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Synopsis :

In the Third Quarter Final of Debate '75 for Schools, the proposition from Swiss Cottage Secondary School and opposition from Catholic Junior College debate the motion 'The social pollution brought in by tourists far outweighs the monetary benefits they bring in'. The judges include Dr. Tay Eng Soon, Senior Lecturer in Engineering at the Univercity of Singapore, Ms. Tan Siok San from the Ministry of Culture and legal officer David Gerald. The proposition likens social pollution to a dormant volcano which can erupt at any time. Tourists bring in racial prejudice, materialism, permisiveness, drug addiction and venereal disease. Tourism contributes only 5% to the GDP. Tourists affect values and morals in a society and women often revert to prostitution to cater to tourists. The opposition argues that social pollution is caused by internal weaknesses in society and not by tourists alone. Tourism is the 4th largest sector of the economy and it contributes $528 million to it. Most tourists are not drug pushers. They spend time in group tours, exclusive shops and high class hotels. These translate into revenue for the country. They visit a country to admire the scenery and culture and not to indulge in undesirable social activities. A decline in tourism can lead to unemployment. Speaking on behalf of the judges, Dr.Tay Eng Soon notes that the standard of debate was fairly high with effective rebuttals from both teams. Further improvement in spontaneity could be achieved. The proposition had a more difficult task and failed to develop certain themes effectively. The opposition did a lot of research on monetary benefits. The best speaker is Kenneth Tan from Victoria Junior College which is also the winning team.