SEQ model answers.. as promised during class

Hello. I'll give general guidelines for SEQ explanations before I start.

Firstly your explanations always always need to be clear and concise with some specific examples and be able to answer the question using the example.

Secondly, round your answer with a strong concluding paragraph that weighs the factors and shows that either one is more important or all are inter-related and reliant on the other factors to work. This is the tough part. As I said, a summary will not do. You must make a stand on which is truly the most important factor and why.

For 1(a), possible last paragraph:

As Singapore is a Multi-ethnic, multi-religious society, managing perceptions of different races and ensuring equal treatment for all religious groups are essential in maintaining the balance. However, managing international threats is the most pressing as while religious and racial perceptions can be managed through developing common spaces and respecting minority rights, international threats are caused, trained and inspired by external organisations like Al Queda or the Jemaah Islamiyah(JI) in Indonesia which are not fully under our control. The communal tensions caused by terrorism are the most recent developments and more efforts are needed to bridge the doubts and misunderstandings caused by the threat of the JI.

For 1(b)

Developing a National Identity would still be the most effective way of managing multi-ethnic, multi-religious Singapore. This is because Singapore has many different races and religions. Even when given opportunities to interact, in Common Spaces, they might still stick to their own racial and religious groups after activities because of communal bonds. Furthermore, protecting minority rights only tackles the issue on the political front and equality amongst the races might not equate to good and open communication and relations between them. Hence developing a national identity is the factor that bonds Singaporeans ,despite our differences, together and fosters a sense of belonging that becomes the commonality between groups. It also would give groups more reason to protect the harmony of the country and develop open dialogue and communication to prevent communal tensions from harming our country.

Alternative 1 (b)

Common Spaces is the most effective. (quantifying part) As Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society, the way we can get along is by developing respect and understanding of each ethnic group that can only come about through interaction and activity provided by common spaces. Most Singaporeans are still ambiguous or developing a sense of nation so that's still in the works and hence might not be effective. Protecting Minority Rights only works on the legal and social status aspects but does little to foster good relations between the races. Just because all rights are protected does not mean the communities get along. Hence, in order for there to be harmony, we must be able to have chances to interact and understand each other to develop good relations and respect and this is achieved through common spaces.

Hope this helps, please leave questions as comments.