OELP daily reflections

Day 1: Departure at Airport and visit to the Song Dynasty Town

This day was the start of the epic journey of 2F in China. The day was pretty short though due to the preparations and baggage checks at the airport in the morning at 7.30am and the 5 hour aeroplane ride. When we arrived at the Song Dynasty Town which is situated at the southern-west part of the West Lake scenic area backing on Wuyun Moutain with the Qiantang River on its south. The Song Dynasty Town is the first and largest theme park featuring the civilisation of Song Dynasty in China. The Song Dynasty's period was from (A.D 960-1279) and it was the dynasty in which its development of economy, science technology and culture was advanced at that point of time. When we reached the Song Dynasty Town, I was surprised and shocked to see that the theme park was not like any other theme park like Disney Land or Universals Studios, with its roller coasters and fun rides, but it is just a theme park with shops and various themed venues to allow visitors to experience what was it like to be in the Song Dynasty's era. I realised that the people living in the Song dynasty era live in wooden houses due to that their technology was limited and that there were many trees in there thus they can use the wood from the trees and the likelihood is that they would build wooden houses. However, the contractions of this is that if a fire would occur, it would be very hard for the people living in wooden houses to escape due to that wood conducts fire easily and that the risk of deaths is very high. The Song Dynasty Town tourist attraction has amalgate cultural as well as historical aspects into it and i feel that there are many possibilities for Singapore as Singapore has a rich and diverse history, from the founding of colonial Singapore to the saddening death of our late Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew, hence, it would be not hard to amalgate cultural as well as historical aspects into a business. After dinner, we headed to the hotel where we were given a long debrief about the trip to the Song Dynasty Town and could not wait for the days in OELP to come.












Group picture taken outside Song Dynasty Town Tourist attraction

Picture of the performances which depicts the Song Dynasty Era

Day 2: Wahaha Factory visit as well as visit to ChengKan Xie Yuda Tea museum and Tea plantation

The next day, we were told on the bus ride to the Wahaha Factory to read up on the achievements of the Wahaha Factory and how it became a huge successful company from a small set up shop in an elementary school in HangZhou, Zhejiang. The Hang Zhou Wahaha Group is currently China's leading domestic beverage producer with roughly 70 subsidiary companies and 40 manufacturing bases scattered throughout China.The owner of the company, Mr Zong Qing Hou, started his business on a tricycle, selling ice cream, soda drinks as well as exercise notebooks. However, through taking advantages of situations and thinking out of the box to venture to new methods as well as innovative marketing methods, Mr Zong Qing Hou progressed his small company to a huge successful company in just 11 years. One of the situations when he took advantage of is that when the milk powder in China had severe problems, Wahaha Company created a new brand of milk powder that has many health benefits which caused a massive boom in the sales of Wahaha Company. Next, by having advertisements for the product, a catchy slogan for the product as well as using celebrities to promote its products and many other methods, it allows the citizens of China to remember Wahaha's products easily so that they will recall its popularity and buy it in the market or shops.The Wahaha Company also dared to ventured into new technology to even purify their water for it to be the most purified water in China and thus it would increase sales of purified water in Wahaha Company.

Afterwards, we headed to the ChengKan Xie Yuda Tea museum and Tea plantation. At the Tea plantation, we were shown how the tea plants were grown, how to keep the pests away as well as how to pluck the leaves out of the plant properly. Then, we headed to ChengKan Xie Yuda Tea museum to know about the culture as well as the history of the tea leaves and to also taste the Tea leaves. Some of the tea leaves that were yielded were the MaoFeng tea, Chrysanthemum tea and the Red tea. Tea played an important part in the culture of the Chinese as the young always serve tea to the elder generation as a form of respect.I also learnt about the uses of the various teas and how it is used to treat people.

Trip to the Chengkan Xie Yuda Tea plantation

Wahaha Company's wide range of products on display

Day 3; Tunxi Ink Factory, ChengDaWei Abacus museum, Tunxi Ancient Street and HongCun as well as Xidi Ancient Villages

First, we went to the ChengDaWei Abacus museum. There were many abacuses there, even with some preserved from the early 1900s. The guide told us that in HuangShan, there were many mountains, little plantations and fertile soil, hence the people there had to resort to going to other places to trade for food and thus the need for calculation. Cheng Da Wei was a gifted mathematician and built a calculator known then as an abacus to simplify calculations easily. His contribution of the Abacus proved a great help to people across the world and he was even respected by renowned mathematicians.

Next we headed to the Tunxi Ink factory, the guide there told us that firstly, black soot was collected for the black ink. Then, the black ink was formed into rectangular blocks and then painted with gold ink to be heated and dried up. It was told that the process could take up to one year. Both the Tunxi Ink Factory and the ChengDaWei Abacus museum are both similar in the terms that they both contain significance as well as a purpose.

Then, we headed to the Tunxi Ancient Street. There were many traditional goods for culture and snacks there. I feel that one of the diminishing trades on the Tunxi Ancient Street is the abacus. I chose the abacus as with the invention of the modern calculator nowadays, rarely people use the old "calculator" abacus again. Besides, the calculator is way simpler and easier to use rather than the abacus. It tells me that traditional goods are slowly losing to technology nowadays. In order to promote their goods to us, various shop owners played their musical instruments and showed-case it to attract customers. I feel that some of the older trades in Singapore such as the small shops lying around in the shopping malls are diminishing. Since young, I had always seen small shops lying around in shopping malls in the form of carts but nobody still seems to buy from them and thus no business converts to no money and hence shopping carts in Singapore are not ideal for business.

Afterwards, we headed towards Xidi Ancient villages as well as the HongCun Ancient village. We learnt that the types of houses that people stayed in depends on their status and their wealth. The houses there were built by stones and not concrete. I also learnt that the richer people there spent alot of money to protect their houses from robbers or kidnappers by placing many security measures by their door.

Paranomic view of the village

A small provision shop in the Cheng Dawei Abacus Museum

Some abacuses at the Cheng Dawei Abacus Museum 

Day 4: Mt.HuangShan

That morning we woke up especially early but only to meet the wet drizzling rain. We were very sad but all of us still persevered on and took the shuttle bus to Mt. HuangShan. We took the cable car to the top of the Mt.Huangshan. It was especially chilly and misty that day due to the early morning drizzle. Along the trail on Mt. HuangShan, there was a kind old lady that offered me her wooden walking stick. Personally, I was shocked as it was not everyday that you would see a person helping out another person out in the open. I was very touched and also thanked that kind old lady profoundly. Huang Shan is a frequent subject of traditional Chinese paintings and literature, as well as modern photography besides being a popular tourist attraction. The experience of  climbing Mt.HuangShan was a very refreshing and fun one as I climbed the mountain with my classmates and it is the first mountain that I have climbed. On the way back my teachers asked us a question to debate on in the bus, "Why does tourism help to preserve HuangShan?" They then seperated the class into 2 groups to debate. I was in the group that agreed that tourism helps to preserve HuangShan. I agreed due to the fact that if HuangShan was not famous, it would just be a mountain and it can be destroyed for more housing space or development space. However, HuangShan is a popular tourism sight and it provides money for the government from the selling of its tickets and if the government decides to shut HuangShan down, it would be a great loss in revenue. Hence, tourism helps to preserve HuangShan. After the climb, my friend told me a memorable quote that would be etched in my mind which was "2F came, 2F saw, 2F conquered." That night, we spent long hours trying to get our performance right and proper to give a good impression for the people at ShouChun High School.

View from the Cable car on the way to the peak of Huang Shan

Huang Shan moutain's view

Day 5: Meiling electronics and visited ShouChun High school as well the market

This morning, we were very fortunate to have an industrial visit to the Meiling electronics manufacturing factory. Meiling electronics is a manufacturing company that helps other branded companies such as electrolux and panasonic to manufacture their products and have it " Made and China" and sold at a cheaper price instead of the "Made in Japan". This provides a revenue and profit for the Meiling electronics due to the popularity of the brand.

 When we reached the school, we were paired up with our buddies to mingle around. At first it may be awkward, but it was quite fun after awhile. Then we were assigned to different classes to have lessons. I was shocked initially to find out that the board used for the lessons was the blackboard and they used chalks. I was also very shocked that in the toilet, there were actually no cubicles and everything was just shown to the naked eye. It was also explained that there were no cubicles in the toilet so as to prevent students from loitering in the toilets and return to class to resume studying. The discipline in the school was also way stricter than in Singapore. When we had our conjoined performance with the choir of ShouChun Secondary School, we swayed side to side while the choir stood firmly and straightly. This reflects strongly in the discipline of the schools.

At the super market, we were sent to do our market research. We found our for most of the same quantity of goods, it is cheaper in China than Singapore.

View in class when the teacher is teaching

Showcase of fridges at the Meiling Electronics

Day 6: Full Day School Immersion Trip

Today, we went to the ShouChun High School for a full day immersion. From morning till the afternoon, I took Chinese and math classes. The atmosphere in the Chinese lesson was different from what was like in Singapore. Even though my Chinese was very awkward and it made my new group China members laugh, they still taught me the harder Chinese words with ease and patience. They read their Chinese paper with such gusto and tone which amazed me as in Singapore, no matter how much tone and expression that we try to put into our reading, we could never read with as much gusto as them. Surprisingly, during math class, the students do not try the questions first but always wait for their teacher to teach them the methods before applying it in the questions.

After the lessons, we headed to the teacher's cafeteria to learn how to make rice dumplings as well as eating our lunch there.We were taught how to make the filling and wrap the leaves. Rice dumplings are an integral part of the Chinese culture. In Singapore, we usually buy rice dumplings from shops and that we rarely make our own rice dumplings. Hence, I felt that this was a good opportunity to experience our roots, our tradition.

After the rice dumpling making session, we headed to the conference room and started our lesson on the culture and history of the Peking Opera as well as the face painting mask session. I was one of the few people who was selected to go on stage with the mask to do a performance.

At the end of the day, we were given the opportunity to face the schools basketball, badminton as well as volleyball team. I headed to the volleyball section. Despite not being able to challenge them to a match, they were still kind enough to teach me the fundamentals of playing volleyball.

Face painting opportunity in ShouChun Secondary School

Making rice dumplings

Day 7: House visit, book shop as well as the University or Arts

That morning,we assembled in school to meet the buddy whose house we were going to visit. The group members that were assigned to go with me are Keefe,Isaac and Ying Cheng. As soon as we got to know our buddies, we clicked instantly and talked for the whole trip to his house. At his house, our buddy's father immediately cooked for us while I played chinese chess with the 2 buddies. Surprisingly, I beat the 2 of them in Chinese Chess and our buddy's father came to play with me. The game was intense and it finally was ended to the favour of our buddy's father.

Then, we went out to play badminton as well as catching, we played till we were all sweaty and tired and returned back to the home for lunch. The lunch that was prepared by our buddy's father was plentiful, with ranges from meat to vegetables as well as dumplings. I felt guilty as all of us only ate a little portion of food before resuming playing our games.

After the house visit, we headed to the prestigious and famous book shop which consists of 6 levels. There were many books there and our kind Chinese teacher offered to pay the books with her card which allows a discount.

At the end of the day, we headed to the University of Arts where we were taught about the dances and history of the Peking Opera. We were to follow their simple dance routine too and it was quite an interesting experience.



Opera Dancing opportunity at the University of Arts

Playing at our Buddy's house

Day 8: Returning to HangZhou

It was the last day of our trip and we bought tickets to board a high-speed rail from Hefei back to HangZhou. It was an exhilarating experience as I had never boarded a high-speed yet so stable train before. It took only a few hours to reach back to HangZhou and it was time to go home. The 8-day experience was a very memorable one as I learnt alot about China and that I had gained a new profound respect for Chinese. Besides, this High-speed rail also reminded me of the planned high-speed rail project from Singapore to Kuala-Lumpur. By having a high-speed rail, it would save even more time instead of being congested at the causeway and making it even more convenient to travel between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Ticket for the High speed railway

Of course, I will never miss the good times I've had with the fishes HAHAHA. OELP is definitely an experience that I will never forget.

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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.

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Folks of the people living in Hefei,China

BACKGROUND AND BELIEFS OF THE PEOPLE LIVING IN HEFEI,CHINA

The people living in Hefei comprises of many who have different religions. They are as such - Christianity, Chinese Buddism , Taoism as well as Muslim. Chinese Buddism and Taoism are the most popular religions followed by Christianity with Muslim for the minorities.

The people in Hefei speak Jianghuai Mandarin which also refers to Lower Yangtze or Xiajing Mandarin. Jianghuai Mandarin is one of the most abundantly dissonant of the Mandarin Dialects as it revolves around the Wu, Hui as well as Gan Chinese languages.

In Hefei, There is 黄梅戏 which origin comes from as a version of ancient folk songs and dances that has been in existence for the last 2 centuries or more. It is one of the most famous opera in China and it was special in a sense that it as the aura that does not sound like the typical Chinese Opera. Today, it is a traditional performance which is a piece of beautifully collaged art in China.

There is also a special type of cuisine in Hefei, called the Anhui cuisine, one of the great traditions of Chinese Cuisine. It is famous due to the fact of its usage of herbs both from the land and the sea.

All In all, the people living to me in Hefei are very interesting, with their dialects, cuisine as well as religions. I am very excited to go to Hefei and experience the joy of their livelihood with my classmates!


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Our first impressions of Chinese people

Group work

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Is Merlion the best national icon for Singapore?

Yes, I feel that the merlion would make the best national icon for Singapore. The merlions's name is made up of two words- "Mer" and "lion".

"Mer" means sea which is an accurate representation of Singapore as it was a fishing village surrounded by the Sea before the Late Mr Lee Kuan Yew revolutionised it into a metropolitan city. "Lion" was in the name as folklore has it that Sang Nila Utama was going on an expedition in order to explore sites. As he was exploring, he saw and island and sailed towards it. Unfortunately, a storm struck and the ship began to flouder in the rough waves. Everything was thrown over the ship and only until Sang Nila Utama threw his heavy crown into the sea and the heavy storm instantly stopped. After drifting towards the island, Sang Nila Utama and his men went hunting. They saw a strange animal and before they could identify it, it went away. One of his men suggetsed that it could be a lion. Sang Nila Utama then decided to name the island, Singapura which means Lion City, where singa in sanskirt means "Lion" while pura means "City". Thus, the "lion" in its name.

Even though the merlion is said to represents Singapore's tourism's icon, I still feel that it thourougly represents Singapore's national icon as it reminds every Singaporean of its roots, from a small, simple fishing village to now, a metropolis. Some ideal icons would be the Singapore flyer and esplanade.

Yes, I understand that foreigners or even our own Singaporeans may have that different points of view, such as thinking that the merlion is a mistake, ugly or even just a working symbol, however I personally feel that the Merlion represents Singapore due to its significant meaning in its name and its story behind it. Continue reading →

Singapore's Golden Age

Many years ago, the Tang Dynasty had its Golden Age, and behind its success is of course, the influence of a great leader. Today, I believe that Singapore has reached its "Golden Age" in its 50 years under the great influence of our leader,our nations's founding father the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew passed away peacefully on the 23 of March 2015 at 3.18am. During the 1 week of acknowledgement to Mr Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore, I started to learn more and more of what Mr Lee Kuan Yew has done to our country. He brought Singapore from a small fishing village to a big metropolis. Even after the merger failed with Malaysia, he still did not give up on Singapore who had no resources then and thought of new ways to help Singapore. He sacrificed his time, family and personal time for Singapore. Even though many sacrifices had to be made, it was all for the sake of Singapore. Even after many years later, when his wife died in 2010 despite being filled with grief and sadness, after seeing litter along the Benjamin Sheares bridge, he told his secretary to remind the cleaning services to clear it up- Mr Lee Kuan Yew still thought of the well being of Singapore. This event moved me and made me respect Mr Lee Kuan Yew even  more.

Now, during the 1 week of mourning for Mr Lee Kuan Yew, many people from the young to the old were seen queueing up towards the parliament house. Even though they queued up under the hot and blistering sun for more than 8 hours, they still persisted. There were even volunteers who gave food and water to those who queued up and their act of unity and kindness made me very proud to be a Singaporean. Besides, queuing up under the hot sun for many hours to pay respects to our late Mr Lee Kuan Yew is nothing compared to the contributions and time he had spent for the sake of Singapore.

Without Mr Lee Kuan Yew, there would be no houses, no education, no clean and bustling green city but only a fishing village. I personally feel that, even after Mr Lee Kuan Yew passed away, we, as the future generations of Singapore, we will carry on his legacy and ensure that his legacy will be passed down to future generations. Singapore is  currently at its prime and we should make Singapore progress further more in the years to come.

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Economic growth of China and Singapore ---- Aloysius

During this week's CID lesson, we learnt about China's rapid increasing growth of economy. China's economy has been increasing rapidly since the past few years with an average of 10% for the past 3 decades. Well, even though other countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan managed to grow rapidly for quite awhile, they were unable to sustain as much as China. There are many reasons how China managed to rapidly increase its economy and I will be typing about 3 reasons.

The first reason is due to China's massive population and its great amount of land. With a massive population, there would be cheap labour as more people are available to do the job. With its great amount of land, it would allow the building of factories at way cheaper cost thus increasing productivity. Hence, allowing China's GDP to gradually increase.

The Second reason is that China has a low tax rate of 25%. With its low tax rate, it allows more and more countries to buy goods from it at cheaper costs compared to the US which has a higher tax rate(33%) thus increasing more goods bought and hence also increasing productivity of goods. Hence causing China's GDP to gradually increase.

Lastly, China's involvement in the World Trading Organisation has allowed it to gain much more reputation as well as increase its revenue as there will be other countries trading with China. Furthermore with China's low tax rate, many other countries would be very interested into trading with China and Hence causing China's GDP to gradually increase.

All in all, I feel that Singapore should aspire to be like China and also maintain good relations with China so as to increase more trade and benefit economically for both parties.

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Reflection on the one child policy in China

During this week's of CID lesson, we were taught that China has a "One Child Policy". This policy states that only parents could have one child in order to decrease the rapid growing population in China.
I personally feel that if the "One Child Policy" continues, there will be more pressure on the future generations as they will need to support the older generations which will be twice or maybe thrice of their population and thus an even bigger output is needed through the minimum input of workers thus adding on to pressure. Furthermore, by having "One Child Policy" , there will be more jobs but lesser people to work due to the lack of manpower, thus affecting the economy of the country. Besides, by having lesser competition in work or studies, it will cause laziness in work and thus worse work quality due to the lack of stress.

All in all, I firmly believe that we should try to have more offsprings but it is best to control ourselves to prevent over population of our country in order to benefit everyone, socially and economically. Continue reading →

Thoughts on Poverty (REFLECTION FOR 12 JAN 2015) -- Aloysius

In the 2nd Lesson of the CID module, I learnt that we should not judge a book by its cover and that there is more than meets the eye. During the lesson, our teacher showed us two pictures- one with a man sitting down on the ground with a sign that explains why he needs money and the other depicting a woman holding a baby asking for money and my teacher ask us who would we donate the money to? Then, she said that those who would donate to the man go to the left side of the class while those who would donate to the man move to the right side of the class and those who would not donate move to the middle of the class. I moved to the middle of the class as I felt that both of them may be scammers. Who would know if they really needed the money or if they are faking it? Furthermore, in the movie slumdog, there are syndicates which kidnap children or bought children to make them ask money from people. The syndicates also purposely make the children handicap so that the people would sympathize with them and give them some money. It is also said that the money collected from the beggars would proceed to the syndicate and a small percentage of it would be given to the beggars. Some of the money collected would be used to buy volka in order for the babies that the girls/women hold to be asleep and not affect the money collected. Thus i would not donate money to both of them.

Singapore is one of the worlds richest countries and the irony is that Singapore still has poor people given its developing status.In the developing country such as Singapore, the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer despite charitable organisations taking steps to improve their lives. Poor people can be seen sleeping along the corridors of the HDB blocks or staying in the one room HDB flat. I feel that we should be grateful for the lives that we are having now thanks to our parents, we should treasure money and not waste it on useless stuff. I also feel that the government should give much more priorities to improve the lives of the poorer people such as giving them an monthly salary that can sustain them for their basic necessities, that way everyone can progress and the society can be a better place for us to live in. Continue reading →

After School HOLIDAYS 2014 (OCT-DEC) --- Aloysius

My holidays last year was surprisingly different from the previous years as this time, my holidays was preoccupied with way more stuff to complete such as homework from RVHS as well as training schedules but luckily, my family decided to go on the trip to the US in order to relieve the pressures from schools as well as work for everyone.

To be honest, I was shocked to find out that my family was going to the US the day before the trip as I was already very tired from training and still had to wake up at 12am to arrive at the airport. The trip duration is from the 24th of October to the 9th of November.
Day 1

Firstly we went to Los Angeles. After settling down at the Desert Palms Hotel and renting a car, we drove through Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard and Beverly Hills, as well as saw the Mann’s Chinese Theatre, the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Sign. At the end of the day we get to rest in the hotel with one of the best pepperoni pizzas that i have ever eaten my entire life HAHAHHA

Day 2
The next day, we went to Universal Studio Hollywood. I personally feel that some of the rides are too kiddy but for the sake of my sisters and my 'childish' mother LOL we had to go for those rides. The rides that i personally enjoyed most are the roller coasters HAHAHA. The sad thing is that i had to go on it alone as my parents and sisters were scared of the 'drop' that happens frequently in most roller coasters. Besides it was a fruitful experience as I can experience some of the rides that are not available in Singapore yet such as the Simpsons 3D experience.

Day 3
We went to the Anaheim Disney Land. Despite being forced to try the rides in Disney Land because of my sisters, I feel that it was still a fun experience as the last time i visited disney land was when i was 5 and after this holiday i may not have the chance to visit Disney land so for anyone who reads this blog - TREASURE THE TIME WHEN YOU VISIT DISNEYLAND 
Day 4
We drove toward Las Vegas and stopped over at the Barstow Station. The fish and chips there is HEAVEN its so good that i ate it on the way towards Las Vegas as well as on the way back to Los Angeles. At Las Vegas, we were appalled to see that there were many themes that it has, such as the Paris theme with the "mini" eiffel tower as well as the US theme with the mini "statue of liberty" to allow tourist from other countries to fit in. We also saw the Worth catching volcanic eruptions at the Mirage Hotel as well as the choreographed water-fountain ballet at the Bellagio Hotel. Las Vegas, being famous for its gambling dens, my parents went to gambled while my sisters and i were asleep and my father won a huge sum of money!! HAAHAHAH I seriously feel that i should spend it all for myself but it is best to scrimp and save for future generations.
Day 5
From Las Vegas, we drove towards Hoover Dam and afterwards towards the Grand Canyon. The view was very sceneric from Hoover Dam as well as the Grand Canyon. It was very cold at the Grand Canyon but it was still worth it to experience the beautiful sunset making its way downwards and into the night.
Day 6-7
From the Grand Canyon, we travelled back to Las Vegas and then towards the Famous DESERT HILLS PREMIUM OUTLETS. Over there, there were many shops for my sisters and my mum to shop. My father and I are not too fond of shopping so we decided to sit on a nearby bench and then buy a huge pizza for us to eat while waiting for my sisters and mum to finish shopping.After a long day of just eating pizza with my father as well as waiting for my mum and sisters to finish shopping, we headed toward the Palm Springs Hotel to rest for the night.
Day 8
Personally, I feel that this day is the best day of the Holidays as I CAN FINALLY REST without following my mum's schedule of the holidays. That day I just swam in the swimming pool and ate huge chunks of pizza after taking the Aerial Tram of the Palm Springs.
Day 9
From Los Angeles, we arrived at Santa Monica Pier where we see all the fishes as well as the fishermans. After Santa Monica Pier, we headed on to Santa Babara and then towards Solvang. At Solvang, we went to the towards the Han Christian Andersen Museum where we learnt so much about the history of it as well as the teachings of the Bible. Afterwards, we drove towards Pismo Beach Hotel.
Day 10
From the Pismo Beach hotel, we arrived at the Hearst Castle and then went for whale watching at Monterey. After the long day, we finally drove to San Francisco where it will be our final destination for our holidays and stopped at the Beresford Arms Hotel.
Day 11-14
At San Francisco, we returned the rented car and took the famous San Francisco Cable Car Tram to the places that we wanted to go. We took the Tram to the Union Square, where all the famous shopping malls are situated at as well as went to the Fisherman's Wharf, visited the most infamous Alcatraz island,visited China Town as there is a shop called the Golden Gate Bakery which is famous for its egg tarts and saw the Golden Gate Bridge.
Day 15-16
We departed San Francisco and arrived at Singapore at 12.30am.

Overall, the trip to the US was a very fruitful trip despite the tight and busy schedule as i get to experience many of the world's famous places at such a young age and I am proud to have parents who scrimp and save in order for this trip to happen.

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