On Day Five, we set off for Suzhou from Nanjing. It was a two hour bus journey to our first stop for the day, the Suzhou No. 1 Silk Factory. We were told by our tour guide that Suzhou was the capital for silk in China. I had personally been to the silk factory before in primary school but this time the tour covered more things than it did in primary school. Being more brave than I was before, I touched the silkworm. The silkworm was unexpectedly squishy and soft. Through the tour, I learnt that it was quite a complicated process in order to produce one silk blanket or product. I also found out that for silk production, silkworms would have to be killed.
After lunch, we went on another two hour journey to Shanghai from Suzhou. As most of us had forgotten to answer nature's calls after lunch, we were all very urgent and had a serious need to do our business. During the two-hour long painful journey of holding in our pee, our class definitely bonded a lot, through holding it in together, and singing songs with pee incorporated into the lyrics. Next, we proceeded to the Fake Market nearby, where many fake goods are sold, as we can see from the name. I bought quite a number of small things including a fake Xiaomi power bank which did not work >:(.
After that, we went to the Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV Tower. Some background information were given to us prior to the visit. The Oriental Pearl TV Tower consists of three balls- the bottom one having the Shanghai municipal museum, the second one having two observatories (one 360 degree one and one transparent), and the last one having a revolving restaurant. We visited the second ball first where we had a 360 degree view at 263m where we could see the Huangpu River, otherwise known as the mother river of Shanghai. We then proceeded to the transparent observatory at 259m. It was my second time there so it is not scary for me to step onto the transparent observatory. Some of my classmates who had height phobias initially eventually got over it and were soon lying down on the glass platform confidently. Afterwards we visited the Shanghai Municipal Museum at the bottom level to understand more about Shanghai's history.
On Day Six, we went to Gongyi Xintiandi to paint Chinese opera masks which we could frame up and then bring home as memorabilia. I learnt from the workshop that we could not simply choose any colour to paint the face with. Colours we cannot use include yellow and green. I also learnt that having a red face meant having a good character while having a white face meant being evil and hypocritical. Located nearby was the old French Concession of Shanghai otherwise known as Xintiandi (a big shopping mall). The French Concession was a patch of land rented by the French during WWII, which explains why the appearance of the buildings looked rather old and more Western. After lunch, we went to the Shanghai Bookstore, a seven-storey bookstore. I personally did not buy many things as I am not a fan of Chinese books and it was not a smart decision to buy English books there as they were all imported in and we could get them in Singapore. Our second last stop for the day was the Shanghai Museum where there were 12 exhibits displaying old Chinese artefacts for example old Chinese ceramics and calligraphy. And finally, we went to Nanjing Road where many large department stores were located, for shopping.
OELP Reflection (Day 3 and 4)
On Day Three, we went to Nanjing Bole Middle School again, for another day of immersion. Once we arrived, we were brought to the classrooms to sit in for their lessons. The lesson that I sat in for was Geography. I realised that the geography lessons in China was different from the geography lessons that we have in Singapore. In China, the lesson focuses on the locations of different countries, the appearances of countries on the map, tourist attractions in each country and the food. On the other hand in Singapore, our geography lessons focus on the aspects of geography, for example urbanisation and transportation. To allow his students to further understand Singapore, the teacher got the four of us Singaporean students to share and explain a bit about one tourist attraction or food in Singapore.
Some more classroom observations:
- The Geography worksheet involves editing geographical sentences
- Students get excited when their answer is correct (competitiveness shown when going through a mock test paper)
- The only time they talked to one another was to compare who had a higher score
- Teacher was very encouraging. If the student he called upon answered the question incorrectly, instead of immediately telling the student he was wrong, the teacher encourages the student to try again
- Chinese students very different from Singaporean students. They were very spontaneous. Whenever a question was asked, one or two students would put up their hand, which is better than no hands up, something common we see in Singapore. There would be no awkward silence or pauses by the teacher as the students are all eager to answer the question (Something we can all learn from them- to share our ideas whenever we have any)
After the lesson, we proceeded back to the auditorium where a series of performances were prepared for us by the Bole students. We then performed our item too. As I sat on stage with my arms over the shoulders of my other classmates as we sang 立化情, it felt like orientation all over again. We had done the same thing during orientation, where we had only known each other as total strangers. And then there we were, at China, doing the exact same thing just that we were all close friends now.
Our next stop after the school visit was to the Nanjing Museum. There was nothing very interesting there just that I gained a deeper understanding into Nanjing's history through viewing the artefacts from the Qing Dynasty. There were a few exhibits displaying real fossils of dinosaurs and other animals like a moose. At the bottom level of the museum there is an area made to look like an old street in Nanjing. It was quite cool.
On Day Four, we proceeded to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall first thing after breakfast. It was raining on that day so the tour guide let us visit the indoor section of the memorial hall first. En route to the entrance of the indoor segment to the memorial hall, there were many bronze sculptures depicting scenes of what happened during the massacre. Some of the sculptures include that of a young boy carrying a dying old man on his back, one of an old man laying a skinny young boy to rest, and another one of a husband carrying his dying wife who was brutally tortured, raped and then stabbed by the Japanese "devils". Inside the memorial hall it was quite dark, probably to bring out a sad atmosphere. I heard from my relatives and friends who had gone to the museum before that the museum was very scary, and that I may cry while walking through the exhibits. It was indeed very sad, but the displays were not as gruesome and scary as I had pictured them to be. On display were many pictures in black and white of how the Japanese tortured and killed the victims in Nanjing (eg. Burying them alive, beheading the victims for fun as part of a killing contest, shooting children as young as two years old for nothing, forcing fathers and sons to commit incest as well as raping women up to 40 times a day then killing them or shoving items up their private parts). On display as well were many testimonies of the survivors whose family members died during the massacre, and some of the weapons the Japanese "devils" used. The most shocking thing was that 300000 victims died during the massacre. There was one segment in the museum where a water droplet would fall every twelve seconds and a picture of a victim on the wall would light up. This signifies that during the six-week long massacre, someone would die every twelve seconds (very shocking :< ). Through this visit, I learnt that museums can be subjective. Since the memorial hall is built in Nanjing, it is more biased towards the Chinese victims and it only had a small segment dedicated to the Japanese soldiers (not the "devils") whose families were kidnapped and thus they were forced to fight. If the memorial hall had been built in Japan, visitors would definitely pity the Japanese more than the Chinese.
Next, we paid a visit to the Sun Yat Sen Mausoleum, the actual site of where Sun Yat Sen was buried after his death in 1925. Dr. Sun is considered to be the "Father of Modern China" both in Mainland China and Taiwan, after fighting against the Qing Government in the 1911 Xinhai Revolution where he ended the monarchy and founded the Republic of China. It was quite fun to hike up the many flights of stairs to reach the hall where there was a statue of a sitting Dr. Sun Yat Sen, where we could pay our respects to him.
Afterwards, we visited another mausoleum called the Ming Xiaoling, where the tomb of the founder of the Ming Dynasty is located. There is one part of the mausoleum called the Elephant Road where there are 12 pairs of 6 kinds of animals lining the path towards the tomb. One pair of each kind of animal would be standing, meaning that it was diurnal. The other pair would be kneeling, meaning that it was nocturnal. The tour guide mentioned that they would "change shift" at night, so the standing pair would then kneel, and the kneeling pair would then stand.
OELP Reflection (Day 1 and 2)
As part of the CID2 curriculum, our class 2J embarked on a journey to Nanjing and Shanghai to tour both cities and gain a deeper understanding of the similarities and differences between two countries, Singapore and China, as well as to learn more about China's education system, the country's cost of living and also the culture and heritage of the Chinese. I went to China with a few goals in mind. Number one of course to gain new knowledge about the country, and to understand and respect the cultures of others, which in this case, the Chinese. Another goal in mind was to bond more with my classmates. On the 24th of May, we boarded flight SQ830 flying to Shanghai Pudong International Airport. We were tasked to reflect on why Singapore Airlines is one of the best airlines in the world. One reason would be the fact that there is an inflight entertainment system which is easy to operate installed at each seat complete with the latest movies, games and music guaranteed to keep each and every passenger occupied. Pillows and blankets are provided too. Another reason would be the inflight meal. All these mentioned can be found in several other airlines, but not many. However the main reason would definitely be the first class service provided by the flight crew. Before departure, they provided us with hot towels to wipe our hands and freshen up; they checked on us throughout the flight, providing us with beverages and also tended to our needs if any. But most of all, I did not witness the occurrence of this but it was Yu Hong's birthday on that day and in celebration of this, the flight crew gave him a whole cake, gifts and even sang him the birthday song. This was certainly unexpected. When I got to know about this, I felt that it was certainly very nice and thoughtful of them to celebrate his birthday with him. This shows the effort spent to make every passenger satisfied throughout the flight. Furthermore, all these are done by the air stewards and stewardesses with smiles on their faces.
After touching down in Shanghai and eating dinner, we went to the Hongqiao Airport to take the bullet train to Nanjing. We were warned that if we lost the ticket we would not be issued with new ones. However at the bag check area, I subconsciously placed my phone and train ticket on the conveyor belt. The ticket and phone both fell underneath the conveyor belt. I was able to locate my phone but not the train ticket. I obviously panicked and sought help from my classmates to find the ticket. This got the attention of the staff who then searched high and low for the lost ticket for me while I stood there feeling that there was no need to interfere. They eventually found it. The consequences of my lack of vigilance caused the whole class to wait for me as the ticket was being searched for and also wasted the time of the other people who were waiting for their bags to be checked. I felt really apologetic and guilty about that, and apologised to the staff. After another hour of waiting, it was time to board the train. All of us were caught up in our small conversations and did not notice that we had gotten up the wrong side of the platform. We took a really long time to go to the other side, and also took a long time to board the train with our luggage. The staff working at the station were not very pleased and kept rushing us to board the train as quickly as possible. It wasn't nice to be yelled at and rushed but we were in the wrong.
Some observations I made on the train:
- The train speed was about the same as that of the MRT in Singapore (Not as fast as I thought it would be)
- The seats were cushioned (more comfortable) and were individually allocated to us
- Pull-out table at every seat
- Sale of snacks on the train
- Freedom to eat and drink onboard
- Racks for us to place our luggage
We were honestly quite noisy on the train, forgetting that there were other passengers present too and some may have wanted peace and quiet. We could have spared a thought for them and spoke quietly instead of shouting across at one another.
On Day Two, I was appointed as IC. My job was to count the strength every time we gathered. After breakfast, we set off to Nanjing Bole Middle School. When we arrived and got off the coach, I could feel the many pairs of eyes of the students in the classrooms nearby, on us. We were brought to a small auditorium where we were warmly welcomed by the school leaders. We were then introduced to their school (eg. school motto, layout) and showed a few videos. We were then finally introduced to our buddies. It was definitely quite awkward at first between me and my buddy. However to break the ice, I questioned her about CCAs in China. She told me that they did not have CCAs there as they ended school very late at 5pm every afternoon. After a short walk around the campus, we were then brought to the classrooms to observe what life was like for a student in China.
Some observations I have made about Nanjing Bole Middle School:
- Many posters promoting football, probably because students these days spend a lot of time indoors and on their phones, and very little time outdoors to rest their eyes.
- Toilets only comprised of a drain in each cubicle which we were supposed to do our business in, instead of having toilet bowls (very weird to us but very common in China)
- Technology incorporated into their classrooms (Interactive whiteboard/ touch screen projector for the convenience of scrolling through presentation slides easily)
- Freedom to eat and drink in the classroom
- Students were very excited to have us as guests
After the school visit that day, I can definitely say that I prefer Nanjing Bole Middle School to RV. Usually, during form teacher period, the teacher would not come to class and leave the conducting of the lesson to the chairperson. However on that special day when we arrived as their guests, the form teacher came into class. The students, in order to make us feel welcome, planned a lesson full of games and also performances. In no time at all, I felt really at home. They also did a short introduction of their class to us filled with quite a number of inside jokes I did not quite understand (but my buddy made an effort to explain them to me). What made me feel very appalled was that a number of them had prepared gifts for us as their guests, while on the other hand I had only prepared one gift for my buddy. Through this, I could see how happy and excited they were to have us as their guests.
Following the school visit, we visited the Yangtze River Bridge, where we could view the longest river in Asia, Yuejiang Tower which was close to the Yangtze River and lastly the Fuzimiao Commercial District for shopping.
Chingay Parade 2016
On the 30th of January, I attended the Chingay Parade 2016, along with the rest of the cohort. The theme for this year's Chingay Parade was "Lights of Legacy, Brighter Singapore" 《智慧灯海，璀璨新加坡》. Just like most of my classmates and level mates, this was my first time experiencing the Chingay Parade, after many years of watching the live broadcast of the parade on TV. That night was truly an unforgettable one.
2016 marks the first step of the following 50 years towards SG100. This year, we also celebrate the legacy and wisdom of our founding prime minister, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, and other founding fathers who helped build Singapore to what it is today, based on the core values advocated by them, to move towards a brighter Singapore.
The first ever Chingay Parade in history was held on the 4th of February, 1973. It was mooted by the then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, with all it's noise and gaiety, would compensate for the ban of firecrackers, a customary New Year practice to drive away all the evil spirits, in 1972 due to fire hazards. For its first street parade in 1973, the PA ( People's Association) teamed up with the Singapore National Pugilistic Federation for a grand show, depicting aspects of the Chinese culture, for example, lion and dragon dances, martial arts and street opera. In fact, it was so well-received that the PA made it an annual event.
In my opinion, the purpose of Chingay 2016 was not only to celebrate Chinese New Year, but also to promote racial harmony, and also celebrate our nation's first step towards SG100 and lastly to commemorate the efforts of our founding fathers.
First Chingay Parade, 1973
The Chingay Parade definitely underwent many changes ever since its first. Initially, the performers were all Chinese but gradually over the years, the performers include those of the different races. This change happened in order to promote racial harmony between the different races of Singapore, to promote more interaction and to understand one another's cultures. The performances are also multiracial. Other than this, there was a change in timing. In the earlier days of Chingay, the parade used to be held in the morning, but in 1990, it became an evening-night parade, changing the overall feel of the parade, letting lights and pyrotechnics dominate.
I feel that the organisers definitely have successfully fulfilled the purpose of the Chingay Parade. I used to think, as a child that Chingay was merely a street parade with people decked out in different costumes walking around on the streets on stilts and performing stunts. However, from my first experience this year, my point of view has changed. I no longer see a typical street parade. I see people of different ages and different races coming together to perform as one parade for the rest of the Singapore, to remind us of the legacy that our founding fathers have created. Over the years, the Chingay Parade has improved, especially because the costumes have become more vibrant and brighter with help of LED lights.
My first experience at Chingay was definitely a memorable one.
3-2-1 Reflections : Economy -- Ageing population
3 things that I have found out
1. Initially, I thought it was only China that had a policy in the birth of children. However I discovered that Singapore in fact had a Two Child Policy and it has been so successful that the government has to encourage adults to have more children, due to our ageing population.
2. There were many reasons behind the One Child Policy in China, which was implemented in the 1970s. There were too many students needing a good education; There was a limit to the demand on the resources like water and space; When the demand goes up, the prices go up for basic needs; The population growth outstripped the food growth, which in a nutshell means that the demand was high, while the supply was low.
3. Standard of living is defined as the overall well-being of an individual.
2 perceptions I have gained
1. The reasons behind the planning of the policies of China and Singapore were somewhat the same, the only difference being that China had the resources needed, but there was a limit to them, and that Singapore had not enough of those resources to satisfy the demand.
2. The consequences of implementing the One Child Policy was bad. In the olden days, it was good for a woman to be able to give birth to a boy in order to continue the family name. Therefore due to the fact that they could only give birth to one child, the women would often sell away or kill their baby daughters just because they wanted to have a son. This is very cruel.
1 question that I may have
Singapore may be considered a wealthy country now, but there may still be the families which have low incomes and therefore how does the government expect adults to produce more children when the cost of living is so high?
Happiness And Poverty
Nowadays, people who are rich are often associated to being happy. However, I disagree because being rich may not necessarily mean that we are happy. As we talk about poverty, it is also interesting to note that we ask the question if we are happy. Being a relatively prosperous country, are we a happy country? My answer to this question is no. Singapore, compared to China, is a more developed country, according to the Human Development Index. But the HP index of China is higher than that of Singapore's. The answer to this could be that, in some people's pursuit to be happy, they try to make as much money as they can through work. However throughout this process of making money to satisfy their materialistic needs, they might spend less time with their family and friends. This could be a reason why the rich tend to be less happy compared to the poor.
Take for example, a person devotes 16 hours of his day to work in order to make as much money as possible. Once he reaches home, there would not be time for him to spend with his family. Afterwards, though the person has gained financial success from work, he may not be happy. On the other hand, a poorer person, could have more time to spend with his family and friends and thus tend to be happier.
Therefore, I feel that being wealthy should not be associated with being happy. Money can be useful in some aspects, like purchasing the things you want, like the latest phones and gadgets. It can do many things. But money here, cannot solve every problem in life. In this case, money is only a materialistic need and thus I feel that being rich does not mean that one is happy.
RV60 Reflections
16th January 2016, the long awaited RV60. I remember vaguely the period after EOYs, when we were notified about this event, and had to attend practices every morning. Every single student and teacher was involved. For me, I was part of the ensemble on stage for the finale, comprising the Chinese Orchestra, Concert Band and String Ensemble CCAs. Initially, I dreaded the practices and felt that our part was not important as we would have to be fake-playing the RV60 overture as there was already an audio which will be played for the audience.
Being confined in the band room for most of the practices, it was only on the day of the parents preview that I got to witness the full performance and it was so grand. And finally, came the actual day itself. It was the last time we would be playing that five-paged piece and we decided to give it our best. The sky was so pretty that day. We were given the cue to make our way up the stage. The teachers told us to enjoy the moment as we walked smartly, dressed in our full band uniform. After the freestyle drill and the wushu mass display, then came our moment. Our conductor raised her baton. “一九五六年，新加坡政府华文中学..." We lifted our instruments, and played the first few notes. The rest of the performance continued smoothly. As the final notes of our performance subsided, and the confetti rained down, I had never felt so proud before. Ending on a good note, it was finally over.
We appeared on the news that night, and based on the comments of the teachers and our principal, we did quite a good job. RV60 was a truly memorable experience. Be it a performer or part of the backstage crew, we each had an important part to play and without one part, RV60 would not have been a success. Hard work does pay off.
平凡中的不平凡
We were asked to choose one of the extraordinary places to us in the school and talk about it. And for me, I have chosen the band room. I used this picture as I cannot find any other picture. Being a part of River Valley Concert Band, I go to the band room for CCA every week on Tuesdays and Fridays. This place holds countless special memories for me. This is where the CCA trials took place, when I decided that I wanted to be part of band. This is also where the first CCA session took place, where we chose our instruments. I remember, when we first started off, it was during the SYF season, when the seniors were all busy and being new to the CCA, we had tutoring every week. Then finally came the day where we had our first combined session, where I fell in love with the music we made, and grew to enjoy being part of band. And there came band camp, which allowed me to grow closer to my batch mates. There are the times where we got scolded by our conductor. Lastly, this is where our many practices for RV60, my first ever performance since joining the CCA, took place. Being part of band is not only just about blowing an instrument, it is about playing in balance with the whole band. The band room depicted here, may seem ordinary to everyone else, but to me, it is truly special. I'm honoured to be part of this CCA, as I have forged many beautiful memories, and met such amazing people. And therefore, the band room to me, is an extraordinary aspect in my school life.
ISABELLE'S INTRODUCTION :DDDD
Ayo ladies and gentlemen, my name is Isabelle. I love the Korean group BTS very very much and my bias is NAMJOON <3. I have a personality type of ENFP and I tend to click better with boys compared to girls as I find I have more common topics with them. My CCA is concert band and I play the clarinet WOOTS. I chose the CCA because I really enjoy music a lot and also due to the fact that I am more or less musically inclined. Another reason is that I wanted to try playing a different instrument like the clarinet from the piano, which I have been playing since I was three years old. I personally do not really enjoy the CCA but I can say that I do not regret joining as I have forged many friendships through the CCA and also have learnt to listen to others through playing in balance, one of the most important things being in band is about. Besides making music through the clarinet and piano, another of my hobbies should be eating and that explains my size.
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