost. These high-tech machines are costly.
The easy access to a wide variety of ready-
cooked meals, which may cost less to
purchase from hawkers than if one were to
cook from scratch, make dining out more
enticing. (especially if social distancing rules
do not rule you out)
Government efforts to keep inflation low
through lower rentals charged on hawker stalls
ensure access to affordable meals.
The older generation are still not tech savvy.
Many use mobile phones just for calling and
entertainment purposes and are unable to
navigate the apps to order food, hail cabs,
carry out banking transactions etc. Many have
time on their hands and don’t see the need to
use these apps, preferring to stick to more
familiar ways of life- of going out to buy food.
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2022 TMJC J2 MBT P2 Suggested Answers (Revised)
…plenty of other studies show consumers
(including millennials) are spending more time
at home, and they are actually cooking as part
of the personalised ‘experience’ that some
then brag about on social media.
…the aspiration for good health, the move
towards organic and locally-sourced fresh
foods, the adoption of environmentally-friendly
lifestyles, and the growth of ‘anti-mass
production’ sentiment, particularly evident in
food production and consumption. Home
makes it even more convenient for customers
to include a wider range of food in a single
order. The cost of enjoying the food is kept low
as cloud kitchens enable food providers to
“open a branch” in a new place without the
attendant high costs.
Promotional packages by food delivery
companies eg Grab’s S$1.99 stay-home pack
and Deliveroo S$14 flat monthly fee for unlimited
free deliveries coupled with the dining
restrictions have led to people being
accustomed to the convenience of food being
delivered to their doorstep.
Ease of access to cooking videos, recipes,
reviews and fresh food ingredients from
neighbourhood stores, allow Singaporeans
opportunities to learn to cook.
During the period of ‘circuit breaker’ where
most Singaporeans worked from home and
dining out was restricted, baking items sold out
very quickly and shelves could not be
replenished in time attesting to the fact that
Singaporeans spent more time baking &
cooking.
Singaporeans are indeed getting more health
conscious evidenced in the uptick in interest in
cycling and growth of cycling interest groups
sharing cycling routes and knowledge about
biking equipment. Gym equipment in one of
the bestselling equipment on online platforms
It’s no secret that Singaporeans spend long
hours at work, and that many continue working
even after they arrive at home. With 1 in 5
Singaporeans working more than 11 hours a
day, spending time buying groceries and
whipping up something edible in the kitchen
can seem like too much of a sacrifice. With
more workers returning to work in the office,
the opportunities to cook will lessen. Even for
those who continue to WFH, there are
rumblings on the ground that working from
home has not improved but has in fact
encroached into times for rest, further
worsening work life balance. Having to cook
their own meals will reduce their time for
relaxation and there is a greater likelihood that
when the novelty of cooking has worn off,
many will return to takeaways rather than
cook.
Singaporeans are still price sensitive and
unwilling to pay for environmentally friendly
food sources. They are indeed scrutinising
their food more and avoiding ‘perceived’
harmful ingredients such MSG, salt and
processed food but environmentally-friendly
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2022 TMJC J2 MBT P2 Suggested Answers (Revised)
cooking is the behaviour that connects all of
these.
Author’s argument
Paragraph 1
Migrants also tend to improve the
quality of an area’s restaurants. In
London, restaurants became far better
in the era of free movement with the
European Union, where cooks could
infuse new flavours with the attendant
cultural influences. As a result,
restaurants grew even more tempting.
during Singles’ Day. Supermarkets are
responding to these urges to be healthy with
dedicated sections selling organic food.
Passage 2
Agree
In multi-racial Singapore, and Singapore often
described as a ‘food lover’s paradise’, there is
indeed a wide availability of different cuisines that
are unique to individual ethnicities, and others that
are unique to Singapore. Increasingly, there are
more and more ‘exotic’ cuisines available –
CANCHITA serving Peruvian food, Miznon serving
Israeli fare and Kotuwa serving Sri Lankan
delights. Singapore, a globalised city-state, with its
citizens well-travelled, have an appetite for and are
adventurous enough to enjoy and appreciate the
different cuisines.
Singapore herself can lay claim to local cuisines
born out of the infusing of ‘new flavours with the
attendant cultural influences’. The Peranakan, or
Nonya cuisine is one such example. Peranakan
food is a hybrid of Chinese, Malay, Indian, Thai
and Western colonial (Portugese, Dutch and
English) influences. Today, this cuisine can be
found at a variety of establishments, including
eateries and upscale restaurants such as
Candlenut and Violet Oon’s string of restaurants. It
is indeed a fusion of flavours that is well-loved and
simply irresistible.
food which carries a price premium is still not
the norm for most families.
Disagree
While many different cuisines are available in
Singapore, and Singaporeans often boast having
tried multiple cuisines, oftentimes, Singaporeans
may have preconceived notions of food from
migrants. Traditionally, middle eastern
immigrants have set up kebab shops and in
Singapore, increasingly there are many Chinese
restaurants selling Sichuan fare. These food are
sometimes subject to certain associations such
as of being of low quality and are considered
street food or less sophisticated. As a result,
instead of being embraced, Singaporeans, ‘kiasi’
(afraid of dying) as they are, shun it, afraid of
trying the food of the migrants. Also,
Singaporeans have for many years, and even
more prominently expressed since the Population
White Paper – with its projected population of up to
6.9 million by 2030 was released in 2013 – their
objection to the inflow of foreign talent and
immigration. There is a real fear that immigrants
could take away good jobs that could be filled by
local Singaporeans and hence these immigrants
are deemed undesirable. In addition, immigration
also creates concerns that Singapore will be more
crowded and less livable. As such, support for
anything associated with migrants could be low.
More practically, even if immigrants came to
Singapore, they come in often based on some
sort of prior work arrangement. Permits are
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2022 TMJC J2 MBT P2 Suggested Answers (Revised)
Paragraph 2
Now a working woman who cooked
dinner would be sacrificing time which
might otherwise be used to earn money.
And so eating out made increasing
economic sense, even if it may not have
been the cheaper option.
Paragraph 3
The rise of knowledge-intensive jobs,
and globalisation, made rich people’s
work more financially rewarding – and
In Singapore, women are equally, if not, more
educated than men. As such, many households
are dual-income, with Singapore boasting a female
labour force participation rate of 61.2% in 2020.
And year-on-year, this rate has been going up.
Being dual-income suggests that the woman, who
traditionally is the one who cooks and cleans, is
unable to have as much time to cook and clean. As
such, we can observe many families often eating
out at coffee shops, hawker centres, fast food
joints, casual dining restaurants to even more
upscale eateries daily. Cooking at home requires
time – to purchase ingredients, prepare ingredients
and cook ingredients. It also incurs cost – cost of
petrol, cost of ingredients, cost of gas and
electricity. And conforming to traditional standards,
home cooked meals do not just stop at one dish. In
Chinese culture, a home cooked meal would be
considered complete only if it boasts “3 dishes, 1
soup”. Hence, the availability of a wide range of
food and budgets makes eating out, or getting
takeout a more sensible option than cooking at
home. Oftentimes, eating out may in fact be the
cheaper option than dining in.
Singapore was ranked the second most
overworked city in 2020, only behind Hong Kong.
Employees' number of actual work hours is 23%
higher than the mandated 48 hours per week and
Singapore just trails Tokyo, Japan as the most
required and laws are set in place to govern
immigrants and the kinds of jobs they engage in.
In Singapore today, many immigrants are
qualified professionals, brought in to fill the roles
in healthcare, technology and finance. Even if a
migrant were to work in the food and beverage
industry, it is often in the capacity as kitchen
staff. Setting up a restaurant is hence not realistic
in modern day developed Singapore.
Eating out is increasingly expensive in
Singapore. While cooking at home may not be
that cheap, eating out is getting more costly. In
Singapore, there is a plan to raise the Goods and
Services Tax (GST) up by 2%, from 7 to 9
percent. This increase in the cost of living, in part
also due to global inflation, could adversely
impact middle to lower income households,
where women in these categories often do work.
Even if the cost of oil, food and raw materials is
going up, cooking a meal at home may still be
more affordable in the long run.
Considering how Singaporeans have the least
free time, they are in fact, not dining at
restaurants, but rather, ordering take away items
from restaurants. These establishments often
boast extensive and well curated takeaway
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2022 TMJC J2 MBT P2 Suggested Answers (Revised)

enjoyable… The upshot was that the
people with the most money to spend
on dining out increasingly needed it
most, since they had the least free time.
overworked city in the world with on average 44.6 menus, to cater to the busy worker who might
work hours per week. Singapore also placed 41st have to bring the food back to the office and work
out of 50 cities in work-life balance, with the over lunch.
overworked population increasing from 23% in
2019 to 25.1% in 2020. At the same time, the Poor conversely are the ones who have to dine
number of millionaires in Singapore is expected to out due to a lack of flexibility in terms of work.
surge by 62% by 2025 and overall median The rich often can afford live-in help who can
household income from work had risen 3.3 per cent help in preparing meals to be consumed at
per annum from $5,600 in 2010 to $7,744 in 2020 - home.
or 1.9 per cent in real terms, factoring in inflation.
With less time for leisure and recreation,
Singaporeans are increasingly consuming their
meals outside of the home as doing so is more
convenient and requires less time as little to no
food preparation is required. In the Central
Business District, casual eateries to higher end
restaurants often offer fuss-free lunch sets for busy
workers to purchase. As such, we can observe that
the more affluent Singaporeans are becoming, the
greater the demand for the availability of food
options outside of the home.

Author’s argument
Paragraph 2
Yet, social media has also birthed a
new generation of cooking stars who
have not put in years in a professional
kitchen or at a glossy food magazine,
and who are often showcasing recipes
they find online rather than developing
their own.
Passage 3
Agree
There is an increased preference for staying home
instead of eating out as with the increased access
to recipes online via the Internet or social media
platforms such as Tik Tok, Telegram or Instagram,
many are able to cook at home with relative ease.
With such lightning-fast Internet connectivity,
Singaporeans spend an average of 2 hours and 13
minutes daily on social media. An estimated 5.08
million people there (or 84.7% of the total
population) use an average of 7.1 social media
platforms, all connected for many reasons. These
recipes are often accompanied by video tutorials
Disagree
While it may be true that it is easy to find recipes
online nowadays, many home cooks display
creativity in developing their own dishes.
Singapore Home Cooks Facebook group, or
SHC for short boasts a 237,000-strong
membership, one of the biggest — or
perhaps the biggest home cooking group — in
Singapore. Members would create recipes, cook
dishes, and post reviews on SHC.

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2022 TMJC J2 MBT P2 Suggested Answers (Revised)
Paragraph 2
Posting aesthetic snapshots of gourmet
dishes is also a part of our visual self-
presentation: polished photos present
us in a positive light to others. Approval
and validation seeking are other strong
motives.
Paragraph 3
Food stars are a little bit more creative
in the kitchen, routinely making food
from different cultures, or fusing dishes
together. They are bold in playing with
flavour and experimenting with different
cooking styles.
and users can seamlessly compare different
iterations of recipes found online for a particular
dish and tweak it to best suit one’s tastes and
preferences. During the pandemic, many at home
created ‘Dalgona coffee’ and ‘Basque burnt
cheesecake’, recipes that went viral and were
trending online. They presentation of these food
items as fun or cute, further adds to the appeal of
recreating these dishes as home especially among
the young who desire to be perceived as cool and
trendy.
Young Singaporeans, as with many other young
people, seek social validation from others. At a
time of shifting identities and coming into their own,
young people on social media like to curate their
feeds or walls with images that present a particular
aesthetic. Being able to take and post nice photos
of food, in terms of the composition of the photo, or
the use of filters and touch up features, adds to the
likeability factor of the photos.
Increasingly there is a new genre of food known as
‘fusion’ in Singapore. Singapore, being a multi-
racial society, already has many distinct food items
unique to different cultures. With the increase in
migrants coming in to Singapore, it has added to
the range of food items available in Singapore.
Singapore is one of the world’s top-notch food
destinations. The country is known for serving up
diverse flavors borrowed from migrant populations
from all over the region. Nyonya style cooking,
which combines Chinese ingredients with
Malaysian and Indonesian spices and cooking
technique, is at the center of Singaporean cuisine.
Some other interesting food items that are wildly
popular and well-received are Satay Burger,
While is may be true, young Singaporeans often
post these ‘aesthetic snapshots of gourmet
dishes’ not created by them. It can be commonly
observed that many Singaporeans take photos of
the food they are about to eat, where they do it
‘for the ‘gram’. Instead of seeking approval and
validation for food they have made with their
hands, their validation comes from whether or not
one is consuming trendy or expensive food.
As a push-back against the fusion of flavours,
many chefs in Singapore as reclaiming ethnic
dishes and going back to the traditional methods
of preparation and presentation. Whilst there may
be some reinterpretation, many chefs pay
homage to these long-held techniques to put
more authentic flavours and dishes on the table,
counter to the increasingly globalised and
homogenised world we live in. In recent times,
the New York Times started a local furore when it
uploaded a “Singaporean Chicken Curry” recipe
on its NYT Cooking site. The end result in the
video was pale, grey and starkly different from
the many different vibrant curries that are
available in Singapore. After a slew of comments
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2022 TMJC J2 MBT P2 Suggested Answers (Revised)

Orange Kaya Pisang Creme Brulee, Pandan that ranged from “That’s not curry. That’s drain
Infused Panna Cotta with Salted Gula Melaka, water” to “This is an insult to curry”, the
Ayam Buah Ice Cream etc. newspaper responded by removing the video and
clarifying the recipe.

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