HBC101 Understanding Contemporary Society: The Social and Behavioural Sciences TMA 01 Question 2026 | SUSS, Singapore

HBC101 Tutor-Marked Assignment 01

This tutor‐marked assignment (TMA) is worth 50% of the final mark for HBC101: Understanding Contemporary Society: The Social and Behavioural Sciences.

Submission Instructions

Please upload this assignment to Turnitin by Thursday, 26 March 2026, 11:55pm. Resubmissions are allowed before this cut-off time.

Submit your essay/report/write-up together with your cover page, in a single file (saved as MS word file), to the submission link titled [TMA01].

Marks allocation at a glance

 Note: All marks will be awarded only with the TMA submission via Turnitin.  

Question (100 marks)

The mandatory death penalty (MDP) in Singapore is reserved only for the most serious crimes including intentional murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking. As part of Singapore’s broader criminal justice review in 2012, the applicability of the MDP on the possible range of crimes has narrowed, giving the courts more discretion to mete out other punishments than the death penalty. But new changes in 2024 have also curtailed the rights of those on death row to make appeals for their cases. The MDP debate has two main camps – the retentionists and abolitionists. Retentionists argue that the MDP is necessary to deter serious crimes in Singapore, but abolitionists question the effectiveness of the MDP in doing so.

Ministry of Home Affairs Singapore Survey on Singapore resident’s attitudes towards the death penalty 2023 (2023) https://isomer-user-content.by.gov.sg/341/0146c2b0-f8a8-43e4-9b25c98d739f456f/survey-report-on-findings-from-mha-public-perception-survey-on-singaporeresidents-attitudes-towards-the-death-penalty-2023.pdf

Jom The death penalty: Seeking an honest conversation (2025, September 26) https://www.jom.media/the-death-penalty-seeking-an-honest-conversation/  

(a) From the state’s perspective, identify and explain three key justifications for the retention of the mandatory death penalty in Singapore.

(40 marks)

(b) Critically analyse how convincing these justifications are, referencing the available evidence and arguments used; and discuss the limitations of the justifications. Use relevant up-to-date statistics, examples, and evidence from reliable sources to support your responses.

(60 marks)

Please ensure that you read the TMA/GBA submission instructions as well as submission reminders [Appendix A] carefully.

Appendix A: TMA/GBA Submission Reminders

TMA/GBA Cover Page & GBA Declaration

• Download and complete the TMA/GBA Cover Page from Canvas L01 > Modules > Assessments.
• Acknowledge that you have read the self-declaration on academic integrity and submit it with your TMA/GBA. No appeals concerning the Cover Page will be entertained.

TMA/GBA submission 

• Adhere strictly to the naming convention specified for TMA/GBA files. Noncompliance to these standards may result in your TMA/GBA not being marked and/or an administrative fee being imposed.
• It is your responsibility to ensure that you have uploaded your file(s) completely and accurately to the correct submission link. All inaccurate submissions will be treated as a null submission.
• Backup your TMA/GBA at all times.
• After you have uploaded your file(s), review your submission immediately and ensure that the entire document has been uploaded completely and successfully.
• Submit early and check the originality/similarity report to decide if you need to revise and resubmit your assignment.
• Turnitin reports are generated immediately the first time but subsequent reports may take up to a day to generate.
• Retain the Turnitin digital receipt as evidence of a successful submission. Appeals submitted without the Turnitin digital receipt will not be entertained.
• Resubmissions (overwriting earlier submissions) are allowed only before the deadline. No further resubmissions can be made during the grace period or thereafter.
• The 12-hour grace period after the deadline is NOT an extended deadline. It is solely for resolving technical problems encountered with submissions before the deadline.

Late submissions and submission problems

• Late penalties are automatically applied by Canvas after the 12-hour grace period.
• Your instructors will NOT be able to grant any extensions as they cannot override Canvas system settings.
• Details about marks deduction are outlined in your Student Handbook under Academic Rules and Regulations.
• In case of problems, email Canvas Support at LSsupport@suss.edu.sg Attach your TMA/GBA file and relevant screenshots showing the technical error and follow up with Canvas Support before the grace period is over.
• If there was no submission before the deadline, one late submission is allowed up till 1 week after the deadline, after which no more late submissions will be allowed.

TMA/GBA Formatting Requirements [For essay submissions on Word only]

• Upload your TMA/GBA as a Word document file (.doc, .docx) only. No other formats are allowed. Feedback on your marked assignments will be provided only if the assignment is submitted as a Word document file.

Word / Slides / Page / Duration Limit

Writing and presenting succinctly is an important skill in academic writing. Keep strictly to any word limits (or limits to the number of slides, pages, or durations of videos) as no allowance will be given. Any content beyond the specified limits will not be marked. Tables, figures, and in-text citations are included in the word count whilst the reference list and appendices are not.

English Competency

It is important that you use an appropriate academic writing style, and write clearly using correct grammar, punctuation and spelling. British spelling is recommended.

Referencing

Appropriate in-text citations and an accurately formatted reference section are expected. More information about formatting in APA7 can be found in the APA website: http://www.apastyle.org/index.aspx.

Plagiarism and Collusion

The University takes a very serious view of plagiarism, including misuse of Generative AI (GenAI), and collusion, i.e. submitting an assignment which is very similar to another student’s. The definitions and penalties are outlined in your Student Handbook.

All assignments are to be completed on your own. You may discuss the TMA/GBA with your course mates, but the assignment must be written up independently. Similarly, for assignments where GenAI use is permitted, you may consult GenAI but write the final submitted assignment

yourself. You are also responsible for properly disclosing any use of GenAI in your assignments through citations and tables as detailed HERE. See below for further guidelines on GenAI use.

Permissible Use of GenAI

• Brainstorming for ideas and basic outlines with proper disclosure
• Summarising research materials for reference only (note: substantial lifting of the summarised content is not acceptable)
• Correcting minor spelling and grammatical errors

Unacceptable Use of GenAI (AI Cheating)

• Wholesale or substantial lifting of AI-generated content, including text, images and videos
• Generation of references without conducting research or verification
• Extensive rewriting and/or restructuring, including changing from one writing style to another and reorganising content

WARNING: Submitting assignments that substantially regurgitate or reproduce information from any sources, including GenAI tools, constitutes plagiarism. Once a plagiarism offence is established, the student’s work will be heavily marked down. A Fail grade will be awarded for cases found to contain fabricated content, including bogus references, false information, or non-existent arguments attributed to cited reference sources.

Proof of originality of your submitted assignment

You are strongly encouraged to (1) keep a record of your assignment version history and (2) retain PDF copies of all the cited sources in your assignment in a zipped folder. This evidence will be required in the circumstance that your assignment is flagged for plagiarism, in particular misuse of GenAI.

(1) How to keep a record of your assignment version history:

• • Prepare your assignment using Google Docs or Microsoft Word Online which automatically retains version history. When required to, you can share the link to your document with the following access rights:
    • Google Docs: “Anyone with the link” and “Editor”
    • Microsoft Word Online: “People with the link can edit”

Note: The assignment document must reside online (Google Drive or OneDrive). Saving a copy or downloading a copy of the online file will lose the version history.

(2) How to retain PDF copies of cited sources (in a zipped folder):

• • Where possible, download the article in PDF format and rename the file as:
    • Single author: Surname and year of publication (e.g., Johnson 2022.pdf)
    • Multiple authors: Surname of first author + et al. and year of publication (e.g., Tan et al. 2024.pdf)
  • If PDF files are not available, take screenshots of the webpage containing the article details, the Abstract, relevant pages you referred to, paste them to a Word doc file and save it as a PDF file using the same author/year file-naming conventions suggested above.
  • For book references, take screenshots of the relevant pages you referred to, paste them to a Word doc file and save it as a PDF file using the same author/year file-naming conventions suggested above.

Appendix C: Generic Band Descriptors for Students

Excellent answer

• shows a clear and thorough understanding of the topic concerned by covering relevant points accurately and comprehensively in a well-structured, focused and cohesive manner
• provides excellent illustrations/examples/supporting evidence
• shows very strong evidence of critical thinking/analysis and in-depth understanding
• goes beyond expectation and shows original thinking
• all cited references are authentic, relevant and properly attributed in the required citation style

Good to Very Good answer  

• shows a good to very good understanding of the topic concerned by covering relevant points accurately in a well-structured, focused and cohesive manner
• provides good illustrations/examples/supporting evidence
• shows good evidence of critical thinking/analysis and in-depth understanding
• shows evidence of original thinking
• all cited references are authentic, relevant and properly attributed in the required citation style

Fair answer  

• shows a fair understanding of the topic concerned by covering relevant points adequately, but may not always be well structured, focused and cohesive
• provides adequate illustrations or examples, however, they may not always be appropriate
• shows little evidence of critical thinking/analysis and lacks in-depth understanding
• shows little evidence of original thinking
• all cited references are authentic, but not always relevant or properly attributed in the required citation style

Weak answer  

• shows only rudimentary understanding of the topic concerned and only manages to cover a relevant point or two adequately, but is not well structured, focused and cohesive
• attempts to provide illustrations or examples, however, they are generally inappropriate or irrelevant
• shows no evidence of critical thinking or in-depth understanding
• shows no evidence of original thinking
• may contain some omissions and minor inaccuracies, such as missing or erroneous citations and references (i.e. minor typos but cited references are authentic)

Poor answer (borderline pass)

• does not show adequate understanding of the topic concerned and may not sufficiently cover any of the relevant points
• does not provide illustrations or examples
• tends to be descriptive and may be off point
• contains errors and misconceptions, such as a mix of erroneous/fabricated citations and references, and false information

Fail (less than 40%)

• shows very little understanding of the topic concerned and barely covers any of the relevant points
• fails to provide illustrations or examples
• attempts to describe but is off point
• contains serious errors and misconceptions, such as numerous erroneous/fabricated citations and references, false information, and non-existent arguments attributed to cited reference sources

Bad Fail (less than 15%)

• shows very little to no understanding of the question
• contains serious errors and misconceptions, such as numerous erroneous/fabricated citations and references, false information, and non-existent arguments attributed to cited reference sources

— END OF ASSIGNMENT —