OELP reflection

The China OELP trip was very meaningful to me. I really feel that this trip had taught me many valuable lessons that I can take back. The places we visited had allowed me to understand more about how China works to strive to be a constantly progressing country. I think that I have also understood more about things in a international scale, about relationships between countries and how problems are handled by a country. From the trips to the museums, I have come to understand the progress of both Shanghai and Suzhou and how they plan to continue. From the  Shanghai urban planing exhibit, I came to understand how China had changed from a place with low lying buildings, limited transportation and technology to a place with tall skyscrapers and bullet trains all over Shanghai. Shanghai had become one of the most advanced city in the world, with technology surpassing that of Singapore. I feel amazed how much it has changed from the exhibits and for our guide there. I really think that Shanghai had done an amazing job at creating a great city from in just a few short years. I think that we, Singapore, should start learning how Shanghai did all that and start trying to improve just as they are. They have been planning to build 22 train lines by 2020 which will make it even greater. They are also fighting global warming by investing on cleaner and greener transport and even pollution treatment. In my opinion, Shanghai has really grown a lot and will grow even more. They have been smart by investing to mitigate global warming and still can further improve their city by building more train lines. I feel that Shanghai is a very appropriate role model for Singapore and to remind us to plan ahead and to plan smart. They have set not only realistic goals but also very beneficial goals. I have come to know how much Singapore is lacking in technology compared to Shanghai. While Singapore MRTs break down very often, Shanghai's trains rarely break down and are also faster. This makes me wonder how long will Singapore stay as an advanced country when cities like Shanghai have overtaken us. Foe example, Shanghai's port has overtaken Singapore's port as the busiest port in the world and they are continuing to grow. Many other countries are also constantly investing in their ports and if Singapore does not improve, we will continue to drop. I think Singapore must learn from Shanghai's attitude, to allows strive to achieve more and not stay stagnant. We must constantly aim higher, if not we will never grow. However, one thing I think Singapore seems greener than Shanghai. I find Singapore's air cleaner and the streets greener. I think Shanghai is more of a concrete forest, with many buildings and fewer trees. 
I also learned the differences and similarities between China and Singapore. The schools are very different to me. It was quite a shock as I thought the schools would be quite similar. The greatest difference is that Singapore focuses on a holistic education while schools in China focuses on studies. I feel that both have both negative and positive effects. However, I still prefer Singapore's education system better. I think that Singapore's education system would allow one to be more prepared to go into the real world, to be a better person. Through the CCAs we can learn more values that cannot be found in textbooks. China on the other hand are 'forcing' them to study, making them, in a way, smarter. However, I think that without the values, they will just be smart, but with no character, no other skills. Singapore aims to achieve a good character in every person, to teach them life skills and values. I think that China should try to instil more values in their lessons and don't focus only on their intellectual ability but the social aspect too. However, the students over in China show a very distinct aspect that many Singaporeans lack. I find that they are very disciplined. When they can talk, they chat and laugh but when they have to be quiet in a lesson, hardly anyone speaks. The place seems very quiet. I also see that the students are very competitive, just like China is. They always strive to be the top and work very hard just to be the best. I feel that Singaporeans need to be more disciplined, to control themselves and at the same time, not lose the more enthusiastic behaviour that we have.
I have also learned more about Shanghai and Suzhou's culture better. I realised that the two provinces have very different background. Suzhou has a richer Chinese culture while Shanghai's culture is made of numerous cultures from all around the Earth. From visiting Suzhou, I have understood more about the thinking and ways of traditional Chinese form the past. In Shanghai, I have learned how Shanghai is affected by western influences. From The humble administrators garden in Suzhou, I have seen how Chinese superstition influenced their structures like how they made curved pavements as they thought ghosts could not turn. In life, I think we can learn from their creativity. When we face a problem, we have to think of a way to overcome it like how Chinese people in the past dealt with their problem. In Shanghai, it is very different. The port of Shanghai was open to the world in the Wusong war and thus was influenced by western cultures. Shanghai has many European structures which can be found in the old Shanghai bund. From the exposure, I think Shanghai had better technology as they implemented the beneficial aspects of western cultures and mixed it with Chinese cultures to improve their society like in Shikumen where they built houses like western townhouses to save space and added Chinese design to house refugees. I have seen how different backgrounds has differently impacted the two places. The exposure Shanghai gained had allowed it to advance more while Suzhou have a richer Chinese culture to enjoy. Both cultures has its positive and negative impacts but I still think Shanghai's culture is more beneficial. I have learned that, just like Shanghai, we need exposure and experiences, if not we will never understand what something is really like. Just like how I did not truly understand how Shanghai has progressed until I go to the city myself to experience the life there and see the place for myself. 
I think exposure is very important and I think that is what Singapore schools need and are striving to do, to give students the experience, to expose them to new things. However, at the same time, we cannot forget our culture, our roots just like how Suzhou preserves its culture whether artefacts or a street. We need our culture to make us unique, to take pride in ourselves, to help us learn from what our culture is like.

Nathan

OELP Reflection

During the 8 days trip to Suzhou and Shanghai, I went to SIP, museums and other exhibition halls.The OELP trip was a wonderful experience, I enjoyed my time and I learnt about China in the aspect of history, culture, systems and national issues.

 

At the Singapore-Suzhou Industrial Park, I observed that the infrastructures are quite similar to Singapore’s. This is probably due to the collaboration between Singapore and Suzhou. However, there are also China’s flavors in them. After the visit to SIP, I felt that the SIP is a project to create a stronger bond between Singapore and China, to create a ‘bridge’ between the two countries so that both countries will benefit. This will act as a springboard for Singapore to break into the China market. Not only that, China is an upcoming power, if China’s economy continues to grow, Singapore will also benefit from it. Singapore depends on export and import. When China’s economy grows, they will bring more import to Singapore. The free trade agreement will also bring Singapore more profits. On the other hand the loss of the SIP project also served as a lesson for Singapore. Singapore learnt that collaborating with other countries is not black and white. Firstly, we need to understand how the people in that country work, what is their culture, so that we will not have miscommunication. I think that this also applies to us, even in school as a student, I need to understand other people’s thinking and respect them so that we will not have arguments and hence we can work together efficiently and have a better learning environment. For example, during a group project, we need to understand our teammates so that we can meet an agreement so as to continue with the project.                                                                                                                                                                                                          

 

I have also learnt about the education system in China during the school immersion programme.From Xin Hai Experimental High School, I can see that although they tried to follow Singapore and develop the students holistically, but they are still more focused on academic. Their CCA is only around 45minutes, unlike us which is around 2 hours. They are very competitive. They are all aiming to be perfect and the best. One of the students achieved 90+ for his test, but he is not satisfied, he wanted to get a 100. I think that this is the result of the competitive learning environment and the forceful learning methods used on them. But, this also has positive impacts on the students. Because the students are serious about learning, they are proactive. They take out the material needed for the next lesson beforehand, without anyone reminding them. Unlike most of us, we need the teachers to prompt us before we do anything. Furthermore, they take things as they are, they don’t complain when the teachers give them homework, spelling or tests. Unlike us, who always tried to bargain with the teachers when homework or spellings are given to us. I think that the students’ positive attitude towards learning is something that we should learn. With the positive attitude, we will do things wholeheartedly and hence absorb more beneficial knowledge and skills from whatever we do. I also learnt how important bilingualism is. Because of the skill, I am able to communicate with the students in Xin Hai easily. By mastering both languages, in the future, we can collaborate with people the China and US market, which are both one of the biggest market in the world, easily without language barrier.  

 

During our stay in Suzhou, we also went to the Humble Administrator’s Garden. The Humble Administrator’s Garden showed me a more tradition and historical side of Suzhou, different from the modern Suzhou that I saw in the SIP. From the visit, I felt that the Chinese were very creative and they instil meanings into their structures. For example, because of their traditional belief, they built curved hallways so that ghosts cannot pass, however this also create the concept of 一步换景.Another example is, they chose to use lotus because lotus grow in muddy pond. This symbolizes even if the society is corrupted, even if the future is dark, they can still overcome the obstacles and be successful. I think that creativity is something that we lack. Whenever we are given a project to do, most of our ideas are boring, only one or two are able to come out with creative ideas. I think it is because we are too ‘fixed’, we cannot or don’t dare to think out of the box. Creativity is something we should learn, so that Singapore will continue to develop, improve and have new attractions hence the other people will not get bored of Singapore and continue to come to Singapore.

 

At Shanghai, we went to Lu Xun Memorial Hall and I have a deeper understanding of China’s history. At the Memorial Hall, I watched a video titled “生命的路”. Through this video, I learnt more about Lu Xun. I understand how Lu Xun became who he was from Zhou Shu Ren. I learnt about his suffering and how the Chinese felt how China in the past. He was a nationalist; he wanted a China for Chinese. So he gave up being a doctor and became a writer instead. He used simple Chinese for his work so that everyone could understand. Through his works, he spread the message of loving their own country. In his life, he met many difficulties, but he did not give up. His preservation is something we can learn from. 正所谓：天下无难事只怕有心人。只要我们用心去做，不放弃，我们就能成功。I feel that we cannot take setbacks, whenever we meet an obstacle, we give up. We should learn from Lu Xun and preserve on and overcome the obstacles we face so that we will be able to achieve our goals. If not, we will lack behind other countries in this competitive world where everyone want to be at the top.

 

At the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, I learnt about Shanghai’s culture and history. As compared to Suzhou, Shanghai is more developed and modern than Suzhou, while Suzhou has more traditional China flavor. Shanghai is multi-cultural because of the influence from the west when Shanghai port was open to the other country after China’s loss in the war. The reason as to why Shanghai is the most vibrant city in China is because of its geographical location, their economy and culture. Their port is the best in China hence it attracted a lot of foreigners after it was opened to other countries. Many foreigners from all over the world came to Shanghai and stay rooted there. Due to this there is a wide spread of many different religions and cultures. From what I have learnt from the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition, Shanghai is planning to build more train lines so as to improve the transportation. And are also planning to build a green and environment-friendly city and one of the methods is to have better transport that is energy saving, have lesser emission, efficient in resource utilization and more.

 

I feel that Shanghai is very similar to Singapore. Both countries are multi-cultural, have a very good port. One of the differences id that Shanghai is a lot more polluted than Singapore. But, Shanghai is already working on reducing the pollution. I think that soon, more and more people will choose Shanghai port over Singapore port. Shanghai is a very competitive city and is constantly improving and developing. Although Shanghai might be a threat to Singapore’s economy but at the same time, they can bring benefits to Singapore. They can bring their export to Singapore and Singapore can set up business in Shanghai and bring back the ideas to Singapore. Furthermore with Shanghai constantly improving, this can also keep us on from slacking and continue to upgrade ourselves.

 

From the visits to Suzhou Museum, Shantang Street, Shikumen Museum and Chenhuangmiao, I think that Singapore is lacking behind China in terms of heritage and culture preservation. Although Singapore also has many historical sites but not many younger Singaporeans visit them. Many teenagers forget about our history and our culture in the past, they only look at new and modern things. Singapore should spread our history and heritage so that the younger generation will not forget what our forefathers had done for us. One method is to hold an interesting event in heritage site to attract more teenagers to visit and learn about Singapore’s history.

 

Now, in order to further develop my bicultural orientation, I will read more international-news on China to keep myself updates with what is happening in China. Not only that, I will try to read more of Lu Xun’s works to understand more about the Chinese history and culture in the past.

 

Overall, I feel that this trip is very meaningful. I have learnt more about China and saw the differences between Singapore and China. Without this trip I would not have known about our strong relationship with China and the benefits of it. In the past, I always felt that there is nothing we can learn from China because Singapore is a developed country while China is a least developed country. I have learnt to not look at things through tinted glasses. I have benefited greatly from this trip. I will be looking forward to more of this kind of trip.

-Zhang Linli

Trip Advisory

Yitel Hotel 

Rating: 3/5

Critique: The hotel is generally clean, but the lobby should prohibit people from smoking as this really makes me feel uncomfortable. The beds are comfortable, but the room is too crowded as it was being shared within 3 people, blocking the passage way in the room. Luckily, the room is quiet which enables me to sleep peacefully. The bathroom was separated into the wet and dry area. When I bathe in the wet area, the lights in the dry area will be auto switched off. One might feel shocked so beware! As for the breakfast, I personally dislike it as none of the foods was to my taste. The cups were also not washed thoroughly and the strong smell orange juice still lingers in it even if it looks clean. 

Snowy Sea Hotel 

Rating: 4/5

Critique: The hotel only had one lift, which is inefficient as many people had to wait for several lifts before they can enter it. The room was huge even with 3 beds inside. All the beds were relatively big and were very comfortable. The surrounding was quiet and I was able to sleep soundly throughout the whole night. The only major problem I had was the toilet. I was unable to close the toilet door properly. Even after I tried many methods, there was no solution to the opening of doors. This was a little disturbing as I had to share the room with the other 2 roommates. The breakfast was quite delicious and the food was suitable for foreigner's taste. Hygiene of the utensils were also well taken care of, and this makes me able to enjoy my meal.

Cheng Huang Miao: 8/10

Cheng Huang Miao or otherwise known as City God Temple, is a nice shopping area, combining traditional culture with modern business. Curious why I say so? Read on!~

The structure of the place is historical. Yet, the items sold there not only has traditional Chinese ornaments or fans, there are also modern items like anime figurines or trendy caps. Heck, there is even Starbucks! I think that people of all ages can enjoy their time there with the variety of items. Now, moving on to what most people worry about, the price. Well, here is a piece of good news as the price is very reasonable. But, that does not mean you cannot bargain with the shop owner for a cheaper alternative! (Trust me, you will succeed most of the time.)

Despite all the good stuff I mentioned above, I feel that improvements can still be made. For example, the entrance area should have more lights as it is rather dark. This could be dangerous as people might not see where they are going, resulting in injuries if anyone falls.

Overall, Cheng Huang Miao is definitely a place worth going if you want to experience shopping in a Chinese historical setting.

Oriental Pearl Tower

Rating 8/10

Review: the oriental pearl tower was very exciting. Inside there are many things to check out other than going to the top to look at the view. When we went to the top of the tower to see the view, there was glass on the floor so we can see the full view of Shanghai. Other than enjoying the view, you can also buy food and drinks up there. With the wind blowing while standing on glass 259m in the air is really exhilarating. At the first floor, there is a museum which shows the history of Shanghai. Instead of a lot of words, this museum exhibits life size objects to miniature structures of buildings, streets to cars of the past. The entire place was very interesting and was a success. The only downside was the queue which was very long.

Acrobatics show.

Rating: 9/10

Review: The acrobatics show is really very exciting and I think it is fit for all ages. It contains different dangerous yet thrilling acts that arrange from balancing a big bucket on their head to performing tricks on a small "singapore flyer" All the tricks will made our heart race as we are all were afraid the actors would get hurt. It was really a thrilling experience for the audience. Last but not least, the most dangerous yet safe act was 8 motorcycles with lights decorated on it driving in a small metal sphere, it was a dazzling performance. 

海底捞

Rating: 5/5 stars

海底捞 is popular steamboat chain from China. Food served is the typical Sichuan style hot pot with a selection of meats, vegetables and sauces. 

The ingredients were fresh and up to the standard. The restaurant was cooling and comfortable. The service was excellent and their staffs were very friendly even though they are so busy attending to their customers. Once we were at our table, they gave us lens cleaning cloths to clean our spectacles. Furthermore, they also refilled our snacks and sweet promptly. What amazed me the most was that when I went to the toilet, there was a lady ushering me to the toilet. It was my first time meeting that kind of services. Also, if you ordered hand made noodles, you will enjoy live performance of chef making those noodles right in front of you while eating. 

Overall, I felt that the dinner at 海底捞 was really worth it. This hotpot restaurant is definitely recommended to you if you are a food lover.

China's Dilema

While China pursues higher economic growth, pollution problems are on the rise and these problems greatly affect the health of the China citizens. However, the ultimate purpose of economic expansion is to improve people's livelihood. Various forms of pollution have increased as China has industrialized, and has caused a China to become the country which is the largest source of carbon dioxide.

Pros:

More jobs: 

•Growth creates new jobs

•Greater business confidence: Growth has a positive impact on profits & business confidence

•Potential environmental benefits – as countries grow richer, they have more resources available to invest in cleaner technologies. And, as nations develop, energy intensity levels fall.

•Improvement in living standards

Cons: 

China estimates its carbon-dioxide emissions will continue to rise in the next two decades, peaking in 2030, as it burns more coal and oil to power the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Pollution of coastal waters also worsened from a year earlier. Acid rain was detected in 189 of 443 cities monitored, a level similar to last year.

Air pollution

•cause: more factories to release more harmful gases

•effect: number of people having lung cancer increase

Water pollution 

•cause: increasing population and rapid economic growth  

•effect: severe water quantity shortages and severe water quality pollution

-500 million people in China are without safe and clean drinking water.

It's the result of two decades of runaway economic development unrestrained by strong air-pollution laws, a dramatic increase in car ownership, and China's overwhelming reliance on coal. China's cities were filled with bicycles as recently as the 1990s, but thanks to the explosive growth of the middle class, the Chinese now own more than 120 million cars and another 120 million motor vehicles of other kinds. China burns almost as much coal as the rest of the world combined. Despite making large investments in renewable energy, China still depends on coal to meet nearly 70 percent of its power needs, while air pollution is almost always bad in northern China.

Should China continue to pursue higher economic growth?

I think China should continue to pursue higher economic growth but at a slower rate. This can continue to create a better condition for the people living in China by improving their standards of living. This allows them to lead better lives as more jobs will be available and more people will have jobs to earn money. China's goal is to improve their economy, but not at the cost of their living environment being polluted. By slowing down their rate of economy development, the rate of pollution will be slowed down. Air and water pollution are the most harmful to the China citizens. They breathe in dangerous and polluted air being released by the factories and this cause many of them to have health problems. Water pollution is another factor that affected the China citizens in a negative way. The quantity of water is important for the people living in China. However, pollution a has caused the water to be not clean and even unsafe for people to drink, affecting many of them. In the long run, China would be unable to solve the problem of water pollution, and would be unable to provide enough clean water for people. 

In conclusion, China's economic growth is not supported by the environment and brought many serious problems after the fast speed of industrialization. To create a balance between these two factors, Chinese government should strike a balance and slow down the rate of economic development. After all, the health of the Chinese is at stake and their health should be the most important and taken into consideration first.

More info of the effects and feelings of China citizens:

http://theweek.com/article/index/252440/chinas-massive-pollution-problem

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-27/china-s-air-pollution-worsens-after-economic-growth-rebounds-from-crisis.html

Pros and Cons:

http://tutor2u.net/economics/revision-notes/a2-macro-economic-growth-costs-benefits.html

-Hui Wen

Chingay Presentation Reflection

After weeks of preparation, the chingay presentation is finally over. We had started off totally clueless about chingay, only having limited knowledge of the chingay performance. However, after all this presentation, I have learnt a lot. Throughout this presentation, I have learnt that we have to persevere and not give up and most of all, teamwork. Many of our group members have busy schedule and when we came together to do our work, we would be focused at first but after awhile, we all felt like going home but we did not, we persevered and did finished our research! We learnt that we must not give up and not be LAZY. Last but not least, we would not have done the presentation without the teamwork we had and the constant encouragement we received from our teammates.

-Yin Jian

One Child Policy

The one-child policy is the family planning policy is the population control policy of China.  The policy is controversial both within and outside China because of the manner in which the policy has been implemented and because of concerns about negative and positive consequences.

PROS

Social problem alleviation: The policy was introduced in 1979 to alleviate social, economic, and environmental problems in China.

Human rights violation and forced abortions: The one-child policy is challenged in principle and in practice for violating a human right to determine the size of one’s own family.  “Parents have a basic human right to determine freely and responsibly the number and the spacing of their children.” In 2002, China outlawed the use of physical force to make a woman submit to an abortion or sterilization, but it is not entirely enforced. In the execution of the policy, many local governments still demand abortions if the pregnancy violates local regulations.

Poverty eradication: In China’s poor areas, economic and cultural backwardness and too many births often interact as both cause and effect. The Chinese government has taken a step in giving support to the development of poor areas to alleviate poverty by promoting family planning, holding population growth under control, and raising the life quality of the population in those areas.

CONS

Human rights violation and forced abortions: The one-child policy is challenged in principle and in practice for violating a human right to determine the size of one’s own family. In 2002, China outlawed the use of physical force to make a woman submit to an abortion or sterilization, but it is not entirely enforced. In the execution of the policy, many local governments still demand abortions if the pregnancy violates local regulations, or even force abortions on women violating the policy.

Possible social problems for a generation of only children: Some parents may over-indulge their only child. The media referred to the indulged children in one-child families as “little emperors”. Since the 1990s, some people have worried that this will result in a higher tendency toward poor social communication and cooperation skills among the new generation, as they have no siblings at home. 

The “four-two-one” problem: As the first generation of law-enforced only-children came of age for becoming parents themselves, one adult child was left with having to provide support for his or her two parents and four grandparents. Called the “4-2-1 Problem”, this leaves the older generations with increased chances of dependency on retirement funds or charity in order to receive support. Most senior citizens would be left entirely dependent upon their very small family or neighbours for assistance.

I don't agree with China's One Child Policy. How would the child feel if they are the only child? They would probably be bored when parents are working, and hope that they have siblings. 

Being the only child, with no siblings to communicate and play with, they may develop poor communication skills. Also, parents would tend to indulge in the child and treat them as 'emperors' in the family. This can develop a selfish personality in the child and cause them not to be caring and think of other people's feelings, 

Furthermore, One Child Policy also adds to the child's burden. The child would have to take care of both his parents all by himself when he grows up. When he gets married, he would have to take care of another set of parents. This still does not include his wife and his children. When he does not have a sibling to share his burden of taking care of his parents, the child has to work harder and earn more money and this increases his stress level.

To conclude, although One Child policy can help to decrease the population in China, the disadvantageous impact on the child should be considered first.

-Hui Wen

China's Dilemma

Pros and cons of economic growth

Pros:

• Higher standard of living

• Employment: More jobs

Cons:

• Environment: More polluted

• Social: Wider income gaps

China has been industrializing since 1950. There are both positive and negative impacts of industrialization on China. Now, China is facing the dilemma between pursuing higher economic growth and escalating pollution due to the industrialization. 

Should China industrialize?

If China industrialize, the standard of living will improve. Industrialization also opens the door to lots of employment opportunities which, in turn, also open the door to establishing businesses to satisfy the needs of those employed by the industry. The China government and the Chinese public will be richer. However, it will lead to the escalating pollution. The massive amount pollutant gases released by the factories will cause respiratory and heart diseases and lung cancer. The health of the people are put at risk.The easiest and most direct solution to this problem is to stop industrializing. But, the economy will drop, China will not able to catch up with other countries. Hence, China is facing the dilemma between pursuing higher economic growth and escalating pollution due to the industrialization because the economic of China and health of the Chinese and equally important.

I think that China should continue to pursue higher economic growth but at a slower pace. This will slow down the escalation of pollution due to industrialization. And using the money earned from industrialization, China could introduce clean energy sources such as bio-mass to reduce the pollutant gases released by the burning of fossil fuel for energy. Hence China should industrialize at a slower rate.

*Fun fact:

China's 'airpocalypse' kills 350,000 to 500,000 each year

Between 350,000 and 500,000 Chinese die prematurely each year because of the country's disastrous air pollution, says China's former health minister.

The equivalent of the population of Bristol dies each year in China because of lethal air pollution, according to Chen Zhu, who was the country's Health minister until last year.

"Studies by the World Bank, WHO, and the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning on the effect of air pollution on health concluded that between 350 000 and 500000 people die prematurely each year as a result of outdoor air pollution in China," Mr Chen and his fellow authors noted.

*taken from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10555816/Chinas-airpocalypse-kills-350000-to-500000-each-year.html

-Zhang Linli

China's one child policy

Pros

-control overpopulation (make the world balanced)

-prevents country poverty

Cons 

-violation of human rights (abortion)

-cause unhappiness and anger in society

-not totally beneficial to China (not a win-win situation)

-affected childhood

What I feel?

It does seem violent and inhumane to do such cruel things to the public. Forcing abortion is definitely not a right thing to do. This will definitely cause anger not only from within but also from all parts of the world. The government are making the people suffer in a way. How can a country treat their people so badly? Children would feel lonely being the only child. Parents would be discouraged and unhappy to have such a small family. How is this even helping? More parents are aborting girls to get a boy so there will be an imbalance of gender.

However, everybody is lonly ooking at one side of the story. China's government is thinking for the good of the people. The growing population would cause an inbalance on the Earth we live on. Although there is enough space, 5% of the people can consume 23% of the worlds resources. China begins with the end in mind. It tries to think of the problems that can come in the future. No resources, high percentage of people in poverty. The country will rot away very quickly if this matter is not resolved. Everyone are just looking at the problems now and not later. Why must China be so forceful? It is because of the people. Will they listen if they are encouraged to do this? 

More on why we should control population growth - http://vimeo.com/18239773

-Nathan

One Child Policy

China's one child policy was implemented to control China's population growth. The policy limits couples to one child. Fines, pressures to abort a pregnancy, and even forced sterilization accompanied second or subsequent pregnancies.

Pros of One Child Policy:

1. Reduce the size of population

2. Poverty Eradication in China

Cons of One Child Policy:

1. Forces abortions and human rights violation.

2. Possible social problems for a generation of only children

3. Birth tourism

4. Policy benefits exaggerated

I think that the One Child Policy is disadvantageous. 

Firstly, the One Child Policy will affect China's economy in the long run. One of the reason why companies like to build their factories in China is because China has cheap manpower due to its large population. The One Child Policy will reduce the size of population tremendously in the long run. If this happens the manpower will no longer be cheap, so they would go to other countries with cheaper manpower.

Secondly, the child has to take care of his 2 parents. If the child is married, the couple will have to take care of 2 sets of parents and their child. So the money they earn will need to support 7 people, including themselves. 

Also, in the near future, the elderly to children ratio will have a stark contrast. 

Although the One Child Policy will help to achieve the goal (reduce the population) but it should not be implemented for a long time.

*Fun fact:

Previous reforms also permitted couples to have a second child where both were only children or, in the case of rural couples, where their first-born child was a girl.

The traditional preference for boys has created a gender imbalance as some couples opt for sex-selective abortions.

By the end of the decade, demographers say China will have 24 million "leftover men" who, because of China's gender imbalance, will not be able to find a wife.

*taken from:http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-25533339

-Zhang Linli

Reflection - Picture of an Event

The Great Wall, was listed as a World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987. The Great Wall has a history of more than 2000 years, some of the sections are now in ruins or have disappeared. However, it is still one of the most appealing attractions all around the world.

Here's a little background on the Great Wall of China. Qing Shi Huang started the construction of the Great Wall from the Yellow Sea in the east to the Gobi Desert in the West. The Great wall was first come together from smaller walls to discourage attacks from northern nomads. Thus Qing Shi Huang was determined to close up the gaps and unify the wall 1,400 miles to the west for China's defense. He forced peasants to build the wall. If they did not, their only choice other than building the wall was death. However, most of them died while building the Great Wall. Many lives were sacrificed in order to build the Great Wall. 

To me, the Great Wall of China is an amazing structure. It is one of the two man-made structures that can be identified from outer space. Once the people started building the Wall, they can't stop. They worked hard under the hot sun, taking only minimum breaks. They built the Great Wall till their death, without seeing their loved ones even once before they die. It is very admirable of them, they sacrifice their lives to build the Great Wall. Without their sacrifices and hard work there wouldn't be the Great Wall of China.

To China, it is something to be proud of. In the Chinese society there is a popular saying: “不到长城非好汉". It means you must visit the Great Wall at least one time otherwise you would not be a real man. Also, the Great Wall is an important part of China history.

From this, we can learn that perseverance is important. If we don't give up even when we are facing challenges, we will be able to achieve our goals and be proud of it. 

“It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.” - Albert Einstein

-Zhang Linli

Chingay Presentation Reflection

After many weeks of preparation for the chingay presentation, it is finally over! The unintentional mishaps that happened to our group to delay us from presenting gives us more time to prepare, making our content of the presentation better. Starting a project is never easy, one may have the determination and urge to complete the project, but will soon lose them as time goes by. Thus perseverance and consistency is important to finish a project. In our to give a meaningful presentation about chingay, we have to research a lot and recall from what we had seen and learnt during the whole trip. This process actually deepened our understanding and knowledge as we found more information and background of Chingay. Doing the reflections and feelings of the performers also deeply moved me as they had practiced hard and put in so much sweat and tear to put up such a wonderful performance. Of course, since this is a team presentation, this assessment really thought me how to work as a team and contribute ideas on order to complete the project. Although everyone has busy schedules and it is hard for us to meet up together, we tried our best to stay back after school day after day. The constant encourages from teammates also urged us to work harder and complete the project. Preparing for the Chingay presentation certainly improved my teamwork and thinking skills!

-Hui Wen

Should China industrialise?

Should china industrialise? 

Downside

-more co2 emission worsen Global Warming

-people complain of polluted air (make Beijing air worse)

-fewer tourist (no visibility nothing to see, go china to breath bad air?)

-animals affected due to pollution, environment destroyed 

-more cases of lung diseases like pneumonia

Positive impact

-modernised, newer and better technology

-more $$ to make, cause of more industries 

-more places have excess to electricity, people have better lives (more lights and 

  stuff)

-development, people would enjoy newer and better facilities

What I feel?

Why must China industrialise now? The major problem the world is facing now is Global Warming and industrialisation of China will make it much worse while other countries are trying to stop it. It also reduces their tourists which makes them lose money. Animals and plants that once made China a holiday vacation for many may disappear. 

However, we should also look at the point of China. China is now more backward than many countries and are trying to catch up. Without the major change of industrialisation, they would stay stagnant in the society. In the long run, China would slowly gain the resources and technology to reduce their co2 emission and maybe stop it entirely. It would overall benefit China as a whole. Industrialisation is just the first step China has to take that can cause some harm but later, the harm can be changed for the good of the world.

-Nathan

Chingay Presentation Reflection

Through the weeks of Chingay presentations, I have learnt that preparation is very important for presentation. 

We need to prepare, prepare and prepare in order to not mess up, a small mistake could ruin the whole presentation. For example, my group did not prepare an extra copy of our slides since we believed that nothing would happen to Nathan's laptop. Unfortunately, we were that lucky to have some problems with his laptop on the day of presentation. Lesson learnt: Don't be lazy, always make an extra copy. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Also, preparing more would allow us to be more familiar with our script. Then, we'll be more comfortable and confident. At the same time, we'll also have more chances of spotting mistakes in the script. Therefore, we could edit and make better quality script. I could really see which group prepared more than the other through the way they present. The ways they talk and engage the audiences are really different. And obviously, the groups that prepare more are more engaging. Lesson learnt: You reap what you sow. Put in more effort and your marks will be higher!

“It takes one hour of preparation for each minute of presentation time.”

--Wayne Burgraff

-Zhang Linli

CID lessons

From the past few lessons I have learnt many skills. One of the skills is to look beyond was we see. Personally, I think that not judging a book by its cover is very important in our everyday life. From that I have come to realise that not everything is what it seems. For example, a picture of a poor man can show many things, people tend to judge the person by their first impression but after the CID lesson I have learnt to find out more of the situation before drawing a conclusion.

I have also learnt more indebpt about presentation skills. A good presenter must have a lot of good qualities for instance he must be clear in his speech and remain eye contact with the entire class and not only one spot.

Overall, I have benefited a lot from this CID 

-Nathan

Presentation 

I think the Chingay presentation had made us work very hard. We had to put in a lot of effort and time to complete the project. Communication was a problem as we could not find time to do it together. We also faced a problem where my laptop did not work.

However, it was a great learning experience. I learnt to always backup the work. Although we did backup our work but we had to make an regent change and we forgot to back it up. I also learnt how to manage my time better. Planning and arranging time to do the projects and preparing for the presentation can be tough. But we persevered and completed it

Chingay Reflection

After watching the Chingay Parade this year, I felt that Chingay is a very meaningful event. Chingay consists of many performances from a lot of different races. This shows that Singapore is a multi-culture society. Furthermore, this event also bring people from different communities and different backgrounds together as one untied people. At the same time, the Chingay Parade also make us, the audiences, celebrate Chinese New Year together with everybody including people from other races and countries.

-Zhang Linli

Chingay Reflection

I feel that Chingay is a fun and heart warming event. The Chingay performance consists of people of all age and races. They unite together as one and put in all their efforts to put up a good performance for us. I truly respect the performers as they had to spend their free time to practice for the performance. This is admirable as they had the determination to carry on despite the diffulties they faced while practicing. The event made audiences not only feel the festive season, but also made them feel that they are celebrating new year as a Singapore. I truly had fun and enjoyed throughout the whole perfomance.

-Hui Wen

Chinese New Year

I choose red to represent Chinese New Year because during CNY we can see red almost everywhere we go for example on the new year clothing, new year decorations and red packets etc. The reason red is used is because in the past, people once believed that red could scare away evil spirits and bad fortune. 

The symbol I choose is 福. It means bliss and good fortune. During Chinese New Year, 福 is commonly display on doors. Sometime, people would also hang upside down because the words upside down literally mean 倒 which has the same pronunciation as 到 (arrive). Therefore, the 福 symbolizes the arrival of prosperity, happiness and luck.

The reason I choose mandarin orange is because during Chinese New Year, Mandarin oranges are considered traditional symbols of abundance and good fortune. During the two-week celebration, they are frequently displayed as decoration and presented as gifts to friends, relatives etc.

-Zhang Linli

Lesson learnt

From the past few CID lessons, I have learnt inference skills. For example! when we look at a picture! we should not only see what is in the picture and immediately make our conclusion. Instead, we should think beyond the picture and think about the story behind it.

A picture speaks a thousand words. Before the lessons, I've only looked at the surface of the picture when not given background information of it. The lessons helped us cultivate critical thinking skills to think deeper and not just the surface for everything we see.

-Hui Wen

Chingay reflection

I feel that Chingay is a very exciting and interesting event to showcase Singapore's main traits-racial harmony and how united the people are. Through this experience, I have come to understand that Singapore is a country with great and talented people of every race and religion. Singapore is one, no matter the age, no matter the race and no matter the background, Rich and poor come together at chingay to show their same interest- their love for Singapore. Chingay in our homeland is no longer a Chinese New Year festive, but a celebration for everyone. I enjoyed our time spent in Chingay with our friends. We felt high during the entire performance and we truly enjoyed it. The strong bond felt during the parade really made us feel that Singapore is our home, forever. 

-Nathan Teo

I felt that chingay was a very exciting and enriching event as it bonded us together and many different races came together.  From this, I have learnt that different races has their own unique culture and tradition and we all should respect that. I can also see that that singapore has many enthusiastic teenagers as they volunteered to joined the chingay .We truly enjoyed the trip there and I would always remember it.

Yinjian 

CNY

The colour we choose is gold. The reason we choose the colour is because it represents success with abundance of prosperity and luxury. 

Our symbol is a dollar sign $.$ because children like us look forward to receiving red packets and our elders well wishes during Chinese New Year.

This is a picture of a firecracker. We chose this because firecracker gives people new year spirit and it is traditional.

-Tay Huiwen

1 lesson learnt

During the past few CID lessons, I have learnt many important skills, such as looking beyond the surface, gathering meanings and thoughts from what I see etc.

One of the lessons I learnt is to look beyond the surface. Although a picture paints a thousand words, there's meanings behind the picture that we can only understand through some background information and/or critical thinking. Before this lesson, I have always only looked at the surface of everything and believe what I had seen. However, I was proven wrong during the lesson. 

We were given 2 different pictures of beggars and were told to decide who to help. I, who only look at the surface, chose to help the lady with a baby than a man with hands not shown. It turns out that the lady was a scammer while the man had lost his hand and was robbed. This activity taught me that what I see might not be the truth. 

As the saying goes "Don't judge a book by its cover". I have learnt to not just look at the surface but to think behind what was given.

-Zhang Linli

Life in RVHS

(a)The people are rowing around the table, engrossed in decorating the classroom for Chinese New Year. The classroom is very noisy, shouting their opinions across the classroom.

(b)

(c) The post-sticks which formed the shape of 2D is special in our classroom. On our post-sticks, we wrote about our positive thoughts of our partner sitting beside us. This makes our class more bonded.

(d) 

Photo Challenge

School Spirit

this picture depicts our RV spirit. The students are showing their love for the school. They had to take quite a long time to assemble to form the Chinese characters, working and trusting each other to complete the beautiful image. We were really convinced that the RV spirit had been shown here as the seniors are leading the juniors in the picture, showing our seniors compassion for the juniors. I am sure it was a difficult task to line up in this manner so the communication must have been very efficient.

Life

This picture depicts the life section of the Straits Times. This section of the newspaper contains as the name suggests, stories that we can relate to our lives. It talks about famous people that tell their stories in their lives that can be good or bad. From the stories we can often learn about the life skills and how we should be like in certain circumstances. It can also contains comics that can help us relax as relaxing is important in life and this lets us escape the stress of our life.

Happiness

Fear

The picture depicts a beautiful scene of a cherry blossom. But if you look carefully, it is actually made up of red, bloody handprints forming a bloody Sakura tree. At first glance, you would think that it is a beautiful cherry blossom but when you look carefully, you would find it creepy seeing red handprints all over the window. The truth is, the students actually left their handprints filled with red paint on the windows of the school. The reason of doing so is that they wanted to show their gratitude towards the school which is going to be demolished soon. 

At first, we felt flabbergasted but after knowing the story behind it, we felt our hearts throb.

A picture speaks a thousand words, you'll never know the truth. Never judge anything anything by its cover, even in your daily life.

Poverty in Singapore

In Singapore, it is unlikely to find beggars lining the streets or see starving children walking the pavements, scrounging for food. Instead, we do find people selling tissue papers or performing on street. Most of them, or rather all of them are elderly, handicapped or both.

Singapore has a fast pace of life, with the success of Singapore's fast growing economy, many Singaporean are able to benefit that. But there are also those who lack behind, those who can't keep up. They then faced poverty. Although, they are not as poor as those in other countries, they still led a tough life. 

In Singapore, the government has set up various help schemes and even organizations (such as the CDCs) whose roles include helping the less fortunate of our society. But even with those aids, poverty in Singapore had grew from 16% in 2002 to 28% in 2013. Why? In my opinion, the growth is caused by a poverty cycle. When the adults faced poverty, they have little or no means to make their life better. Their children will get caught in the cycle. Their children might not be able to do better than their parents due to the lack of proper education because they might drop out of school to work. To supplement the family’s income. To put food on the table. Hence the cycle continues and more and more people get involved. 

I think that the only way to escape poverty is to work hard. If you are still a student, study. Study hard and make a bright future for yourself. If you are an adult, work. Work hard to support yourself and your family. 

However, it's another story for elderly folks who faced poverty. They might be abandoned by their children or any circumstances beyond their control. Even if their want to escape from poverty, they can't. Although the government is already helping them by giving out food donations, but that's not enough. I think that if each and everyone of us can lend a helping hand, help them, help them learn new essential knowledge, them can be saved. Let's not forget about them. They might be already abandoned by their own children, let's not abandon them as well.

"If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich." - John F. Kennedy 

Nathan's Holiday

I went to New Zealand. When the plane was touching down at Queenstown, the window revealed the amazing scenery of rolling hills and scattered trees. Lavenders were everywhere and small houses were built along the hills. My family stayed in a cottage and we enjoyed our stay. We went to Milfred sound and other interesting places. We also went to lake tekapo. The view of the lake with a starry night was indescribable. After that we went to rangoria to stay at a farm. The sheep there were cute and friendly. But the farmer was friendlier. They made a wonderful breakfast and explained what farm life was like. Wellington was bustling with activity with all the cars and people, after an enjoyable trip we went back to Singapore.

    In Church of the Good Sheperd, Lake Tikapo

   Queenstown Lakes

    Queenstown Lakes

    Plane to Wellington

    Hill in Queenstown

As a nature lover, it was a perfect trip for me. I think the rolling hills and clear lakes are truly beautiful. I feel that the people who live there are living in paradise, an island full of nature. I could sit and watch the scenery for hours . I have learnt that nature can be truly that beautiful, unlike Singapore. I learnt many things like patience, planning and other things. I had to plan this journey with my mother so it was even more enjoyable for me. However, the preparations were tedious and difficult. Finding a good place to stay or a nice place to go was hard enough. Putting in the price was even worse. And the worst was not able to go there and you have to change everything due to problems. Overall the trip was not only enjoyable but moreover, it was a learning experience.

Group Photo

First group photo! ☺

Yinjian's Holiday

I went to sentosa this holiday. When I reach there with my friend, it was very hot so we decided to stay in the shade. My friend decided that we go visit the sea aquarium and so we went to queue. It took us 1 hour to buy our tickets and when we went in, we found out we had to wait very long before we enter the aquarium. About half an hour later, we went in and saw lots of different kinds of fish and were mesmerized by it, it surely was worth the wait! When we went to the big aquarium, to our surprise,we saw three small shark each biting each other's tail while swimming. Finally we exited the place and we went back to our home.

Hui Wen's Holiday

During the December holidays, I went to my friend's house to celebrate two of my friends' birthday. We planned a surprise for them, not telling them that we are actually celebrating their birthdays. As we have to buy the presents and the cake on the day itself, we have to split the job between the 5 of us. We arranged the two birthday girls to meet the 3 of us while another 2 of my friends went to buy and prepare for the birthday party. When we reached the house and met together, the birthday girls found out that the house was beautifully decorated with balloons and cards and they were pleasantly surprised. We began to give all the presents to them and we ate the cake after singing birthday song. It was a shame that the cake was wasted as not many of us ate it.

There's a dog in my friend's house and two of us were scared of it. We found out that it would not come near us when we hold a balloon and we used it as a protection from the scary dog. We chatted a lot and treasured the time we spent together. I love the times when we laughed and played crazily together and hope that we would be together as a family together:D

I also went to USS and Adventure Cove with my family and had a great time there. However, I hurt my toe in Adventure cove :'(

Other than that, I spent my holiday at home using my iPad whole day:P

Linli's Holiday

During the holiday, i went to Adventure Cove with my friends. The bad thing is that i can't swim so i can't join my friends for some activities. So i was fa-ing there watching my friends. We spent the whole afternoon there and night out for dinner. I also went to EOY cosplay festival 2013. It was interesting to see so many cosplayers gathered at one place. Furthermore, i coincidentally met my senior there. It was so awkward since we kept on bumping into each other and we are not that close.  Also, together with my friends, we planned a surprise(?) birthday party for two of our dear friends.

Party time!

I've spent many days going back to school for CCA related stuff. I also spent a enjoyable day at East Coast Park with my CCA-mates. And i learnt how to cycle! Yay!! 

at ECP!

  

I went to an outing with my friend and seniors and we watched movie and spent the afternoon together. Altho' at first we've planned to go bowling, however, we didn't go in the end. 

taken during the outing =)

On 28 Dec, we've ROD (retirement of duty) for our year 4 seniors. That day was quite enjoyable but we ( yr1s ) got ourselves 200 punishment for our not-up-to-standard-attire. *cry*

The ROD!

I spent 30 hours doing community service for my CCA. But in my group, I'm the only yr 1, the rest are yr 2s so once again, I'm fa-ing. T^T

I went overseas to visit my grandparents too. It's quite interesting other than the fact that it was freezing cold there.

Other than all these, I spent the remaining time lazing around being productive.

- Zhang Linli