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B. Creation of the pancake phenomenon (CJC Prelim 08)

The pancake phenomenon is formed / established by means of our connections / links /ease of (human) networking / reach / interconnectedness with /to other people / the rest

of society / the rest of the community …

… and the accompanying disappearance / erasure / existence for no longer of our view / perspective of knowledge as solely attained by one person / through each person’s

capability

Identity

Both writers observe various trends with regard to seeking membership in a community.Based on your knowledge and experience, which passage do you find more relevant to your 

society? Do you think that such trends will be largely beneficial or detrimental to your society if they were to continue in the future?

Relevant Not Relevant

Ideas from Passage:

Very often, the price of belonging to a community is to forfeit one’s individual autonomySociety requires the individual to conform, to obey, to serve the “greater good” of the

community

Membership in communities usually requiresone to behave in a certain way in order to be

accepted.

In Singapore, various institutions require theindividual to conform in the name of serving

the community.

Schools-wearing of uniform; students have to conform

to standard dress code prescribed by the school;

In the case of Muslim students, the wearing ofthe head-dress in secular schools has been

frowned upon. No expression of religious

freedom is allowed in this case. Utilitarianarguments given if questions are asked,

therefore consistent with the author’s idea of

societies requiring individuals to serve thegreater good of the community.

Family-Traditional Asian families require obedience

from children; a need to meet up to theexpectations of its older members

Work 

-To be accepted at work is to generally followthe crowd and not go against one’s superiors

Politics/Govt

In Singapore, people are expected to conform to

With an increasingly education populationand the emphasis on the individual and

freedom, such constraints are changing. There

is greater tolerance towards/acceptance ofidiosyncratic behaviour. Conformity is seen to

 be rigid and inhibitive.

SchoolsStudents have a greater say in school policy

and even in what they are allowed to wear.

Increasing number of schools are deviatingfrom the standard syllabus and offering their

 programmes in selected niche areas. This

results in greater choice.Family

Children are given more choice to experiment

with their identity.Work 

Greater employee recognition if one is seen to be different

Politics/GovtGreater acceptance of differing views. There

is acknowledgement of that with an

increasingly educated and discerning population, some degree of dissent is

necessary. Deviance is made out to be less of

an issue. Eg – dialogue with MM Lee and PM

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the govt’s political ideologies and non-conformity is dealt with in various ways.

eg: Mr Brown’s political commentaries/ His

section in Today’s paper was suspendedEvaluation – Beneficial or Detrimental

Society would not be able to progress if we are

held up by too many restrictions. In this global

world, change is good and allows us to adaptquickly.

Lee on televisionAdoption of NMP system in parliament to

hear out alternative perspectives.

Ideas from Passage:

Many people will have very little traditional loyalty to a geographic community

This is very relevant in this age of the global

citizen where people have to travel for work or

study. Globalization encourages such a trend.

Increasing numbers of Singaporeans are going

abroad for either work or study.

Currently, 150, 000 Singaporeans work and live

overseas.Many of them have no qualms about giving up

their Singaporean citizenship if another country

meets their needs. One thousand Singaporeansgive up their citizenship every year.

Entry into a country nowadays is solely dictated

 by practical reasons such as avoiding NS or the

second language requirement in education.Increasing numbers of foreign talent in

Singapore with no sense of allegiance either totheir country or to Singapore.

Evaluation – Beneficial or Detrimental

The negative effects would be the lack of anidentity or sense of rootedness. The society is

faced with a dilemma of not having enough

 patriotic citizens

Only those people who are mobile have no

affiliations to Singapore. Middle and lower

segments of society still call Singapore‘home’.

Ideas from passage:

Joining a highly specialized, personally challenging community of interest will becomeeasier and easier

 Facebook  has areas where companies can set up

their own private networks to link upemployees, much like corporate intranets.

E.g. Ernst & Young’s  Facebook’s private

network boasted some 16,000 members.

A study on Internet users, released this year byresearch company Ipsos Insight found 1 in 5

Such communities apply only to the younger

generation. Older and less savvy people still join groups offline i.e. religious communities,

community gatherings etc

Evaluation: Beneficial or Detrimental

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adults around the world use social networkingsites, many from the media, finance and tech

industries.

More and more users now go to social networksfor practical purposes like finding advice for

work or even help. E.g.  Multiply helps some

social networks, such as a group of journalists

from different newsrooms around the globe,debate and discuss world issues and also trade

advice and information on journalism.

There is “social and relational capital” on thesesites. They go down well with the younger

Singaporeans.

Evaluation: Beneficial or Detrimental

In the future, where more and more people are

tech-savvy, with our Island becoming almost

completely wireless, such sites will beincreasingly useful for advertisers and

 businesses. They act as cheap advertisementsto reach many for small businesses. Such social

networks also allow companies to build

relationships with customers rather than blatantly pushing for their products.

Easy to form niche sites, even very unusualones, such as skills on how to manage finds,

trade horses and information on horses, object

oriented sites like sneakers, sites for animallovers and activists to start petitions anddonation drives for their favorite causes. These

sites are for people who are looking to fulfill a

specific need. They are able to tap into thewisdom of the crowd and community.

This could leave older people behind as theyare not information savvy. Implications of a

class/age gap. Society may not be able to

 build a cohesive community then.

Ideas from passage:

Many communities of the future will have a totally different character – they will be

communities of choice. Members will be able to leave on short notice with very little

personal cost

This is largely beneficial because many of thecommunities do not require commitment of any

sort from their members and members are free

to leave whenever their needs change or have been met. All that is required is a login

 password or email address, hence the

convenience.This is very relevant to our society where needs

and interests change easily and quickly.