Education
Education in
Singapore and China are the same yet different at the same time for instance,
both schools in Singapore and China have English, Chinese, Science, Math, Art and
Physical Education lessons. Both have lunch breaks and homework. However, school
in China is longer and students are more hardworking. They pay more attention
and participate more in class. This most likely is because of the great
population in China. Students study hard to be the cream of the crop, and
therefore it is likely that they would put in more effort than Singaporean
students. Also, it is a privilege to be able to study in China, since many
families in China do not have enough money to send their children to school.
Therefore they would have the incentive to cherish their education.
However in Singapore,
it is a law that all children must receive education, and if families do not
have enough money, the government helps by setting up the financial Assistance
Scheme. This made me think that we have taken education for granted, since most
students hate school in spite of knowing that it is vital for their future. As John
F. Kennedy once said: "Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our
progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource."
Indeed, education is the key for the progress of our nation, which most likely explains
the boom of China’s economy in recent years. Therefore, I think that we can learn
from them in this way, and increase our knowledge for the benefit of our nation’s
progress. Through this trip, I have learnt to cherish my education and
participate more in class discussions.
However, a major
flaw in China’s education system, in my opinion, is the lack of group projects.
Group projects are created to help students know the power of teamwork, and it
allows them to work better in a team, since students will most likely will need
it in the future when they step out into the adult world to have jobs and subsequently
colleagues. Hence, group work is important, and if China can incorporate that in
their education, students would not be as individualistic as to only work and
rely on themselves. Hence, China can learn from us in this area.
Heritage
During this period of staying in China for 7 days, I have
gained great insight of China’s heritage. Heritage, to China, is very
important. It gives them personal identity, a sense of belonging and even
national pride. It allows everyone to better understand previous generations
and the history of where Chinese people come from. Therefore, China has chosen
to prioritize preserving their heritage over economic development, as seen in
many cases such as the preserving of the Qibao Ancient Town and Geyuan Garden
instead of demolishing them to build skyscrapers.
During this trip, I have learnt that cultural heritage can
be made up of many things, large and small alike. We can see it in buildings,
skyscrapers, and archaeological remains. Culture can be perceived through
natural sources such as agriculture and the landscapes associated with it. It
is preserved in many different ways, through books, artefacts, paintings, and
tradition. Cultural heritage is in the food eaten (famous Chinese dishes like 狮子头),
the clothes worn (traditional 旗袍), the religions followed (Mostly
Buddhism), and the skills learnt (like paper-cutting, which we experienced in
China). Sometimes we can touch and see what makes up a culture; other times it
is intangible. To value culture, we must be able to understand it. From this
trip, I have learnt to value my roots in China, and have started to appreciate
the Chinese heritage. The Singapore government can organise more nationwide
events for communities to participate in so as for Singaporeans to better
appreciate their heritage.
History
During the OELP trip to Shanghai and Yangzhou, I have learnt
that history is important because it is the heritage that shaped the world that
we live in today. It helps people to understand their existence better. People
may wonder why their environments are in their current state, but all this can
be explained by the study of history which can tell the story of one’s race,
country, species, state, forefathers and culture. When all this are added up
together, it explains the details of why a country is in its state. It also
helps us in determine the future effects of our actions by comparing our
situations with situations in history. For China, they have a rich history with
multiple great heroes that have been remembered today because of preservation.
This has been shown to us when we visited Zhu Ziqing’s house. It has been
preserved because he was a very patriotic man who had great faith in the country,
and was even willing to sacrifice his life for China. Hence, China considers
him a hero, though a small one, and preserves his house to let the people of China
know that this man is a role model that they should follow. Chinese people can
also learn his ideals and implement them in our own life, thus paving the way
for a successful and fruitful life. Although they may not be able to copy them
or completely imbibe these significant peoples’ ideas in our life, but when Chinese
people study these icons in Chinese history, they prevent these ideas from
being lost. Although this a small example, this shows that China holds their
history close to them.
China also has a lot of museums to not only preserve history
but also to show them to the public, because this creates a sense of national
pride. These museums, as we have visited, contain many precious artefacts such
as Chinese paintings, traditional costumes from the past, ancient coins, stone
structures carved the shape of their gods, etc. Therefore, we can see that China
is proud of and is keen on preserving their history.
Culture
Chinese Culture is one of the world's oldest cultures. The
area in which the culture is dominant covers a large geographical region in
eastern Asia with customs and traditions varying greatly between provinces,
cities, and even towns as well. Important components of Chinese culture
includes ceramics, architecture, music, literature, martial arts, cuisine,
visual arts, and religion.
During OELP, I have learnt that culture allows the Chinese
people to identify with others of similar mind-sets and backgrounds. Staying in
China and eating the food there has given me further insights into China’s
culture. However, Singapore culture is very different from China’s culture.
China’s culture is generally purely Chinese culture. However in Singapore, our
culture is very mixed, since our populace of nearly 5.5 million people is made
up of Chinese, Malays, Indians, Caucasians and Eurasians (plus other mixed
groups) and Asians of different origins, which is in line with the nation's
history as a crossroads for various ethnic and racial groups. Also, we have
been influenced heavily by British, Malay, South Asian, East Asian Dutch,
Portuguese, and Australian cultures. During this trip, I have learnt a lot
about the Chinese culture, and have learnt to value my roots as a Chinese.
Identity
National identity
makes a person feel he or she belongs to the country, and provides the sense of
security which is an opportunity to connect with those of the same identity. This
is important for a country. During our trip, I have learnt that in China, a shared
mind set between the Chinese would create more progress for the country. Therefore,
national identity in a country is extremely important, as people can work
together in the same direction as country, and not in segregated groups. This may
be the reason for China’s prosperity: because Chinese people have a national
identity and they work together with a common goal. For Singapore, we have a
weaker national identity, since we are a young nation and do not have as much
of a history as China does. Hence, I believe that the Singapore identity can be
further strengthened by the government through various means, such as
sponsoring Singaporeans to watch national games so as to build on the Singapore
spirit. This way, there is more incentive for Singaporeans to come together as a
community and as one Singapore. With a better identity, Singapore can scale to
further heights and achieve more.
Economy
China’s economy is
the world's fastest-growing major economy, with growth rates averaging 10% over
the past 30 years. It is a global business hub for the manufacturing and
exporting of goods. From the towering skyscrapers to its impressive
architecture, it is without doubt that Chinas economy is quickly growing. China has done business internationally and
its industrialisation has contributed greatly to their growing economy. On our
first day in Shanghai, we saw many banks, hotels, malls and business companies
near the Bund. These have been built in recent years where foreigners have
travelled to China for business purposes. Hence, China has attracted a great
number of countries to do business with, further adding on to the growing
economy of China. Singapore is similar to China, in which Singapore does
business internationally. Singapore also has many banks, hotels, and generally
businesses in the central area. Hence, we are currently experiencing our golden
age with a strong economy and much prosperity.
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| Thank you for reading! |
Individual daily reflection during OELP Trip (26/5/15 - 2/6/15)
Waking up before the sun does with the knowledge that in just mere hours you would be 6 miles above ground in an airplane is an amazing feeling. Everything that morning passed in a blur because it was quite surreal to me that our trip to China was officially beginning. Upon reaching the airport and bidding our parents farewell, I felt a little reluctance in leaving my family. However, my heart was still pounding in excitement as I eagerly anticipated for what was to come.
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| At the airport! |
After we landed in Shanghai (it was around 4:30 in the afternoon), we went for dinner. It was then we got to taste the traditional food of Shanghai: one of the important elements of Shanghai's culture.
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| The restaurant :) |
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| The food! |
On the bus ride to The Bund, he told us that Shanghai used to be a fishing village, and after much development and building of architecture, Shanghai is now a busy city with modern technology.
According to 包导游, Shanghai's golden era was in the 1990s, when Shanghai opened up to foreign investment.
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| Shanghai Then and Now |
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| I spotted an IKEA on the bus ride on the way to The Bund, which is evidence of the opening of foreign investment in Shanghai, which according to 包导游, lead to the economic growth of Shanghai in the 1990s. |
Upon reaching The Bund, we could not help but admire the view of the massive skyscrapers that lined the edge of the river. Dozens of skyscrapers surrounded us displaying colourful, huge advertisements.
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| The breathtaking view at the waterline |
At that moment, standing there surrounded by friends, I felt extremely lucky and happy to have the opportunity given to me to travel to Shanghai with my class :)
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| A panorama of the place |
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| CID Group photo! (sorry it's not of the best quality, it was really dark!) |
After exploring the place for a while, we took a cruise tour around the Huangpu River, also known as 黄浦江. The sky scrapers were bright and vibrant, each one unique in its own way. Big colorful signs and advertisements covered huge areas of the sky scrapers. On the cruise, we could see the Oriental Pearl Tower, which we would visit on the last day of our trip, as well as a sign that read: 'Welcome to Shanghai!'. It was truly a breathtaking sight.
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| The view at night is always the best |
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| The Oriental Pearl Tower was in sight as well |
From the sights of the Bund and Huangpu River, I could tell that Shanghai was extremely well-developed. With grand sky scrapers and tall buildings around the lake, it occurred to me that Shanghai was economically advanced and well-developed.
Back at the hotel, we had a debrief, where my form teacher Mr Dela Cruz posed two important questions to us: 'What contributes to China's economy?' and 'How is it similar to Singapore?'
After a time of discussion, we realized that the banks, hotels, shopping malls and tourist attractions which we saw and even experienced (such as the cruise around the lake) were great benefactors to China's economy. This also showed that the river that we visited had great economical value to it, which linked to the second question in a sense that it was similar to the Singapore river in Singapore.
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| Shanghai's Huangpu river |
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| Singapore River |
Both countries used to be fishing villages and had and is still experiencing enormous economical growth. They both used to use the river for transportation, hence experiencing economical growth, and now still benefit from it by using the river as a central place where development takes place. Therefore, both countries prosper and benefit greatly from the rivers and its surrounding businesses.On this day, I learnt that Shanghai is very much similar to Singapore in terms of economic contributors.
☼ Day 2, 27/5/15
Geyuan Garden is a small, elegant urban wooded mountain garden, primarily made up of bamboo and rocks.
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| Bamboo in Geyuan Garden |
Rocks of different hues and shapes are used to represent scenes from the four seasons; hence, the rock garden was named the “Artificial Mountain of Four Seasons”.
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| This rock is supposedly shaped like an animal's head |
We also explored various rooms, including the kitchen, which belonged to the original owner of Geyuan Garden!
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| The kitchen |
We then headed back outside into the garden, where we stopped to take pictures in front of the half-moon shaped gate.
Afterwards, we scaled the stone steps up to the second floor. However, it was raining at that time, so the steps were very slippery. It was worth it though, when we saw the view from the top!
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| Our CID group photo in front of the half-moon shaped gate :D |
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| The steps we had to climb up. |
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| The view from the top! |
After exploring the Geyuan Garden, we went to the Chinese Paper Cutting Museum (剪纸博物馆), where we got to try traditional paper-cutting.
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| The Chinese Paper Cutting Museum |
We were taught to cut paper very intricately, such that every detail could be seen. Although I had to cut out a dog, which was one of the easiest pictures to cut, I was surprised to find difficulty in cutting. There were many small nooks and crannies of the picture that we had to snip out which made the task a difficult one. However, my friends and I did not give up, and we eventually achieved the finished product. It was then I learnt that items that were cut or made by hand have more value as compared to those factory-produced. This is because more effort and time is put into making such items. Hence, I could conclude that not only advanced technology and infrastructure has value. Instead, such culture and historical artefacts have value in the country as well.
Next destination! We went to the Grand Canal (大运河), which was a peaceful river surrounded by greenery.
| Grand Canal, Yangzhou. |
We took a boat tour at the Grand Canal, and drifting down the river made us feel relaxed after exploring Yangzhou for the whole day. It then dawned upon me that Yangzhou had a slower pace of life than in Shanghai and Singapore.
According to the video that was playing on the boat, the Grand Canal (also known as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal) is the longest canal or artificial river in the world and a famous tourist destination. Starting at Beijing, it passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou, linking the Yellow River and Yangtze River. The oldest parts of the canal even date back to the 5th century BC! I think that this river is of great value both historically and economically. This is because the Grand Canal is a part of China's history and is invaluable, and also because many tourists are attracted to it due to the fact that it is the longest canal in the world. Therefore, I believe that such places are worth preserving.
During the debrief later on at night, we made comparisons between Shanghai and Yangzhou. This is what our class came up with:
-Shanghai has more expressways
Reason: It has a greater population of people, hence a greater number of cars.
-Shanghai is more developed (more skyscrapers)
Reason: It is a metropolis that is focussed on business and development, whereas Yangzhou is more focussed on preserving heritage and culture of historical value, which attracts tourists and increase economical growth.
-Shanghai is cleaner
Reason: more tourists visit Shanghai. Therefore, cleaner streets and toilets leave a better image.
-Shanghai has more economical potential.
Reason: It is an international business hub which gains more economical growth as compared to Yangzhou which is not.
-Shanghai has lesser trees (greenery)Reason: Shanghai has many skyscrapers for business purposes, hence having less trees. Also, Yangzhou attracts tourists because of its greenery and nature.
-Yangzhou is more traditional and less modern. It has more culture/more historical value and practices.
Reason:Yangzhou has more historical value that is worth preserving. It also attracts tourists because of its rich history.
-Yangzhou has signs with only one language, but Shanghai has signs in two languages.
Reason: Shanghai has more foreigners in the city for business which later contributes to their economy. Therefore, more languages are needed on things such as signposts or advertisements.
Therefore through this activity, I have learnt the differences between Shanghai and Yangzhou, and why both preserving heritage and modernizing are important and of value.
☼ Day 3, 28/5/15
It was the first day of school immersion! We were all very excited to explore the school in Yangzhou and interact with students our age in Shuren School. For many of us, it would be the first time we would experience the school-life in China.
What stunned me the most was the sincerity of the principal. When we were leaving the hotel to go to Shuren School, I noticed a friendly-looking woman interacting with one of my friends. Later, I realised that she was actually the principal, personally accompanying us to the school! This greatly warmed my heart, and made me eagerly anticipate meeting the students from Shuren school even more!
The moment the bus drove into the enormous campus of Shuren School, we were stunned by how big the school was! Even though we had done research on the school before-hand, seeing it in real-life was a real shock to us. It was huge!
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| The sight that greeted us |
As we stepped off the bus, many teachers came forward to welcome us with warm and friendly smiles on their faces. This made us have good impressions of the school, because they were extremely sincere in welcoming us.
After that, we went into a particular class room where there was a huge screen with a projector showing a lesson that was happening live. Some of my classmates got to sit in a special room with a huge one-way glass where they could see the Shuren students in the other room but the Shuren students could not see them. Although the Chinese classes were a little advanced for us, we surprisingly still could understand them!
During the lesson, we could tell that students were very attentive in class, and would participate actively in discussions.I think Singaporeans students can improve learning by following them in being active in class.
After the Chinese class, we spent a whole 5 minutes walking over the the next classroom to watch an introductory video of Yangzhou. Although it was the same one we watched in CID class previously. I was reminded of the rich history and culture in Yangzhou and its way of life.
After the Chinese class, we spent a whole 5 minutes walking over the the next classroom to watch an introductory video of Yangzhou. Although it was the same one we watched in CID class previously. I was reminded of the rich history and culture in Yangzhou and its way of life.
After we watched the video, we went to Shuren School's impressive indoor sports hall. It was big and spacious, and even had bleachers that could be extended out whenever they needed to use it! We had PE lesson with the students of Shuren School, during which they taught us their 武术 routine.
After we learnt it, we showed them our 立化拳. After the PE lesson ended, we started competing in some games with another class that Shuren School had planned out for us. It was exciting competing against a different school, and I am very proud to say that we did exceedingly well!
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| Their gigantic indoor stadium |
But what made this experience so memorable was the fact that my form teacher asked me to lead cheer. This was because I am a member of the Junior Student Council and my form teacher happened to be the Teacher-in-charge of the House Department of SC. I was shocked and absolutely terrified because my vocabulary of cheers is very limited and this seemed like a huge challenge for me. However, it went very well, and in spite of a hoarse throat, I was very proud to be part of team RV and I can proudly say that although Team RV lost a few games, we definitely won morally. Even if Team Shuren lost a game, we would still cheer for them, and I think this is what matters: not winning in competitions but winning in moral.After that, we had lunch in the school, and the school provided more-than-enough food for us. I was immensely touched by their hospitality.
We then headed to their coffeehouse to relax. I was amazed at how many facilities that the school had! A coffee bar in the school where students could read and drink coffee was a great facility i wished RV had! We had a great time relaxing there.
Later on during the regular debrief, we discussed about why the school was so big. The main reason is because China has a lot of land space, and therefore it is possible to have facilities that occupy a lot of space, such as the 'garden'. Therefore, it is not the common misconception that 'we cannot afford it' and instead it's because we do not have enough space.
We were ready for the second day of school immersion! This time, we visited the second branch of Shuren School called 树人旧校区. We were more excited this time because it would be the day we met our buddies! My buddy was a friendly, cheery girl. She was very kind and even attempted to converse with me in English. However, it wasn't the smoothest of conversations because sometimes I would speak too fast or her accent would be too heavy for me to understand! Hence, I started speaking in Chinese while she would reply in English. I found out that she liked Taylor Swift, and chinese literature.
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| Our buddies and us :) |
After that, we went to a classroom where students from both schools had presentations. Our school presented an introduction to Singapore, explaining VIA and how we keep our country clean through various measures. Shuren School displayed their talents by playing the guitar, dancing and even presented a science project! Through this, we got enjoy the different performances they had prepared as well as allow them to understand Singapore better.
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| RVians giving a presentation! |
It occurred to us that the students in China were exceedingly confident, and that they were very individualistic. Our form teacher later explained in the debrief that this was partially because there were many people in China. Therefore, there was more competition to be the cream of the crop. Therefore, they were outspoken and would work extremely hard. This resulted in fewer group projects as well, since students had a habit of working hard alone. I feel that group work is very important because it teaches us teamwork and how to work well together. I think this is an area China students can learn from us! With more group projects, students can learn to co-operate and do well in a team, rather than having an individualistic character.
After that, we had a 书法 lesson where students helped us improve writing Chinese characters. It was very fun and students were extremely friendly, which greatly warmed my heart.
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As a discipline calligraphy is, at the basic level, a pursuit is focused on writing well. Students aim to obtain the writing characteristics of exemplary pieces of writing. Elementary school students practice calligraphy in this way, as do elders practicing temporary calligraphy, without aspiring to artistic creation.
Next, we proceeded to visit Xinhua Book Store, also known as 新华书局. According to 包导游, Xinhua Book Store is very popular among the people of China, similar to Popular Book Store in SG.
Xinhua Book Store has 7 or so levels, which made me extremely eager to explore!
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| we noticed that such pens which are imported, are at the same price as those in SG, which too are imported. |
My CID group realised that bookstores in China and Singapore were very different. Bookstores in Singapore sold candy and had baskets for customers to put their items in. However, the bookstores in China had seats for people to sit and read, and they even sold rice cookers! Also, we observed that there were close to no English books in the entire book store and instead, there were mostly Chinese books, with a few Korean or Japanese books.
Later on, we decided that a logical reason for this was because Korea and Japan were getting stronger economically. Therefore, the Chinese government was trying to encourage the Chinese to learn these languages so that China could do more business with these countries. However, the demand for English books is extremely low. This leads to supplying lesser English books and more Japanese/Korean books to the various bookstores in China. Hence, we derived a lot of information about China from a mere bookstore on this day!
Later on during the debrief, we made comparisons between Shuren School and River Valley High School. This is what we collated:
-River Valley is cleaner and has toilet paper in its toilets.
Reason: Singapore has higher maintenance and therefore it ensures that all schools have the basic requirements.
-Shuren School students are more attentive and participate more.
Reason: They have more competition to be the cream of the crop.
-Shuren School is bigger
Reason: China has more land area. Therefore, it is cheaper to have a big school.
☼ Day 5, 30/5/15
We started off our day by going to a local market for a visit. There, many things such as ornaments and accessories are sold.
The local market sold
a huge range of goods, from accessories and jewellery to potted plants, books
and pieces of stone. There are also many people performing using various magic
equipment and selling them. From this, I could infer that the local market in
China are very different from that in Singapore.
These are the differences that can be seen:
- Items sold:
In Singapore, markets sell fresh fruit, vegetables, poultry,
flowers, eggs, and more! They focus more on selling groceries. However in
China, markets focus more on selling ornaments, accessories and plants. These
vary from bracelets, stones and antiques to plants and even live animals.
From this, we can tell that the markets in Singapore and
China sell different things.
- Infrastructure
The market in China is less modern and is in open space.
However in Singapore, markets are in enclosed areas with allocated slots for
different vendors to sell their goods in.
My conclusion:
My conclusion:
I think that the reason for these differences is that people
in Yangzhou and Singapore have different demands from markets. In Yangzhou, the reason why
more ornaments are sold may be because people in that area appreciate such
pieces more, or that they are used to looking for accessories in local markets while they would buy their food in supermarkets. However, people in Singapore use markets for a
different purpose. Hence, the markets in these two countries sell different
things to meet the different demands of the people.
Next, we visited the
Slender West Lake ( 瘦西湖), which is a well-known scenic spot in the city of
Yangzhou in Jiangsu province; it is a national park of China. The lake is a
man-made lake where beautiful views and historic points coexist. It is a
state-level scenic resort and gets its name because its outline is long and
narrow like a slender, gentle girl.
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| The beautiful scenery! |
There are 24 scenic attractions at the lake, including the White Pagoda, the Five Pavilion Bridge, Xiaojin Hill, Fuzhuang, 24 Bridge, and many others. The lake was surrounded by an abundance of greenery, making the landscape even more breath-taking.
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| group picture! |
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| the 24 girls in our class! |
Next, we took a trip to the former residence of Zhu Ziqing. It was located in midst of a few houses that were still being occupied by residents. The house was preserved by the Chinese government as a historical site, which could be seen by the pictures that could be seen as soon as one steps into the house. The pictures depicted different government officials visiting the site and outside the house, there is a plaque announcing that the house was officially opened to the public.
Zhu Ziqing (November
22, 1898 –
August 12, 1948) is a renowned Chinese poet and essayist. He was a prolific
writer of both prose and poetry, but is best known for essays like 背影,which my classmates and I have read
because of school recommendations, and 你我. His best known work in
verse is the long poem "Destruction" or 毁灭.
While we were exploring the house, our teacher Mr Dela Cruz posed us a question:" Why is this house being preserved and opened to the public?" I naturally thought about tourism, and how preserving such a famous person's house could attract tourists and gain economic wealth. However, it turned out that Zhu Ziqing was very patriotic and loved his country with a passion. This could be seen through his life, in actions such as encouraging his students in Kunming to oppose Chiang Kai-Shek from starting the Chinese Civil War after the Second World War. Also, when he heard of the assassination of patriotic authors Li Gongpu and Wen Yiduo, he totally disregarded his own safety to attend the funeral of both men.
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| The statue of Zhu Ziqing in his house |
While we were exploring the house, our teacher Mr Dela Cruz posed us a question:" Why is this house being preserved and opened to the public?" I naturally thought about tourism, and how preserving such a famous person's house could attract tourists and gain economic wealth. However, it turned out that Zhu Ziqing was very patriotic and loved his country with a passion. This could be seen through his life, in actions such as encouraging his students in Kunming to oppose Chiang Kai-Shek from starting the Chinese Civil War after the Second World War. Also, when he heard of the assassination of patriotic authors Li Gongpu and Wen Yiduo, he totally disregarded his own safety to attend the funeral of both men.
Zhu Ziqing later died in 1948 due to starvation after
joining the rebellion of refusing aid from the United States. These acts of
patriotism showed that Zhu Ziqing loved China and was willing to sacrifice his
life for his country.
Therefore, the Chinese government wants to preserve his
home, so as to send the message to society that this man is a role model and
that they should too constantly remember their roots and be proud of their
nation like Zhu Ziqing was.
Finally, we went to
Dongguan Street. The street was paved in slates and just like the rest of
Yangzhou, the place was traditional and less modern as compared to Singapore.
There were many shops that were old and a large number of monuments and heritages, and they all maintained the characteristics of the Ming and Qing Dynasty. In 2010, it was even selected as one of "10 Famous Historical and Cultural Streets" by a national program which evaluates streets on their historic importance, cultural significance, preservation, economic vitality, social visibility, and protection and management.
The street sold a huge variety of things, like clothes, traditional costumes, street food, and charms. We spent a whole 2 hours there and yet could not explore the whole place!
There, we bought many souvenirs including handmade accessories and tea. It surprised
me that there were so many tea shops, and I ended up buying a ton (not
literally) back home for my family. Thia my once again be because tea is vital
in China's culture and therefore it is what most tourists search for in China.
Therefore, more tea shops must be open to accomodate the huge demand for
traditional tea.
There were many shops that were old and a large number of monuments and heritages, and they all maintained the characteristics of the Ming and Qing Dynasty. In 2010, it was even selected as one of "10 Famous Historical and Cultural Streets" by a national program which evaluates streets on their historic importance, cultural significance, preservation, economic vitality, social visibility, and protection and management.
The street sold a huge variety of things, like clothes, traditional costumes, street food, and charms. We spent a whole 2 hours there and yet could not explore the whole place!
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| CID group picture |
☼ Day 6, 31/5/15
It was a day of
travelling again. We woke up extra early and soon found our selves on the bus
for yet another tedious trip from Yangzhou to Shanghai. The moment we reached
Shanghai, we made a trip to Cheng Huang Miao.
It was packed like sardines there, but I could see many western-themed stores there such as Starbucks and Paul Frank. The prices were as we suspected: just as expensive as that in Singapore because after all, they were imported and not China-based. We enjoyed ourselves in Cheng Huang Miao and even bought some snacks that were famous in Shanghai to bring home.
It was packed like sardines there, but I could see many western-themed stores there such as Starbucks and Paul Frank. The prices were as we suspected: just as expensive as that in Singapore because after all, they were imported and not China-based. We enjoyed ourselves in Cheng Huang Miao and even bought some snacks that were famous in Shanghai to bring home.
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| The crowded streets |
After that, we went
to the Shanghai Science And Technology Museum. There, we first explored the
museum. There were many wax figures of animals of different countries, such as
giraffes, elephantsand lions in the section labelled 'Africa' and the kangaroos
and koalas in the section labelled 'Australia'. There were also many boards
that gave further information on the animals which were very helpful.
Then, we watched a 4D short film on bacteria and how to prevent getting sick.
Then, we watched a 4D short film on bacteria and how to prevent getting sick.
Next, we went to the
infamous Oriental Pearl Tower. The Oriental Pearl Radio & TV Tower (东方明珠塔)
is a TV tower in Shanghai. It's located opposite The Bund, which we visited on
the first day of our OELP trip. The Oriental Pearl tower is 468 meters (1,536 feet)
high and is the world's sixth and China's second tallest TV and radio tower. We
took a lift up the Oriental Pearl Tower and the view was beautiful! From the
top, we could see the various skyscrapers and tall buildings that covered the
land of Shanghai. As we were there, I noticed that along the shoreline, there
were many western-styled buildings. After Mr Dela Cruz explained why, I
understood that the lake was used for business in the olden days, when Shanghai
first opened business with foreigners. Back then, westerners occupied the area
and therefore now, the buildings are still there for business, even though not
necessarily occupied by their original tenants.
After that, we made our way down to a transparent platform.
There, the floor was made of transparent glass and standing on it, one could
see view underneath their feet. It was quite a scary experience! However, after
we got used to it, we even took a jumpshot on the platform!
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| CID Group (but the photographer cut Gabriel out XD) |
Then, we went to the
Old French Concession. One of the most typical features of the Old French
Concession is its gorgeous tree-lined avenues, which are perfect for long
walks. In the area, there was a huge variety of hip cafes and restaurants,
concept bars, breweries, boutiques, art galleries and antiques stores: all
western themed. The colourful and vibrant surroundings made me long to stay for
a while more, but unfortunately we were on a tight schedule.
Finally, our last
destination of the day! We made our way to Tian Zi Fang. It was a beautiful,
quaint area with small shops. However, the stuff sold were a little pricey, so
we couldn't buy much there. So we just strolled around, enjoying the evening
breeze and beautiful surroundings! All in all, we just enjoyed the beautiful
streets of Shanghai for the day.
☼ Day 7, 1/6/15
It was the last day
of OELP! We were extremely reluctant to leave the country, and saddened by the
fact that we would never have the same experience with our 2I classmates again.
Nevertheless, we brought our spirits up and tried to make the best of our last
day around Shanghai.
Firstly, we went to the Qibao Ancient Town. The Qibao
Ancient Town was considered a sanctuary, tucked away from traffic jams,
pollution, and noise which filled Shanghai day and night alike. Built in the
Five Dynasties Period around one thousand years ago, the town witnessed great
development in the Song Dynasty and flourishment in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Walking around the town, our teacher pointed out that there were many costume shops in the area. We figured that it was because China wanted to preserve their tradition and culture, and therefore opened these stores to cater to the Chinese.
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| CID Group 4! :D |
Walking around the town, our teacher pointed out that there were many costume shops in the area. We figured that it was because China wanted to preserve their tradition and culture, and therefore opened these stores to cater to the Chinese.
It turned out that the town had a unique business of photo-taking
with historical costumes! People could get traditional Chinese costumes and
take photos in the streets. Our group felt that this was very unique in
Yangzhou’s culture and heritage, and is a fantastic way of preserving culture
and earning money from tourists at the same time.
Afterwards, we then went to the Shanghai museum. There, a lot of Shanghai's history was revealed to us, through displays of ancient coins, statues of gods, paintings, Chinese painting, and Chinese traditional costumes.
My form teacher Mr Dela Cruz, who also happened to be our history teacher, explained a lot about the different sites. He was extremely knowledgeable about the different coins, religions and costumes of Shanghai, and explained the different items very thoroughly. We noticed that the history China is trying to exhibit is mostly of their rich heritage and not so much of their Dynastic ruling and revolutionary events which would ruin their image. Our group concluded that the Chinese government wanted to preserve things with historical value such as traditional paintings, costumes, and coins.
The day had ended. We reluctantly went back to the airport and waited for our flight to Singapore. The trip was an experience I will never forget. Apart from bonding with my class, I learnt along the journey many, many things about Shanghai and Yangzhou that I could never have learnt in books alone. Altogether, I can confidently say that 2I's OELP trip is a success!
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| Thank you for reading! |
Perceptions of Chinese in Yangzhou (28/4/15)
Today, Ms Huang showed us a video clip of people collecting urine from the boys toilets of elementary schools and using the urine to boil eggs. The video taught us that apparently, people in China believed that eating these eggs will keep them healthy and not fall sick or catch colds.
The class was appalled and disgusted at this. Using urine from the toilets? That's so unhygienic! I saw all of my classmates pulling disgusted faces and some gagging in exaggeration.
The class was appalled and disgusted at this. Using urine from the toilets? That's so unhygienic! I saw all of my classmates pulling disgusted faces and some gagging in exaggeration.
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| Everyone's reaction. |
But then Ms Huang questioned us: how would we respond to Yangzhou's culture?
| Virgin boy egg cooked in urine. |
"不用了，我吃素的”
“我现在很饱，下次吧”
“我放进行李， 打包给妈妈吃”
However, Ms Huang explained that none of these were good excuses. We then learnt that we should not lie to our buddies in Yangzhou, and should convey our true feelings without offending their culture instead. She then laughed and said: "等一下有好吃的东西吃，但因为你说你吃素的，因此不能吃，那这么办?” From this lesson, I learnt that however disgusting some cultures may seem to us, we must always consider other people's feelings and not show our disgust, and that we should not lie either, because it might backfire on us. We should always tell them the truth politely.
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| Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it :) |
CULTURE OF YANGZHOU(28/2/15)
| A lake in Yangzhou |
Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu province in the People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across the river to the south.
1) Art of storytelling and painting
| The Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou. |
This flourished in Yangzhou. The innovative painter-calligrapher Shitao lived in Yangzhou during the 1680s and again from 1697 until his death in 1707. In the Tang Dynasty (618AD-907AD), the great monk, Jianzhen, sailed from Yangzhou to Japan and devoted himself to the exchange of the Sino-Japanese culture. Many scholars, painters and poets lived or traveled here, including four famous poets of the Tang Dynasty, Libai, Baijuyi, Liuyuxi, and Menghaoran. During the Yuan Dynasty, Marco polo stayed here as the governor for 3 years.
During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Yangzhou got a new lease of life as a salt-trading center. The period also saw a group of painters known as the 'Eight Eccentrics' break away from traditional methods, creating a style of natural painting that influenced the course of art in China.
2) Bathing culture
As weird as it sounds, bathing in Yangzhou has a unique twist to it as part of its culture. Stemming from over 2,200 years ago in Yangzhou, pots were filled with water for bathing. From the Han Dynasty to Tang Dynasty, the ancient Yangzhou still had showers at home, there were no public bathrooms at that time. According to the three knives Yangzhou written by Mr. Wang Xianxin, public bathhouses appeared in Yangzhou as early as the beginning of the 11th century, the Northern Song Yuanfeng era.
By the Qing Dynasty, Yangzhou bath industry had developed greatly. Xu Ning Zhang opened the first public bathhouse in Yangzhou.
During the time of Chinese revolution, Yangzhou had 33 bathhouses. After twists and turns, the number of bathhouses in Yangzhou had risen to more than 260. As of 2002, Yangzhou's bathhouse industry employed over 5,000 people; its annual revenue exceeded 500 million yuan. Just in Yangzhou's main urban area bathhouses served around 30,000 customers every day.
Bathing for people in Yangzhou is not only the need of health, but also a sign of civilization, the quality of life and the spirit of enjoyment. Bath leisure there reflect local culture and social civilization. Bath centers there concentrate in dedicated service. Contemporary bath centers have changed from relaxing places to serve communities. There is spacious bathing space, various kinds of bath and cultural facilities in bath centers in Yangzhou, which allows you to enjoy the physical and mental pleasure. Besides, soft lighting and elegant decoration give people a feeling of being in a dreamlike palace
This is unique to Yangzhou's culture as bathhouses as extremely rare and personally, I have never been to or seen one before.
| Bathhouses can be found along the streets of Yangzhou. |
3) Dialect
The Yangzhou dialect (Chinese: 扬州话; pinyin: Yángzhōu huà) of Chinese is representative of Lower Yangtze Mandarin, and is particularly close to the official language of the Ming and Qing courts, which was based on the Nanjing dialect. However, it does differ considerably from modern Standard Chinese, although they are still moderately mutually intelligible.
Dialect has also been used as a tool for regional identity and politics in the Jiangbei and Jiangnan regions. While the city of Yangzhou was the center of trade, flourishing and prosperous, it was considered part of Jiangnan, which was known to be wealthy, even though Yangzhou was north of the Yangzi river. Once Yangzhou's wealth and prosperity were gone, it was then considered to be part of Jiangbei, the "backwater". After Yangzhou was removed from Jiangnan, its residents decided to replace Jianghuai Mandarin, which was the dialect of Yangzhou, with Taihu Wu dialects. In Jiangnan itself, multiple subdialects of Wu fought for the position of prestige dialect.
Dialect plays a important part in Yangzhou until now. Therefore, I feel that dialect is an important aspect of the culture in Yangzhou.
All in all, I feel that there is an extremely rich culture in Yangzhou that is unique and one-of-a-kind. I have learnt more about Yangzhou's dialect and the fact that public bathhouses exist and originate there. Also, I look forward to appreciating Yangzhou's art in museums when I go there for OELP this month!
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| Thank you for reading! |
17/4/2015 Reflection - is the Merlion the best icon to represent SG?
Today, we discussed a very debatable topic: Is the Merlion the best icon to represent Singapore? Every group was given a big sheet of paper to share their opinions.
This is what we wrote:
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| Our group's work |
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| The Majestic Merlion |
The fish tail of the Merlion symbolises the ancient city of Temasek and represents Singapore's humble beginnings as a fishing village. Therefore, the Merlion has a story to tell about Singapore's humble history, thus making it a popular icon to represent Singapore. Also, the Merlion today attracts more than one million visitors a year who make the trip to the Merlion Park to photograph this world famous icon at her new home, at the adjacent to One Fullerton. This hence makes this icon more well-known to foreigners from outside Singapore.
Therefore the Merlion has become a national personification of us. making this icon extremely important. By having the Merlion as our icon, we can be reminded of our humble beginnings as a nation.
If somebody were to ask you: which icon represents Singapore the best, would you think of the Merlion instantaneously? I believe that many people will only say the Merlion because it is unique to Singapore, is part of Singapore’s history, and is the first go-to answer. However, I believe that this should not be true.
We believe that an icon is very important to Singapore because it represents our identity as a notion and makes us significant among other bigger nations. However, by making the Merlion our national icon, it only represents Singapore's history and not what we have become today. It does not tell the story of present-day Singapore, or how we live nowadays.
Singapore is a country of many different identities which cannot stand alone by themselves.
Whether it is a packet of tissue paper that says ‘chope!’ or a sign that says ‘no playing football in the void deck’, there are countless icons that play a part in representing Singapore’s identity.Here are other icons we can consider:
| Void deck signs |
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| The act of 'chopeing' |
-It can be the Singapore River which was transformed from pungent, murky waters full of waste and rubbish where faeces and trash can be found, to the sparkling, crystal-clean water tourists admire today:
| before.. |
| and after! |
we twist a simple word into a word with multiple meanings! |
| National Breakfast Day, when McDonalds gave away free Egg Mcmuffins! |
| Changi Airport, Singapore |
From the day it opened, the airport has won many accolades including several firsts. These include being the world's largest airport at the time of its opening and having the world's largest column-free hanger at 20,000 sq m. It is suitable because it has won many achievements and is one of the best airports in the world!
| National Day, when all races come together to celebrate our country's birthday! |
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| Vanda Miss Joaquim, our national flower |
| thanks for reading! |
A reflection for 27/3/15- SG's golden age and Mr Lee's contribution
Today during our CID lesson, papers were distributed and different categories, such as arts, religion, literature were allocated to different groups. For my group, the category was while the title was 'Science and Technology'.
We were given 10 minutes as a group for research to find out why these catergories were contributing factors for the Tang Dynasty to be called the Golden Age of China. I learned that under the catergory of Science and Technology
-engineering
-medicine
| Chinese herbal medicine |
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| woodblock printing |
| alchemy |
| Cartography maps |
Through these presentations, I not only learnt more about Science and Technology during the Golden Age, but also learned about many other reasons and factors that made China extremely prosperous during that time.
Comparing China's Golden Age to Singapore's progress today, I believe that right now, is indeed Sinagpore's Golden Age. Part of this belief comes from my enlightening of Singapore's history, which was revealed to me when the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew passed away. Since he was a great man in our country and had sacrificed his life to build our nation to what it is today, many montages of singapore's progress were made and shown to us. I could not only see how he contributed to out country, but could also see how much Singapore has grown in a short span of 50 years. Singapore: originally a dirty old swamp but now a first class metropolitan city.
Everything has completely transformed for the better and there is peace. We have an excellent government and world class education, housing and transport. We are provided with good living conditions and every single Singaporean has benefits due to assistance by the government and various subsidies. For us students, we are given huge subsidies for school fees, and we have more-than-satisfactory studying environments. Most, if not all schools, have libraries, science labs, and computer labs. We have edusave, which is money that the government gives us for educational purposes. Such benefits cannot be found anywhere else in the world! For some students, they even have financial support from the government because their families are less well-off.
Therefore, I am certain that this is Singapore's golden age as we are so prosperous and our living environments are first-class. Even at school, at home, and in the public, everything is supported by our government financially and we have a stable economy.
Without the detailed planning and far foresight of Mr Lee, this would not have been possible.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew built up a strong economy which created good jobs, excellent infrastructure, housing and environment and a solid education system. He transformed Singapore from a Third World to First World country in a short span of 50 years.
The way he moulded our society was also significant: he was meticulous, resilient, with tremendous drive and spirit, never quitting. He also saw to the continued success of Singapore beyond him through leadership succession.
I remember one of his previous sayings:" When I decide on doing something, I do it. And I never look back." Indeed, the reason why we are experiencing our Golden age now is because he did not look back and hesitant. Instead, he journeyed on in confidence and assurance, creating the beautiful country we have today.
Singapore is booming and progressing faster than any other country in the world! Therefore, I think that it is indeed SG's golden age now because our country has maintained prosperity and harmony.
And it couldn't have been accomplished without Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
| Before... |
| Now! |
Everything has completely transformed for the better and there is peace. We have an excellent government and world class education, housing and transport. We are provided with good living conditions and every single Singaporean has benefits due to assistance by the government and various subsidies. For us students, we are given huge subsidies for school fees, and we have more-than-satisfactory studying environments. Most, if not all schools, have libraries, science labs, and computer labs. We have edusave, which is money that the government gives us for educational purposes. Such benefits cannot be found anywhere else in the world! For some students, they even have financial support from the government because their families are less well-off.
Therefore, I am certain that this is Singapore's golden age as we are so prosperous and our living environments are first-class. Even at school, at home, and in the public, everything is supported by our government financially and we have a stable economy.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew built up a strong economy which created good jobs, excellent infrastructure, housing and environment and a solid education system. He transformed Singapore from a Third World to First World country in a short span of 50 years.
The way he moulded our society was also significant: he was meticulous, resilient, with tremendous drive and spirit, never quitting. He also saw to the continued success of Singapore beyond him through leadership succession.
I remember one of his previous sayings:" When I decide on doing something, I do it. And I never look back." Indeed, the reason why we are experiencing our Golden age now is because he did not look back and hesitant. Instead, he journeyed on in confidence and assurance, creating the beautiful country we have today.
Singapore is booming and progressing faster than any other country in the world! Therefore, I think that it is indeed SG's golden age now because our country has maintained prosperity and harmony.
And it couldn't have been accomplished without Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
| Thank you for reading this! |
13/2 Reflection- Social, Economic, Environmental
Today in class we discussed about China. Everyone in class were supposed to think about what China has produced for us in Singapore. Many people came up with:
-Toys for children:
| A toy-making factory in China |
-Electronic gadgets:
| electronic products made in China |
-Shoes:
| Also made in China. |
We then moved on to talk about the environmental, social, economic state of China. In our groups, we were given the job of categorising the different slips of paper in an envelope. At first, we encountered various difficulties such as not knowing which slip of paper belonged to which category. However, we managed to do it in the end. (as seen in the first picture above)
The threats present are to be dotted in red, such as the disagreement of the western countries ways which they refuse to accept and the quarrels between other countries over a piece of land.
This made me reflect on Singapore's relationships with other countries. Thankfully, our prime ministers and president have made a good impression of Singapore, or else we would not be able to live in peace and harmony with other countries. Both countries will not be able to work well with one another, creating tension and many detrimental effects to both countries. In times of crisis, Singapore would not be able to be backed up or supported by different countries if we did not have good relationships with them. To sustain a good relationship with other countries, we must help each other mutually.
| It goes two ways! |
However by fighting over land like China is doing, this will lead to worse relationships between them and other countries.
There are also good points of China such as pledging to contribute to world peace which our country can learn from. we can learn to forge better relationships by maintaining peace between one another.
All in all, this lesson has benefitted me greatly as I have learnt the different environmental, economic and social states of China and how we can learn from their good points and their mistakes.
| The End! |
Reflection for CID lesson 17/2/15 - China's Economic Growth
China's economic growth has been steadily growing and the reasons for these are:
1) China's international trade:
According to the International Monetary Fund, China's international trade has expanded steadily since the opening of the economy in 1979. China has also increased its penetration into advanced country's markets. The amount of imports in the advanced country's markets accounted for by China has risen the last two decades, especially in the 1990s in Japan, United States and the European Union. For example, China now accounts for over 11% of Japan's exports, up from only 2% in the 1990s. In addition, China is now among the most important export destinations for other Asian countries.
Today, China's economy is growing rapidly. Compared to India and its greatest trading partner USA, it is expected to overtake them in 2018. Although India and USA is also growing, the rate of growth is little as compared to China, making China an important country for trade and exports.
| Increasing Trade between China and other countries |
An example is the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park, which is an international industrial park which is often cited as a national flagship project between China & Singapore governments. It is the 21st year of establishment in 2015.
| An example of the joint ventures |
3) A lower corporate tax rate In addition to the two reasons above, the corporate tax rate in China is lower than that of other countries, hence increasing the economy share of China. People will be attracted to China and will do business with them, causing higher economic growth.
4) High manpower
China has a large population and thus more manpower. Therefore, more goods can be produced to meet the demands of many countries.
When more trade and goods are made, the profit for China is also directly proportional and hence China would prosper more.
5) Bulk produce
China is also bigger in economy, and produces its goods in mass production which makes it cheaper. This will attract more people in buying their products. Also, more people from other countries are investing in China and buying their goods due to the abundance of materials which result in even cheaper prices hence attracting more customers from all over the world to ship the goods from China to their respective countries.
This is a beneficial cycle, as only more and more people will start doing business with China.
Eventually, how will this affect Singapore?
With China entering the market as a huge competitor, the competition among countries regarding trade will be fiercer, resulting in greater loss for small but significant countries like Singapore. While more business is beneficial to China, other countries such as Singapore will be affected because lesser people will do business with these countries, and instead China will have an increase of popularity in the market. This results in inflation for the other countries such as Singapore which lose business.
Also when there is great manpower in China. Since there are more people in China as compared to Singapore, there is also more manpower to make and produce goods to export in China as compared to Singapore. Due to Singapore's small size, the amount of goods we can produce is limited. Hence, this will be a disadvantage to us.
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| Thanks for reading! ( this is so cute, I had to put it on my blog) |
Predicting the future scenario of Singapore given the dwindling population growth (6.2.15)
Without doubt, the population of a country will affect its economy. For a global trade and financial centre like Singapore, its extremely low fertility rate has implications for economic growth, tax revenues, healthcare costs and immigration policy as the number of elderly people looks set to triple by 2030.
There are now 6.3 Singaporeans of working age for every senior citizen. By 2030, the ratio will be closer to 2:1.
At current levels, the birth rate implies that the local population will fall by half within a generation, said Sanjeev Sanyal, a Singapore-based global strategist at Deutsche Bank.
Lee Kuan Yew, the country's founding leader and father of the current prime minister, warned in August that Singapore "will fold up" unless it reverses the drop in the birth rate.
"Do we want to replace ourselves or do we want to shrink and get older and be replaced by migrants and work permit holders?" said Lee, who launched the "Stop at two" campaign in 1966.
Reasons for overpopulation:
-An increase in birth rate
More children are produced, hence increasing a country's population.
-A decrease in death rate
Lesser deaths result in a bigger population.
-Better healthcare
The infant mortality rate will increase and people will live longer due to better medicine and technology.
Overpopulation will cause:
-lesser resources
There is a higher demand for resources such as food and water. Therefore, resources will deplete and slowly run out if not replenished.
-lesser jobs
More people will be jobless and unable to support their families.
Reasons for under-population:
-low birth rate
The main reason for Singapore's dwindling growth is a low birth rate. Women in Singapore are giving birth to lesser children because they have education and thus are aware of family planning and birth control methods. Therefore, they plan their families beforehand, which often results in having lesser children. In Singapore's context, many working adults do not have the time to raise children. Even if they did have time, most young adults would not exceed having 2 children.
| Year | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Live-Births | 45,934 | 41,217 | 51,142 | 46,997 | 37,967 | 39,654 |
| Resident Live-Births | n.a. | 40,100 | 49,787 | 44,765 | 35,129 | 36,178 |
| Crude Birth Rate (Per 1,000 residents) | 22.1 | 17.6 | 18.2 | 13.7 | 9.3 | 9.5 |
| Total Fertility Rate (Per female) | 3.07 | 1.82 | 1.83 | 1.60 | 1.15 | 1.20 |
| Gross Reproduction Rate (Per female) | 1.49 | 0.88 | 0.88 | 0.77 | 0.56 | 0.58 |
| Net Reproduction Rate (Per female) | 1.42 | 0.86 | 0.88 | 0.77 | 0.55 | 0.58 |
| Total Deaths | 10,717 | 12,505 | 13,891 | 15,693 | 17,610 | 18,027 |
| Crude Death Rate (Per 1,000 residents) | 5.2 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.5 |
| Infant Mortality Rate (Per 1,000 resident live-births) | 20.5 | 8.0 | 6.6 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Life Expectancy at Birth (Years) | 65.8 | 72.1 | 75.3 | 78.0 | 81.7 | 82.0 |
| Life Expectancy at Birth for Males (Years) | 64.1 | 69.8 | 73.1 | 76.0 | 79.2 | 79.6 |
| Life Expectancy at Birth for Females (Years) | 67.8 | 74.7 | 77.6 | 80.0 | 84.0 | 84.3 |
the fertility rate and live births have been steadily decreasing.
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| Singapore's dwindling growth |
-late marriages
People now prefer to marry later, therefore causing lesser childbearing years for the women. When child-bearing years decrease, the birth rate will drop, resulting in dwindling growth.
| A couple in their 30s-40s |
These reasons are why Singapore's population growth is dwindling.
In Singapore, parents are giving birth to lesser children because they fear not having the time and money to provide for their children. If Singapore's population continues decreasing at this rate, there will be a shortage of manpower due to a decrease in the working population and more foreigners will have to immigrate to Singapore to take these jobs. Therefore, more foreigners will be employed to do the work for us. There will be lesser native-born citizens and in the near future, Singapore will be functioning and sustained by foreigners.
| In the future, the 'young dependents' at the bottom will be struggling to provide for the large chunk of the present 'working independents' |
Singapore will also face an aging population which means that there will be more elderly workers in the workforce in order to keep the country running. When they retire, there might not be enough young people to replace them. There might also be a need to open more elderly homes and close some childcare centres due to the lack of demand. Schools in Singapore might also close due to lesser children enrolling.
An example in Singapore is the popular news that Qiaonan Primary merged with Griffiths Primary to form Angsana Primary due to the lack of demand. Hence, we can see that the number of schools will consequently decrease if the number of students decrease.
Singapore might also suffer from weak defence from external threats because since the birth rate is decreasing, lesser men will be joining the military or going for National Service.
In contrary to this, China's government is enforcing a one child policy on all residents. People caught having more than one child will be punished with hefty fines. The positive impacts of this policy is that there will be a decrease in population growth and there is lesser competition for jobs and education. This also reduces the poverty rate, since more children mean spending more money. Having many children might result in parents not having enough money and resources to provide for their children. However, this policy might also result in a higher rate of abortion and adoption. China's population however, is very different as compared to Singapore's.
| Thank you! |
6 Feb 2015- One-child policy in China
Today, we have learnt about the one-child policy in China. The main point of this policy is to control the population growth in China and prevent overpopulation which China is in danger of. The policy is enforced at the provincial level through fines that are imposed based on the income of the family and other factors. This policy is introduced by Mao Zedong in 1978 and enacted in 1980. Despite controversies, it has been reported that 76% of the Chinese population supports the policy in a 2008 survey as the fertility rate began to decline significantly. I think that there are both benefits and disadvantages to this policy.
| Posters in China encouraging only one child |
Benefits
When there is lesser people in the country, there is a smaller demand for resources such as food and water. Due to a smaller population, the government can use the money spent on these children for other uses to boost the economy of China. It can used to:
-improve education:
| A school in China |
more schools can be built and facilities can be improved for a better education. this will lead to more economic growth as better facilities provide students more knowledge, giving them a better job in China in the future. With better educated students becoming working adults in the future, China's economy will boost even more.
-improve healthcare:
| A hospital in China |
This is beneficial for the aging population. This one-child policy is beneficial for the country's economic growth and also to improve the peoples' living standards and quality of life.
Disadvantages
1. Accusations of human rights violations
The one-child policy has been challenged in principle for violating a human right to determine the size of one's own family. According to a 1968 proclamation of the International Conference on Human Rights, "Parents have a basic human right to determine freely and responsibly the number and the spacing of their children."
2. ageing population
A new problem will arise, which is the ageing population. According to the video shown in class, it is estimated that 25% of the population in China will be 65 years old and above in 2015. This means that three working adults will have to support one old dependent, and this does not include supporting the young dependents. Thus, there will be fewer people to earn more money to support the elderly.
3. Increase of adoption or abortion.
Couples who have a second child will most likely put him or her up for abortion in order not to face the huge fines that put this policy in place. This will increase the number of orphans, abandoned children and illegal children in China. Because of the policy, many children will grow up parentless, and this might take a toll on their social lives in the future as well. No child should have their parents taken away.
Also, more abortions will be present as it is well-known that sons are preferred. Therefore, many female babies will be aborted so that the couple can still have another child, preferably a son. I feel that we should not kill an unborn child just because of his or her gender, because whether born or not, the child is still a living being.
I have personally been to one of China’s orphanages. I was 11 years old then, and I went to China with my aunt and uncle to help out in the orphanages there out of goodwill. There, I realised that there were many girls. The proportion was about 3 females (or more!) to 1 male. In addition to that, the males were mostly born with disfunctionalities or illnesses, which is expensive to treat, hence being the reason why they were put up for adoption in the first place. I felt very sad for my female friends then, because I knew that it was not fair for them to grow up without parents.
In conclusion, I do not support this one-child policy although it is beneficial to China’s economy. We should cherish every human being. Although there might be economic growth for the country, too many lives and too much happiness is sacrificed in exchange for the country's prosperity.
| Thanks for reading this! I hope you enjoyed this. |
30/1/2015 Poverty In Singapore
Today, Ms Huang showed us a picture of an African child curled up weakly with a vulture behind it. Ms Huang asked us: what name would we give the photo? Many different titles were suggested. "Abandoned baby", "hungry" and "left out" were the popular names. Most of us did not notice the vulture at all. When Ms Huang revealed the vulture at the back, it didn't make any sense. Why would the photographer want to take a picture of a child and a vulture together? And then Ms Huang asked us to research for the photo and its background, and I was horrified. It was an award-winning photograph. the photographer, Mr Carter, was stationed at that plot of land to take a picture that depicted extreme famine. He then took this picture. I was shocked to finally realised that the vulture was not just standing there with a purpose. It was actually waiting for the child to die before eating it! The child was crawling towards the feeding camp, but Mr Carter appeared not to care about the welfare of the baby and only wanted to take his photo graph, making netizens furious. They started to hurl insults at Carter saying he was heartless to not save the baby or give him or her food and shelter. I had also felt indignant at the man's actions. How could he be so inhumane as to leave the child there to starve? But Ms Huang explained that Carter was firmly told not to touch anyone there in fear of contracting any diseases. However, netizens continued bombarding Carter with insults, plaguing him with guilt, causing him to commit suicide in the end.
Next, Ms Huang showed us a picture of a woman carrying a baby begging for money from another passer-by.
| I tried to find the most similar photo, but this is what I got. Sorry! |
She also showed us another photo, of a man begging for change just to call home.
| This is not the exact photo, because the words on the board were different, but the photo did look something like this. |
Using the " See, think, wonder" thinking routine, Ms Huang asked: if we had a dollar, who would we give it to: the man or the woman and the child. She instructed us to move to the left side of the room if we supported giving the dollar to the woman, or move to the right side of the room if we supported giving the money to the homeless man.
Many people in our class immediately chose to give it to the woman, because they thought she needed it more to raise her child, whereas the man could work and get the money. My classmates pitied that she had to carry the child around and beg for money at the same time. On the other hand, they thought that the man was able to earn money by working as he looked healthy and able to labour. I, contrary of what most of my classmates believed, felt that I would give the money to the man. This is because I was convinced that the woman was a syndicate, as I had learnt before when I did research on them for a speech previously.
True enough, Ms Huang then revealed the backgrounds of the two individuals. It turned out, that the man was a homeless orphan who lost his cart and needed a few dollars to get back up, whereas the woman was working for a syndicate and was carrying the child to gain compassion. The reason why such beggars work under syndicates is because the syndicates would sometimes give them drugs that they desired but could not get their hands on. I pitied the woman as she had to beg for money and yet would not get all of it, since she is working for someone else who had a hold on her. However now, I was certain that I would not give the dollar to the syndicate.
Ms Huang then elaborated on how these syndicates were willing to feed the children alcohol to stop them from crying all the time, and sometimes even carried dead babies just so that they could get the money. Everyone was stunned by the revelation, and moved over to the right side of the room immediately. This made me reflect upon my choices.
How did I decide who to give the money to?
I suddenly realised that there are two sides to every story, and we have to carefully think out the possibilities in every scenario, and from there, make a wise decision.
From this week's lesson, I learnt that we should be more cautious and careful of our surroundings, and we must '三思而行'. We cannot make split-second decisions, and instead should think it through using the 'See, Think, Wonder' method to make correct judgements. This lesson has taught me about beggars I may face in China, where my class will be going for OELP this year.
For the next half of the story, Ms Huang introduced a story to us:
"一艘游轮遭遇海难，船上有对夫妻好不容易来到救生艇前，艇上只剩一个位子，这时，男人把女人推向身后，自己跳上了救生艇。女人站在渐沉的大船上，向男人喊出了一句话……"
At this moment, Ms Huang asked the class：“你猜，女人会喊出什么话？”
Everyone in the class immediately started thinking of the different insults the woman would have said. "I hate you!" "Go to hell!" Different insults were hurled. We were all angry at the selfish man who didn't care about the life of his wife.
Teacher then revealed the answer. The sentence the woman shouted was "照顾好我们的孩子！”
She continued by showing us the other half of the story.
"轮船沉没了，男人回到家乡，独自带大女儿。多年后，男人病故，女儿整理遗物时，发现了父亲的日记。原来，父亲和母亲乘坐游轮时，母亲已患了绝症。关键时刻，父亲冲向了那唯一的生机，他在日记中写道：“我多想和你一起沉入海底，可我不能。为了女儿，我只能让你一个人长眠在深深的海底……”"
We were shocked at this revelation and felt extremely guilty for blaming the man earlier. He wasn't selfless or heartless as we thought he was: he was doing what was right, which was to survive and take care of their daughter. The man must have been between a rock and a hard place. Choosing between seeing his wife die before his eyes just so that he survived to take care of their daughter or die with the wife he loved so much... it must have been a tough decision. Although this may not be a real story, but the man should not have suffered so much criticism for surviving and letting his wife die instead. He did the right thing.
From this, I learnt that we should always ask ourselves the question: 'Why would this happen?' instead of jumping to conclusions and making false accusations. No all that we see is what we think it is. Always think carefully before reacting: sometimes the unexpected can happen.
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| The end! Thanks for reading this! I hope you liked it. |
My December Holidays (2014)
"Holidays are about experiences and people, and tuning into what you feel like doing at that moment."
-Evelyn Glennie
My December break was very enriching and meaningful to me, because during this time, I learnt the importance of courtesy and family time.
A highlight was my family's trip to Taiwan. It was rather spontaneous, as we had only confirmed our trip just days before our flight there! Unlike other families, my family is not used to planning our trips beforehand as my father often goes on business trips and my sisters and myself are busy with CCA, group projects, camps, schoolwork, and many other various responsibilities. However to our delight, everyone in my family was coincidentally free on a certain week on December!
And so a few calls were made, certain arrangements were confirmed, and a few days later, we found ourselves at the airport clutching airplane tickets to Taiwan!
When we landed in Taiwan in the morning, it was vibrant and full of life. I noticed that in many ways, Taiwan was similar to Singapore. It is densely populated, although not as overcrowded as Singapore, and it has many public facilities such as public buses and trains. There were many high-rise buildings and shopping malls (to my mother's delight), and the streets were clan and well-kept.
A highlight was my family's trip to Taiwan. It was rather spontaneous, as we had only confirmed our trip just days before our flight there! Unlike other families, my family is not used to planning our trips beforehand as my father often goes on business trips and my sisters and myself are busy with CCA, group projects, camps, schoolwork, and many other various responsibilities. However to our delight, everyone in my family was coincidentally free on a certain week on December!
(we were super excited) |
And so a few calls were made, certain arrangements were confirmed, and a few days later, we found ourselves at the airport clutching airplane tickets to Taiwan!
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| flying in progress... |
When we landed in Taiwan in the morning, it was vibrant and full of life. I noticed that in many ways, Taiwan was similar to Singapore. It is densely populated, although not as overcrowded as Singapore, and it has many public facilities such as public buses and trains. There were many high-rise buildings and shopping malls (to my mother's delight), and the streets were clan and well-kept.
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| First morning in Taiwan, Taipei |
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| shopping malls in Taipei |
During the two days I spent in Taipei, I thoroughly enjoyed the nights when I roamed the busy streets and night markets of Taipei, tasting the local delicacies and experiencing the true essence of Taiwan. I tasted many different kinds of traditional Taiwanese food and every bite of food I took was savoury and left my tastebuds yearning for more! The food there is very different from Singapore's due to the different culture and traditions. One dish that intrigued me the most was the pig blood cake, because although it was a Taiwanese dish, it wasn't very appealing to me due to the fact that I was born and raised in a different place with different tradition.
| 猪血糕 |
I learnt a lot about Taiwanese culture as well. I still remember the times where my family and I would stand on the left side of the escalator while everyone else stood on the right! We would not notice anything out of place until we step off the escalator, and that was truly embarrassing for all of us!
I also noticed that Taiwanese people are very polite and kind. People would willingly give up their seats for the needy and the elderly, and sometimes not sit at all! This made me reflect upon our behaviour in Singapore, where people would pretend to be asleep or engrossed in newspapers and reading articles just so that they can continue to sit while a poor old man or a pregnant lady is struggling to not fall when the train jerks. There has been many numerous cases of Singaporeans not being considerate and this made me feel greatly saddened.
Seeing this made me reflect on my own behaviour. Am I considerate in my own country? I realised that I was not always conscious of my surroundings and hence may not realise my inconsiderate behaviour at times. Although I know that it may not be intentional, but I still feel guilty for not being aware of my surroundings sooner. Therefore since my return, I have been conscious of the people around me while I am sitting on the train or bus, and would not hesitate to give up my seat to someone in need.
| examples of inconsiderate behaviour in SG |
Also, now whenever I see an inconsiderate act such as a person not giving up their seat to an old lady or injured man, I would politely inform them of the situation and they would then give up their seats, sometimes grudgingly. I feel that this is everyone's responsibility when sitting, to be aware of who needs the seat more, others or themselves. If everyone is considerate, then Singapore would be a much better, happier place to live in. Hence, I believe that my trip to Taiwan has taught me the importance of courtesy.
If you're wondering why I only spent 2 days in Taipei, its because for the rest of the week, we drove down in a rented car to Sun Moon Lake（日月潭）to view the beautiful scenery of Taiwan! It was a challenge to my father, because not only did it take more than 5 hours of journey, but also did it require skilful driving, since we were driving up a mountain and there would be many twists and turns.
When I went to Sun Moon Lake, I frequently visit the mountains which towered high above the clouds. My father drove us there to see the beautiful scenery and we even enjoyed a few trips to the natural hot springs! The experience was truly one of a kind, and I would love to go there again.
After 4 or so days, we headed back to Taipei to catch our flight home, but before that we managed to squeeze in a trip to Taipei 101! The building was magnificent and towered over us.
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| Taipei 101 |
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| hehehe |
Finally, it was time to head back to Singapore, and although we were sad to leave such a beautiful country like Taiwan, we missed our family and friends dearly and couldn't wait to see them again. During the holiday, I had also grown closer to my siblings and parents, and we shared many special experiences together as a family. I feel blessed to have a caring, loving family, and am glad we went to Taiwan together for a little getaway of our own! Our Taiwan trip has made me realised the importance of family time, because every second with your loved ones is valuable and should not be taken for granted.
Although the holidays never seem to last long enough, I thoroughly enjoyed them and it was a never-ending journey of learning for me. I have grown as a person to be more considerate and polite, and also have been more fluent in Chinese! I have also grown closer to my family members and learnt to show more care and concern to them as I should. Altogether, my holidays were well spent and refreshing. I enjoyed every single minute of it.
| loving my family <3 |
Although the holidays never seem to last long enough, I thoroughly enjoyed them and it was a never-ending journey of learning for me. I have grown as a person to be more considerate and polite, and also have been more fluent in Chinese! I have also grown closer to my family members and learnt to show more care and concern to them as I should. Altogether, my holidays were well spent and refreshing. I enjoyed every single minute of it.
| Thanks for reading! |
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