Many developed counties are paying increasing attention to the needs of the disadvantaged. How far is this true in Singapore

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8. Many developed counties are paying increasing attention to the needs of the disadvantaged. How far is this true in Singapore?

Keywords

Developed countries: having achieved economic status recognized as advanced and acquiring the traits associated with countries of such standing.

Increasing attention: acknowledging the rights of such groups to be incorporated into mainstream life, preventing them from being marginalized; doing more than just tokenistic acknowledgement.

Needs of the disadvantaged: identifying ‘disadvantaged’ to refer to minority groups that are marginalized because of physical impairment, but also including those who suffer setbacks not of their own doing, and therefore requiring help. Also in terms of Singapore, the racial minorities.

Question Requirements

• Students need to identify which groups constitute the ‘disadvantaged’ in society and what their needs are.

• Students should argue that the state is responsible for the disadvantaged minority and should go beyond simply catering for the needs of the general populace.

• Students should also highlight that the progress of a country is also measured by its compassion for and its ability to cater to the minority groups such as the underprivileged and disadvantaged.

• Students should also recognise that the needs of the disadvantaged should not be met by just the government alone, but also by society as well as institutions within the country.

Pitfalls

• Definition of ‘disadvantaged’ being limited in scope - eg. referring merely to those who have lost their jobs in the current economic recession.

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• Merely describing what is being done for the disadvantaged without any evaluation of whether this is in line with expectations of what a developed country is morally obliged to provide.

• Failure to provide a fair and balanced viewpoint – i.e. taking the view that nothing is being done, or more than enough has been done; restricting evaluation only to role of the government in catering to these needs.

Stand: Yes, it is true that Singapore, just like many developed counties, is paying increasing attention to the needs of the disadvantaged.

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