SS Holiday Assignment Answers

1.(a) The message of this cartoon is to show the unpleasant attitude of Uber towards the taxi companies. Due to Uber being cheaper and more accessible, taxi companies have been compromised. The evidence of the unpleasant attitude of Uber is the truck representing Uber flattening a taxi. Furthermore, city bylaws have to be implemented to help the taxi companies compete fairly against Uber. This is the message of the cartoon.

(b) This comment is made by a car rental company, promoting Uber. The target audience are lower income people, unemployed people or people searching for another means of income. The comment is made to encourage more people to rent cars from their company. By promoting Uber to other people, more people will rent cars from them to pick up Uber as a job. The evidence is “It provides an avenue of employment to those from lower income communities or those in between jobs”. This is why the car rental company made this comment.

(c) Sources C and D are different in whether taxis have been able to compete with Uber. Source C states that “More cabbies are throwing in the towel and exiting the taxi trade, blaming it on the stiff competition they are facing from private-hire services like Uber.” This shows that taxis have not been able to compete against Uber and are giving up their jobs. On the contrary, source D states that “Taxi operators do not welcome it but forced to compete, have been able to rise to the challenge, to the benefit of commuters.” This states that taxi drivers have been able to compete with Uber.

Source D and source C are similar in saying that the competition between taxis and Uber is unfair. Source C states that “Premier said it is offering such schemes to  “support our drivers whose incomes have been affected by the sudden surge in the supply of taxis in the form of private-hire vehicles.”” As private-hire vehicles, Uber, charge lower prices and are easier to access, they have an unfair advantage over taxi drivers. Similarly, source D states that “While taxi drivers welcome competition, they demand that the playing field be level. I think our taxi drivers have a point.” This shows that Ubers have an unfair advantage over taxis.

(d) I am surprised by this source. Mr Loh, who is a taxi driver, claims he is impacted positively by Uber. This is unusual as Uber has commonly been viewed as negatively affecting the taxi industry, due to it being more modernised, cheaper and accessible. Uber drivers are regular people who use their own vehicles to transport other people, and this makes it much more efficient than taxi service. Hence, I am surprised that Mr Loh has been impacted positively by Uber as Uber and taxis have fierce competition for customers.

Furthermore, taxi drivers normally have their income impacted by the extra competition from Uber. However, Mr Loh instead has better income from changing to cheaper taxis and changing his work strategy, increasing productivity and hence income, achieving all this through learning from Uber drivers.

(e) Source A agrees with the assertion. The evidence is the need for implementation of city bylaws  for a ‘level playing field’. By disrupting the local taxi industry, Uber has affected the income of Singaporean taxi drivers. Hence, source A agrees with the assertion that “The presence of Uber has had a negative impact on Singaporeans.”

Source B disagrees with the assertion. The evidence is “This healthy competition pushes the need for innovation where no motivation existed previously and leads to lower prices for the consumer.” It says that Uber gives the local taxi industry competition, leading to lower prices for customers, as both Uber and the local taxi industry compete to win over more customers. It also states that Uber provides a source of income for the lower class or those unemployed and searching for jobs. Hence, source B disagrees with the assertion.

Source C agrees with the assertion. The evidence is “Land Transport Authority data revealed that in the first 11 months of last year, the average rate of taxis that were unhired was 5.9 per cent, up from 4.2 per cent in 2015.” This shows that Uber has been taking customers away from taxis, leading to a decrease in income for local taxi drivers. Hence, source C agrees with the assertion.

Source D agrees with the assertion. The evidence is “While taxi drivers welcome competition, they demand that the playing field be level. I think our taxi drivers have a point.” Uber drivers have an advantage over local taxi drivers as it is cheaper, more accessible and modernised. Hence, local taxi drivers have lost customers and income. Hence, source D agrees with the assertion.

Source E disagrees with the assertion. The evidence is “Overall, I feel better.” Mr Loh, a local taxi driver has learnt from Uber drivers and has changed to cheaper rental taxis and changed his work method, saving more time and has earnt more income. He has hence more time to rest with his family, and has better mental health due to this. Hence, source E disagrees with the assertion.

Source B is unreliable. Source B is commented by a car rental company, praising and promoting the Uber service. It is hence unreliable as it has an underlying motive, which is to get more people to rent their cars as they take up uber as a job. The evidence is “It provides an avenue of employment to those from lower income communities or those in between jobs.” This shows that source B is unreliable.


2. (a) Education can be used to strengthen the Singaporean identity. For example, in schools, it is mandatory to take the national anthem and the national pledge every morning. By reciting the national anthem and pledge every morning, the students will begin to understand what it means to be a Singaporean through the words and lyrics. This helps to strengthen the Singaporean identity for students, strengthening a sense of Singaporean identity from young. A strategy that can be taken is to make subjects which help strengthen Singaporean identity compulsory during primary school. For example, social studies can be taken as a compulsory subject in primary school. Social studies is teaches students about the history of a nation, and the different cultures, religions and others. All these help students to understand more about Singapore, and might make them interested about Singapore’s history or culture. All these serve to strengthen and promote the Singaporean identity.

Another strategy is governmental efforts. For example, the government can dedicate their efforts to erecting monuments or museums which help to strengthen the Singaporean identity. By seeing monuments or visiting museums which represent a portion of our history and culture, Singaporeans can be proud of their national heritage and find out more about Singapore’s heritage and culture. This allows them to understand what it means to be a Singaporean and be proud of it, strengthening their Singaporean identity.

These two strategies can be implemented to strengthen the Singaporean identity.

(b) Prejudice and misconception are created through differing and conflicting views on values, beliefs and customs. This is primarily due to differences in cultural background. Negative sentiments can arise when people jump to conclusions about others and make incorrect judgements due to insufficient understanding and erroneous assumptions. This leads to stereotyping, or even prejudices which are negative conclusions about people. Threats to diversity may occur as prejudices may lead to discrimination against the victims, who are either hurt or excluded from the interactions in a diverse society. For example, religious and racial prejudice has led to discriminatory behaviour towards certain groups of people. Arabs and Muslim-Americans became the target of hate crimes in America after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. These instances of discrimination have caused unnecessary hurt.

Increases in the number of foreigners have created tensions, leading to prejudice and discriminations. One of these sources is the competition for resources. These resources could be in the form of opportunities or availability of infrastructure. With the inflow of foreigners into Singapore, there will be questions on how Singaporeans are  able to cope with the increased competition for opportunities and living space. Employment, housing and transportation are some areas that Singaporeans have expressed concerns over, citing the impact of the inflow of foreigners on competition in employment, prices of goods and services as well as demands on public transport. With the increasing numbers of foreigners in our workforce, some Singaporeans fear that foreigners are taking jobs away. Foreigners who come to Singapore on a valid Employment Pass and S Pass are eligible to work in Singapore based on their relevant qualifications and a specific salary criterion. They would most likely be holding a PMET position as well. There are some Singaporeans who hold the opinion that they have taken away jobs for some of the older white-collar Singaporean workers. There are some who believe that employers would rather hire foreign workers than to pay more for local workers because of the lower pay earned, for example, by foreign workers in the construction sector. Thus, the inflow of these work permit holders was seen as a reason for wages to remain low for Singaporeans in the lower income group.

In conclusion, I feel that the competition for resources is a bigger concern than prejudice and misconception as competition for resources is one of the tensions leading to misconceptions and prejudice.