Cost of living(individual)

When I visited Taiwan, my buddy mum said that their cost of living is still okay. The wet markets there are reasonably priced for an average household. However, for supermarkets that are in shopping malls are more expensive and may not appeal to the needy family. Due to the high price, my buddy's parents usually got to the wet market to buy fresh produce. For other luxury items, it depends on where you buy it. If the place has a lot of tourist coming to visit, the prices will be higher. In conclusion , the cost of living in Taiwan is fairly reasonable if you don't buy things in the department stores. 

Education(Individual)

Thoughts and observations 

In Taiwan, I attended a biology lesson. The teacher is very enthusiastic in teaching and the students seemed to enjoy it very much. We had like a little debate about whether we should keep animals in zoos. The teacher allowed students to go up and express their thoughts freely. The students were very proactive in expressing their thoughts. Even if their answer if wrong or irrelevant,  they are not afraid of making mistakes in front of their classmates and learn with their friends. I think that this attitude in learning is very good as it allows students to understand the lessons better by letting the teacher correcting their mistakes. In Singapore, when the teacher asks a questions, students seems to try to avoid and remain silent. Even if a teacher calls a students out to answer, the students will just shrug it off with a poor answer. I also observed that students also have a strong team spirit. They will do the discussions together and will help each other when they are in doubt. I also feel that the teachers have a strong sense a trust in the students. For example, students have the freedom of bringing snacks and drinks to classrooms. This shows a high level of trust given to the students. They are trusted to not dirty the classrooms and dispose the empty cans properly. I observe that the classrooms are very clean. In our class, we do not really care about the hygiene and cleaniness of our classrooms and it's often dirty. We should definitely learn from them. 

Life of a student in Taiwan 

I asked my buddy about their curriculum timetable and found out that they feel stressed and tiring. They start school at 7.15am and self study till 8.25am. They end school at 5pm and have CCAs every single day. Most of the students have tuition after school and usually sleep at 11pm to continue studying. The tuitions usually helps helps the students to understanding better what is taught in school or preview upcoming topics. They do not eat in canteen but eat in classes. They told me that the studying requires a lot of memory work and their topics are rather informative. For example, one of their history questions is when did the Chinese revolution happen. 1911. Our history questions requires thinking and inferring from the source. 

Monuments(individual)

We went to the eternal golden castle. It has magnificent walls and massive cannons in the castle. 

This is a poem that I written 

雄伟的大门

坚不可摧的围墙

抵挡敌人攻击

让百姓安心

Postcards for parents 

Tainan OELP Individual reflection

I'm Day 1 

At about 6+ we boarded China Airlines plane from Changi airport to Kaohsiung International Airport. All of us were looking forward to the trip and was buzzing with excitement. We reached Kaohsiung International airport at 12+ midnight and we were all tired and exhausted from the flight. We took all our luggage and sluggishly walked towards the arrival hall. That moment I was puzzled. Why are there people holding banners saying “ 欢迎立化中学！”  Later I realised that they are actually teachers from 正心中学. We greeted 刘秘书and the teachers a good evening. Wow. I was so impressed by their hospitality. I heard that they need to travel a long journey just to welcome us to Tainan. They also bought pineapple tarts and some tibits so that we can eat on our way to the Ten Drums Culture Village.

I was extremely touched by their warm hospitality. I look forward to the trip ahead even more. And also, we were introduced to Uncle Terry, our tour guide of this trip. He is quite friendly. 

Day 2 

Quite a lot of places to visit today. After we had our breakfast at Ten drums cultural village, we set off for our first location, the Meinong Hakka Culture Meseum. Before going to the Meinong Hakka culture Mesuem, I didn't know anything about the Hakka Culture.  After the trip, one thing I learnt is that the Meinong used to be a tobacco plantation place. Tobacco plantation was a very profiting business at that time. We had lunch at the Mei Nong Folk Village. After that we moved on to Kaohsiung Hakka Culture Mesuem. I learnt that their traditional clothing is blue. Next, Kaohsiung Meseum is a so different from the other museums. It was built by the Japanese when Japanese was in control of Taiwan. It was green in colour as it is designed to camouflage from the American planes. In the past, this was where high officials like president workplace so security was very important. The structure was built by the Japanese and even survived the 911 earthquake as Japan itself experienced earthquakes and the architect purposely built it to withstand earthquake. Next we went to a local supermarket, Carrfour. The supermarket was huge and had multiple levels to it. It sold a lot of things, really different from our NTUC. we did our group task, which was to find brands that also appear in Singapore supermarket. 

After that, we had our dinner. At first it was drizzling and we thought that the night market might not be opened and everyone was feeling very sad. However, after our dinner, the rain stopped and we were on our way to the Liu He night market. It was buzzing with people. There were a wide variety of food sold there. I was extremely excited for the crispy chicken. Really nice experience there! 

In the end, I saw how the Taiwanese really put in effort to preserve their culture. Museums were all over Taiwan to encourage people to visit them. I feel that the Singapore Government should build more Meseum nearby our homes to allow more people to visit them. Make them free too! 

Mei Nong Hakka Culture Meseum 

Mei Nong Folk Cultural Mesuem with my friends! 

Kaohsiung Hakka Cultural Mesuem 

Kaohsiung Mesuem of History 

Liu He night Market

Day 3 

I got up with a bad start today. I was late for the meeting. Me and my buddy Jing Heng together with 4 other people was scolded by Mr Gay. After that, we proceeded to have our breakfast with our heads hung low.  I apologised to Uncle Terry and our classmates. After that, toured around the Ten Drum Cutural Meseum. I was totally shocked that our staying place was actually once a sugar cane factory. 

After that, we watched a performance by the very own Ten drums percussion group. The performance was exciting and full of energy.  After we checked out of the Ten Drum Cultrual village, we proceeded to the Anping Fort. Anping fort was once a administrative centre of the Dutch regime, and the hub for trading. After that we have lunch at Anping Old street. This meal showcases Anping local delicasies and it was really delicious. We moved on to the Eternal Golden Castle. The castle was built in 1874 by the famous Qing official Shen BaoZhen in order to safeguard the coast from attacks. Next we moved one of my favourite, the Chihkan Tower. It was designed and built in a Classical Chinese style with red tiles and cornices. Really beautiful Tower. We had XiaoLong bao for our dinner and headed to our new hotel, Metro Hotel located near Douliu Station. In then end, I feel that the Taiwanese relay put in effort in preserving their artefacts. For example at the Chihkan Tower, the stairs leading up to the second storey was really preserved it was the wooden and narrow. The steps wer high which make it difficult to climb. 

Therefore, Singapore should really put into consideration for preserving the olden artefacts. For example the old Tanjong Pagar railway station. We should really preserve it for the younger generation to view it and learn its history. 

Ten drum Cultural village 

Group photo at the Ten drum cultural village

Lunch at Anping old street 

Anping Fort 

Eternal golden castle 

Group photo at Chihkan Tower 

Check in to Metro Hotel 

Day 4 

It was the first day of our immersion programme in Sacred hearts high school. We had a warm welcome from 丁校长 and the students. They prepared a performance for us and we also performed a performance for them. After that we meet our buddies. My buddy's name is  林俊佑。Upon meeting, he was really hospitable. He was a really friendly and smart guy. Next we were introduced to the classes. I was in a biology class and we discussed about whether we should keep animals in zoos. We debated heatedly and it was a really fun experience with the students at scared hearts. After the 1 hr of lesson, we were treated to lunch. The school provides lunch for them and there are only a few stalls selling tibits if students were really hungry. The buddies were really proactive in helping us with our group task. Really looking forward to the next few day with them. Next we bade goodbye to Sacred heart high school and moved on to places in Siluo. We first went to a soy sauce making factory where we learnt how to make soy sauce. Next we went to a pen attraction that was beautiful. The attraction we went was the Siluo bridge. It was a really beautiful place for sightseeing. After that, 刘秘书 order a few huge watermelons that are famous in Siluo for us the try. Really nice gesture from him, appreciated it. 

Day 5 

We went to the second day in Sacred Hearts High School. We went to different classes again. I went into a robotics class where we create and play with the robots we build. We were tasked to build a baseball robot. The robot that can shoot the "ball" furthest wins. Me. Tianhong and another students created a robot but we didn't win because our robot had some technical difficulties. After the robotics class, i went into a ballon sculpting class. I was at first a bit skeptical that my balloon will actually bend and fold into different shape and sizes. However, under the guidance of the teachers and a few pops, I created a swan successfully. After that, we went to visit the Yulin Cake Tower cafe. The cakes that are either real or made by towels! We made ourselves a very own cat made of towel and everyone seemed very excited. After that it was shopping time. Everyone bought their own towels and pillow. Really fascinating experience to see towels bring made into animals and cakes. I feel that this shop is really creative and appealed to the younger generation a lot. After that, we went to the Yulin puppet theatre, where we watch a traditional puppet performance. We also saw puppets that we big and small. First time I saw puppet as big and human beings. Wonder how they manupliate it though. 

Day 6 

Today is the last day at Sarcred Hearts Secondary School. We had home economics class where we cooked carrot cake and make our own dumplings soup with the other students. We were not very experience with the frying of the carrot cake but the seniors helped us along. Considered a successful a attempt by our group and the students. Next, Jing Heng and I went out with our buddy and his mum. We drove to their aunts house which was kind of like a farmhouse. It was beautiful. My buddy said that her aunt used to be a teacher but now she has retired and build her own farm and designed her own house there. She was very nice and gave us bananas in case we felt naseous during the 2hr ride back to our hotel. Next, we bade goodbye to his aunt and his mum and we went to the theme park ourselves. We had a lot of fun there. We bonded quite a lot with our buddy. After that we went to his uncle house. His uncle is a the policeman in Tainan. His house is quite tall and even taller than Singapore Terence house. They were very hospitable and treated us to dinner. I had papaya milkshake after that. After the meal, my buddy mum brought us to a department store where we shop at Muji. The shopping centre is quite different from Singapore's. It is tall and 1 level caters to only one shop. 

After that, we drove back to Douliu to Jiayi. During the journey we chatted and they asked us about Singapore's way of life. They were surprised that cars in Singapore could cost up to a hundred thousand due to Coe prices. Upon reaching, we didn't bear to leave the and they bought us bubble tea to bid goodbye. Really nice experience with them. 

Day 7 

Last day in Tainan. Time flies. We checked out of Metro Hotel and baded goodbye to 丁校长，刘秘书 and the seniors who helped us throughout the trip. Next we headed to the 921 earthquake educational park. We learnt about how the earthquake is formed and the effects of earthquake. It is a really deviating thing to happen. House and buildings collapsed and the entire city turned into ruins after the 921 earthquake. Real life damage was preserve for people to see. Many lives were lost because of that. We must really count ourselves lucky to live in Singapore where earthquakes and natural disasters  do not happen.  I was impressed by how the Taiwanese even preserve the real life damage to houses and infrastructures. It is left untouched after the earthquake. After that, we had our lunch and headed to TaoYuan airport where it's time to say goodbye to Uncle Terry and Taiwan. These 7 days was filled with laughter and fun. I have learnt to cherish things we have in Singapore and the importance to learn our culture properly. 

3 Questions I would like to ask about Tainan

1. How much is a packet of rice in Tainan?

2. How much is 1 litre of petrol in Tainan 

3. How cold can Tainan be during winter? 

Dwindling population in Singapore

I feel that Singapore in 20 years will have a lot more elderly than youngsters as the fertility rate in Singapore is very low. Therefore, lesser youngsters will be in the country. Technology will be more advanced and will aphelp us in many ways. Maybe transport from one place to another would be faster and easier. It will greatly help the elderly, especially those who are physically disabled and make their life's easier. 

Reflection of China's economic growth

China's economic is growing rapidly for the past years and may surpass the United States of America. China was once not opened for business but in the past years. China has opened up and since created business opportunities with other countries and gain profit from it. Recently, SuZhuo and Singapore has collaborated together to create a city. I feel that China should seize every business opportunity and gain profit. China goods are being shipped or distributed worldwide and items that we use daily are made in China, This clearly shows that China is making effort to distribute their products worldwide.  China opening up to foreign bussiness opportunities will mean that more jobs will be created and the unemployment rate is lesser. This will significantly increase China's GDP growth.

Reflection about the Suzhou industrial park

I have learnt that Singapore was making losses from the SuZhuo industrial park because Singapore had more shares than China so China didn't really take care of it well to gain profit. China also copied the blueprint of the Suzhou industrial park exactly and built a Suzhou new district right beside it, but the things they sell are far more cheaper than the Suzhou industrial park. Therefore, investors from the world chose Suzhou new district instead of Suzhou industrial park. The government did not take the agreement seriously. In my point of view, Mr Lee Kuan Yew was a great leader in forging ties with big countries like China even though we are a small and third wold country at that time. Mr Lee was keen in expanding Singapore business with other countries. So he took the initiative and flew all the way to China and have talks with Mr Deng Xiao Peng. Mr Lee succeeded eventually with his impressive persuasion skills. It is truly and honour to work with such a big country at that time. Therefore, I feel that Mr Lee Kuan Yew was a great man to forge ties with other countries, even if they are big countries. 

Do you think the Merlion would make the best national icon to representSingapore? 6/7/15 Blogwork

I think that Singapore Girl is the best national icon to represent Singapore. It is important to have a national icon because it represents Singapore to the world and foreigners are likely to remember us by our national icon. The Singapore Girl will be a great Singapore icon because it is the first thing foreigners see whenever they come to Singapore via Singapore airlines. In her distinctively colourful sarong kebaya, the Singapore Girl walks with timeless elegance and charms you with her gentle smile. Singapore airlines flies almost everywhere in the world and the Singapore Girl is the first impression to other foreigners. Therefore, it is widely recognised by other foreigners who take Singapore airlines. The Singapore Girl gives foreigners their first look and have impressions of Singapore. The Singapore Girl is exceptionally cheerful and helpful and this will give foreigners a feeling that Singaporeans must be to very friendly. The main idea we are using to support that the Merlion is our national icon is the first impression it gives to foreigners about Singapore. If the Singapore Girl is made our national icon, Singapore must work hard to strive better in airline service and hospitality. It is important to allow foreigners to feel positive about the service of Singapore Airlines whenever they take them because it reflects on our nation as a whole, how good we are. 

Blog work

I have learnt that Tang Dynasty was considered as China's golden age. China prospered in terms of increase of wealth and urbanization, arts and literature. In the middle of the 700s, possibly the best poets in Chinese history named Li Bai and Du Fu were writing. The two poets survived the An Lushan Rebellion, and the hardships colored and tempered their poetry to touch even the hearts of modern Chinese. The Tang court used examinations to appoint many Confucian scholars to the ruling bureaucracy. These examinations tested the candidates' literary skills and knowledge of Confucian texts.

Mr Lee was a lot like the ruler in Tang Dynasty. Singapore started out as a new, undeveloped country with no natural resources. However, Singapore had 2 million people. Mr Lee felt that our only asset was out people. Therefore, he emphasised greater on education for children. Having educated people was the key to success. He also made English the standard language because this can allow people to connect with the world and make Singapore a popular trading partner and investors from all around the world can easily trade with us. This allowed us to make profit. 

Reflection on Assignment 1 presentation. Han Wei 26

Process: In researching and writing my script, I found more and more about Singapore, it's history, food, multicultural practices and contributions Mr Lee Kuan Yew did for Singapore. 

Presentation: I was the first group to present and I was actually quite nervous before the presentation. However, when I was presenting, it became more natural to describe my home, Singapore. 

Overall for class: I think the class did alright. Many people was nervous but pulled through with a smile in the end of the presentation. 

Comment on group 3 presentation on product

I think group 3 presentation on the broom was out of the box. They thought of crazy ways you could use a broom for, which is very creative. Their volume was also audible too. However some members were not involve in the presentation. Therefore they should include themselves more in the presentation.

Poverty in Singapore

,The 

Souce: theindependent.sg

After my research, poverty in Singapore grew from 16% in 2002 to 28% in 2013. The poverty line in Singapore would be someone who earns less than $1500 every month. I once witnessed a kind person who was approached by an disabled woman who sells tissue paper. He gave the woman $20 but didn't take the tissue paper that the woman offered. He was quite a touching scene to watch. 

If you look at the CPF Annual Report in 2011, where the distribution of the monthly wages of Singaporeans were last available (the government omitted this information from 2012), 458,257 Singaporeans were earning less than S$1,500 every month. This represents 26% of the Singaporean and PR population (Chart 1).

As such, it can said that 26% of Singaporeans are living in poverty in Singapore.

Chart 1: CPF Annual Report 2011

Sources

Picture:http://theindependent.sg/blog/2013/11/23/poverty-a-varsity-forum-raises-pertinent-questions/

December holiday reflections.

During the December holidays, I went to Malaysia on a 2 days trip with my uncles and cousins. On the first day of the trip, we drove to Malacca, dubbed Tthe Historical State", is the smallest Malayisa state after Perlis and Penang. One of the attractions we visited was the Famosa. It is a Portuguese Fortress located in Malacca. It is the oldest surviving Eroupean architectural remains in South East Asia. I've learnt that it is built in 1511 and used to be a fortress. After the trip, we went to a famous traditional Nonya restaurant to try their local delicacies. I especially like the curry fish head there as the curry sauce was very fragant, not too spicy nor light. After long of sightseeing and walking, we quickly check in a hotel. This trip was an exciting but tiring one as a lot of walking has to be done to really understand and appreciate Malalcca. My cousins like it, I like it too.