GP essay question guide
Should a society hold on to its past?
Separate remembering the past from being ruled by it. A strong answer explains what remembering gives a society, where holding on goes too far, and whose past gets kept.
Unpack this question first: 'Hold on to' can mean remember, preserve or refuse to change, so say which. 'Its past' includes buildings, stories and mistakes, and different groups remember it differently. Lesson: Abstract and values questions
Use this question in writing - Sign in, check the question, then write your response.
Topics: Arts and Humanities, Society and Culture, Politics and Governance
Three argument directions
Memory teaches
Places and records help later generations learn from what happened, including mistakes.
Qualification: Memory can be told selectively to flatter the present.
Space and change matter
A crowded city cannot keep every old building and still house its people.
Qualification: Once demolished, a place cannot be brought back.
Whose past?
Groups left out of the official story need their memories kept too.
Qualification: Including every view makes shared memory harder to agree on.
A model paragraph
Our own paragraph for this question. Copy its moves, not its words.
A society should hold on to its past in order to learn from it, not to freeze itself in it. Old buildings, stories and records remind people how their society came to be, including its mistakes. Singapore keeps the former Ford Factory, where the British surrendered to Japan in 1942, so that later generations understand the cost of being unable to defend themselves. Yet holding on can go too far. If every old building is kept, a crowded city cannot house its people, and if the past is told in only one way, groups whose stories were left out stay unheard. A society should keep enough of its past to remember honestly, while leaving room to build and to tell the story more fully.
How it is built
- Definition: hold on means remember and learn.
- Case: the Ford Factory as a lesson; limits of space and one-sided stories.
- Judgement: keep enough to remember honestly, leave room to change.
Six examples to compare
Our SG Heritage Plan 2.0 Broadens Heritage Participation
Our SG Heritage Plan 2.0 sets a five-year direction for safeguarding, celebrating, and making Singapore's heritage more accessible.
Possible essay use
Our SG Heritage Plan 2.0 sets a five-year direction for safeguarding, celebrating, and making Singapore's heritage more accessible.
Limitation
An official plan can widen participation but state selection and funding still shape which memories receive attention.
Case or source date: 2023-05-01
Singapore Breaks Ground on the Founders' Memorial
Singapore held the groundbreaking for a memorial intended to present the values and choices of its founding generation through exhibitions and public space.
Possible essay use
Singapore held the groundbreaking for a memorial intended to present the values and choices of its founding generation through exhibitions and public space.
Limitation
A national memorial can educate and unify but risks simplifying contested history or privileging official narratives.
Case or source date: 2024-06-05
Netherlands Returns 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria
The Netherlands transferred ownership of 119 Benin Bronzes in the Dutch State Collection to Nigeria in 2025.
Possible essay use
The Netherlands transferred ownership of 119 Benin Bronzes in the Dutch State Collection to Nigeria in 2025.
Limitation
A major return addresses one collection but does not settle provenance, legal ownership, access, and conservation disputes elsewhere.
Case or source date: 2025-06-21
Source: Government of the Netherlands
New Zealand Parliament Rejects the Treaty Principles Bill
New Zealand's Treaty Principles Bill was defeated at its second reading in April 2025 after a select-committee process.
Possible essay use
New Zealand's Treaty Principles Bill was defeated at its second reading in April 2025 after a select-committee process.
Limitation
A parliamentary defeat resolves one bill but not the deeper political disagreement over interpretation and indigenous rights.
Case or source date: 2025-04-10
Source: New Zealand Parliament
UNESCO Builds a Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects
UNESCO created a virtual museum intended to make stolen cultural objects visible and support awareness of illicit trafficking and restitution.
Possible essay use
UNESCO created a virtual museum intended to make stolen cultural objects visible and support awareness of illicit trafficking and restitution.
Limitation
A virtual representation can educate and document but cannot restore physical ownership, context, or community control.
Case or source date: 2025-09-29
Source: UNESCO
Singapore Lets Youths Help Shape Somerset and SCAPE
The Somerset Belt Youth CoLab gives young people a role in shaping programmes and curating spaces they are meant to use.
Possible essay use
Singapore announced the Somerset Belt Youth CoLab so youths can help shape programmes and curate spaces across the Somerset Belt and SCAPE.
Limitation
a co-lab may attract only the most engaged youths, and consultation does not guarantee that officials will adopt participants' preferences
Case or source date: 2026-03-03