OELP Daily reflection.
Day 1: I had to wake up at 4am that morning as we were going to Beijing and Tianjing. I was quite excited about going overseas as this is my second time going overseas without my parents. I feel that taking a break from Singapore and experiencing life outside our country is very helpful for me. We gathered at the airport at 6.30. After taking a long plane journey to China, we went to the Wang Fu Jing Street. It is a traditional place and it is one of the attractions of Beijing. There many many shops along the streets. There was also a mordern shopping mall with a lot of shops which were widely recognized in Singapore. This street is like Chinatown in Singapore. I think there should be less of shopping malls and more if the traditional shops as there are already many shops I learned that the culture of a country is very important as without one, we would not have an identity.
Day 2: We went to Tiananmen Square today. I feel that Tiananmen Square is very big and can occupy 1 million people and the sight is very breathtaking as there would be no such place in Singapore. Prior going to China, we had to do research about Tiananmen Square. It was so differnt that experiencing the place in real life. There were also many tourists there. After that we went to the Forbidden City. It was the imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end if Qing Dynasty. The places shown how China progresses over the years after many defeats in war and failures. This 2 places would be able to show people what the palace looks like and the culture and history of their homeland or they would not know a thing.
Day 3: We went to climb the Great Wall of China, the Ming Tombs. I think that the steps of the Great Wall were very steep and very hard to climb. Many times I felt like giving up, but my friends were always besides me climbing. We were encouraging each other and in the end me managed to climb to
a very high spot. When we were tired we tend to look back and think that we climbed very far.
However when we climbed up even higher and look back, we would realized that actually we still have much more to cover. We should always aim to achieve more if possible and not be contended with a certain number of achievements. When we reached the 5th checkpoint, the view was breathtaking and much better than the one below. We also helped each other down the stairs as it was significantly harder to go down than go up. When we descended from the Great Wall, we each bought a postcard to send back home to tell our parents how we were doing. The Great of China is built by Qin Shi Huang. It was very hard to build and many people died in the process of building it. Many people say that he was cruel just because of that but he actually wanted to protect China. We then went to the Ming Timbs, which was made of rare wood resources as it is very hard to find. This shows how important the Ming Dynasty was to China. I feel that the best icon for Beijing is the Great Wall as the scene there was spectacular.
Day 4: We departed to Tianjin in the afternoon and went to the Great Five Avenue. It was built by the
foreigners and there were all kinds of architecture from Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Spain.
They were also very old but they were not destroyed. From the streets, one can tell that China lost in past wars to the foreigners and they play a huge part in the history of China and the buildings will be around for many many years. The place has many turning points and we had to walk with our CID groups. There were many shops selling traditional Chinese things. After that, we went to a supermarket to record down the prices and compare them to the prices of those items in Singapore. We realized that most of the things in China were cheaper than Singapore and we concluded that the cost of living in Singapore were higher than in China. There we also saw many different brands of food in China that were not available in Singapore which tasted good. We should not be biased against China products. Even when Singapore has a high cost of living, we shouldn't be complaining as there are many unfortunate people that have worse living conditions and many people from third world countries do not even have a roof under their head. I learned to appreciate what we have now and not to keep asking for more as we are already very fortunate.
Day 5:We went to Tianjin Nankai Xiangyu school to experience a student's life in China. The school was very far from the hotel and the journey was very long. The school was very big and it was indoors. I attended their lessons for 3 hours and found them very interesting. Thier syllabus was about the same as us, it is just that the teachers use Chinese to teach the students, and it was a challenge understanding what he is trying to say. They were also very attentive in class and whenever a teacher ask a question, a student will want to volunteer to answer that question. However in RV, we were very quiet and do not answer questions very actively. I was shocked with Thier toilets as it was filled with litter and there were no urinals. Instead there were drain and it was very open. The cubicle also had no doors and some people do not even flush after using. After that, we went to the teacher's cafeteria to have lunch. The place was stuffy and hot. The food was bad and If the teacher's cafeteria was already that bad, what would happen to the students? I think that as Singaporeans, we bring a set of expectations to China as we have a higher cost of living and better standards. For example, the
classrooms in China were using blackboards with chalk and we are using whiteboards in RV. We also
have more facilities than them. We also performed our OELP dance in the auditorium and it was all according to plan. We have more facilities than them and we should be doing better than them. We should learn from them and participate in class more.
Day6: My group and I went to our buddies house. We reached our buddies house and I was surprised as the flat look about the same as the ones in Singapore. However, my buddies parents have a car each. I think that a car is needed to travel in China as it is a very big country unlike Singapore. Their parents welcomed us warmly as we entered the house. It was like a typical flat in Singapore. We played games in the house and had a lot of fun. After that, we interviewed our buddies parents to find answers to the OELP worksheet. We then started to prepare lunch. We made water dumplings and I have rarely done it at home. Their parents said that water dumplings are made during Chinese New Year and thought that we have never eaten it before. Their parents also thought that we cannot speak
Chinese and try to translate what they are saying in English. We then sat together we our buddies parents for lunch. After that, we went to the Italian street. There were many shops selling many different varieties of things. I thought that it was unique from the Chinese streets we been to and it was different from the streets in Singapore too. I had a good time with my buddy and bade farewell to him after going back to his school.
Day7: we headed to the airport and we are going back to Singapore. I had mixed emotions. I wanted to stay in China but also missed home at the same time. I had a good time during the OELP and more importantly, learned many things during the trip like how people live there and the history of China. I hope that I would have a chance to visit China again with my friends sometime again.
During the holidays, I did many things such as playing computer games and homework. Before the trip, I revise for my maths as I scored very bad for it. I think that I should make use of holidays to study and also play but it must be balanced. I also went overseas to Taiwan. There I went to the night market. It was very big and there were many things there like food and clothes. I enjoy the night market as it has a wide variety of goods and the prices are cheaper compared to singpaore. I also went to the museum and learnt about their culture and history. Their environment is also very different from us and their roads are very narrow. I also think that we will get lost easily as all the places there look alike. I also climbed a mountain and the scenery was amazing and my efforts were worth it. I enjoyed the trip and learnt very much from it
ReplyDeleteThere are many poor people in Singapore. Some of them do not even have a roof above their heads and they have sleep on the streets. They will also beg for money. The poverty rate are increasing. I pity this people.
ReplyDeleteEspecially the old people in Singapore are being abandoned by their children and they end up in the streets. I think that we should not do that to our parents as they raised us up. Other people gamble their money away. We should not gamble as we may get addicted and lose a lot of money. We should save it for a rainy day. A lot of people struggle with relative poverty. They have a job but are not making enough and their financial resources drop below the cost of living in Singapore. People also do not have jobs as the standards of Singapore are very high. This results in poverty. The government should do something to address the situation like helping the homeless people. I feel that we can also help people by donating money. We no need to donate much but as long as many people donated, it can sum up to a huge amount of money. All in all, I feel that we should help those poor people and not look down on them.
I thinnk China's one child policy was created to help to decrease the population of China. This policy has both disadvantages and advantages. One advantage of it is that people of China could only have a child and they would be taxed if they have another one.This helps to decrease the population and help China as it is already overpopulated. It can increase the food supply and there will also be better healthcare for families. There would also be fewer unemployed people as more jobs are available due to decrease in population.The disadvantage is that people tend to prefer boys to girls. Hence, many people may abort girls and there may be a huge difference in the numbers of girls and boys. Children may also face more psychological problems as they do not have siblings. In conclusion, I feel that the one child policy has more advantages than disadvantages. Without the one child policy, China would not be in its current economic position. The policy also improved the overall economic stability of China.
ReplyDeleteChina has increased its GDP growth averaging about 10 percent a year and its economy has increased to overtake Japan in 2011.Experts predict that China's economy will also overtake America to become the best economy in the world. China has a a huge population, resulting in a lot of manpower. hence, more work can be done faster and better. China also has huge amounts of land to build factories, thus many bussinessman came to China to start their business. China also has a very low tax rate as compared to the other economies at 25%. This will cause many foreigners to also do business and profit more as compared to other countries.These are all factors why China's economy has increased so much over the past few years. However, China's economy has declined and it could affect Singapore. China is the second largest tourism market for Singapore and it is also one of the fastest growing. If Chinese tourist arrivals start to decline, the effect will be felt across the entire tourism value chain from the hotels to retail outlets, casinos as well as the F&B business. Hence, I think that China economy would affect Singapore and we should maintain a good relationship with them
ReplyDeleteI feel that the presentation can help us to communicate better with people and I think that I did not really prepare for the presentation. I actually did write longer but then I blanked out and forgot my script. I think that I can improve on it and try to add in more content to my presentation and try to practise my speech more before the actual presentation to get a hang of it. I also learn that stress is always present and we must find a way to manage it so that it would not affect our performance and that practise makes perfect. Whenever we meet a difficulty or challenge, we should not back down but try our best and not be afraid of failures. We must keep on trying even if we fail and we would succeed one day.
ReplyDeleteMr Lee Kuan Yew was a very determined man and he had a lot of setbacks when governing Singapore. He was a man with great vision and brought the impossible to reality, by turning Singapore from a third world to the first world. Now, all we do is to turn on the tap and get tap water. However, that kind of luxury was just a dream in the past.
ReplyDeleteWithout Mr Lee, there would not be mordern Singapore and we would still be living in kampungs. When I was at school on a Monday morning, I heard from my classmates that he had passed on and we were all grieving over his death. Many Singaporeans went to queue for long hours just to pay their last respects to Mr Lee. Nobody was complaining, everyone was queuing up in an orderly manner. There were also people giving out food and water at their own expense. This is another side of Singaporeans as people think as us, Singaporeans as people who were stingy and complain all the time. However, after Mr lees's passing, it shows that we were not the stereotype Singaporeans but we are the ones who were understanding and wanting to pay our final respects to a great man that lead our country where we are today.
I think that Merlion should be our national icon.The Merlion can show Singapore's history and has a head of a lion and the body of a fish. Singapore was a fishing village and when Sang Nila Utamah saw a lion when he founded us and named us singapura, meaning lion city. Every country should also have a national icon as every country is unique and we would be able to tell a country by its national icon. By having Merlion as our icon, we can be able to attract more tourist visiting Singapore. We would be able to see anything related to the Merlion in most souvenir shops be it a keychain or a figurine. Many people disagree with the Merlion as our icon but something like the national flower Vanda Miss Joaquim or the esplanade. Merlion has been around much longer than the latter two and hence it forms a desperate impression in other's minds and hence, i think Merlion should be Singapore's icon
ReplyDeleteChina celebrate a lot of festivals. Some of them include Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival and Qing Ming Festival. Chinese New Year is a tale where there was a monster called 'Nian'. It likes to come out and scare the villages. One day, all villagers came up with an idea to paste red papers and firecrackers to scare away 'nian'. It worked. It was scared of red stuff and loud sounds. It was eventually captured. It was our custom during Chinese New Year to not to sweep the floor and go for a reunion dinner and decorate the house with red paper. Children should also kneel in front of their parents and say their well wishes. Their parents in return would give them a red packet with money inside called Angpao. The Mid-Autumn Festival fall on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, on the night of the full moon between early September to early October of the Gregorian calender. The tale of this festival was that was once a man called Hou Yi who shot down 9 of the 10 suns. His wife was Chang E. An immortal admired Yi can gave him 2 pills of immortality. He was overjoyed and wanted to share them with his wife. However, his app reticence, peng meng, knew this secret. He then broke into their house while Yi went hunting. Chang e did not want peng meng to have the pill, so she ate them both. Not after long, she floated out of the house onto the moon. When yi returned, he was devastated and he displayed the fruits and cakes Chang e liked. When people knew about it, they felt sorry for him and they participated in Yi's sacrifices. During this festivals, people enjoy the successful reaping of rice and wheat with food offerings to the moon. It is an occasion for outdoor reunions among friends and family to eat moon cakes and watch the moon, a symbol of harmony and unity. These are the festivals of China.
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