Reflections for OELP trip

Initially, I chose to go to the trip because I thought it would be fun to be able to go overseas with my classmates and be able to bond with them better. However, through the CID2 lessons before the trip, I began to have the desire to learn more about China as I have never been there before. I thought it would be an eye-opening experience to be able to observe and learn more about China personally and I decided to step out of my comfort zone and take every opportunity in China to learn more about their culture and their lifestyle. Also, China is economically successful and hence is a large influence to the global market. With deeper knowledge of China, Singapore can work with China to achieve a common goal through communications such as our interaction with Nanjing Bo Le School. Having classmates who are from China themselves, I was even more curious and eager to know more about China’s education system and to be able to make new friends with the students there. A stereotyped student from China, as what I have heard, is someone who participates actively in class and never fails to raise their hand to ask questions in class. I wanted to see for myself if the stereotype was true and wanted to have the chance to ask the students there about their usual lifestyle so I could compare their lifestyle with a typical Singaporean’s.

One situation that had a large impact on me was how willing the students were to interact with all of us. As we were introduced to our buddy, my buddy warmly welcomed me and was very patient in explaining what was happening in a video we were shown. Then when we had to split up to go to the different classrooms to have some bonding time, the students in my buddy’s class were very eager to talk to us and know more about us, and the teachers personally went to each of us to say hello. What impressed me was that they had prepared performances for us even without the prompt of the teachers. They were very eager and took the initiative to participate with us in the game they had planned too. If it was our class, we would probably be very awkward with the foreign students visiting us. One other thing I noticed was that they did not have cliques and the teachers made sure that they include everybody in their lessons so that everybody has a chance to learn. I have learnt more about taking initiative from them and I found much to learn from them, such as acceptance and humility. 

Three people that had taught me more than what could be achieved in class was Isabelle, Gee Kwok and Zi Qian. On Day 3, when Gee Kwok and Zi Qian was late and did not arrive at the assigned area on time, she assured Mr Chua that she would bear full responsibility as the IC of the day by doing 400 push ups by herself. This was the other situation that was memorable. In class, we are unable to show much of our leadership skills but through this learning journey, Isabelle was able to show that she had good leadership qualities. She was responsible and did not blame the two even though they were the one who were late. However, after I heard from Gee Kwok that he and Zi Qian were not feeling well, I felt that they could not be blamed entirely as well, as no one would expect that they would be unwell. Also, I felt that they were sincerely guilty as they had volunteered to do the 400 push ups in place of Isabelle. This initiative to take her place requires courage and I thought that this would be something that we won’t be able to experience in the classroom. In the end, the class decided to do the 400 push ups together and we were able to complete the push ups together easily when we split the number of push ups between the 31 classmates. This was a good way to showcase our teamwork as a class and class responsibility.  I felt that our class was still bonded as one despite all the hardship and arguments among each other. 

When we visited the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall on Day 4, one fact that impacted me the most was that the Japanese government still did not to admit to the crime of the massacre, as heard from Mr Chua. This led me to think about many questions. One question I thought of was if the Japanese were still guilty of the crime. In the museum, we saw the testimonies of the Japanese soldiers that they felt very sorry for their actions and hoped that the future generations would not repeat such a crime, so was the government at fault or the Japanese soldiers for committing the crime? One other question that was discussed during our debrief about the museum was if the perspectives of the museum were fair. We thought that the Chinese might feel hate towards the Japanese, but the people who started the museum were Chinese themselves and could have edited some facts and bribe to gain testimonies that can prove that the Japanese were wrong. The Japanese could find it unfair as their side of the story was not heard and tourists might use this museum’s facts against them without a neutral story. The Japanese might feel guilty for their past actions and would make sure such a thing would not happen again, but some might feel proud of how they could dominate over the Chinese would not admit to the crime. Tourists who do not have thorough knowledge would obviously pity the Chinese. With so many questions in mind, this museum still leaves me pondering about the actions of the Japanese government and a reminder to keep a neutral state of thought when visiting such places and in such situations. 

This trip has truly been memorable for me and I have learnt much from it and it has changed me slightly. I have learnt to be more appreciative of whatever I have, and to take more initiative in anything I have done. Through this journey, I have learnt to be more attentive and aware of my surroundings and the needs of my peers, and to be able to understand more about the culture of the Chinese in China. I have learnt to appreciate the cultures, lifestyles and the differences between Singapore and China. After comparing China and Singapore, I finally understand why foreigners that I have talked to speak highly of this little red dot and I think that my pride to be a Singaporean is growing more and more. I have also learnt to be more careful before jumping into conclusions and to be more responsible. This trip, lastly, has allowed me to see another side of the teachers I rarely interact with and had aided me to be able to interact with my class better. I believe that after the next 6 months of lessons together, I would miss this class and the memories we have shared together dearly, and I think my classmates would say the same as we promote to Year 3 next year. 

Reflections on OELP- Day 5&6

For the fifth day of the trip, we went to Suzhou to visit the silk factory there. I felt that it was very interesting to see how silk was made such as the life cycle of the silkworm and the curing process of silk till the production of it. It was fun to see and touch the silkworm to feel that they are soft and squishy, which was totally not what I expected it to be, like tough and rigid. The tour guide also shared that it is very important to be careful not to touch the tip of its tail, as it is very dangerous for the silkworm and can even cause death. I feel that it was significant for us to visit the silk factory as Suzhou is the silk capital of China, thus with the silk factory, it can be preserved.

Next , we proceeded to Shanghai for some free time at a shopping mall which sells fake goods. I did not buy anything as I felt that it was not worth the money for goods that may have defects, or spoil within a few days. Later in the evening, we went to the oriental pearl TV tower where I am very excited about. It was a great place for sightseeing and there was a tallest level of 351m, however it was not the tallest tower in Shanghai. The weather was rainy when we went so there was mist and fog surrounding buildings, so we could not see the buildings very well. Nonetheless, the view was still spectacular from such a great height even with the fog.

On the sixth day, we went to Gongyi Xintiandi for a workshop to paint a face/mask. I learnt that we could not just use any colour to paint the mask. Colours to be avoided are blue and yellow, and the best colour to use is red, and the beard should be painted black in colour. Next, we visited the French concession to observe the design of the building, and it was all very English, unlike other buildings in China. The reason why is that the French had rented a patch of land from China, and it happens to be in Shanghai. Then we went to the book store and Nanjing road for some free time, and I must say I really enjoyed myself during this trip for the things I have learnt, and cleared any misconceptions I had about China before the trip.

Heritage preservation: to keep or not to keep

I feel that the monument that I choose to preserve is the statue of Stanford raffles. I strongly believe that it represents the history of Singapore and how Singapore was chosen as a British port and was colonized by the British which was a major part of Singapores history and without Stanford raffles, singapore probably would not have been where it is today. Thus I feel that's the future generation should learn about this man who changed Singapores future to become a better one and helped Singapore to get to how it is today. Learning about this events of history better allow the future Singaporeans to know their country better and understand it.

Reflections on OELP- Day 3&4

On the third day of the trip, we went to Nanjing Bo Le School for the second day of the school immersion programme. We had the chance to sit through a lesson in class with our buddies. The lesson I sat through was Geography, and the teacher got students to introduce their own countries briefly, such as travel attractions, food, geography on the word map etc. There are many observations I made:

-Students are able to voice out answers, or their own opinion

-Both students and teachers are very encouraging 

-Able to see that no students are distracted 

-Teacher very spontaneous, he rarely stops 

So how are they different from us?

There was not once that the students did not volunteer, apart from being called on by the teacher. This shows that they have great passion for learning. Sometimes, when a student gets a question wrong, I observed that the teacher will not frown or directly tell the students that he/she is wrong, but instead let the student try again, and then explain the answer. Thus, I found that it was very encouraging for students. 

However in RV, there are many times that the teacher have to wait for a few moments before someone eventually volunteers. I would actually prefer to study in Nanjing Bo Le School as of it's learning environment and the attitude of the teachers and students.

Next, we went to Nanjing museum and I felt that it was very interesting to see the artifacts of China, especially the ones during the Qing dynasty, as we studied the history of it during history classes. Another exciting point is that we got to see real dinosaur bones too!

On day 4, we went to the Nanjing massacre memorial hall. There was dim lighting in the museum for the atmosphere is solemn and respectful. Before the trip, my seniors who went before kept telling me how scary it was, and that people were crying after the visit so I thought that it was going to be very gory, but it was not as bad as I expected it to be as pictures were in black and white. To me, it was not that scary or too extreme but it was definitely very sad. I felt that the museum is more biased towards the Chinese people, who were the victims, so I felt that the museum would not be the same if it was to be built in Japan. When it is built in Japan, it would affect people's attitude towards the Japanese, and make them seem less cruel.

Reflections on OELP- Day 1&2

Before the trip, I was expecting it to be a fun and enriching one as we could travel to China physically to learn about their culture, heritage, cost of living, and their way of life. We boarded the plane SQ830 and departed for Shanghai. On the plane, the service provided was commendable as the air stewardess provided warm face towels for passengers to freshen up for the flight. In comparison to other budget airlines, they do not provide such services. Next, it was coincidentally my classmates birthday so the crew members prepared a whole birthday cake for him, sang him a birthday song, and even gave him gifts. It sure was unexpected to me, and I thought that it was very thoughtful of them to prepare a cake specially for him. This shows that they had checked each and every passenger's birthday, or maybe if the information is correct, and thus, I feel that they do take a lot of pride and effort in their work. Therefore, it is because of all these that have contributed to Singapore airlines to be one of the world's best airline.

After landing in Shanghai, we had to take a train to Nanjing. Being on a bullet train for the first time, I was feeling pretty excited, but quite nervous at the same time. Turns out, it wasn't as scary as I expected it to be, it was like riding on a MRT train. However, there was something that affected my impression of the train service. We were too slow to get on so the staff rushed us to board the train. It was understandable as they wanted to be on time and there were others waiting for us too, but we were being shouted at, so I felt that it wasn't very pleasant.

The next morning, we went off to Nanjing BoLe School for the school immersion programme. As expected, both staff and students alike were very friendly and all smiles. While interacting with our buddies, it is awkward at times as sometimes we could not understand each other, so we just laugh it off. 

A few observations I made:

-Their desks are a lot smaller than ours

-Good use of technology (Touch screen projector), convenient for teacher and students to scroll through presentation etc.

-Toilets were very different, there were 2 platforms that we had to stand on, there was a pipe for flushing as well (Group flushing system), instead of individual flushing system

Pre-Trip Task

Heritage preservation:To keep or not to keep

One monument or place I would definitely want to preserve is the war heritage sites. These places allows the future generation of Singapore to understand how far we have come from these sufferings and how we have changed from there. Although some of these sites have graphic and violent exhibitions which are unsuitable to young children, I believe that as we grow up, we would be able to understand why the past generations were willing to die for this small plot of land and we would continue to share this love for Singapore. As for the older generations, this serves as a reminder that we are to train the future leaders of Singapore to lead in the way our great founding fathers like Mr Lee Kuan Yew has done so that Singapore can continue to survive as an independent nation. These places might hold painful memories and might not exactly be the most ideal place to be Singapore's tourist icons, but these hardships that our forefathers have gone through will allow us to remember what we have gone through as a country and to remind us to always be on our guard, as we are still that tiny red dot that is independent and we have to rely on ourselves to learn from past mistakes, and improve together as a nation.

Heritage preservation: To keep or not to keep

The monument that I have chosen to preserve is the Merlion. Many Singaporeans will think of the Merlion as an icon of Singapore, and so do I. I feel that this is a special monument as it links back to the history of Singapore, and how Singapore was founded. There are just too many stories behind it to tell. If the government has made a decision not to preserve the Merlion, I would strongly disagree with their decision. It would leave most Singaporeans baffled at their decision, as I feel that it truly represents Singapore. Another thing is that after it is destroyed, future generations will be unable to understand what a "Merlion" means to them. Sure, there will still be the Internet and Google, but nothing beats the experience of personally visiting the Merlion in real life.

Reflection on Chingay Parade

This year, the Y2 cohort went to the Chingay Parade 2016, themed "Lights of Legacy, Brighter Singapore". From a CCE period previously, it was mentioned that Chingay was originally to celebrate Chinese New Year, since fire crackers were banned from Singapore. As time passes, I think that this not only celebrates the festive occasion, it also brings people of different cultures together since many other people like the Malays and Eurasians joined in the parade. This encourages racial harmony among Singaporeans and to remember the values of our country, which mainly are: Racial Harmony and Social Cohesion, Caring Community, Resilience as a Nation and a Can-Do Singapore Spirit. 

As mentioned, people of other cultures and races joined in the celebration, bringing the motive of the parade to a different level. Now, not only it was a method to celebrate Chinese New Year, it is like a fashion show to showcase the wide variety of backgrounds, cultures and races that make up Singapore. For example, I saw performances from Japan and for Chinese New Year, there were many different types of decorated dragons,which illuminated the dark night, and lion dances. The colours and floats were creative and unique, much to our delight and excitement. I found that the performances were almost like a second RV60, with lion dances, drums and the dances were very unique as well. I really enjoyed watching the acrobats which were suspended in mid air. I thought it was very cool that they were able to do flips and other moves in mid air. 

I felt that the organisers had done a good job bringing people of different aspects and of different race and ages together for one segment, displaying some of the core values that our country is trying to promote. Some of these participants are even younger than us or could be already in the pioneer generation, but they still had the Can-Do Singapore spirit. I heard from my 1J junior who participated in the performances that she was very satisfied with her performance because there was much teamwork, and that she was able to meet more people of different races and ages from her community.

Poster on encouraging child birth

Reflection on Chingay 2016

     I have watched this year's Chingay performance,it is held at the F1 building pit.

     Unlike other years,sitting infront of the television,I get to witness the Chingay performance personally.Its was really splendid.Last time,whenever I hear people saying how large scale and wonderful was the Chingay performance,I question myself:isn't it just 'boats' around the streets?What is so fascinating about them?However,after I witness the whole scene of Chingay 2016,my views change because from the television,we can only view parts of the performance,but by standing at the F1 pit myself here,it was really a fascinating scene!How many people are needed to hold such a large scale activity,it's magnificent!By sitting behind the television to watch,I can't really get the atmosphere there,but by going there and watching it,the atmosphere really gets high!

     Chingay 2016's theme is 'lights of legacy,brighter Singapore'.As I watch the performance,I realized it is trying to promote racial harmony,like what our founding fathers wished and work hard towards. There were performers from different race,culture,and even performers from other country!Singapore is a country where people came from different country,race and culture,hence,racial harmony is very important for a small country like us.

     The performers from different cultures and background have to work together and go through thick as and thins together to make this Chingay performance a success.However,by knowing this,it suddenly came to me that actually,Chingay is like Singapore,we are the performers,we have to work hard and stick through thick and thins together,to make this little red dot a shining red dot,so bright that no one can ever miss it when looking at the map.The lights of legacy is like what our founding father,Mr Lee Kuan Yew,left for us.It is his legacy,his thoughts and will that will be left for us to carry on,making a brighter Singapore for the future.

     Hence,I think that Chingay 2016 was a success!

     

reflections on Chingay Parade - Zhen Hao

I feel that the chingay parade was spectacular and awesome. As i sat on the seats at the F1 Pit Building, i was left awestruck by the number of people performing for the parade and the amount of effort they put in even if its just a NE show. The Chingay parade was started on 4th February 1973 as Singapore banned firecrackers a year ago due to safety concerns.however, the ban was not well received by the public as they felt that this ban will dampen the festival mood for Chinese New Year celebrations. Thus, the People's Association and the Singapore National Pugilistic Association jointly organised a street parade from Jalan Besar to Outram Park featuring floats, acrobatic acts, lion and dragon dances, silt walkers to bring back some cheer to the public. Fast forward by 44 years, in Chingay 2016, the theme is " Lights of Legacy, Brighter Singapore". It is to celebrate the legacy and the wisdom of our founding father Lee Kuan Yew and other founding fathers based on the core values advocated to them, for example: resilience, racial harmony and social cohesion. We, as Singaporeans, should live by this values and move forward together towards a brighter and better Singapore.

During the first chingay, there were only Chinese performers as this performance was only meant for the Chinese to celebrate Chinese new year. During the Chingay parade in 1976, there were Indian and Malay performers also performing for the Chingay parade and from then then on, the Chingay parade has always been a multi-racial parade featuring performers from all races. In the 1987 Chingay parade, the first foreign group performed at the chingay parade. Since then, foreign groups has always been invited to perform at the Chingay parade

I think that the organisers of the chingay parade have fulfilled the purpose of Chingay parade as it is now a multi-racial parade with people from different countries all over the world and is celebrated by all different kinds of people of all different races. If Lee Kuan Yew was still alive when he sees this, he would feel very proud of Singaporeans.

some pictures that I took during the parade

3-2-1. ~Jingwen

View on 2-child policy:

I stand in a neutral position because I think there is pros and cons to it.

At that point of time,many family gave birth to 7or 8 kids,this led to a quick increase of population in such a small country,which we can handle because of the housing issues.Hence at that time,birth control is needed.

However,the birth control now had led to back fire which caused some family to only give birth to one kid.Singapore's average birth rate is 1.2,it is not enough to replace both parent and also,the only child will have more stress due to being the only one to support the whole family,which may consist of 3-4 generation up to 12 people for the child to support.

Hence,I think that the 2-child policy can be used but to a certain extend.

3 things I found out:

-some policies may backfire

-with only a child In the family,stress will be huge.

-policies will have pros and cons,there will definitely not be a definite good policy that will guarantee a success,because it is just whether you can predict it or not or will the side effect show when time comes.

2 perception I gained

-nothing is a definite 

-everything has its pros and cons

1 question I have:

Why did PM Lee allowed this policy if it will have a after effect?

Poverty and happiness: Zhen Hao

Does being rich makes you happy?

I don"t think being rich makes you happy. You may be rich, but in the process of getting rich, you lose the care and concern from your family members. Having lots of money doesn't mean there will be guaranteed happiness. In fact, many people, will regret losing their happiness in exchange for wealth. Research has shown that being rich makes you less happy. In addition, a richer country will have more unhappy citizens than poorer countries. For example, Thailand is not a very rich country country, however, it still tops the charts for the happiest country in Asia, while for Singapore, being one the very rich countries in Asia, our happiness index is ranked much lower than Thailand. Hence, I can conclude that being rich does not guarantee you happiness.

Reflection on Chingay parade- Heng Yun Tat

I feel that the chingay parade was a splendid and amazing one. It not only brings the Chinese New Year mood but also promote multinational society. The official theme for Chingay Parade 2016 is “Lights of Legacy, Brighter Singapore” As the theme suggests, Chingay 2016 will be the brightest ever with the biggest full-scale illuminated show. The theme is also inspired by the legacy of our Founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, and the values embodied by our Pioneers such as Racial Harmony and Social Cohesion, Caring Community, Resilience as a Nation, Can-Do Singapore Spirit and Uphold high moral values. All these values are what our founding father mr Lee want to inculcate in every Singaporean , to carry on his legacy . This made me interested to find out about the history of chingay parade .On 4 February 1973, the first Singapore Chingay parade was held partly as a result of the ban on firecrakers a year earlier in 1972 as a result of fire hazards. This ban was viewed unfavourably despite the safety issues involved. Some people felt that the ban would result in a much dampened festival mood for the Chinese New Year period. To address this issue, the People's association and the Singapore National pugilistic association, jointly  organised a street parade from Jalan besar  to Outram park featuring the signature floats, acrobatic acts, lion and dragon dances, stilt walkers, and the like, to bring back some cheer to the general public.The largely Chinese parade became a multi-cultural one from 1977 when Malay and Indian groups started joining in the performances, which was to mark a major precedent in the overall flavour of the parade into one which has become largely multi-cultural in character, despite the continued presence of traditional Chinese acts such as lion dances and stilt walkers to this day. After watching all these amazing performances performed by people from different races, coming together and putting up a grand performance together , I feel really proud to be a Singaporean, being able to have a multirational society , and the progress Singapore has made over these 50 years. As Singaporeans, we must uphold these values mr Lee and the pioneers embodied and promote racial harmony among each other to prevent misunderstanding of each other and confrontations from others so as to pass down mr lee's legacy.

Reflection using 3-2-1 method: Economy-Aging population

In my opinion, I have gained many new insights from this CID lesson. 

The first thing that I have found out is that I did not know that Singapore had a 2-child policy in the first place as I have always heard the government encouraging Singaporeans to have more children. However, the 2-child policy turned out to be too successful that which, the government had to tell more people to have more children, because of our aging population.

Secondly, regarding the 1-child policy in China, I found out the many reasons behind it. There were not enough teachers for so many students if each citizen of China had more than 1 child. This is when the supply is low, and the demand is high.

Lastly, I found out about the 'generation pyramid' or rather, an inverted one. As of China's 1-child policy, the child will have to provide for his parents, and his grandparents which totals up to 6 people. Therefore, in today's day and age, China have changed their perspective from their decision to establish the 1-child policy, so they are now allowing citizens to have more than 1 child.

The 2 perceptions that I have gained is that I have changed my perception of China's 1-child policy, as initially, I thought that China wanted to reduce their population size so they had planned for this decision, but after this lesson, I found out that this was not the case at all. Next, another perception that I have gained is I understood why both countries--China and Singapore wanted to plan the different policies.

Last but not least, the 1 question that I have is that when the government encourages people to have more children instead of just 2, then how will their parents be able to provide for so many children, is the government just considering the fact of our aging population?

Assessment 1: Reflection On Chingay Parade

Not too long ago, the whole cohort of Year 2s went to watch the Chingay parade, and I was one of them. Thus, I would like to take this time to reflect on my personal experience at Chingay. 

Firstly, I think that the purpose of Chingay 2016 is that it is held as part of the Lunar New Year celebrations, and that because Singapore bans firecrackers, the loud atmosphere of Chingay will hopefully make people feel like the sprit of celebrating Chinese New Year, with its lights and loud noises. However, besides this, the more important purpose is that many people of all walks of life, regardless of race, language or religion, will come together to perform, which is why I feel is the most crucial part of Chingay to me.

Over the years, Chingay underwent many transformations. In the very first Chingay, it is mostly described as a Hokkien Chinese tradition, held in conjunction with religious festivals. Most, if not all of the performers were Chinese then, but today, Chingay is multi cultural and people from other races are welcomed to perform as well. In my opinion, personally, I feel that this changed as Singapore wanted to promote racial harmony, and that many other Singaporeans could learn about other races and their culture. 

I feel that the organizers have definitely fulfilled the purpose of Chingay. Every year, when I watch the Chingay parade, I will see many different Singaporeans from different races coming together to perform, and it is no longer the only-Chinese Chingay parade in the earlier years. The Chingay we see today is very colorful, with bright lights, especially the costumes that performers wear, it is just a spectacular sight to see! As compared to the earlier Chingay, the costumes today are much more vibrant and colorful, not forgetting bright LED lights going along with it.

Costumes from the 1980s:

(Source: https://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/tag/history-of-chingay-in-singapore/)

Costumes today:

As you can see, even the design of the costumes emphasizes on the importance of racial harmony in Singapore.

This was a fruitful learning trip, as I got to learn and compare the different Chingay parades over the years and how it had changed and improved with each passing year. I also felt the enthusiasm of each and every participant volunteer, waving and greeting us as we walked by the stadium. Therefore, it was with everyone's hard work, that this Chingay parade was a success!

Phoebe:Poverty and Happiness

Does poverty affect your happiness? I think it is both a yes and a no.

How can one be happy living a poor life, where one has to worry about tomorrow? Would you like being poor and homeless, constantly worrying about whether there is a roof over your head and food to survive the next day? Not only tomorrow, but the day after tomorrow and the day after that... It doesn't seem nice to be poor. Many might say that poverty does not affect your happiness but do they ever experience the constant worry of finding a way to stay alive? What about those poor families with many children? Do you think the parents can live in happiness and satisfaction, knowing that they cannot provide the best to their children?

But still, it is best that we appreciate what we have. In Singapore I have heard of secondary school children who have no place to stay, but still appreciates the parents' effort to send them to school. Something that we took for granted was our lovely homes and our education. Being poor doesn't have to necessarily lead to unhappiness either. When we experience poverty we would learn to not take everything for granted, and start to appreciate the things we have. This can make us satisfied with our lives, and not grow to become more greedy.

Hence, poverty and happiness are linked together, but it is up to us to decide how riches and greed can control our happiness. 

Poverty and happiness-Jingwen

Does being rich necessary mean happiness?

I don't think so,as I think being poor not necessarily mean to be sad and depressed.You may be rich,but without the care and laughters of your family,you wouldn't be happy.If you are poor but you have a caring and happy family,you will be able to stick through thick and thin no matter what happens and hence you will be happy

For an example,a rich billionaire with his children working all day not visiting him and he had no company but have everything he needed to live,he wouldn't be happy right?He had no company,how could he be happy?

Another example is a child that lead a luxurious life,but his parent are all working all day,not accompanying him,that is why no matter how much he does not have to worry about life he still,isn't happy.

Hence,I think that being rich does not necessarily mean happiness.

Eunice:Poverty and Happiness

CID poverty and happiness 

Poverty and happiness. Does being wealthy make you happy? Does being poor means that you are unhappy? How are they related? In my opinion, I do feel that the poor will suffer more than the rich, though the rich may make a regular day seem very dull. The poor are controlled from many activities that the rich can do, even something simple as buying a proper meal. Thus, the poor do feel greater sadness than the rich. 

However, when one has money, he will tend to want more, so it boils down to one thing-greed. Some people that I know strongly believe that money won't buy you happiness, but in today's time, the way that the society has developed, everyone will have the perception that money would and can buy one happiness. However, if one has so much money, I feel that he may start to lose his priorities in life, such as health, family, relationships, all because of wealth. Therefore, being rich does not mean that we could be happy.

Eunice: RV60 Reflections

CID Reflections on RV60

The biggest event everyone has been waiting for... The school's diamond jubilee-Rv60. I could still remember the very first day when everyone was informed about this event, everyone was wondering was we were here, assembling by the field, under the scorching heat of the sun. There were murmurs amongst students, many of which I could vaguely hear "Why do we have to do this?" "It's so hot!" "I want to go into the shade!" Of course, I also shared the thoughts of them, reluctant and irritated. For 3 months, we had to practice our moves, rehearse where we should run, willingly or unwillingly, we did not have a choice.

As we practiced, time went by and the big day was finally here. Somehow everyone was very relaxed, playing games or chatting at the holding area, but I could tell that the teachers felt otherwise. I could tell from their faces that they had many questions forming in their minds, wondering if the whole event will go well as planned, especially with the education minister with us, there was twice the stress. However, the wushu students cheered, "3 cheers for 教练, 3 cheers for 老师!" I don't know if it was the reflection  of the light but I could see that the teachers' eyes were glistening. It was time to perform, as I saw the RV60 balloon floating in the air, it really hit me that this was the last time, the last time we can do our moves, the last time we can stand together as a whole and perform together. This was the time. We ran out with pride onto the vast field, with our (oversized) shirt fluttering against the wind. Soon, it was time for the finale, it was a spectacular sight, with 《青春彼岸》and 《立化情》playing at the background. We returned to the canteen, and I could see my seniors hugging each other, saying "It's over". I couldn't help but smile, it feels so surreal that our hard work had finally paid off. 

After the event was over, I felt that we, students should not be so self centered to only think about ourselves and our discomfort. Have we ever spared a thought about our teachers? Our coaches, who have spent the time and effort to choreograph our moves, and to make things easier for us. It was thanks to everyone, that the event was a success. Although the alumni would only see the surface of this event, in this case, it is us the performers but I would say it is everyone's effort, especially the backstage crew. Through this event, I could say it made me even more prouder to be a RVian!

Zhen Hao-平凡中的不平凡

 This is a picture that I took during RV60 the actual day itself. The music room became the place where I practice my rv60 moves.during the actual day itself , I saw everyone eating London chocolate roll and chatting together.the seniors and the juniors mixed around very freely and talked about many things.At first, I thought choir is not needed for RV60 as there is no place where I think we are needed. But in the end, we still performed at the mass display during RV60 and also the finale.I also thought that our movement were very stupid at first but the I realised that we also contributed to the full performance with our actions.After RV60, back at the music room, I also realised that I was very fortunate to have a holding room that has a air conditioner as it is very hot while performing and we can relax in the music room after we had finished performing.we can also enjoy the ice cream that the school had provided for us.i have realised that RV60 is a very meaningful activity that celebrated our school's heritage and we are part of the one big RV family.

P.S. You can see Jia hao's face very clearly in this picture😂😂😂

Yun Tat:平凡中的不平凡

 MY CCA IS WUSHU🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎊🎊🎊

   This was a photo I took during Rv 60 this year during the actual day. The hostel canteen was different from the usually quiet and empty place. During this day, the hostel canteen is filled with Rv students from all types of ccas: volleyball,  wushu,  netball and so on all participating in one big part of the Rv 60 performance, the wushu performance.  All the student's dawned in their Rv 60 shirts and the taiji and dunpaidaos costume and all makeups on everyones faces. Looking at groups of frends sitting in circles on the floor of the hostel canteen and laughing at each other makeups, playing some games to pass the time and chatting with each other, I felt that everyone have gone through alot during this few months. Even though  training for this event may be tough, boring to some people,  but it gained us so much things, new friendship, bonds strengthened,  more experience in wushu. Finally 3 months of training have paid off, standing in the sun,  praticing our taiji moves, cancelling some lessons to attend  training early, complaining along the way, finally it's the big day. Looking at the big balloon with Rv 60 printed on it, flying in the air, all the wushu people stood at their positions behind the stage and prepared for the big show.  I could tell everyone were nervous as this was the day and the ministry of education was  there too. However, my senior walked around and gave high fives to everyone and said "加油" to everybody. We ran out to our positions and performed what we learned this past few months and put up an excellent performance.  This event certainly left a very deep memory in my mind, I become closer to my seniors and wushu mates as well as my classmates.I've became more mindful of my time management as during the training period, we had not alot of time to finish our work. Most importantly, I've became more prouder as an rvian and loved my cca alot more!!!!!

I love my cca!💚💙💚💙

Phoebe: RV60 Reflections

Here is a picture of me with the other performers on the left side of the formations(audience's POV), taken during our RV60 Preview. :))

For our school's 60th anniversary celebrations, I felt really honoured to be chosen to perform with 52 other drummers, mostly those of the same year as me. This has been a great experience for me as I have learnt many qualities through drumming with our external instructor Mr Ong. 

One of which he has talked to us about is the story of 周星驰.

He told us that the famous actor simply started out small, and has learnt to observe throughout his experience. This has slowly led to his success, from being just an anonymous person to someone extraordinary, in which an actor has found potential in him. He did not have any outstanding talents, but his willingness to learn, observe and try was something not many people could do. 

Similarly, as we started out from simply having little foundation from our music module, we learn from others' strengths and to improve from others' weaknesses, causing us to make great progress and impressing the teachers.

I must admit that despite the mistakes we made during our actual performance, we still had fun and we endured tough times together. This probably applies to not only us, but to all who have participated in this grand performance. The pride we had in showing what we have done and accomplished to the alumni was indescribable, and I hope the alumni had enjoyed our performance thoroughly as well. 

I hope that as we grow, we will stay strong and learn resilience to face all obstacles in our way.

平凡中的不平凡-Eunice

CID Photo Activity:

This was a photo I took during March of last year. It shows our nation's and school flag flying at half mast, as our founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew passed on. This was very different from the usual singing of the national anthem, with both flags flying high. There was a deep sense of forlornness in the air as students and staff alike grieved for Mr Lee. I found that it was very extraordinary from my regular school life to see the different way that the national anthem was held. I don't want to think about this, but will I ever get to see a flag flying at half mast again? I may not be schooling anymore when that time comes. I chose this picture because I could tell the difference with the school, the usual hustle and bustle of the school is replaced by quiet sadness. However, it was this time that reminded me of how fortunate I am to live in Singapore, as well as to educate us, the younger generation, of how much the pioneers of Singapore had managed to build Singapore to be such a beautiful, busy city it is now. Besides this, there are also many things that the school did which is different from my regular school life, such as setting up booths to show us students about the great things that Mr Lee did, and also during lesson time, my teachers would take some time to tell us how they felt about this incident. I remember that I could tell our year mistress was very upset over this, everyone's sprit was pretty much broken. However, this encouraged us to pick ourselves up from where we fell, and strive for the better, and in this case, making Singapore a better nation together.

平凡中的不平凡:Phoebe

这是我们在排练我们六十周年的庆典表演。看到同伴在辛辛苦苦地训练着的我，顿时有了启发，便拍下了这个情景... 

I was deeply inspired by our school spirit. It seems ordinary to anybody, since other schools have their own school spirit as well. However, as an RVian, this was more than just showing teamwork.
We cherish our moments together as one big RV family, even with the teachers, principal, vice principals and non-teaching staffs.

Our recent RV60 performance has shown our spirit.

"Why did we even have to perform?It's just another anniversary, no big deal..." was probably on many of our minds. But however, we learnt to not complainas we realised how important our history was. It wasn't about how many things have changed since the past. But it was the students who have changed for the better,and has not changed in spirit, even as time goes by.

I was part of the 24 Festive Drums performance and I was very honoured. Festive Drums was quite a new experience for the school, but our fast progress by learning most of our performance parts was quite a surprise to not only the principals and teachers, but also to us. We knew how to coordinate with each other well. Teamwork. Even our external instructor Mr Ong was quite satisfied. "We had little foundation and yet we could master the drums as if we were professionals who had years of practice." The hard practices were usually finished off by a debrief in which Mr Ong would always emphasise on the spirit we had together. "This performance is showcasing your spirit" he once said.

I unfortunately did not have a chance to perform in the finale with my other peers as we had 53 performers but for the second formation of drums there were only 40 drums, which meant some us could not perform. But as I watched my peers perform from the grandstand during one of the rehearsals, I knew we were that good during our opening performance.
On the actual day after the performance we all knew there could be improvements. Humility. But despite this, as we ate the popsicles the school gave us, we knew we did a good job.....

"立化的精神永远不会改变，而我们也会永远保留着立化情在我们的心中。"

那是我所得到的启发。


祝立化生日快乐！

平凡中的不平凡-林静文

我的课外活动是戏剧。

戏剧在别人眼里，就只是演戏，只需要天分就可以了。但是你们不知道的事还多着呢。戏剧讲究的不是天分，而是你的努力。戏剧不单单是演戏，而是需要配合剧本，舞台设计，服装设计，灯光影响设计以及道具设计。大家都以为戏剧就只是上台表演一下，但不为人知的事，就为了舞台上的一瞬间，我们花了整整7-8个月的时间准备。从编辑剧本开始，到舞台设计，都需要队员的亲力亲为，我们还需要选拔角色加上排练一整场戏，非常的辛苦。

无论有多辛苦，我都热爱戏剧，❤️我这个大家庭，爱这个我们一起流过汗水，一起狂欢，一起说那些不可告人的秘密，一起被骂，被罚的地方。这让我想起《青春彼岸》这首歌的歌词：那些曾有过的狂欢，那些曾青涩的伤感.....

无论这个地方是个别人觉得有多平凡的地方。

这里是立化中学的drama studio,我的天堂💓💗💕

Our thoughts on the Kevin Carter picture

After looking at the picture, we were told that the photographer, Kevin Carter, had killed himself. The controversy is: Is it worth it to take his life because of a picture, that he did not step up to help the baby? Many have been telling him to help the baby, while others feel that since it is a third world country, he may get infected by unknown diseases carried by the baby. In our opinion, we feel that there is more to what Kevin decides to do. He was just obeying orders when he was told not to do anything to the baby. Try to place yourself in his shoes, if he went up to help the baby, the baby will be saved, but his parents might be very worried when they cannot find the baby when they return, and what if he gets transmitted? He will not be able to go back to his homeland as he would carry the disease with him and may even cause an epidemic. Therefore, as he is taking the picture, we feel that there is not a need for him to take his life. Although the child died, but his suicide might not mean that he is guilty. It might just have meant that he could not take the stress from the public.

Another perspective is that we feel that it is quite an interesting way of showing the current condition of third world countries to others, the child is very unfortunate as it is abandoned at a horrible environment. However we feel that the instruction to not help these people after taking a photo of them, which is something we think is quite rude when you do not ask their permission, is not displaying empathy.  While they try to encourage others to have empathy to help, they do not have empathy themselves if they do not step up and help themselves. We think the photographer is very irresponsible as he comes in just to take a photo and just left without providing any help to the baby. We feel that this is quite an irony that should be changed. 

Self intro-Zhen Hao

Hi my name is Zhen Hao from 2J. I live at Bukit Timah and I am from Pei Hwa Presbyterian primary school . My favourite subject is Geography because I can get very high marks for the subject. My favourite pastime is to sleep as I am always deprived of sleep every morning

Self intro:Yun Tat

Hi I am yuntat from 2J. I am from jurong West primary school and I'm from wushu CCA.My favourite subject is science as it interest me the most and we can conduct experiments and see the things for ourselves, its learning by doing it and this type of method to study Is my favourite My favourite past time is gaming as I feel that it help me relieve stress the best. 

Self intro:Phoebe

Hello! I'm Phoebe from 2J and this is my self introduction!

I love reading fictional stories and staying at home to relax as well. I am very interested in the arts as well, and being in the CLDDS Drama CCA allows me to gain exposure to how performances work behind-the-scenes. Music is something that I love the most compared to the other arts. I always have my phone and my earphones with me and I listen to many different genres to match how I'm feeling.
I am a sensitive ENFP-T who likes to get to know more people and I can be quite an introvert person when I am alone. My friends and juniors tell me that I am a very caring or 'sisterly' person as I often care for them and look out for them whenever I see them. They tell me that I am kind and that I cheer them up when they are down. I usually open up to people around me as time goes by.
In primary school, I was very enthusiastic when it comes to my CCA, Girls' Brigade. I participated in many activities and camps and even learnt how to play the Fife,a type of flute played in UG. Till now, I still go back to my primary school to help out in the camps as I love bonding with people through games and activities.

Self intro-Eunice

My name is Eunice Teo and I'm from class 2J. Let me tell you a little more about myself. My favorite subject in school is Science as I think we live in a scientific world, and science can be used to prove many things, it also has been used to uncover many mysteries. My least favorite subject is history as I feel it can be very mundane and boring at times. Anyways, let's talk about what I like to do outside of school. I do appreciate school holidays as I get to spend more time with my friends and family. One fun fact about me is that I don't enjoy watching movies, probably because I don't like the darkness of the theatre. Embarking on to CID 2, I suppose most students would look forward to the OELP trip, but I think otherwise. Well, I don't especially enjoy traveling and being apart from my family, I understand my friends and teachers will be there, but I still feel uncertain about going overseas. However, I still hope CID 2 will bring lots of fun for me and my class.

Self-intro:Jingwen

Hi!
My name is Lin Jingwen and im from 2J'16.
My primary school is Woodlands Primary sch and my primary school cca is art club and chinese cultural club.
My favourite pass time activity is playing badminton and catching up drama.