AQ/Ivy/10S403

In passage 1, the author states that murder and violence are higher in nations with largest income inequality. I agree to a large extent with the author's statement and applicable in the context of Singapore as its income disparity is not as serious as other countries such as China. This is because, generally the Singapore population is satisfied and are financially able to afford the cost of living in Singapore. There is only a minority of citizens in low income families who face financial difficulties at which financial aid such as subsidies to basic needs such as housing and education is provided by the government at which the income inequality is lessen between the rich and poor. This supports the author's views as criminal violence committed in Singapore is one of the lowest.

In passage 2, the author states that that riots all are occurring in destitute neighbourhoods. I agree to a certain extent with the author's view as when a person lacks basic necessities such as money, they began to turn to crime to solve their problems. There have been offences committed in Singapore for example the snatch thiefs in Singapore that would resort to violence when the victim puts up with some resistance. However, this is not necessarily true and applicable to the Singapore society as the citizens are generally easily accessed to food, money and housing and criminal violence need not only occur due to lack of basic necessities but could occur due to other reasons such as hatred. One example would be the sensational killing by One eye dragon in 2006 by gunning down nightclub owner Lim Hock Soon just because he was unhappy that the victim was unwilling to lend him money. Hence this shows that riots also known as criminal violence do not necessarily occur in destitute neighbourhoods.