Individual Overall OELP Reflection (Sent to Teacher IC)

Why do you choose to go on this trip? What decisions were made when you choose to go on this trip? What do you hope to learn from this trip?

I choose to go on this trip as there are many Chinese stereotypes in Singapore, one of such is that Chinese people are stingy and rude, However, I did not believe in these Chinese stereotypes and thus chose to go to China to observe the people and clarify all doubts of the Chinese stereotypes in Singapore. I am also interested in the life of Chinese students and also wanted to know how stress and hard their lives are compared to our Singaporean students’ lifestyle. The decisions made were that I must fend of ourselves and be aware of the surroundings, independent, responsible and respectful to the citizens of China due to that this is the first time that I have travelled overseas without my parents or my parents’ help, besides in the hotel room, all the clothes and logistics you have to prepare it for the next morning. Besides, China is a very big place and that my CID teacher said before in class that there are many con-mans and thieves in China, henceforth, it is important to take care of your own belongings and do not fall blindly to the beggars in China. My CID teacher showed us a picture of a young lady holding a baby and asking for money from a passer-by. She then explained to us that there are many beggars who work for the syndicates and that they make the babies drink vodka so that they would sleep most of the time and be quiet when the young lady is asking for money. She also told us that some of the beggars act pitiful so as to gain the sympathy of the passers-by to donate money to them. Thus the decisions that had to be made were that I must fend of ourselves and be aware of the surroundings, independent, responsible and respectful to the citizens of China. I hope to learn about the culture of China, history of China, and also about the lifestyles of the people in China. More importantly, I hope that from OELP, 2F would become even bonded as a class as well as making new friends in China from the school buddies as well as house visits. I also hope to clarify that most, if not all of the bad Chinese stereotypes in Singapore are not true and that Chinese Citizens are just the same as Singaporeans; we are all human and that we should not judge a person by its country of origin but his/her personality and moral values as a human being. Besides, 2F has a bad reputation and that I hope that through OELP, we would also be more discipline and I hope that we could improve our reputation among the teachers in River Valley High School so that 2F can prosper and improve together as a class.

What is one situation you come across that you feel strongly about? What is one person that you had seen that taught you more than what could be achieved in class. What is one fact that you have learnt during this trip that impacted you the most?

I felt that the conjoined performance of Aud Lang Syne with the school that we visted in Hefei, China , ShouChun Secondary School had a strong impact on me. Even though it was the first time 2F performed together in front of a thousand strangers, we sang our lungs out and even put our hands around each of our necks and swayed side by side while the ShouChun Secondary School’s Chorale stood straightly and firmly, being very serious and confident which stood a great contrast with 2F. This showed that the students were taught very strictly in ShouChun Secondary School, given their serious and confident way of Singing while the students in River Valley High School were taught not as strictly and there was a sense of bonded-ness despite gender differences. This impacted me strongly as I had already thought that Singapore’s education system is strict enough and never had I ever thought that China’s education system is stricter. This was a very interesting experience which led me to think about how grateful I should be to my teachers and Singapore’s education system and we should always treasure what we have as we never know when those things that you have may disappear one day. My China Buddy is one person that I had seen that taught me more than what could be achieved in class. Ever since we met, I was always curious about her student life in ShouChun Secondary School and immediately asked her about her studies as well as her workload of homework every day. She replied that there is a lot of competition and homework pressure from school every day with the compounded pressure of tests every week with their 12 hours of school every Monday to Friday. I then asked her if She was happy with her life in ShouChun Secondary School and she replied with a smile,” Yes because if I study hard enough, no matter what circumstances I face in life, I will overcome them and get a good job to support my family in the future” in Mandarin. Her reply greatly moved me and made me realise that studying is just not about just memorising blindly and regurgitating all the facts, it is about your motive to study. I have always studied blindly and memorised as well as regurgitate all the facts on exam papers and never had I realised that there were people in this world that studied for a motive. Her source of determination and perseverance are not something that can be learnt in school or in class, they are shown through when you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe. She taught me that in everything you do, you must have a motive that you want to achieve, if not, you are just wasting your time. One fact that I had learnt during the trip that impacted me the most is the traditional painting of the孝word. 孝comes from the word孝顺which means filial to your parents in Chinese. In this traditional painting of the word, the top of the word is drawn like a monkey’s face towards the right side and a man’s face towards the left side the bottom right half of the word is drawn like a monkey’s body as if it is ready to fight and bottom left side of the word is drawn like a man bowing. The traditional painting of the word can be looked at different ways to understand its meaning. If you look at the traditional painting of the word孝, it shows a man bowing which is a sign of respect and formality towards elder relatives of parents, however if you look at the right side of the painting, it shows a monkey being rowdy and have totally no proper respect and upbringing. This shows that if you do not respect your parents and be filial to them, it will reflect on your poor upbringing and bring disgrace to your parents and you will be just like the monkey portrayed in the painting- rowdy with no proper respect and upbringing. I had never known that such a word such as孝could be portrayed so simply yet so detailed in a Chinese painting of the word and it made me even more interested in the Chinese Culture.

How would this trip affect your future behaviours and attitudes? What are some long term changes you hope will take place? What did you learn in this trip that you can bring back to Singapore?

The experiences that 2F faced throughout OELP and the countless as well as fruitful knowledge that I have gain through everyone in OELP would make me much more interested in Chinese and I would study harder in Chinese as I have always been very weak in Chinese and had no interests in it before OELP. I realised that Chinese is a very valuable asset in our lives and there are many people in the world who are Chinese and thus it is important to brush up in the Chinese Language.  I hope that some of the long term changes that would take place is that I would be more disciplined, independent and that I would be more aware of my surroundings. In class I am distruptive to my classmates’ learning and thus I hope that through OELP I would be much more aware of my surroundings and not distrupt their learning. In this trip, I learnt various things through OELP but the most important thing that I have learnt is that in order to succeed, we must all have motives that we want to achieve desperately to persevere and overcome all obstacles.  All in all, I felt that 2F even though it wasn’t at its best performance during OELP and even though there was a limiting factor to further maximize our bonding and sleeping time, we still had fun and bonded much more than I have expected. 2F is not just a normal class, we are extraordinary and I am sure that 2F will bond even more and prosper throughout this year.