Self-introduction
Hi, I'm
J - joyful
A - assertive
Y - youthful
M - modest
I - integrity
E - encouraging
The reason why I explained myself this way is because of what I believe in. I believe that these are the values to uphold in your life and how we can communicate with people and love yourself. I always remember not what I did, but why I did it and always keep the right spirit.
I would like to start off with using one animal to represent myself. That animal is a tortoise. This is because I like to take things slow and steady. Also, the tortoise shell represents my family and friends. Without the shell, the tortoise will not survive because it has no security. I cannot live without my family and friends because they are my pillar of support and strength that gives me courage to overcome the barriers that come in life. I strongly believe in this quote, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
Instead of all these values, I shall talk about things I like. Firstly, I really love music, especially kpop. The reasons why is because I feel like different genres of music can let you feel different ways. Music also can be used to describe and express yourself. Different music can show your personality like joyous music can mean you are a happy and positive person. Ballots can mean that you are a sentimental. That is why I feel like music is very meaningful.
That is a brief introduction of myself :)
The extraordinary in the ordinary
This picture is a banner of the upcoming 38th cabin council election. I think this is extraordinary in RV because it happens only once a year and it is a chance for students to vote for the councillors they support, for them to be part of the cabin council to improve the school and welfare of students. I think this is extraordinary because it is a special event in RV that the councillors have been looking forward and working hard for. Many councillors have ambitions to be part of this cabin council but only a few chosen.
Although the main part of this event is about the student councillors, students play a very important role as well. We have to make our choice wisely and consider which candidate will really bring benefit to the school and their well being. Some people, because not knowing who to vote for, choose based on looks, which I think it is not right of them to do so.
The next cabin councillors will be the ones to build a bridge between the students and the teachers, to help us voice out our opinions to make the school a better educating environment. Therefore, all the students must make the decision on who has a loud and courageous voice to help the students. All students play a big part in terms of decisions and responsibility.
During this event, the candidates hold speeches, lunch rallies and also paste posters around the school to get support and votes in order to be part of the cabin council. They put in so much effort despite their busy schooling schedules. Therefore, I think it is an extraordinary thing in RV because it signifies the efforts of the councillors and the trust built between them and the people of RV.
Happiness and Poverty
Happiness
Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intend joy.
My thoughts on happiness is to be satisfied with life and what you have. As long as you keep a positive mind-set, it does not matter whether you are rich or poor, you can still be able to find happiness. I believe that happiness comes from your own self and not dependent on others to give you happiness.
Poverty
Poverty is the state of being extremely poor and being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount
My thoughts on poverty is that it’s an unbalanced distribution of wealth around the world. People that live in poverty could be because they did not work hard enough to earn a better living for themselves or they were just born to live in such poverty. I do not think Singaporeans live in poverty due to the help of the government and the many job opportunities they are given.
How are they related
Happiness and poverty are related in a way. Everybody has a different stance towards happiness and poverty. To me, happiness is my family and friends and the love/support I get from them. I hate to feel lonely in any way, so as long as I know that my family and friends are always by my side, that is my source of happiness.
However, our society focuses a lot on wealth and this may have already became a source of happiness for adults and most probably children as well. Children are very demanding towards their parents nowadays and expects their parents to be able to afford and give them anything they want.
Even when going out with friends, most activities require money which is provided by their parents. If they do not get what they want, they will be very unhappy. Thus, children with more money can spend more on entertainment purposes.
Children that are born to live in poverty also wishes to have more money to live a better life. There is a show that interviews children with low standards of living. These children says that although they play with their friends, but they still wish to have a playground to play and also a slightly better house to live in. This also links back to money and wealth. It is normal to have expectations and dis-satisfactions in life, but most of these dis-satisfactions can only be solved using money.
Therefore, whether being rich necessarily mean that we are happy is decided solely by ourselves and how we want to live our lives. In my opinion, I do not think being rich gives us happiness but the people beside you that does.
Chingay reflection 2016
Purpose of Chingay:
The official theme for Chingay parade 2016 is 'Light of legacy, brighter Singapore'. This is the 44th Chingay parade, which marks the 'beginning of our new chapter to SG100'. We will start this journey with a bright beginning as the theme suggests. This parade shows our advancement into a brighter future, with the biggest illuminated performance.
After watching this parade this year, I actually learnt a lot more about Chingay and learnt that there is actually 8000 performers from 150 organisations. All these people are people from many different cultures. This event was first introduced by our founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. This shows that one of the main purpose of this event is to bond the Singaporeans from all races as one of Mr Lee Kuan Yew's principle was to achieve racial harmony. This event was also introduced to compensate for the ban of fire crackers, a customary New Year practice to drive away evil spirits. With all its noise and gaiety, it was believed to be able to replace the use of firecrackers.
Transformation of Chingay:
The first formal Chingay parade started off as a simple street performance which consisted of only performances such as lion and dragon dances, martial arts and street opera. Now, it has transformed from a street side procession to a massive extravaganza. In the recent Chingay parades, the parade has performances such as stilt walkers, bright bulb-shaped sky lanterns, straw fire dragons and even lighted costumes that the performers wear. I think that there is this change because of the advancement in technology over the years. Organizers have started making use of this technology to raise the standards year after year. Also, many people helped to make all these logistics to to have a spectacular performance.
In the past, the people that organised and put together this event were the people in the People's Association, teaming up with the Singapore National Pugilistic Federation.
But now, there are over 8000 voluntary people performers coming from not only Singapore, but also consisting people internationally. I feel that there was such a great change over the years because of what our founding fathers have did for us to develop our country.
Making policies such as inclusive housings and having a national parade for national day, helped not only Singaporeans, but also permanent residents to have a sense of belonging to the country.
Joining the Chingay parade is voluntary and do to need to have any special talents to be part of it and is also a way you can show love and contribution to the country. People is willing to sacrifice their time and effort just for this event, shows that they care about the country.
From the very first Chingay in 1973, over the 4 decades, the parade has developed from a very Chinese-centric one, to a multi-cultural flavour one, and now finally to an international flavour one, moving from being a street parade not just for Singaporeans, but also for visitors to the red dot.
Organizers fulfilled the purpose:
Has the organizers fulfilled the purpose of this event? In my opinion, of course they did! In the other years, I did not really think much of this event and did not watch it. After I watched it for the first time, I could really feel the Singapore spirit from not only the performers, but also by the audience's cheering. The emcees successfully motivated the audience to participate throughout the performance by for example, asking us to use the clappers. All these could be an encouragement to the performers, thus showing the bond between us Singaporeans, which is one of the main purpose of this event. The organizers also recruited many different people, not limiting the age and race. This gives the people chances to work together to produce a beautiful product together and strengthen the relationships of people from different walks of life and different cultures. Without limitations, anyone can join in, so no one will feel excluded from this event. After watching this parade, I really see a bright future ahead of us and that we can all work together to create a better Singapore and truly see how we Singaporeans can bond as one.
3-2-1 lesson reflections
3 things I have learnt :
1. I have learnt that although the one child policy may be unfair to the families that prefers to have more children, but it is also advantageous to them as they would be more financially stable and the child will get better education and efficient basic needs.
2. I have learnt that Singapore used to have a two child policy, but due to low birth rates now, currently there is an ageing population.
3. The one child policy was implemented in Chine to control and prevent overpopulation.
2 perceptions :
1. There are always advantages and disadvantages to a problem. For example the one child policy. Many families may think that is unfair to only have one child and some may even abort the female child to have a boy to pass down the family name. However, having one child allows that child to have more benefits. Benefits such as better education, more weekly allowance, more basic needs and also economic growth in the country as the adults can spend more time on work than their children. But there is also a disadvantage, which is there is a lot of burden put onto that single child. As it can only depend on themselves to support their older generation, they may undergo economic difficulties and will undergo lots of stress.
2. We must always respect others point of view. Some people may disagree with the government for implementing these policies, but we must know that the government is doing it for the country's advancement and future. Even if we disagree, we should just politely accept it because it is the best for us.
1 question I have :
What other policies are there in other countries to control overpopulation except for the 1 child policy?
Why Singapore should not be complacent in her achievements
I think it is an essential factor for Singapore to not be complacent in her achievements in order to be on good terms with other countries and work closely with them.
Singapore being one of the most successful and metropolis cities, we should remain humble and always keep in mind that we would not be able to achieve this status without the help of other countries.
Singapore has many close foreign relations with other countries which allows us and other countries to seek each other for help and have good connections for good communication. Singapore is a small country and we must admit that we still have areas of improvement that needs the help of people from around the world.
Our prime minister, Mr Lee Hsien Long, made a speech at Clean and Green Singapore 2015 Launch. He addressed the fact that Singapore was a generally clean city and our streets are cleaned. However, I do not hundred percent agree that it is only the efforts of we Singaporeans. It is also the efforts of our cleaners in Singapore, which most of them are foreigners. From this, we can see that all the small achievements and all the little advancements we have made as a country, also includes the help from other countries.
Also, we are a racial harmony society which we can be proud of. Being able to stay with people of different races, language and religion with little amount of conflicts, is really a successful area that we can thank our founding fathers for. They have built this kind of society, implementing different policies in order for us to live harmoniously together. Therefore, this is a culture we should preserve in our country. One way to do that, is to be humble with our achievements, so that people will trust our country and feel comfortable being in Singapore, not making them feel that they are coming to a very proud and superior country. Being humble is also one of the best ways to gain peace and harmony with different countries. By making everybody equal, no unfairness would be spreading. Although there may be competitions between each other at times, it is just a way for each other to improve. Singapore has much to learn from other countries as much as other countries has. Instead of being complacent and satisfied with where we are now, we must bear in mind that there is always room for improvements.
We must keep on learning and together, we can create a better Singapore. I very much agree that Singapore must not be complacent in her achievements.
FUTURE OF SINGAPORE
I envision the future of Singapore to have many advanced technology and new transportations that can allow people to get to their desired location very fast.
Transportations, such as hover boards and jet packs. I did not include teleportation because I personally do not believe that there is any way a person can transport through a portal.
As I have drawn in the picture, there are also upgraded facilities. One of them that I think can be possible would be a lift that does not require any wait time. The people are immediately transported there upon entering. They do not even need to press any levels, but simply just saying.
I also envision Singapore to have many more high rises, because of our lack of land and constantly growing population. As you can see from my drawing, Marina Bay Sands hotel, which is considered as one of singapore's tallest landmark, is being dwarfed by all the other high rise building, showing the contrast between what we have now and in the future. I even included buildings underwater, preserving our land.
Although I envision all these advanced improvements to our lives, I still included the merlion park in my drawing. This is because I hope that this is a place that will be conserved because the merlion symbolises Singapore and many of us of this generation has gone to merlion park, which holds our memories. This place can remind Singaporeans and also show foreigners about the national identity that we hold.
Pre-OELP Reflection
In two days, we are going off to our OELP trip! I am very excited as it is my second time going overseas with my school. The first time I went, was a very new experience to me. I roomed with my good friend, but it resulted in a strained relationship. Of course I hope that this will not happen again. One thing i am looking forward to is the exchange programme with Lida Secondary School. Based on the stereotypical views on China students, they are said to be very hardworking and even don't rest because they want to study! I want to go there and see for myself. Going to their school can also help me learn about the differences of China schools and Singaporean schools, based on appearance and culture. Also, I have started to communicate with my buddy via email. She sounds like a really caring and sweet girl, she also ask me what are my food preferences and whether I minded to take public transport. I would really like to meet her in person and maybe we will even keep in touch after this trip.
From the few times I've been to China, I have always got captivated by the beautiful scenery. Therefore, I am also interested to go on sight-seeing to places like the Huangpu River and the Mudu Water Town. Singapore is a city that is surrounded by high-rised buildings, so there is no natural scenery to enjoy. Hopefully, the scenery in China is also not all about buildings as well!
We are also going to various museums like the Kun Opera Museum. I would like to learn about heir culture and also the history of them. I think it would be very interesting knowledge to know and we can also compare their cultures with our own. We are also going to the Silk Factory and have hands on activities there! I have heard many interesting things about this factory through my primary school seniors that went during primary 5, which I unfortunately did not get to go due to the bird flu. However, now that i have a chance to visit that place, I am definitely going to try to experience as much as I can!
Lastly, as a class of course I hope that we will be able to bond more. Honestly, i do not think that 2G is not a very bonded class. We are the earliest class to leave for OELP and there are only a limited amount of teachers, so there cannot be adults to look out for us 24/7, so I hope that my class will not only look out for themselves, but also take care of other classmates. Especially in a foreign country that we are not very familiar with, we must always make sure that we are close together to not risk anyone getting lost. The main goal for my class is for everybody to enjoy the performance we have prepared for Lida. We have planned it for quite long and discussed a lot before finally coming to a performance that favours everybody. Although some people seems quite bored and may not want to coorperate, during the rehearsal I actually see them joining in. We have stayed back a few days for this performance so i really hope it will be a success.
Post-OELP Reflection
I chose to go on this trip because of the many benefits I could gain from this trip. Not only knowledge, but also life skills like independence, responsibility etc. It is a rare opportunity for us to leave our parents to a foreign place but still under supervision, and this is one of the opportunity. Of course it is a very brand new experience for me because this is the first time I leave me parents' side after 5 years. Although the last time also allowed me to learn some of independence skills, I was still young then and that trip was more for fun, the main objective was not learning. This time I went with a clear objective, to learn and to grow, so I think it was much more meaningful this time round.
The main decision I made was whether to leave my parents' side. I knew that everything comes with risks and accidents might happen anytime at anywhere. I was scared to leave my parents' side. However, in the end I knew I had to grow up some day and I decided to go on this trip. This decision also meant that I had to take care of myself for 7 days. My parents would not be there to tell me what to do, where to pack my stuff, what to buy and what not to buy. It is solely my own freedom. So I have to admit, whether or not to leave my parents for 7 days was a decision I had to make.
The things I want to learn, as mentioned from my first paragraph, is knowledge and life skills. The main objective of the school for this trip is to learn about another country's culture. I hoped to learn more about what they eat, how their lifestyle is like and also their behaviours. I indeed learnt about these stuff and much more!
Although this teacher is someone that taught me something important, but there is somebody else that taught me something that cannot be learnt in class. Which is my buddy's parents. Well, this is not exactly something that they taught me, but something I realised through them. Just during that 5 hours, they made me feel warmth, just like when I was at home. They treated and cared for me like their own children. They cared to the extent that I thought 'why are they doing so much for us?'. Firstly, her father brought us to East Taihu Lake. My buddy is more of the shy kind so she did not really talked to us, which made it really awkward. Her father kept making conversations and tried to make the atmosphere more lively. He even hired somebody to drive us around. At that time, it was raining so our shoes were wet. When we got home, we played a board game with our buddy. During this time, my buddy's father was using tissue paper and a hairdryer to dry our shoes. He did not even needed to do that. All he had to do was to bring us for lunch and talk to us, so I was really surprised when he did something like that for us. Afterwards, we had lunch cooked by our buddy's mother. There was so many dishes, at least 10 and every few mouths we ate, she will ask us to eat more. She also asked us whether we could get used to the food and what else we would like. That was very thoughtful of her and I feel very warm and cared for because of this gesture. I actually did not expect all these from her parents. Before I went on this trip, I thought China people were rude and not caring. I did not trust them and requested for another friend to go on the house visit with me. This clearly proved me wrong. I was surprised at how caring and thoughtful they were, totally different than the stereotypical view I had. Something very important thing that I learnt is to treat others nicely, because it can really impact them. It does not matter whether you will only know them for one or two days, u should still show them as much care as you can. This family really impacted me with their care in only 5 hours. When I left, I realised I did not take a photo with them and was like "oh gosh, why didn't I take a picture with them." The next time I saw my buddy and her mother I was delighted that I could take a picture with them. Therefore I learnt to always treat everyone wholeheartedly. It is not hard for us to do so but I can truly bring happiness and warmth to somebody else.
One fact that impacted me the most is that vegetables are actually very tasty. It might sound funny but it's true. Before the trip, I was very picky and did not like/eat vegetables. Even if I did, it was only one or two leaves. But on this trip I probably ate more vegetables than I did in a lifetime. I went there thinking that I will probably just eat the egg and fish and stuff that are not vegetables. However, the people that say in my table during meals came up with a game where the loser had to eat the leftovers. That is when I started eating and liking vegetables. As I ate more and more vegetables during every meal, I actually started to think "why did I not like vegetables in the first place?" One vegetable that I most unexpectedly liked was eggplant. I remember the time I hated eggplant was during my Hong Kong trip with my primary school. There was a huge plate of eggplant left so everyone had to eat some. That's when I hated eggplant and I never thought I would eat it again. But there was one dish with eggplant during this trip that make me like woah. And even after I came back from China, I continue eating veggies. I think this has really impacted me because vegetables are very nutritious and good for yourself and everyone should eat 2 servings, which I used to not. Therefore, I think it is something that has impacted me.
This trip indeed make me more independent and responsible. Before the trip, I always lose stuff and even lost my wallet numerous times before. I told myself that I will not lose anything during this trip and was determined to keep my word. I checked my bag after every destination to make sure my valuables were all there and also to make sure I bring down my valuables every time we leave the bus. Although there is sometimes where my friend had to remind me of stuff I left behind but I think this bad habit has really improved during this trip. One behaviour that I have developed is to have my 'own time own target' which my father always says. My parents always had to ask me to go bathe or to do something before I I will go and do it. But during the trip, I don't know whether it is because I'm tired or I have to or simply doing it by my own, but I found myself going to bathe on my own account and also packing up my stuff for the next day before I go to sleep. I think these attitudes and behaviours will be with me as I grow in the future.
Something that I hope will have a long term impact on me is my interest in Chinese culture. Before this trip I thought we didn't need to learn about a different culture but I found out that it was very interesting and want to learn more about it. Even though I may not take bicultural next year as a subject, but I hope this interest will remain so I will learn more about these in the future. Also maybe even learn about other countries' culture, not only China.
I learnt the importance of friendship and helping in this trip. In this 7 days, I realised that I could never take care of myself without my friends' and teachers' care. Even small things like waking me up I. the morning can really help a lot. When I am careless, they are there to remind and look out for me. My roommate also played a big part in this section. She was also my bus partner, so we basically interacted a lot I. this trip. She always reminded me and in the hotel she would help me. She knows that I am scared to turn off the lights, so we slept with the lights on. My luggage was not big enough, she offered to help me carry some things onto the aeroplane and return me once we reach Singapore. I am very grateful of the people who took care of me on this trip and could not have had a great time without them.
The things I want to learn, as mentioned from my first paragraph, is knowledge and life skills. The main objective of the school for this trip is to learn about another country's culture. I hoped to learn more about what they eat, how their lifestyle is like and also their behaviours. I indeed learnt about these stuff and much more!
This trip was truly an eye opener as I get to know so many more things I never expected, like their history and the students' school life. I also hope to learn life skills. Not only independence as I mentioned earlier, but also as a whole class, bonding. Our class is not really bonded before the trip, so I hoped that our class will get closer and help each other out in a place where we can only rely on each other. I can say that we did get closer. I interacted with some people I was not very close with, and maybe because of the long bus rides together. I also see many people doing that too! However, I must admit that throughout this whole trip, we still stayed somewhat within our cliques, only interacting with others at times, but it's ok, I hope it will turn better after the few more months we are together.
One situation that I feel strongly about is my experience at the Kun opera museum. The woman that showed and taught us the opera was about 30 years old and she said she had started learning it since she was 14. We all were surprised and asked her how come she can keep doing it without getting bored. She mentioned that she was actually "cheated" to go there by her parents. She went through many tough trainings and also many times wanting to give up to get where she is. She said that she put in so much hard work, doing it everyday that it has already became a passion and a habit. If she does not sing for only one day, she will feel uncomfortable. This is something I respect a lot. Doing something not for the fame, not for the money, but for the passion. Although she was "cheated" to learn opera, she soon developed a passion and did not give up. I know and I have heard about how tough these trainings are. Being beaten up, scolded, doings things beyond your limit, is something that may seem unachievable, but with perseverance, she achieved it. Therefore, this is something I respect and feel strongly about.
Although this teacher is someone that taught me something important, but there is somebody else that taught me something that cannot be learnt in class. Which is my buddy's parents. Well, this is not exactly something that they taught me, but something I realised through them. Just during that 5 hours, they made me feel warmth, just like when I was at home. They treated and cared for me like their own children. They cared to the extent that I thought 'why are they doing so much for us?'. Firstly, her father brought us to East Taihu Lake. My buddy is more of the shy kind so she did not really talked to us, which made it really awkward. Her father kept making conversations and tried to make the atmosphere more lively. He even hired somebody to drive us around. At that time, it was raining so our shoes were wet. When we got home, we played a board game with our buddy. During this time, my buddy's father was using tissue paper and a hairdryer to dry our shoes. He did not even needed to do that. All he had to do was to bring us for lunch and talk to us, so I was really surprised when he did something like that for us. Afterwards, we had lunch cooked by our buddy's mother. There was so many dishes, at least 10 and every few mouths we ate, she will ask us to eat more. She also asked us whether we could get used to the food and what else we would like. That was very thoughtful of her and I feel very warm and cared for because of this gesture. I actually did not expect all these from her parents. Before I went on this trip, I thought China people were rude and not caring. I did not trust them and requested for another friend to go on the house visit with me. This clearly proved me wrong. I was surprised at how caring and thoughtful they were, totally different than the stereotypical view I had. Something very important thing that I learnt is to treat others nicely, because it can really impact them. It does not matter whether you will only know them for one or two days, u should still show them as much care as you can. This family really impacted me with their care in only 5 hours. When I left, I realised I did not take a photo with them and was like "oh gosh, why didn't I take a picture with them." The next time I saw my buddy and her mother I was delighted that I could take a picture with them. Therefore I learnt to always treat everyone wholeheartedly. It is not hard for us to do so but I can truly bring happiness and warmth to somebody else.
This trip indeed make me more independent and responsible. Before the trip, I always lose stuff and even lost my wallet numerous times before. I told myself that I will not lose anything during this trip and was determined to keep my word. I checked my bag after every destination to make sure my valuables were all there and also to make sure I bring down my valuables every time we leave the bus. Although there is sometimes where my friend had to remind me of stuff I left behind but I think this bad habit has really improved during this trip. One behaviour that I have developed is to have my 'own time own target' which my father always says. My parents always had to ask me to go bathe or to do something before I I will go and do it. But during the trip, I don't know whether it is because I'm tired or I have to or simply doing it by my own, but I found myself going to bathe on my own account and also packing up my stuff for the next day before I go to sleep. I think these attitudes and behaviours will be with me as I grow in the future.
Something that I hope will have a long term impact on me is my interest in Chinese culture. Before this trip I thought we didn't need to learn about a different culture but I found out that it was very interesting and want to learn more about it. Even though I may not take bicultural next year as a subject, but I hope this interest will remain so I will learn more about these in the future. Also maybe even learn about other countries' culture, not only China.
I learnt the importance of friendship and helping in this trip. In this 7 days, I realised that I could never take care of myself without my friends' and teachers' care. Even small things like waking me up I. the morning can really help a lot. When I am careless, they are there to remind and look out for me. My roommate also played a big part in this section. She was also my bus partner, so we basically interacted a lot I. this trip. She always reminded me and in the hotel she would help me. She knows that I am scared to turn off the lights, so we slept with the lights on. My luggage was not big enough, she offered to help me carry some things onto the aeroplane and return me once we reach Singapore. I am very grateful of the people who took care of me on this trip and could not have had a great time without them.
Trip Task (Cost of Living)
1. A bottle of 300ml sprite in the Chinese supermarket cost 2.20 RMB ($0.44). This is a stark comparison to Singapore's price of around $1.20 or so. So for $10 we can buy at least 20 bottles of the sprite in China which is very cheap.
2. The tour guide was asked about the cost of living in China but she did not give a definite answer as different parts of China have different cost of living. However, she said that she was satisfied with her cost of living as she is able to support herself and get by with her salary.
3. The cashiers were very friendly towards us and I remember my classmate telling me that the workers in the supermarket stopped to chat with her, asking about how Singapore was like and how she was enjoying her time in Suzhou.
One way items were advertised in China is that they tend to place faces of idols on their products to get customers to be interested in the product as their favourite idol might be endorsing such a product, they would feel an urge to buy it. Objects places in the supermarket were like Singapore, they are placed in aisles with similar products for customers to find them easier and browse related items as well.
Trip Task (Education)
1. When I attended lessons with my buddy, I was surprised at how lively the class was, I thought that the students would be silently reading their books and studying. However, that expectation proved true when the lesson commenced because the students immediately kept quiet and listened attentively to what the teacher was saying. This surprised me a lot as I did not expect the Chinese students to be so similar to us.
The teacher makes use of an interactive whiteboard which is quite interesting as I have never seen it being used in a Singaporean classroom before.
I attended Math, History and Moral education with Kristy. As Math and History was in Chinese, we were slightly confused as we could not catch on to what the teacher was teaching. However what they were learning was definitely different from out syllabus and so once we could get a grasp of what the teacher was saying, the lessons were quite interesting.
Other than these periods, there was also lunch which was a whole new experience for me as stalls only sold one or two kinds of dishes as compared to the large variety we have in Singapore.
In a nutshell, the class and school environment is quite conducive and I would enjoy studying in such an environment.
2.
1. A bottle of 300ml sprite in the Chinese supermarket cost 2.20 RMB ($0.44). This is a stark comparison to Singapore's price of around $1.20 or so. So for $10 we can buy at least 20 bottles of the sprite in China which is very cheap.
2. The tour guide was asked about the cost of living in China but she did not give a definite answer as different parts of China have different cost of living. However, she said that she was satisfied with her cost of living as she is able to support herself and get by with her salary.
3. The cashiers were very friendly towards us and I remember my classmate telling me that the workers in the supermarket stopped to chat with her, asking about how Singapore was like and how she was enjoying her time in Suzhou.
One way items were advertised in China is that they tend to place faces of idols on their products to get customers to be interested in the product as their favourite idol might be endorsing such a product, they would feel an urge to buy it. Objects places in the supermarket were like Singapore, they are placed in aisles with similar products for customers to find them easier and browse related items as well.
Trip Task (Education)
1. When I attended lessons with my buddy, I was surprised at how lively the class was, I thought that the students would be silently reading their books and studying. However, that expectation proved true when the lesson commenced because the students immediately kept quiet and listened attentively to what the teacher was saying. This surprised me a lot as I did not expect the Chinese students to be so similar to us.
The teacher makes use of an interactive whiteboard which is quite interesting as I have never seen it being used in a Singaporean classroom before.
I attended Math, History and Moral education with Kristy. As Math and History was in Chinese, we were slightly confused as we could not catch on to what the teacher was teaching. However what they were learning was definitely different from out syllabus and so once we could get a grasp of what the teacher was saying, the lessons were quite interesting.
Other than these periods, there was also lunch which was a whole new experience for me as stalls only sold one or two kinds of dishes as compared to the large variety we have in Singapore.
In a nutshell, the class and school environment is quite conducive and I would enjoy studying in such an environment.
2.
Interesting tables
Large school compound
Sports facilities
Many ICT facilities
Interior of one of the buildings
3. My buddy has no tuition and does not seem so stressed out by what was my impression of China's competitive education system. One thing I realised about the youth culture when I was with her was that they do not use their phones as often as we do. They also seem to have more knowledge about their culture and they are also quite keen on learning.
They do not have as much free time as us because they end school much later than we do and they and so unlike us, they do not have much time out of school as once they get home they need to do homework. The things they are interested in are also different from us except for the fact that they also like K-pop like me. I found this out when my phone accidentally rang in class and it played a famous K-pop song from the group EXO which the Chinese students reacted to with familiarity.
4. One thing I would like to learn is how the students in Suzhou Lida Middle School juggle their responsibilities and I want to apply it in my life in RVHS so I would be able to cope better and plan my time better.
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